LordKalvert-
It was widely debated in Austria- Franz Ferdinand, Beck and Aerenthal recommended it during the Armenian crises of 1894-96 for example. The Germans urged it as well- telling the Austrians that Stamboul isn't worth a war
but wasn't this the same Armenian crisis where it was the British leading the charge against the Ottomans with only the Italians willing to follow, with the Russia, Austrians, Germans and French all opposed to dismantling the OE at this time?
Lord Kalvert-
If the Austrians join in with Russia, the Turks are likely to throw down their arms and run in mortal terror
The likely division of the spoils would be that Austria gets Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and Salonika. The Russians get Bulgaria and the Black Sea coast. Constantinople and the Straits.
Romania is probably allowed to keep its independence
This really works if the Austrians decide they want their Italian lands back
I'm not quite sure how the bolded final sentence in your post from February 18th, 2015 09:20 AM necessarily follows from the sentences above it.
General Finley, that's definitely an intriguing post you left:
Salisbury is an odd fellow, one minute he's pledging to support the Turks against the Russians, the next he is talking about sending warships up the Tigris and the Euphrates and dismantling the the Ottomans completely. If the Austrians join the war, I'm inclined to think that he'd probably sell the Turks out for Iraq. [was Salibury making policy yet in the 1870s or was it still Disraeli? - RH] This isn't 1853, Germany won't lift a figure to help the British [help the British against the Russians in the 1870s you mean, right?], the Italians are to weak (even if they will be pissed over the conquest of Albania), and the French aren't in any position to act. Salisbury won't be happy about the Russians getting Tsargrad, but he'll probably see that taking on the Russians, Austrians, and possibly even Germans isn't in the UK's best interests and secure Mesopotamia for the empire. Maybe you end up getting and Antioch to Calcutta railroad.
So it sounds like your thinking above is a speculation on the 1870s war mentioned in the OP, and not during the 1890s Armenian crisis, or am I wrong about that?
The partition you're describing has three parts so far: Russians getting the straits, Austrians getting the western Balkans (including Albania), British getting Mesopotamia. The Germans presumably are not getting anything and the Italians are pissed Austria is getting Albania. Is that as far as to goes or were you seeing British control of Mesopotamia reach into the northern Levant (Antioch) or the southern Levant (Palestine). I wonder if you envisioned Greater Armenia (eastern Anatolia) Levant and Tripoli remaining under Ottoman control, or those areas also being partitioned at the same time as Mesopotamia and the Balkans, possibly by some combination of the British, French and Italians?