Essays in Ottoman and Turkish History, 1774-1923

Roderic Davison is Professor Emeritus of European history at George Washington University.

'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

• 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