Persistence of multinational empires Flashcards
syllabus
Mustafa Fazil Pasha, open letter to the Sultan in March 1867. The Muslims finally cracked: they were pushed to the limit by the excessive imitation of the West. Abuse by civil servants. The population was shrinking intellectually. “The first teacher of the people […] is freedom”. The poverty of the empire stemmed from the poverty of the people. The poverty of the people stemmed from a lack of freedom. The solution = the Constitution. It is not opposed to the power of the sovereign but to his power to err. It also gives an international stature and makes it possible to protect all populations.
Burbank Cooper, Empires. Thanks to Napoleon, Russia was admitted to the circle of the “great ones” + Holy Alliance. BUT 1825, decabrist insurrection = mistrust of Nicholas I’s West. Reforms nonetheless. All the nations try to find a past, especially Greece, where Europe and the West clash. After that, as Russia became a powerful empire, the Fra and Ang preferred to support the West against Russia, which wanted to protect the Christians of the West. Crimean War = poorly organised = many deaths from disease (2/3 of the soldiers). This war triggers many reactions (against the horror of war) = Florence Nightingale = changes in the customs of war. 1826: end of the janissaries. Changes in education, etc. aimed at raising the standard of the army and therefore also of the people of Western Equatorial Guinea. Abdulhammid’s aim was to Islamise society (he showed up +++ on Fridays). Austro-Hungarian Empire = long tradition of centralisation since Maria Theresa. In the AH Empire, military defeats precipitated a lack of money = forced democratisation.
Eldem, inaugural lesson. “Face à” expresses a relationship of fascination on both sides. Three phases of relations with the West and from 1870, the “dark period”. 1876 = year of tensions with the deposition of Sultan Abdulhaziz + his suspicious suicide + financial bankruptcy. Abdulhamid, after removing the Constitution, wanted to abolish the institutions of the Tanzimat. He uses the resentment of the population to create a sort of state of emergency.
Rescript of Gulhane, hatt-i sherif of 3 November 1839 = reform of taxation, military recruitment and justice by Abdülmedjid I. The subjects of the empire had ceased to comply with the law of the Koran and so new institutions were needed for: “perfect security for their lives, honour and wealth”, the levying of taxes and the raising of soldiers. He explains why these issues are vital for the empire (anyone whose security is not guaranteed is an internal threat). The measures themselves + extend to all subjects (regardless of their religion). Against corruption too. Mention of God throughout the extract.
dates
1825: Decabrist insurrection (Russia)
1829: Decree on dress reform (Western Europe)
1830: Serbian independence
1839: Gülhane Rescript (beginning of the Tanzimat)
1839-1876: Tanzimat era
1840: Penal Code (EO)
1841: directorate of administrative statistics in Vienna
1845: secondary school laws (EO)
1850: Commercial Code (EO)
1853-1856: Crimean War
1853: Russia occupies territories of the Ottoman Empire (Moldavia, Wallachia)
1855: Alexander II takes power
1856: Treaty of Paris (end of the Crimean War)
1856: Rescript on equality between Muslims and non-Muslims
1860: Restoration of the Constitution & October Diploma on provincial diets (AH)
1861: Reichsrat re-established
1861: serfdom abolished
1863: Polish insurrection
1863: Ottoman bank created by the French/English
1864: Creation of zemstva (local governments at provincial and district level)
1865: Young Ottomans
1867: Constitution for the Austro-Hungarian Empire
1867: Government of Turkistan (set up by Russia)
1869: primary education laws (EO)
1874: Major military reform
1875: bankruptcy of the Ottoman debt
1876-1908: authoritarian modernisation (EO)
1876: granting of a Constitution (EO)
1878: Constitution suspended
1881: Assassination of Alexander II
1881: European administration of Ottoman public debt
1891: completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway
1894-1896: Hamidian massacres
1897: first census of the Russian Empire
1905: compromise extended to Moravia, for example
1908: Emperor Franz Joseph’s Golden Jubilee
1923: Proclamation of the Turkish Republic
personalities
Florence Nightingale, British nurse who set up field hospitals during the Crimean War
Abdulmedjid I, Sultan who granted the Gulhane Rescript
Mehemet Ali, Viceroy of Egypt, who asserted Egypt’s independence (1st half of the 19th century)
Reschid Pasha, a fervent supporter of the Tanzimat, considered to be one of the most brilliant politicians of the Ottoman Empire
Abdulhamid II, Sultan from 1876 to 1909: continued the reforms but with a more authoritarian attitude (suspended the Constitution & Parliament in 1878)
Alexander II, reforming tsar (abolished serfdom) assassinated in 1881 by an anarchist
Imam Shamil, warlord of the Caucasian tribes who opposed the Russian Empire (1830-1860)
Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria and later Austria-Hungary from 1848 (after abdication) to 1916
Fazil Pasha, close to the “Young Ottomans” movement
Duruy, under the Second Empire, submitted a project for French lycées in the Ottoman Empire (=Galatasaray)
notions
Crimean War - “sick man” - Gulhâne rescript - Tanzimat - financial imperialism - Young Ottomans - Young Turks - Hamidian massacres - serfdom (abolition) - zemstva - pan-Slavism - pan-Islamism - neo-absolutism - October Diploma - Austro-Hungarian compromise - “peoples’ prison” - Magyarisation - Reichspatriotismus
Historians’ analyses
Pogodin, work on the Panslav question (cultural identity but also demands)
Deak (Deák): no inevitable clash between the different nationalities of the empire (relativising the idea of a prison for the peoples)
J.King, study of Budweis = process of German/Czech separation BUT undifferentiated multilingualism = languages are not confrontations
Zara, idea of indifference to the national
summary
The course in Points
The Ottoman Empire, between reforms and dependencies
An Empire on three continents
Heartland in Anatolia, with Istanbul as its capital. Asian, but also passing through Europe (sieges of Vienna in the 16th and 17th centuries = fear of Ottoman Turkish, but fascination with Orientalism). Control of territories in Africa.
