Description
Book SynopsisThe effect of Western influence on the later Ottoman Empire and on the development of the modern Turkish nation-state links these twelve essays by a prominent American scholar.
Trade Review'Roderic Davison is the dean of Ottoman diplomatic historians who, for a full four decades, has set high standards of excellence.' Donald Quataert, associate professor of history, State University of New York at Binghamton
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1. The Turks in History: A capsule account of Turkish origins and of the rise, height, decline, and reform of the Ottoman Empire, to the rise of the Republic.
- 2. “Russian Skill and Turkish Imbecility”: The Treaty of Kuchuk Kainardji Reconsidered: The Ottoman-Russian treaty of 1774, allowing Russia great commercial and diplomatic privileges and a dubious “right” to protect Christians in Ottoman domains.
- 3. The “Dosografa” Church in the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca: On the nature of the Christian church that the 1774 treaty allowed the Russians to build in Istanbul, and to protect. And was it built?
- 4. The First Ottoman Experiment with Paper Money: Why and how the Sublime Porte, in 1840, issued treasury notes that became the first circulating paper money, and attendant problems.
- 5. Foreign and Environmental Contributions to the Political Modernization of Turkey: The influence of military defeat by outside powers, and of diplomatic pressure; the importance of foreign concepts and models; channels for new ideas.
- 6. The Advent of the Principle of Representation in the Government of the Ottoman Empire: How representation of the people in government organs began in 1840 on the provincial level and grew to affect the central government, especially with the constitution of 1876.
- 7. Turkish Attitudes Concerning Christian-Muslim Equality in the Nineteenth Century: The advent of an official policy of egalitarian and secular Ottomanism; the views of leading statesmen on Christian equality, and popular attitudes.
- 8. The Advent of the Electric Telegraph in the Ottoman Empire: How Morse’s invention was introduced at the time of the Crimean War, how the telegraph system expanded, and the effects of the new technology on Ottoman government and society.
- 9. Westernized Education in Ottoman Turkey: An assessment of the impact of foreign mission schools, Ottoman technical schools, and the new Ottoman secular educational beginnings, and study abroad.
- 10. The Armenian Crisis, 1912–1914: Russia raises for her own interests the question of reforms in eastern Anatolia where most Armenians lived; the machinations of all six great powers of Europe; the Porte and the powers find a temporary solution.
- 11. Turkish Diplomacy from Mudros to Lausanne: How the nationalist movement led by Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) dealt with outside powers, 1919 to 1923, trying to get rid of British, French, Italian, Greek, and Armenian occupation forces; success lays a basis for the Republic.
- 12. Atatürk’s Reforms: Back to the Roots: An analysis of the origins and background of many of the Turkish Republic’s basic political principles and practices, tracing them back to nineteenth-century developments in the period of Ottoman reform.
- Index
