Browsing by Subject "Abdülhamid II"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7

Open Access
Diplomacy, evangelism and reform: Abdülhamid II and American Protestant missionaries, 1876 - 1890
(2019-11) İncidelen, Hamid
This thesis is an attempt to understand how the Ottoman authorities increasingly viewed the American Protestant missionaries associated with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM), the largest American missionary body present in the Ottoman Empire, as elements threatening to the security and survival of the empire by the beginning of the Hamidian period. Making use of Ottoman and American archival materials, missionary documents, memoirs of diplomats and missionaries, this thesis offers a set of political and structural reasons for the deterioration of relations between the missionary body and the Ottoman government. This thesis also highlights the transnational nature of the ABCFM network in the Ottoman Empire. It investigates how it developed into becoming an international actor, mediating between polities and lobbying for its agenda at international forums.
Open Access
Hamidian epic: war literature in the late nineteenth century ottoman empire
(2016-05) Çekiç, Can Eyüp
This study explores the ways in which epic literature represented, supported, and legitimized the Ottoman regime and its ideology in the late nineteenth century. During the Hamidian Era (1876–1908), reinventing an authentic source, an old genre in the Ottoman literature, for its social and political desires, the regime became resourceful to create a harmonious relationship and prevented potential antagonisms between imperial objectives and popular nationalisms. Epic literature reproduced, created, and promoted a sacred aura around the Ottoman dynasty and the personality of Abdülhamid II. In line with this, epic themes refashioned the concept of ghaza and re-invented the image of the ghazi sultan to confront nationalist and/or constitutionalist criticisms and to consolidate the political power of the ruling dynasty and the sovereign.
Open Access
Hamidian policy in Eastern (1878-1890)
(2008) Gürbüzel, S. Aslıhan
The Treaty of Berlin, signed in July 1878, marks the appearence of new political dynamics for Eastern Anatolian affairs. The stipulation of the reforms for the protection of the Armenians from Kurdish and Circassian attacks, and the supervision of these reforms by the British authorities were to effect the relations of the Eastern Anatolian populations with the state. The thesis examines the roots of conflicts between the Kurdish and Armenian populations, which was problematized by the aforementioned treaty. Moreover, state policies towards the region are discussed in detail. The state had now two equally important concerns regarding its dealings with the Muslim populations. The first was the immediate attainment of a state of security, for insecurity was used as an argument against the legitimacy of the Ottoman state ruling over Christian populations. The second was abstaining from actions which would alienate the Muslim populations from the Ottoman state. The notables were the agents who held practical power in the region, and the state was too new and foreign to the area to break their influence. This made conciliation with notables imperative. The state was hence faced with the formidable task of balancing the need to conciliate with the notables and the need to keep their actions under control. This thesis examines the situation of the tribal structure with a focus on the peculiarities of the socio-political traditions, as well as the state’s perception of this structure and its concerns in dealings with the region in the specified period.
Open Access
The origins of the 1897 Ottoman-Greek War: A diplomatic history
(2005) Ekinci, Mehmet Uğur
This thesis, pertaining to the underlying factors and developments of the Ottoman-Greek War of 1897, focuses primarily on the political and diplomatic proceedings that took place between the Greek occupation of Crete on 13 February and the declaration of war by the Ottoman Empire on 17 April. This war broke out, against the will of the Ottoman Empire and the Great Powers, as an outgrowth of the irredentist policies of Greece. The Ottoman Empire expected that the Great Powers would prevent war, but since the Powers could not take a unanimous decision for undertaking coercive measures on Greece, they left the two states alone. The Ottomans were willing to preserve peace, yet they finally declared war on Greece after the bands of Greek irregulars crossed the border. This monograph, based on a multi-sided bibliography including Ottoman and British official documents, intends to shed some light on the international politics of the time.
