Transcript Ottoman Reading -- Last Name A-M

*Ottoman Empire: External Pressures from Europe or Internal Ignorance*
A. Trade Routes
The wealth of the Ottomans was largely
due to their presence on trade routes.
However, European expansion and
imperialism created new trade routes that
bypassed Ottoman territories. Vast
amounts of revenue began to disappear
from the economy since the state collected
tariffs on all good passing through the
Empire.
B. Ottoman Empire and Industry
The economic relationships between the
Ottomans and the Europeans shifted as
Europeans increasingly bought only raw
materials from the Ottomans, and then
shipped back finished products
manufactured in Europe. Since these
finished products were produced with new,
industrial methods, they were far cheaper
than similar products produced in Ottoman
territories.
C. Greek Independence of 1821
The revolution that broke out in Greece in
1821 was primarily a nationalist uprising
against the Ottoman Empire. While
Congress of Vienna discouraged
nationalism and revolution, European
conservatives like Austria and France aided
the Greeks in their revolution and disrupted
the balance of power. Was it because of
Christianity? Was because of greed?
Was because of power?
D. The Crimean War
The first major Ottoman war was the Crimean War (1854-1856). Throughout the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Russia had slowly been annexing Muslim states
in Central Asia. By 1854, Russia found itself near the banks of the Black Sea. Anxious
to annex territories in Eastern Europe, particularly the Ottoman provinces of Moldavia
and Walachia (now in modern day Czechoslovakia), the Russians went to war with the
Ottomans on the flimsiest of pretexts: the Ottomans had granted Catholic France the
right to protect Christian sites in the Holy Land (which the Ottomans controlled) rather
than Orthodox Russia. That, according to the Russians, justified going to war with the
Ottomans. The war soon became a European war when Britain and France allied with
the Ottomans in order to protect their lucrative trade interests in the region. The war
ended badly for the Russians; however, the war demonstrated the helplessness of the
Ottoman Empire. The Crimean War initiated a decline in Ottoman morale and a
helplessness. Europeans, for their part, no longer saw the Ottomans as an equal force
to be reckoned with, but as a tool to be used in larger European concerns.
E. The Balkan Rebellion of 1876
In 1875, the Slavic peoples living in the Ottoman provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina
led an uprising against the Ottomans in order to gain their freedom. The general
weakness of the Ottomans led the two independent, neighboring Slavic states,
Montenegro and Serbia, to aid the rebellion. The rebellion was part of a larger political
movement called the Pan-Slavic movement, which had as its goal the unification of all
Slavic peoples, most of whom were under the control of Austria, Germany, and the
Ottoman Empire, into a single political unity under the protection of Russia. The
Russians allied with the rebels and declared war against the Ottomans. The war went
very badly for the Ottomans, and by 1878 they had to sue for peace. Under the peace
treaty, the Ottomans had to free all the Balkan provinces, including Bosnia,
Herzegovina, and Bulgaria. Russia also took substantial amounts of Ottoman territory
as "payment" for the war.
F. European Investors
The Ottoman Empire had a dual economy in the nineteenth century consisting of a large
subsistence sector and a small colonial-style commercial sector linked to European
markets and controlled by foreign interests. Europeans saw the benefit of investing the
Ottoman Empire in order to increase their wealth and prestige. For Example, the
Ottoman regime could count on support only from Germany, whose friendship offered
Abdül Hamid II a congenial alternative to British and French intervention. In 1902
Germany was granted a ninety-nine-year concession to build and operate a Berlin-toBaghdad rail connection. Germany continued to invest in the Ottoman economy, and
German officers held training and command posts in the Ottoman army.