Wilhelm II, Weltpolitik and Abdulhamid II

1998

Turks and the British have been friends, foes and allies for a long time. The transformation in the nature of their relationships depended on the ongoing changes in power relationships. The eighteenth century was an era of transition during which England became an empire while The Ottoman empire declined. N.M.Cugler observes that before this period " England was not a powerful institutional force, but a small isolated island when compared to more powerful better-organized world Powers such as the Ottomans " (11). At the height of the Ottoman Empire(16th century), many Christians wanted to convert to Islam and thus become a citizen of a strong empire like the Ottomans. According to Nebil Mattar " conversion into Islam held a strong attraction for the English Christians-especially for the poor and the illiterate " (24). After 1650, the British entered the Mediterranean where they established their dominance. Napoleon had invaded Egypt to open up a route to the East via the Red Sea. The British seized this opportunity to enter the Mediterranean and destroyed the French fleet. After the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, the French lost their importance in the eyes of the Ottomans and the British became their closest ally. Soon after, in 1827, the British formed an alliance with France and Russia to destroy the Turkish fleet and supported the Greeks in the war of independence (1830). In the Crimean War, they fought alongside Turkey and France against the Russians (1853-1856). However, in the first World War, the Ottomans sided with Germany, thinking that they would be on the winning side. The war proved to be disastrous for the Ottomans and ended with the break up of the Empire. Three other empires disappeared as a result of this war: the German, Austro-Hungarian and Russian. The British occupied several Southern and Eastern States of Turkey. Drawing on this historical context, this paper aims to examine the changing political relationship between the Ottomans and the British in the long Eighteenth Century.

As today, Middle East was not just only a geographical region to define its location in the world era for Britain. The 19 th century was the base of the British interests in the Middle East, with the increasing economic resources during the fall of the Ottoman Empire. It is equally clear that one of the significant aspects of British policy towards the Porte was the status of Christian subjects under the Turkish rule in addition to economic and political underpinnings. Subsequent to Crimean War, Britain had developed a strong intimacy with the Ottoman Empire which was based on mutual trust and friendship. Besides, she started to expand the empire by acquiring the Middle Eastern regions at the same time. This study will try to analyse this transform of the British Empire from the guardian to the heir of the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East. The analysis of the process will be based on the British imperialism towards the Middle East from the 19 th century until the establishment of the Republic of Turkey subsequent to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Basically, the reasons of why the British rule aimed to rule Aden Wharf, Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Palestine and Transjordan will be particularly examined in order to prove the main analysis. On the other hand, this research would not simply address the Anglo-Ottoman relations or the British influence over the relations between the Sublime Porte and the Arabs. Keywords: British imperialism, Middle East, Egypt, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire Öz: Bugün olduğu gibi Orta Doğu Britanya için yalnızca konumu belirtmek için kullanılan bir coğrafi terim değildir. 19. Yüzyıl dağılmakta olan Osmanlı İmparatorluğu üzerinde var olan İngiliz çıkarlarının temelini oluşturan bir dönemdir. Ekonomik ve politik unsurların yanında İngiliz politikasını Bab-i Ali'ye karşı belirleyen Hristiyan tebaanın Türk hâkimiyeti altındaki durumu olmuştur. Kırım Savaşı sonrasında, Britanya Osmanlı'yla karşılıklı güven ve dostluğa dayanan yakın ilişkiler kurmuştu. Buna karşılık, imparatorluğunun sınırlarını gün geçtikçe Osmanlı'nın Orta Doğu bölgeleriyle genişletmekteydi. Bu çalışma İngiliz İmparatorluğu'nun Orta Doğu'da koruyuculuktan, Osmanlı'nın varisi konumuna olan dönüşümünü analiz edecektir. Bu sürecin analizini 19.yy'dan başlayarak, Osmanlı'nın yıkılışının ardından kurulan Türkiye Cumhuriyeti'nin kuruluşuna kadar uzanan dönemde İngilizlerin Orta Doğu emperyalizmi oluşacaktır. Özellikle, İngilizlerin Aden Körfezi'ni, Kıbrıs'ı, Mısır'ı, Irak'ı, Filistin'i ve Ürdün'ü ele geçirmeye çalışmasının nedenleri araştırmanın temel argümanını kuvvetlendirecektir. Öte yandan, bu araştırma yalnızca Osmanlı-İngiliz ilişkilerini ya da Bab-i Ali-Arap ilişkileri üzerindeki İngiliz etkisini ele almayacaktır.

Revista Goliardos , 2012

This essay aims to describe and analyze the causes of the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, its external and internal agents and various historical and ideological components which condensed in diplomacy and Western historiography later would be known as the "Eastern Question." The writing begins by placing the main features that allowed the development and expansion of the Ottoman Empire and how the problems in the control of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Balkans and Mesopotamia was the cause of further decline due to the interests of European powers on its territory (Russia and the exit to the Black Sea, England, and the control of the Suez canal) adding to this nascent nationalism in their territories, where Greeks, Serbs and Arabs and even the Turks themselves were not within their national projects in the continuity of Ottoman Empire. Completing these processes with their disintegration and the formulation of the Republic of Turkey.

2022

The conflicts between the great powers after the withdrawal of the British campaign on Egypt (1806-1812), by addressing the Anglo-Ottoman War (1807-1809), which was part of the Napoleonic Wars. In the summer of 1806, during the War of the Third Alliance between Britain, Russia, Prussia and Sweden against the First French Empire, after Count Sebastiani, Napoleon I's ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, managed to persuade the Ottomans to cancel all the special privileges granted to Russia in 1805, and restrict the opening of the Turkish Straits (Dardanelles) on French warships. In return, Napoleon promised to help the Sultan quell the rebellion in Serbia and restore the territories lost by the Ottoman Empire. After the Russian army entered Moldova and Achaia in 1806, the Ottomans declared war on Russia. The research also deals with the Anglo-Russian War (1807-1812), which occurred during the Napoleonic Wars. As part of the terms of the Treaty of Tilsit, Russia was forced to close sea trade with Great Britain, as part of Napoleon's efforts to establish the Continental Blockade, and to strengthen economic relations between the various countries in Europe under French control, with the ultimate goal being to close one of Britain's most important foreign markets to economically strangle it. And make her submit. This prompted the Russian Empire to declare war on Great Britain in November 1807. As for the Russian-Ottoman War (1806-1812), it was one of the longest wars that took place between the Ottoman Empire and Tsarist Russia. The economic and military aspects, as the Ottoman Empire suffered as a result of that war from a deficit in the public treasury of the state. It also showed the extent to which the Janissaries went to extremes until they reached the limit of isolating and killing some of the sultans, and this is a clear indication

The General: Brock University Undergraduate Journal of History

This essay seeks to provide an alternative perspective of Great Britain’s involvement in the abolition of the Ottoman slave trade during the 19th and 20th centuries. Contemporary scholars often cite Britain’s involvement in the abolition of Ottoman slavery as a means of establishing moral superiority on the world stage. While there is some validity to this, a critical analysis of Britain’s motives towards abolishing the Ottoman slave trade reveals Britain’s vast economic, political, and territorial interests obtained from Ottoman abolition. Britain conquered vast regions in East and North Africa such as Egypt and Sudan which justified these conquests as necessary in the fight against slavery while simultaneously profiting from these regions through colonization and legitimate trade. Not only would Britain hinder the Ottoman slave trade through such territorial acquisitions, but they would simultaneously control and monitor strategic economic zones such as the Red Sea, Tunisia, the P...

Sultan II. Abdülhamid ve Osmanlı Modernleşmesi, 2022