Open Access
An Ottoman administrative response to the Macedonian question: The General Inspectorate of Rumelia (1902-1909)
(2018-01) Dinçyürek, Sadiye Sena
This study focuses on the General Inspectorate of Rumelia which was established on 29 November 1902 by Sultan Abdülhamid II. In the aftermath of the 1878 Berlin Treaty, there was a constant diplomatic pressure on the Ottoman Empire by the European Powers to implement reforms in its European territories. Hence, the Sultan introduced the Instructions for reforms in the Rumelian provinces and appointed an able statesman, Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha, as the Inspector-General to provide an administrative solution to the Macedonian Question. The Inspectorate went through a fundamental transformation in the year 1903 with the European initiated reform schemes for Ottoman Macedonia and functioned uninterruptedly until 1909. Throughout these years, with the appointment of Austrian and Russian Civil Agents, reorganization of the Gendarmerie by the European officers and the establishment of the International Financial commission, the Inspectorate turned into a complicated international mechanism led by Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha. As the highest representative of the Hamidian Regime in Rumelia, the General Inspectorate played an important role in a number of historical developments that took place in the region, as well as the rise of the Young Turks in Macedonia. This study aims to provide a monograph of this Ottoman institution and an in-depth analysis of its historical significance during the first decade of the twentieth century.
Open Access
Sunnism versus Shi'ism? : rise of the Shi'i politics and the Ottoman apprehension in late nineteenth century Iraq
(2008) Yaslıçimen, Faruk
The resurgence of religious political activism had predominantly been one of the foremost themes of structural transformations among societies during the nineteenth century. The major characteristic regarding the history of religion in the Middle Eastern context was a bilateral process, that of the mobilization of society and of the consolidation of organized social movements followed by a subsequent process of politicization. As for the Iraqi region, the influence of Shi’ism increased over certain segments of society thus “the spread of Shi’ism” primarily meant the increased activity and organization of Shi’i communities, which increased their weight in political spectrum rather than the magnitude of “the spread” itself. There were internal and external reasons for the rise of Shi’i politics. On the one hand, the intensifying governmental cohesion over the very segments of society during the process of centralization deeply influenced the existing social structure through dislocating various populations and many large tribal confederations. On the other hand, the rise of Usulism at the expense of the Akhbari interpretation of the Shi’i jurisprudence generated an innovative tendency, stimulating the Shi’i scholars to understand and interpret the worldly affairs in a different manner. It gave an impetus and a peculiar function to the position of Shi’i clerical notables, particularly the mujtahids, consolidating their authority in social as well as political matters. The growing influence of Shi’ism in the Iraqi region gave rise to Ottoman apprehension. As a common theme in the Ottoman official documentation, a strong emphasis was made upon the seriousness and urgency of “the spread of Shi’ism.” Ottoman officials embraced a policy of educational counter-propaganda to deal with the Shi’i Question. The major strategy, which they utilized, was not the use of forceful measures but the promotion of Sunni education through opening medreses and sending Sunni ulema to the Iraqi region. However, indoctrinating Sunnism at the expense of Shi’ism had much to do with the political unity and the social integrity of the empire rather than the pure religious motivation. This study further examines selected aspects of the social relations between Shi’is and Sunnis of Iraq in the late nineteenth century. However, the strong emphasis is made upon the relations between the Iraqi Shi’is and the Sunni Ottoman government drawing some conclusions on the antagonistic relations between governmental authorities and certain segments of Shi’i masses. This study also discusses a two-dimensional view developed by the Ottoman officials regarding Shi’ism and the Shi’is of Iraq, perceiving the former as a theological deviation from the “true” path of Islam and recognizing the latter as being similar to those of other local figures who made up the Iraqi society.
Open Access
Villain or hero? Shifting views of Abdülhamid II and his era in republican Turkey
(Brill, 2022-10-22) Grigoriadis, Ioannis N.
Narratives and representations of the past in the present sometimes tell us more about the present than the past itself. Views of Ottoman history have varied in republican Turkey, according to political and ideological circumstances. The era of Sultan Abdülhamid ii has remained one of the most contested ones. While classic republican Turkish historiography has identified the Hamidian era with Oriental despotism, blamed it for the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, but exonerated it for the killings of Armenians, recent historical interest in the era has been revisionist. Some scholars offer a more balanced evaluation of the Hamidian period, while other approaches move to the opposite extreme, aggrandizing Sultan Abdülhamid ii and his era and also pointing to alleged Young Turk treason. These approaches have coincided with a re-evaluation of the ideological foundations of republican Turkey and the re-emergence of a cult of personality in mainstream Turkish politics.