Religious mosaic & populations: Muslims, Orthodox Christians, Israelites around the Mediterranean. Millets = religious communities that kept their own religion/religious laws. Dhimmi for Jewish populations in exchange for money. Place of passage +++ to Asia = capitulations = foreign commu living under the laws of their countries (diplomats, merchants…)
Reliance on local elites: corps of janissaries recruited from the Balkans so as not to have independent military power = much criticised. Tax leasing = private tax collectors.
The era of reform: the Tanzimat (1839-1876)
Elites convinced of the need for reform. Use of French and European languages.
The two Rescripts: Gülhane in 1839 = protection of all subjects (justice, tax, army). 1856: following the Crimean War = equality between Muslims and non-Muslims (equal access to public posts = affects the bureaucracy).
Codification of laws = 1840: penal code, 1850: commercial code, 1845: secondary school. Abolition of janissaries, abolition of intermediary bodies for taxes.
Dress reform = 1829: wearing of the fez imposed = uniformity towards a Western way of life, as opposed to clothes that revealed hierarchy.
Europe’s “sick man”?
The “sick man of Europe” argument was used to legitimise Russian interventions and to justify the protection of Eastern Christians. Greek independence.
Mehemet Ali, viceroy of Egypt, who claimed a larger territory = Syria in the 1930s + symbol of modernisation in the empire.
Europe interferes in the management of the empire: financial imperialism (empire in debt to the outside world). 1875: bankruptcy of the Ottoman debt. 1881: administration of the public debt in Europe, control of the debt escapes the EO.
Authoritarian modernisation (1876-1908)
Abdulhammid II = end of the Tanzimat. 1865: Young Ottomans demand a Constitution and a parliamentary system. 1876: a Constitution is granted but suspended the same year.
Authoritarian reforms: 10,000 schools to limit the power of the provinces (less and less mosaic, more and more independence). Affirmation of pan-Islamism = protector of Islamic holy places. 1874-76: Hamidian massacres of Armenians.
Need for foreign capital, particularly for railways. Hedjaz railway to Islamic holy sites. German capital = German side during the 1st World War.
The Habsburg Empire and the policy of compromise
The failure of the neo-absolutist policy
Franz Joseph’s policy of authoritarian centralisation + modernisation with the development of the railways, reorganisation of the army BUT the end of consultation with the Diet + forced Germanisation.
Problem of legitimacy, particularly military (1859: defeat at Solferino, 1866: defeat at Sadowa).
Beware of financial collapse: the instability of the institutions (not fixed by a Constitution) did not inspire the banks.
Compromise policy
1861: re-establishment of the Reichsrat and provincial diets
1867: Ausgleich, Austro-Hungarian compromise = dual monarchy (Cisleithania/Transleithania) + Constitution. Joint ministries (finance/army) + imperial citizenship for the whole empire.
German is the federal language, but local languages are also used in the territories.
A “people’s prison”?
A widespread idea BUT recent historiography goes against it: certain revolts arose from the latitude given by the Austro-Hungarian compromise.
Recognition of nationalities (I. Deak, no inevitable clash between the empire’s nationalities) + multinationalising policy = 1905: Moravia, 1914: Galicia BUT in Hungary, forced Magyarisation of minorities.
Example of language policy: recognition of local languages + J. King in Budweis.
1841: directorate of administrative statistics (K. Von Czoernig). Groups are distinguished according to their Umgangssprache.
The Russian Empire and the dilemmas of modernisation
The liberalisation of Russian society
Embodiment of autocracy: +++ power of the tsar + decabrist insurrection in 1825. Slight change after the Crimean War + demographic explosion (170 million inhabitants in 1900)
Question of regional planning: control of annexed territories = 1891: completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Rural population +++ BUT development of a few industrial centres. 1855: Alexander II in power during the Crimean War.
1861: abolition of serfdom (20 million peasants become free BUT must buy back their land) = more competitive agriculture = protective tariffs in other countries (particularly France). A desire for administrative and judicial reform. 1864: creation of zemstva, local governments for the provinces + same year = major judicial reform. 1874: military reform = conscription army.
Imperial expansion and its challenges
1863: insurrection in Poland. The Polish insurgents became martyrs to liberal ideology because of Russia’s desire to Russify them + very harsh policy against minorities.
Resistance in the Caucasus: expansion southwards. Imam Shamil leads battles against Russian troops (surrenders in 1859). 1867: Turkistan government established. By 1868, the empire was based on linguistic and religious pluralism.
The imperial identity in question
The problem of knowing one’s population: developing censuses. 1897: first census for languages = interviewers sent to the commu. 15,000 interviewers throughout the country = CCL = almost 130 languages in the empire = multicultural aspect.
Russification of the population: Russification was an instrument to limit their demand for autonomy. Dilemma of whether or not to open up to Europe = Panslavism. Panslavism theorised by Pogodin, who emphasised Russia’s Slavic dimension (protector of Christians but also of Slavic populations = intervention in the Balkans).
