Crises of Identity (1): Nature of State and Nationalism/s · liberty and equality, within framework of autocratic government - contained ‘germ’ of constitutional monarchy Tanzimat

Crises of Identity (1):Nature of State and Nationalism/s

Increased bureaucracy: - 2,000 c.1800- 35,000 1908- Reflected growing control by state of public works, health, education - linked to changes in economy (next week)

Changing Nature of State

- also linked to attempt to reduce power of ‘private’ influence (ulema, new elite, janissaries)- Shift to recruiting those with European knowledge, training, languages- led to series of conflicts and reforms


Selim III:- 1821 set up Translation Bureau - Ottomans trained in Foreign Languages - reduced dependence on dragomans:Greek, Armenian families, multi-lingual, traditionally translated for court- Translators exercised power (politics, commerce)


- Translation Bureau starting point for ambitious ‘civil servants’

- French acquired special prominence (among European languages)

- synonymous with ‘modernization’- Muslim, non-Muslim students accepted: all

part of ‘new elite’


• 1829-1835: Ottomans let down by armies

- ‘new diplomacy’ seen as answer- 1834 apparatus set up for establishment permanent embassies abroad- all major cities Europe, Russia, Persia (even America)


Balance between interests in West (Europe) and East (Persia, Central Asia) shifted:- European languages (especially French) took priority over Persian- sought-after posts in Europe- Foreign Ministry most desirable posting- three Grand Viziers from critical ‘TanzimatReform’ (below) began careers here


Mahmud II (1808-39) began reforms: - ministries with set duties, regular salaries- legislative bodies - registers of population- centrally-controlled army- Istanbul-based postal system

Defeat of the Janissaries

Difficulty implementing”- too few men- too little training- too many ‘older’ bureaucrats with vested interests- too much resentment of Europe

Reforms successfully implemented usually led by young men with European education


Mahmud building up special army, artillery corpsamong Janissaries- Selim III attempted major overhaul, virtually establishing new army trained by Europeans, fighting like Europeans – successful in Battle Acre against French 1799- seen as threat by janissaries


1807 janissaries revolted:- Selim forced to back down- deposed- Mahmud tread more carefully- policy successful- June 4 1826 new army formed from best of janissaries - Again, janissaries revolted (some say incited to)


19th C Images: Janissaries

Street mobs loyal to sultan forced janissaries in Istanbul back to barracks- surrounded, attacked by Mahmud's artillery- set fire to barracks- Janissaries inside killed


Repeated throughout Provinces: - Mahmud had loyal troops carefully distributed, expecting revolt- All those associated with janissaries (dervishes, clerics, guild members) killed or banished- Fall of Janissaries beginning of radical reform of Empire

[see “Destruction of the Janissaries”, in ‘Additional Readings’]


Sultan Abdul Mejid (1839-61):- November 3 1839 gathered notables of Empire - foreign minister read statement known as the "noble rescript" or the ‘Rose Chamber Decree’ (where it was read)- February 18, 1856, another statement issued --the "imperial rescript“

Tanzimat Reforms

- Both issued under pressure:- internal, responding to conditions arising from 18th problems- also to appease European Governments

Tanzimat Reforms

Tanzimat:- a "palace revolution" that strengthened the bureaucrats in power- attempt to incorporate ideas about individual liberty and equality, within framework of autocratic government- contained ‘germ’ of constitutional monarchy

Tanzimat Reforms (cont.)

Rescript 1856:- specifically dealt with equalizing Muslims and non-Muslims - reforms to taxation, military conscription, education - extended rights and privileges of Muslims to non-Muslims


Debate:- what was real impetus for, consequences of Tanzimat Reforms?- to what degree internal responses to internal problems?- to what degree externally ‘forced’ by (and for) Europe?

