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90-641: Emperor Nicholas I of the Russian Empire is considered to be the first to use the term "Sick Man" to describe the Ottoman Empire in the mid-19th century. The characterization existed during the " Eastern question " in diplomatic history, which also referred to the decline of the Ottoman Empire in terms of the balance of power in Europe . After the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in

180-597: A basis for judgment on foreign affairs. They were initially created through one of three paths: by command of the Crown , by order of the House , or in response to an address in the House of Commons or Lords . Pressure was sometimes brought to bear, and papers might be published, which otherwise might not have been. Blue Books were bound and published since the days of Foreign Secretary George Canning . Bound Blue Book sets of

270-528: A consultation of the Senate together with the Holy Synod accepted the intention, to his majesty, in the testimony of a proper gratitude for his high grace and paternalism and effort which he for the welfare of state in all his glorious time of ruling and especially during the past Swedish War, deigned to manifest, and all-Russian state in such a strong and good fortune, and his people subjected to such fame over

360-502: A government might be embarrassed by leaks from foreign sources, or publications from them; but they gave back as good as they got. By 1880 there were some informal rules, and foreign countries were consulted before publishing things that affected them. This prevented them from being used as instruments of policy, as under Canning or Palmerston. After 1885 the situation altered again, there was less pressure from Parliament, fewer party-based papers, and almost all publications were ordered by

450-577: A large number of them, especially during the Russell Foreign Ministry incumbency (1859–1865). Foreign Secretaries under P.M. William Gladstone (three incumbencies between 1868 and 1886) also issued many Blue Books, but were more restrained; a large number were issued about the Eastern Question . Publication meant that not only parliament and the public got to see them, but foreign powers got to see them as well. Sometimes

540-480: A true treasure trove of historical insights into the great crisis". The German White Book ( German : Das Deutsche Weißbuch ) was a publication by the German government of 1914 documenting their claims for the causes of World War I. The British institution of political blue books with official publications of diplomatic documents found its way to Germany relatively late. There was a lively debate about whether it

630-665: The Austro-Hungarian Red Book , the Belgian Grey Book , and the Serbian Blue Book . World War I color books attempted to cast the issuing country in a good light, and enemy countries in a poor light via numerous means including omission, selective inclusion, changes in the sequence of (undated) documents presented in order to imply certain documents appeared earlier or later than they actually did, or outright falsification. A mistake in

720-565: The 2008 Greek riots , rising unemployment , and political corruption . In spring 2011, Eurozine suggested that the European Union was the "sick man of Europe" by entitling an event focusing on the Eurozone crisis , "The EU: the real sick man of Europe?" In 2015 and 2016, Finland was called the "sick man of Europe" due to its recession and lacklustre growth, in a time when virtually all other European countries had recovered from

810-754: The COVID-19 pandemic and the loss of access to inexpensive energy resulting from the Nord Stream pipelines sabotage . This has been demonstrated by Germany having the lowest GDP growth amongst the large G7 industrialised economies compared to the pre-pandemic level. Russian Tsar Nicholas I ( r.  1825–1855 ), seeking to expand into parts of the Ottoman Empire during the Eastern Question , had described Turkey as "sick" or "sick man" during his meeting with Austrian chancellor Metternich ( in office 1809–1848 ) in Münchengrätz , two months after

900-549: The Great Northern War (1700–1721) and appeared as an adaptation of the tsar 's title under the accepted system of titling in Europe. The title was transformed from the previous title of tsar and grand prince of all Russia . The old title tsar (or tsaritsa ) continued to be popularly used to refer to the emperor (or empress) until the monarchy was abolished in 1917. Article 1 of the Fundamental Laws of

990-721: The Great Recession . Emperor of all the Russias The emperor and autocrat of all Russia ( Russian : Император и Самодержец Всероссийский , romanized :  Imperator i Samoderzhets Vserossiyskiy , IPA: [ɪm⁽ʲ⁾pʲɪˈratər ɪ səmɐˈdʲerʐɨt͡s fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskʲɪj] ), also translated as emperor and autocrat of all the Russias , was the official title of the Russian monarch from 1721 to 1917. The title originated in connection with Russia's victory in

