The Ottoman massacres of the Bulgarians in the lead up to the Russo-Turkish War of 1877 were also widely reported on and caused outrage across Europe. Disraeli, an ardent believer in real politik, tried to calm some of these tempers and even tried to support the Ottomans diplomatically because he feared that a Russian attack would leave the Tsar's in control of the Bosporus Straits. For this Gladstone, tore into him and made Disraeli's position untenable.

Similarly, the first Opium War was widely condemned by the liberal press in Britain, as well as the opposition. Not that that did much good for China in the long run...