[see “Tanzimat ”, in Additional Readings]


Reforms provoked criticism:- changes as un-Islamic- undercut traditional social relations - alternately: did not go far enough - wanted greater popular participation in government- led to emergence ‘Young Ottomans’ (1860s) calling for reforms including constitution


Tanzimat both reflected and influenced:- changing role millets in empire - growing role of Muslims in military- impact on relations between Muslims, non-Muslims- tensions between ethnicity, religion, ideas of ‘nationalism’

The Issues of ‘nationalism’

1820s:- Armenians scattered Caucuses, Eastern Anatolia- territories disputed Russia, Persia, Ottomans

1828:- Russia defeated Persia, annexed Erivan- heart of today’s Armenia created - Turkish Muslims expelled

Russia, Armenia, the Caucuses

Tsarist regime:- established peace- fostered commerce, industry- generated urban growth- invested in railroads- region prospered - Turkish expulsion left 1000s with nothing

Russia, Armenia, the Caucuses

Russian ‘imperialism’ left legacy:- hatred between Turks, Armenians in region- Armenians well represented in Ottoman cities (merchants, financiers)-1863 Constitution recognizing special rights -1894-6 violence leading to massacres “unparalleled in ferocity and scope” [Quataert]

Russia, Armenia and the Caucuses

Armenians (18th C.)

Treaty of Berlin (1878):- assigned Kars, Adahan, Batumi region to Russia- another influx Turkish Muslims- intensifying ethnic tensions peoples of Caucuses region, refugees and local communities

Russia, Armenia and the Caucuses

Nationalist ideals stronger European regions:- ‘Turks’ (remnants Ottoman ‘imperialism’) resented, feared- First Balkan rising in Greece, 1821- among Greeks, many educated, wealthy –benefiting from position in Ottoman empire - no desire to lose what they had- Greek Orthodox clergy had power, wealth

Greek Independence

Religion (not language, residence), distinguished wealthy Orthodox Greeks from Muslim Ottomans: - some Anatolian Greeks did not speak Greek -"Greece" not a definable place: - half of 4 million Greeks in modern mainland Greece- 2 million scattered towns along coast Anatolia, Black Sea, Mediterranean.

Greek Independence

GreeksOrthodox Patriarch,Women,Musician (18th C.)

Why? Who were instigators of Rebellion?- if majority would have been content to remain

in empire why battles for independence?- many doing well, especially in commerce, shipping - but they were also people with strong ties to Europe, aware of ideas, possibilities- influenced by French Revolution - ideas of more political voice

Greek Independence

Leaders:- members ‘secret society’ founded Odessa 1814- son Greek fur trader living in Moscow, also lived in Paris- merchant Odessa belonged to anti-Turkish society- merchant Ionian Islands, links to National Guard (created by British during occupation)

Greek Independence

Occupation, links to ‘outside world’ -- typical of those who organized rebellion in exile:

153 merchants, shippers60 notables36 soldiers24 priests23 minor officials22 teachers/students30 ‘professionals’

Greek Independence

Russian ‘ties’ among leaders -- Little ‘nationalism’:

- planned uprising Romania failed- locals ignored Turks (supposed target) - attacked local notables (including Greeks with property)

Greek Independence

Class divisions among Istanbul Greeks undermined uprising: - Orthodox Patriarch hanged- new church leader, notables condemned revolt

Only ‘success’ in south: - local leaders joined in fear- Turkish towns destroyed, Turks massacred- Turks retaliated with bloodbath

Greek Independence

[ George Finlay, contemporary account]

“In the meantime the Christian population had attacked and murdered the Mussulman population in every part of

the peninsula. The towers and country homes of the Mussulmans were burned down, and their property was

destroyed, in order to render the return of those who had escaped into the fortresses hopeless. From the 26th of

March until Easter Sunday, which fell, in the year 1821, on the 22nd of April, it is supposed that fifteen thousand [Muslims] souls perished in cold blood and that about

three thousand farmhouses or Turkish dwellings were laid waste."

Greek Independence

[from McCarthy, The Ottoman Turks, pp. 327-9]

Greek Independence

Greek Independence

‘Independence struggle’ continued:

- stalemate in south until 1825- Armed peasants’ interests clashed with those of wealthy assembly members- those in shipping, commerce - civil war 1823

Greek Independence

Threatened interests ‘Great Powers’:

- conflicting concerns:-potential for more influence if movement

successfulbut

- feared what it would mean for Ottoman stability, geo-political concerns

Greek Independence

In Europe:- Greek revolt aroused sympathy among public- Britain backed insurrection 1823, Ottoman weakness clear- Greece was viewed as ‘cradle of western civilization’- romantically portrayed as Christians casting off rule of decaying Muslim Empire also found favour amongst the western European public.