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1080-717: The Treaty of Hünkâr İskelesi in September 1833. In his own writing, Metternich said he had argued against this characterization. Conventionally, foreign minister Metternich was opposed to the characterization of the Ottoman Empire as "sick man of the Bosphorus " because this could lead to his country, the Austrian Empire , becoming the "sick man of the Danube". Other historians, evaluating the conservative " Holy Alliance " of

1170-612: The Winter of Discontent – including having to seek loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Since the mid-2010s and into the 2020s, the term being used for Britain began to see a resurgence after Brexit , a cost-of-living crisis and industrial disputes and strikes becoming more commonplace. As of 2024, Germany is most commonly referred to as the 'Sick Man of Europe' due to its consistently stagnant economy and in particular, its industrial base, since

1260-618: The Yellow Book , or presented out of order to confuse or mislead the sequence in which events occurred. She concluded, The documents will not change existing views to any great extent. They will not establish the innocence of France in the minds of Germans. On the other hand, the French will be able to find in them a justification of the policy they pursued in July 1914; and in spite of Herr Hitler's recent declaration repudiating Article 231 of

1350-510: The bear is dying … you may give him musk but even musk will not long keep him alive." Christopher de Bellaigue argued that neither Nicholas nor Seymour completed the epithet with the prepositional phrase "of Europe". The first appearance of the phrase "sick man of Europe" appears in The New York Times (12 May 1860): The condition of Austria at the present moment is not less threatening in itself, though less alarming for

1440-406: The grand princes of Moscow had been crowned prior to the reign of Ivan III ( r.  1462–1505 ), their coronation rituals assumed overt Byzantine overtones as the result of the influence of Ivan's wife Sophia Paleologue , and the imperial ambitions of his grandson, Ivan IV . The modern coronation style, introducing "European-style" elements, replaced the previous "crowning" ceremony and

1530-486: The northern countries Master; and Lord of Iberia , Kartli , and Kabardia lands and Armenian provinces ; hereditary Sovereign and ruler of the Circassian and Mountainous Princes and of others; Lord of Turkestan ; Heir of Norway ; Duke of Schleswig - Holstein , Stormarn , Dithmarschen , and Oldenburg , and others, and others, and others. The tsar himself, the embodiment of sovereign authority, stood at

1620-417: The third Wilson/Callaghan ministry due to industrial strife and poor economic performance compared with other European countries. Some observers consider this era to have started with the devaluation of the pound in 1967, culminating with the so-called Winter of Discontent of 1978–79. At different points throughout the decade, numerous countries such as Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, and Greece were cited by

1710-541: The "sick men" of Europe or the Old World . During the 1950s, France was characterized as the "sick man of Europe", due to a combination of economic issues and a fading optimism since the country was reestablished after World War II . In 1953, Paul Reynaud described France as such to the National Assembly . A 2007 report by Morgan Stanley referred to France as the "new sick man of Europe". This label

1800-441: The 'sick man of Europe' once again, it must now courageously turn its attention to the growth sectors of tomorrow instead of fearfully spending billions to preserve yesterday's energy-intensive industries." In 1972, PSDI politician Luigi Preti wrote a book titled Sick Italy ( Italia malata ). In it, he says that Italy was at risk of becoming "the sick man of Europe who has proved unable to keep in step as soon as he reached

1890-574: The American business press as being "on the verge of sickness" as well. In the summer of 2017, the United Kingdom was again referred to as the "sick man of Europe" due to the immediate impact of the EU referendum results . The term was used frequently by the early 2020s with regards to the economic effects of Brexit , ongoing industrial action in the public sector, leadership turmoil within

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1980-783: The British Blue Book conclusively establish responsibility on Germany and Austria for the war. Study of the Serbian role in the war was slowed by delays in publication of the Serbian Blue Book . Some began to become available in the mid-1970s. The two Belgian Gray Books came out after the Russian Orange Book and Serbian Blue Book. The second was issued in 1915. The French Yellow Book ( Livre Jaune ), completed after three months of work, contained 164 documents and came out on 1 December 1914. Unlike

