Empires (Comparisons) Flashcards
What is the general historiographical consensus about empire?
That empire is not just about the subordination of one social formation by another, it is about governance and dominance
What techniques are there a general historiographical consensus that empire is about and should be considered?
Administrative techniques and expansive techniques
What do Burbank and Cooper contrast empires with?
Nation states
According to Burbank and Cooper, how are empires different to nation states?
They are all about distinction, hierarchy, difference and “otherness” - the politics of difference
What are the three key stages we need to consider when it comes to empire?
How they expand
How they are stabilised
How they decline
What are the three things key to consider when think about systems of power?
Military
Economy
Elites
What are the four things key to considering cultures of power?
Symbolic display
Knowledge
Belief
Discourse
What are the three things key to considering disparities of power?
Hierarchies
Resistance
Resources
What did informal imperialism rely on, suggesting empires are not just about territorial or political dominance?
Links created by trade, investment and diplomacy
What does empires being extractive mean for their motivations?
They are motivated by extracting resources from the colonies
What could empire and imperial expansion be the by-product of?
Rivalry between nations
What is the historical significance of the concepts and tropes of empire?
They are largely Western and were used by and created by imperial powers to aid expansion and maintenance of empire and compete with each other
What is the historical significance of the fact most empires have been built upon or modelled upon predecessors or previous empires?
There are likely many common characteristics and this explains things about nature of imperialism
What historical value is derived from comparing the Ottoman Empire with the British/French?
It allows us to move away from the western-centred explanations for imperial decline prevalent in colonial historiography and avoids othering of Eastern empires
Why is it historically relevant to study the Ottoman Empire in the late 18th, 19th and 20th centuries in its decline?
Because it allows us to consider expansion, maintenance, and decline
Why is it historically relevant to consider the French Empire in the Middle East in the 19th and 20th century?
Because similar geographical area, and also empires build off each other, and rivalry with British
Why were the military defeats of the Ottoman Empire in the late 18th and 19th century historically relevant?
This led to the Tanzimat reforms
What led to the imperial collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the 20th century? (4)
The Young Turks Revolution, the alliance with Germany, European involvement and Tanzimat reforms
What did the Ottoman rulers reject in their short term policy?
They rejected the idea of developing territory and investing in it for gain at some time in the future
What did the Ottoman short term policy mean for imperial subjects?
Land and peoples were exploited to the point of exhaustion and then more or less abandoned in favour of new ground
What did the Ottoman short term policy mean for the Empire?
That it relied on continuous expansion for stability, and that if it did not grow, it was likely to collapse
What began the Ottomans’ succession of military defeats in the late 18th and early 19th centuries?
The defeat at the Battle of Lepanto (1751) where they lost almost their entire navy
What was the comprehensive process of reform and modernisation initiated by the Ottomans known as?
The Tanzimat
What did Tanzimat do to the Ottoman state over the course of the 19th century?
It became increasingly powerful and rationalised, exercising a greater degree of influence over its population than in any previous era
What did the Ottoman government’s series of constitutional reforms lead to? (5)
A fairly modern conscripted army
Banking system reforms
The decriminalisation of homosexuality
The replacement of religious law with secular law
The replacement of guilds with modern factories
Where did the Ottomans first experience growing nationalism predominantly?
In the Balkans
What did the rise of Bulgarian nationalists in Macedonia campaigning for autonomy lead to?
Counter-nationalisms in retaliation, particularly Greek and Serbian, who wanted to protect their interests in Macedonia too
What rising nationalism was there in eastern Anatolia?
Armenian nationalists were calling periodically for either autonomy or independence
What did the Young Turk Revolution contribute to?
The defeat and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire
Why did the Ottoman Empire ally with Germany in the early 20th century and join WWI?
Had the imperial ambition of recovering its lost territories
What did the Ottoman Empires defeat and occupation of part of its territory by the Allied Powers in the aftermath of World War I result in?
The partitioning of the empire and the loss of its Middle East territories, which were divided between the UK and France
Which revolt ended the Ottoman involvement in WWI in the Middle East and how?
The 1916 Arab revolt turned the tide against the Ottomans on the Middle Eastern front
Where were the Ottomans forced to evacuate following their WWI defeat?
Parts of the former Russian Empire in the Caucasus they had gained towards the end of WWI following Russia’s retreat from the war due to the Russian Revolution in 1917
What did the incorporation of religion into the state structure mean the Ottoman Sultan was regarded as?
the protector of Islam
What united the Ottoman Empire? (3)
Islamic ideology
Islamic warrior code with the ideal of increasing Muslim territory through Jihad
Islamic organisational and administrative structures
What did the religious tolerance of the Ottoman Empire encourage?
Loyalty from other faith groups
How were non-Muslim communities organised according to the millet system?
It gave minority religious/ethnic/geographical communities a limited amount of power to regulate their own affairs under the overall supremacy of the Ottoman administration
Why was the attempt at Turkification at the end of empire a disaster for the Ottomans?
For many Arabs, for whom Arabic formed a key tenet of their national identity, the promotion of the use of Turkish language over Arabic in education and administration was alienating
Instead of uniting the Empire, what opposite effect did the Turkification attempt have?
It pushed the Arabs towards a path of self-determination and Arab nationalism
What did the rise in Turk vs Arab do to the core of the Ottoman Empire? (Muslims)
Meant it began to fragment on national and ethnic lines
Why did Turkfication fail to unite while Islam hadn’t?
Islam’s strength was that it united to a point but also respected differences, the policy of Turkification no longer respected differences
In what ways was the Ottoman Empire highly centralised? (2)
It had a state-run judicial and educational system
Private power and wealth were controlled
Why was the Ottomans pragmatic ruling style successful?
It created alliances across political and racial groups and took the best ideas from other cultures and made them their own
Why was the Ottomans strong military important?
Military ethos pervaded the whole administration