Early difficulties in creating a coherent Radical group convinced Chamberlain of the need to establish a more effective organisation for the Liberal Party as a whole, especially in the localities. Chamberlain hoped to harness the public agitation against Turkey's Bulgarian atrocities for a Radical agenda. Chamberlain closed ranks with Gladstone to profit from the returned Liberal leader's increasing popularity. With the Liberal Party actively opposing Disraeli's foreign policy during the Russo-Turkish War, Gladstone addressed approximately 30,000 people at Bingley Hall on 31 May 1877 to found the National Liberal Federation, a federation of the country's Liberal Associations. The body was dominated by Birmingham politicians, with Chamberlain himself as president. The Federation was designed to tighten party discipline and campaigning, and it subsequently enlisted new party members, organised political meetings and published posters and pamphlets. Contemporary commentators made (often disparaging) comparisons between the techniques of the Federation and those employed in American politics. The Federation enhanced Chamberlain's influence in the Liberal Party and gave him a nationwide platform to promote Radicalism.