2070-629: The Conservative party, and the cost of living crisis . As of June 2023, the label is still frequently applied to the United Kingdom as inflation and price increases continue to generate economic uncertainty within the country. The term was also more literally applied during the COVID-19 pandemic after a new strain of coronavirus, the Alpha variant , led to a number of countries closing their borders to UK air travel. Swedish Diplomat and former Prime Minister Carl Bildt once referred to Serbia under

2160-448: The Crown. Around the close of the century and beginning of the next, there was less disclosure of documents and less pressure from MPs and the public, and ministers became more restrained and secretive, for example with Sir Edward Grey , in the run-up to World War I. Penson & Temperley said, "As Parliament became more democratic its control over foreign policy declined, and, while Blue Books on domestic affairs expanded and multiplied at

2250-765: The European governments. The German White Book, on the other hand, contains few despatches, and these only as illustrations of points made in an exhaustive argument. Such a presentation can be convincing only if one has confidence in the honesty of the author. There can be no doubt that as a source book for study the British Parliamentary Papers are superior to the German Papers, but even the British Papers are not, as many people have wished to believe, complete and do not, therefore, offer

2340-416: The House of Commons are readily available; Lords less so. Documents were often printed on large sheets of white paper, loosely bound, called White Papers , and were presented to the House of Commons or Lords, often unbound and undated. This lack of date would sometimes become problematic later for historians attempting to follow the historical record, and depended on further research to sort it out. Some of

2430-903: The Italian Green Book was approved by the Royal Italian Embassy. The New York Times undertook the republication of the full text of numerous color books in English translation, including the Green Book, which was translated for the newspaper. In addition, the Times published the British Blue Book, the German White Book, the Russian Orange Book, the Gray Book of Belgium, the Yellow Book of France, and

2520-580: The Red Book of Austria-Hungary. The British Blue Book has the oldest history, going back at least as far as 1633. In the early 17th century, blue books first came into use in England as a means of publishing diplomatic correspondence and reports. They were so named due to their blue cover. They were widely used in England in the 19th century. In World War I , the British Blue Book was

2610-532: The Representatives of the people "collected documents" containing the information on which the Government has shaped its foreign policy. In Great Britain these documents are often printed on large sheets of white paper, loosely bound, called "White Papers." If the documents are very important, they are later reprinted in pamphlet form, and are then called by the color of their cover, "Blue Books." At

2700-1209: The Russian Empire stated that "the Emperor of All Russia is an autocratic and unrestricted monarch. To obey his supreme authority, not only out of fear but out of conscience as well, God himself commands ". The full title of the emperor in the 20th century (Art. 37 of the Fundamental Laws) was: By the Grace of God, We, NN, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias , Moscow , Kiev , Vladimir , Novgorod ; Tsar of Kazan , Tsar of Astrakhan , Tsar of Poland , Tsar of Siberia , Tsar of Chersonese Taurian , Tsar of Georgia ; Lord of Pskov and Grand Prince of Smolensk , Lithuania , Volhynia , Podolia , Finland ; Prince of Estland , Livland , Courland , Semigalia , Samogitia , Belostok , Karelia , Tver , Yugra , Perm , Vyatka , Bolgar and others; Lord and Grand Prince of Nizhny Novgorod , Chernigov , Ryazan , Polotsk , Rostov , Yaroslavl , Beloozero , Udoria , Obdoria , Kondia , Vitebsk , Mstislav , and all of

2790-791: The Russian monarch, followed by the Kingdom of Sweden in 1723, the Ottoman Empire in 1739, the United Kingdom and Austria in 1742, the Holy Roman Empire , the Kingdom of France and Spain in 1745, and finally the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1764. From then on, the Russian state was referred to as the Russian Empire . On February 16, 1722, Peter I issued the Decree of Succession by which he abolished

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2880-661: The Treaty of Versailles, they will continue, on the basis of these documents, to hold Germany primarily responsible for the Great War. In the German White Book , anything that could benefit the Russian position was redacted. The Austrian Red Book (or Austro-Hungarian Red Book ) goes back at least to the 19th century. An 1868 version was printed in London, and included cables and other diplomatic correspondence during

