Impact of the Eastern question in view of 1853-1856 Crimean War and 1876 Bulgarian crisis on British public opinion

The main subject of this thesis is to lay out the role of British public opinion upon the Eastern Question. For this purpose, events of 1853-1856 Crimean War and 1876 Bulgarian Crisis were examined. In the first half of the 19th century, new social classes emerging as a result of industrialization and dense urbanization began to participate in political discussion. Together with the formation of the modern public sphere, this led to indisputable power in possession of public opinion establishment. As a consequence, Britain's attitude towards especially the Eastern Question started to be determined by public opinion. For this reason, the Eastern Question has in fact become a domestic political issue of Britain. Under these developments, British politicians ended up having to take public opinion into account in consonance with its rise to prominence. Mainly, three questions were attempted to be answered in this thesis. What was the composition of British public opinion in the light of the 1853-1856 Crimea and the 1876 Bulgarian Crisis events of Eastern Question? Why was the perception of Turks in 1876 and Russians in 1853 negative in British public opinion? Why did the British governments submit to public pressure during both incidents?