Greek Independence

Lord Byron:- spent time in Albania, Greece- organised funds, supplies (including provision several ships)- died from fever in Greece, 1824- Byron's death did added to European sympathy for Greek cause- eventually led Western powers to intervene directly.

Greek Independence

The mountains look on Marathon --And Marathon looks on the sea;And musing there an hour alone,I dream'd that Greece might yet be freeFor, standing on the Persians' grave,I could not deem myself a slave....Must we but weep o'er days more blest?Must we but blush? -- Our fathers bled.Earth! render back from out thy breastA remnant of our Spartan dead!Of the three hundred grant but three,To make a new Thermopylae.

[Byron]

Greek Independence

Massacre at Chios [Delacroix]

Liberty Leading the People [Delacroix]

1825:- Turkey engaged Mehmet Ali (Egypt)- modern navy, army invaded successfully

1827;- Great Powers sent fleet to defeat Mehmet Ali,- mediated peace, destroyed Egypt’s navy

1828-30:- Russia invaded Turkey- Istanbul threatened, Turkey submitted

Greek Independence

1828:- small state (800,000) created- ruled by former minister 1831:

- assassinated by local aristocracy

Greek Independence

1832:-”London Protocol” created small ‘independent’ Greek kingdom - ruled by German prince- acceptable to all three Powers- Greece the first to successfully withdraw from Ottoman Empire

Greek Independence

Images of the War(Ottomans, above;Greeks, right &next slide)

Greek Independence

Ruled as monarchy until 1844 when conservative constitution put in place:- Conservative elite/oligarchy increased power- intermediary of Sultan no longer present- Turkish property gradually redistributed to Greek peasants- most had some land by 1870

Greek Independence

Dissatisfaction with government:- army coups 1843 (forcing constitution)- 1862-4 (became integral part Greek politics)- Many Greeks remained part of Ottoman empire

Greek Independence

Serbians revolt 1804, 1816:-1829 granted autonomy “tributary principality”- Russia continued to support Serbian, Montenegran demands for independence- expulsion Muslims continued- Serbia, Montenegro sought absorption Ottoman province Bosnia-Hersegovina- territory 50% Muslim (rest Serbian Orthodox, Croatian Catholic)

Serbian-Bulgarian Independence


1875:- Serbs in Bosnia rebelled- rebellion bloody, put down by Ottoman army

1876:- Bulgarian nationalists rebelled- 1000 Turkish peasants killed first days of rebellion


- Army occupied territory- local Turks, Circasians,Tatars armed to help put down rebellion- 3,000-12,000 Christians killed before rebellion over


1877-78, Russians intervened: - local Bulgarian revolutionaries, peasants sought revenge, land- ‘agents’ (Cossaks, army officers) sent in to provoke uprisings


[from McCarthy]:

“In a typical Turkish village, Cossacks would disarm the villagers, then surround the village and shoot all but a few who tried to escape. Hemmed in, the Turks were attacked by Bulgarians, who murdered the inhabitants... The scenes recorded by European diplomats equal any pictures of inhumanity and horror in history.... “


Congress of Berlin (1878):- acknowledged Russian victories- ‘Great Powers’ dictated terms- Bulgaria --‘autonomous and tributary principality’ within Ottoman territory: Christian government


Bosnia-Herzogovina: - occupied, administered by Austria-Hungary- Kosovo remained under Ottoman rule- details ‘joint administration’ negotiated

Serbia:- granted independence- detailed stipulations freedom of religion, access to rights


Treaty of Berlin:- addresses issues of religion, ‘equality’[see Articles XXV (Serbia), XLIV (Romania), LXII (“The Sublime Porte”) in “Treaty of Berlin”, Additional Readings]

- many Muslims refugees who returned to homes in what became Russian territories or ‘independent’ states like Bulgaria were murdered or enslaved


[Quataert] “states preceded nations” in age of nationalism:- religious struggles underlying ‘ethnic’ and ‘nationalist’ struggles (eg. Greece)- foreign powers – Russia but also Britain, France, Germany, Italy -- played roles- undermine simplistic view ‘Nationalism’tearing apart empire, importing ‘nationalist’ ideas

Nations or States?

Documents

Crises of Identity (1): Nature of State and Nationalism/s · liberty and equality, within framework of autocratic government - contained ‘germ’ of constitutional monarchy Tanzimat