2970-633: The United States using red, Mexico: orange, and various countries in Central and South America using other colors; it even spread as far as China (yellow) and Japan (gray). The 19th century was a period of great development and activity for Blue Books which were published in large numbers in Great Britain under numerous foreign secretaries. In theory, their purpose was to give Parliament the info it needed (and sometimes demanded) to provide

3060-520: The World as We Know It . In the aftermath of the Wagner Group rebellion during the Russian invasion of Ukraine (and Vladimir Putin 's perceived weakness in confronting it), political scientist Aleksandar Đokić said in 2023 that the "sick man of Europe" moniker "seem[ed] fitting for Putin’s Russia". While acknowledging the term itself to be simplistic, Đokić stated that: "The poetic justice of

3150-676: The Yellow Book was ruined, and historians avoided using it. In her essay for the April 1937 issue of Foreign Affairs, Bernadotte E. Schmitt examined recently published diplomatic correspondence in the Documents Diplomatiques Français and compared it to the documents in the French Yellow Book published in 1914, concluding that the Yellow Book "was neither complete nor entirely reliable" and went into some detail in examining documents either missing from

3240-621: The assassination and on 23 July sent Serbia an ultimatum intended to provoke a war. This led to Austria partially mobilizing, followed by Russia doing the same in support of Serbia. Austria declared war on Serbia on 28 July, and a series of partial mobilizations and diplomatic warnings followed, including Germany demanding Russia's demobilization, and warning France to remain neutral rather than come to Russia's aid. After various messages back and forth, misunderstandings, and erroneous assumptions about what other countries might do, Germany invaded Luxembourg and Belgium on 3–4 August, and Britain entered

3330-550: The autocracy included writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky , Mikhail Katkov , Konstantin Aksakov , Nikolay Karamzin , Konstantin Pobedonostsev and Pyotr Semyonov . They all argued that a strong and prosperous Russia needed a strong tsar and that philosophies of republicanism and liberal democracy were alien to it. Peter I realized the need to secure the position of Russia within the European states system, including

3420-618: The beginning of August under the title, Great Britain and the European Crisis . This version contained the same 159 items from the first one, plus two more from the British embassies in Vienna and Berlin , after the outbreak of the war. Although incomplete (e.g., files on the English promises of aid to France, and on German concessions and proposals are not included), it is the richest of the color books and "despite its gaps, constitutes

3510-493: The book tantamount to government-issued propaganda. The terms for individual color books such as the British blue book go back centuries and other individual color books were common in the 19th century and especially during World War I. The collective term color book appears less frequently, and later. In German, "Rainbow book" (" Regenbogenbuch ") is seen in 1915, and "color book" (" Farbbuch ") in 1928. Attestations of color book in English go back to at least 1940 and

3600-554: The center of the tsarist autocracy, with full power over the state and its people. The autocrat delegated power to persons and institutions acting on his orders, and within the limits of his laws, for the common good of all Russia. The tsar was metaphorically a father and all of his subjects were his children; this metaphor even appeared in Orthodox primers , and is remembered in the common Russian expression "царь-батюшка" tsar-batyushka ("tsar-dear father"). Furthermore, contrary to

3690-429: The century than others, but a lot was always omitted, and texts were abridged. These were sometimes flagged in the text by the word 'Extract', but that did not give any sense of scale or what was cut. George Canning's tenure (1807–1809) stood out, as having designed a new system. Canning used it to get public support for his positions, for example, regarding South America. Robert Stewart ( Lord Castelreagh (1812–1822))

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3780-588: The compilation of the 1914 British Blue Book went unattended, and left the book vulnerable to attack by German propagandists. This unrectified mistake then led to certain details falsification in the French Yellow Book, which had copied them verbatim from the Blue Book. German propagandists called the Yellow Book a vast "collection of falsifications". France was accused of having given its unconditional support to Russia. Germany tried to show that it

3870-492: The continuation of leadership. Color book#British Blue Book In diplomatic history , a color book is an officially sanctioned collection of diplomatic correspondence and other documents published by a government for educational or political reasons, or to promote the government position on current or past events. The earliest were the British Blue Books, dating to the 17th century. In World War I , all

3960-556: The country's approach to economic reform, The Daily Telegraph also used the term to describe Italy, as did a CNBC op-ed in 2020. The Russian Empire in 1917 was described as the "Sick Man of Europe" in an edition of The New York Times from that year. In the 1917 article by Charles Richard Crane , the illness metaphor is used more directly, with the empire described as "Suffering From Overdose of Exaggerated Modernism in Socialist Reform Ideas", and "the danger for

4050-407: The desire to justify themselves before their own people. In America the British Blue Book won the greatest favor, not only because it became known first but also because of its inherent worth. Its despatches are well written, and sufficiently numerous to tell a consecutive story. The book is well printed, provided with indexes and cross references, and represents the most scholarly work done by any of

4140-445: The documents were reprinted and bound and known as "Blue Books" after the color of the covers. No other European state rivaled Great Britain in the number of Blue Book publications. Originally conceived of as a way to "meet the ebb and flow of public opinion", they were handled differently during different parts of the 19th century, under the influence of different Foreign Secretaries . Blue Books are more complete from some parts of

4230-453: The early 2000s, and as Germany slipped into recession in 2003. In contrast, a 2016 article by The Guardian described the German economy under Angela Merkel as a "revival" from the country's previous "sick man" status. However, when Germany was experiencing economic issues again in the 2020s, concerns about the "sick man" characterisation reemerged, with Kiel Institute President Moritz Schularick saying: "If Germany does not want to become

4320-497: The early 20th century, the term has been applied to other states. In modern usage, the term has faced criticism due to its origins and arguable over-usage. Throughout the 1960s to the 1980s, the term was also most notably used for the United Kingdom when it lost its superpower status as the Empire crumbled and its home islands experienced significant deindustrialization, coupled with high inflation and industrial unrest – such as

4410-607: The end of the nineteenth century, those on foreign affairs lessened both in number and in interest." There were still numerous publications, but less diplomatic correspondence, and lots of treaty texts. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914, led to a month of diplomatic maneuvering between Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, France and Britain, called the July Crisis . Austria-Hungary correctly believed that Serbian officials were involved in

4500-421: The fall will be a great misfortune. It is very important that England and Russia should come to a perfectly good understanding ... and that neither should take any decisive step of which the other is not apprized [ sic ]. And then, closer to the attributed phrase: We have a sick man on our hands, a man gravely ill, it will be a great misfortune if one of these days he slips through our hands, especially before

4590-468: The final emperor and empresses of Russia. The Russian Imperial regalia survived the subsequent Russian Revolution and the Soviet period, and are currently on exhibit at the Diamond Fund in the Kremlin Armoury . Nicholas II abdicated in favour of his brother, Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich , but the next day, after a nominal reign of only 18 hours, "Emperor Michael II" declined power, ending dynastic rule in Russia. See List of leaders of Russia for

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4680-441: The first milestone on the road to well‐being". In May 2005, this title was again attributed to Italy, with The Economist describing it as "the real sick man of Europe". This refers to Italy's structural and political difficulties thought to inhibit economic reforms to relaunch economic growth. In 2018, Italy was again referred to as the "sick man of Europe" following post-election deadlock. In 2008, in an opinion piece criticizing

4770-402: The imperialistic, orientalising and commonly overused term coming back to haunt its place of origin aside, Putin’s Russia has decidedly found itself in a military, economic, political, demographic, and even conceptual dead end." Throughout the late 1960s and 1970s, the United Kingdom was sometimes characterized as the "sick man of Europe", first by commentators, and later at home by critics of

4860-432: The importance of securing recognition from the Holy Roman Emperor of the equality of the titles of tsar and emperor. Following his victory at the Battle of Poltava , Peter I brought up the question of the title of emperor to the Viennese court. In 1717, Peter I defended his right to use the title of imperator , using the letter from Maximilian I to Vasily III to support his claim. The title of Emperor of all Russia

4950-405: The major powers had their own color book, such as the German White Book, the Austrian Red Book, Russian Orange Book, and more. Especially in wartime or times of crisis, color books have been used as a form of white propaganda to justify governmental action, or to assign blame to foreign actors. The choice of what documents to include, how to present them, and even what order to list them, can make

5040-411: The man is sick; it is very true; but your Majesty will deign to excuse me if I remark, that it is the part of the generous and strong man to treat with gentleness the sick and feeble man. Temperley then asserts, The 'sickliness' of Turkey obsessed Nicholas during his reign. What he really said was omitted in the Blue Book from a mistaken sense of decorum. He said not the 'sick man' but the "bear dies …

5130-410: The monarch must be anointed and crowned according to the Orthodox rite to have a successful tenure. As the church and state were essentially one in Imperial Russia, this service invested the tsars with political legitimacy; however, this was not its only intent. It was equally perceived as conferring a genuine spiritual benefit that mystically wedded sovereign to subjects, bestowing divine authority upon

5220-501: The movement for separation of church and state in West European monarchies, the Russian Empire combined monarchy with the supreme authority on religious issues (see Church reform of Peter I and caesaropapism for details). Another key feature related to patrimonialism . In Russia, the tsar owned a much higher proportion of the state (lands, enterprises, etc.) than did Western monarchs. The tsarist autocracy had many supporters within Russia. Major Russian advocates and theorists of

5310-440: The necessary arrangements are made. Different interpretations existed between the two countries on the "Eastern Question" by the time of the Crimean War. The British Ambassador G. H. Seymour agreed with Tsar Nicholas's diagnosis, but he very deferentially disagreed with the Tsar's recommended treatment of the patient; he responded, Your Majesty is so gracious that you will allow me to make one further observation. Your Majesty says

5400-444: The new ruler. As such, it was similar in purpose to other European coronation ceremonies from the medieval period. Even when the imperial capital was located at St. Petersburg (1713–1728, 1732–1917), Russian coronations were always held in Moscow at the Cathedral of the Dormition in the Kremlin . The last coronation service in Russia was held on 26 May 1896 for Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna , who would be

5490-421: The old custom of passing the throne to the direct descendants in the male line, but allowed the appointment of an heir through any decent person, at the will of the monarch. Coronations in the Russian Empire involved a highly developed religious ceremony in which the emperor was crowned and invested with regalia , then anointed with chrism and formally blessed by the church to commence his reign. Although

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5580-448: The others which were limited to the weeks before the start of the war, the Yellow Book included some documents from 1913, putting Germany in a bad light by shedding light on their mobilization for a European war. Some of the documents in the Yellow Book were challenged by Germany as not genuine, but their objections were mostly ignored, and the Yellow Book was widely cited as a resource in the July crisis of 1914 . It turned out after

5670-465: The outbreak of the World War in 1914 several Governments besides that of Great Britain issued pamphlets of collected documents, and these have become known, by the color of their respective bindings, as the German "White Book," the French "Yellow Book," the Russian "Orange Book," and so on. Following the previous customs of their respective countries the several Governments issued more or less exhaustive collections, and in each case were primarily guided by

5760-439: The outbreak of the war in February 1915 in the Austro-Hungarian Red Book, entitled: "K. and k. Ministry of Foreign Diplomatic Affairs on the Historical Background of the 1914 War". Simultaneously, the Austro-Hungarian government published a compact popular edition of the Red Book, which included an introduction, and translations into German of the few documents written in English or French. The Red Book contained 69 items and covered

5850-404: The patient lay in the fact that too many quacks and ignorant specialists were contending for the right to be admitted to the bedside and administer nostrums." Post-Soviet Russia has also been referred to as such in the 2007 book Kremlin Rising: Vladimir Putin's Russia and the End of Revolution by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser , and by Mark Steyn in his 2006 book America Alone: The End of

5940-463: The peace of the world, than was the condition of Turkey when the Tsar Nicholas invited England to draw up with him the last will and testament of the 'sick man of Europe.' It is, indeed, hardly within the range of probability that another twelvemonth should pass over the House of Habsburg without bringing upon the Austrian Empire a catastrophe unmatched in modern history since the downfall of Poland . The author of this article can be seen to be using

6030-432: The period 29 June to 24 August 1914. It is not clear why the Austro-Hungarian government let over six months of war elapse before it followed the example of the other powers. This was unlike the case of the delayed French Yellow Book, whose later publication meant that the French public had no files for judging the diplomatic events before the war. For Austria-Hungary, the war was primarily an Austrian-Serbian war, and there

6120-453: The period of the July crisis by Germany, Britain, and Austria, as well as some from Soviet archives, revealed some truths that the Yellow Book conveniently left out. In particular, was Yellow Book document #118, which showed a Russian mobilization in response to Austrian mobilization the day before on 30 July, but in fact, the order of mobilization was reversed; Russian mobilized first. After a contorted explanation by Quai d'Orsay , confidence in

6210-439: The reign of Emperor Franz Josef , and covering such topics as the Treaty of Prague , the Luxembourg Crisis , the Treaty of London (1867) , the Treaty of Vienna between Austria, France, and Italy in October 1866, five-power relations between Austria and France, England, Prussia, and Russia, as well as relations with the east (Greece, Serbia, Ottoman Empire ). Last among the great powers, Austria-Hungary published its files on

6300-404: The rule of Slobodan Milošević as a candidate for the new "sick man of Europe" in 1997. This is due to political instability in Yugoslavia and its former territories caused by Yugoslav Wars that rocked the Balkan region from 1991 until 2001. In 2007, The Economist described Portugal as "a new sick man of Europe". In July 2009, the pejorative was given by EurActiv to Greece in view of

6390-414: The second collection of national diplomatic documents about the war to appear; it came out just days after the German White Book. It contained 159 items and was submitted to Parliament before the session of 6 August 1914, after the British declaration of war on Germany . It appeared later in an expanded, and somewhat different version, and included an introduction and reports from parliamentary sessions in

6480-539: The second half of the century, Turkey began publishing its own version in red, and the concept of color books spread to other countries in Europe, with each country using one color: Germany using white; France: yellow; red: Austria-Hungary (Spain also used red later, as did the Soviet Union); Belgium: gray; Italy: green; and Netherlands (and Tsarist Russia): orange. This concept spread to the Americas as well, with

6570-473: The source of the quotation, which often relies on historical documents held or communicated personally. Historian Harold Temperley (1879–1939) gave the date for the first conversation as 9 January 1853, like Goldfrank. According to Temperley, Seymour in a private conversation had to push the Tsar to be more specific about the Ottoman Empire. Eventually, the Tsar stated, Turkey seems to be falling to pieces,

6660-637: The term to point to a second "sick man" of Europe, the Habsburg monarchy . Later, this view led the Allies in World War I to underestimate the Ottoman Empire, leading in part to the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign . However, the "sick man" eventually collapsed after defeat in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I . After the demise of the Ottoman Empire, writers have described many countries as

6750-505: The term was still new enough in 1951 to be enclosed in quotation marks. In the early 17th century, blue books first came into use in England as a means of publishing diplomatic correspondence and reports. They were so named, because of their blue cover. The Oxford English Dictionary first records such a usage in 1633. During the time of the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century, they were being published regularly. By

6840-489: The time, have seen Metternich's foreign policy as aligned with Nicholas, including the policy towards the Ottoman Empire. British statesman John Russell in 1853, in the run-up to the Crimean War , reported that Nicholas I of Russia described the Ottoman Empire as "a sick man—a very sick man", a "man who has fallen into a state of decrepitude", and a "sick man ... gravely ill". There has been some degree of debate about

6930-476: The war due to its 1839 treaty with Belgium . Europe was plunged into the Great War . As their armies began to clash, the opposing governments engaged in a media battle attempting to avoid blame for causing the war, and casting blame on other countries, through the publication of carefully selected documents, basically consisting of diplomatic exchanges. The German White Book appeared on 4 August 1914, and

7020-457: The war investigating the causes of World War I found that Germany had a large share of responsibility in triggering World War I, and cited the White Book as one example, in which about 75 percent of the documents presented in it were falsified. Translation of the color books into English was often performed or approved by the governments of origin; for example, the English translation of

7110-517: The war was over, that the Yellow Book was not complete, or entirely accurate. Historians who gained access to previously unpublished French material were able to use it in their report to the Senate entitled "Origins and responsibilities for the Great War" as did ex-President Raymond Poincaré . The conclusion set forth in the report of the 1919 French Peace Commission is illustrative of the two-pronged goals of blaming their opponents while justifying their own actions, as laid out in two sentences: The war

7200-529: The war's cause to other sources. There were many fewer dispatches in the White Book than in the British Blue Book, and those that were included were mostly to illustrate a point in the narrative of the White Book. The Russian Orange Book came out in mid-August. On 20 September 1914, the NY Times published excerpts. The article said that examination of the Russian Orange Book in conjunction with reports in

7290-573: The whole world through his unique ruling led, as that to all quite known, by the name of all the Russian people to ask, so graciously to accept, following the example of others, from them title: the Father of the Fatherland, the Emperor of All Russia, Peter the Great ... On November 2, 1721, Peter I accepted the title. The Dutch Republic and Kingdom of Prussia immediately recognized the new title of

7380-477: Was appropriate and necessary long before the first German one appeared, and also afterward among the German public, and especially in the state parliaments ( Landtag ). The full title was " The German White Book about the outbreak of the German-Russian-French war ". An authorized English translation appeared in 1914. The book contained extracts of diplomatic material intended to attribute

7470-406: Was first used for Catherine I in 1724. Since tsarist Russia claimed to be the " Third Rome " and the successor to Byzantium, the Russian rite was designed to link its rulers and prerogatives to those of the so-called " Second Rome " ( Constantinople ). While months or even years could pass between the initial accession of the sovereign and the performance of this ritual, church policy held that

7560-557: Was forced into general mobilization by that of Russia, which in turn, blamed Austria-Hungary. The Allied documents on the circumstances of the declaration of war, as well as the war crimes committed by the German army, constituted the basis on which the Allies would rely in 1919 to formulate Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles assigning the exclusive responsibility for the outbreak of the war to Germany and Austria-Hungary. A report to parliament by German jurist Hermann Kantorowicz after

7650-579: Was introduced for Peter the Great . After his victory in the Great Northern War and the signing the Treaty of Nystad in September 1721, the Senate and Synod decided to award Peter with the title of Emperor of all Russia with the following statement: "in the manner of the Roman Senate for the noble cause of emperors such titles publicly given them as a gift and into statues for the everlasting generations inscribed". On this 20th day of October, after

7740-576: Was never any lack of documents about it from the outset. Other color books were used in other countries, including: Edmund von Mach 's 1916 "Official Diplomatic Documents Relating to the Outbreak of the European War" gives the following introduction to the color books of World War I: In constitutionally governed countries it is customary for the Executive at important times to lay before

7830-539: Was premeditated by the Central Powers, as well as by their Allies Turkey and Bulgaria, and is the result of acts deliberately committed with the intention of making it inevitable. Germany, in concordance with Austria-Hungary, worked deliberately to have the many conciliatory proposals of the Entente Powers set aside, and their efforts to avoid war nullified. Later, publication of complete archives from

7920-568: Was reaffirmed in January 2014 by European newspapers such as The Guardian and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . They justified this with France's high unemployment, weak economic growth and poor industrial output. In the late 1990s, Germany was often labeled with this term because of its economic problems, especially due to the costs of German reunification after 1990, which were estimated to amount to over €1.5 trillion (statement of Freie Universität Berlin ). It continued to be used in

8010-594: Was the first such book to come out. It contains 36 documents. Within a week, most other combatant countries had published their own book, each named with a different color name. France held off until 1 December 1914, when they finally published their Yellow Book . Other combatants in the war published similar books: the Blue Book of Britain , the Orange Book of Russia , the Yellow Book of France , and

8100-424: Was the pivot point between the early years when the government might refuse to publish certain papers, and the later period when it was not able to do that anymore. Henry Templeton ( Lord Palmerston three incumbencies in the 1830s and 1840s) was unable to refuse the demands of the House of Commons, as Canning had done. Later, when he rose to Prime Minister, Palmerston embodied the "Golden Age" of Blue Books, publishing

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