European Entry in to the Middle East
A short essay on the factors that led it
By the turn of the 19th century, the Ottoman empire was already facing a decline through growing nationalism and loss of territories, as well as other factors. To add further pressure to the empire, the growing imperial aspirations of other European states was increasing as they sought new markets for goods and resources to fuel the modernization that they were going through. As balance in Europe shifted from east to west, these growing European empires took more interest in the Ottoman Empire as it become more vulnerable to internal and external pressures. These factors included political, economic, strategic and cultural.
Some examples of political factors, that are also strategic, are those of the British in Egypt. Concerned over the French influence in the maritime trade via their role in the Suez Canal, the British maneuver themselves in to a position that saw them gain Egypt’s share of the Suez Canal. Contrasting this, were the French efforts in Algeria, that took on a colonizing role and the undermining of existing social and political structures through the migration of Europeans to the region.
Internal political factors, that were also economic, that accelerated the decline of the Ottoman Empire were the capitulations that granted European powers exemption from taxes and prosecution. Although originally implemented as treaties that grant privileges to foreigners, the ensuing further declines of the Empire resulted in foreign states becoming the determinant factor of the economic viability and future of the Ottomans. By 1838 and the signing of the Anglo-Turkish Treaty, their own merchants were unable to compete with the European states. The capitulations allowed for European states to also designate ‘protected persons’ within the Empire. The scale of this can be seen by the approximately 120,000 Greeks the Russians designated as protected. Further rights were to foreigners were bestowed in 1867 that allowed them to own urban and rural property. All these factors led to spiraling debt to European states.
Efforts to stop some of the erosion of power, territory and economic instability resulted in the Ottomans establishing the Tanzimat Reforms in an attempt to modernize and be able to compete with the powerful European states. These reforms didn’t result in the desired mirroring of Western civilizations by the Ottomans but ultimately turned out to deepen the failing Empires economic woes.
The factors that contributed to the European entry also shifted the view of the Ottomans by the Western states. Terms that started to be used that reflected this were the Eastern Question and the Orientalism of the Empire. The Eastern Question was concerned with the fate of the Balkans by the disintegration of the Empire or from the threat posed by Russia of the territory. Ottoman Orientalism came in to being through the Western view that the Ottomans were different to the West. This perception was reinforced by reforms like the Tanzimat as it was an effort by the Empire to be like great European Empires of the time. The more the West assisted the Empire, the stronger the identity it had of Orientalism.
The increased interaction with European states and the declining influence of the elites with the Empire also contributed to a growing sense of nationalism. Nationalism can emerge if indirect rule breaks down and the center of a multi-national empire fails. The growing sense of nationalism, particularly in the Balkans, manifested itself following the 1876 Istanbul Conference at which the European states were present but no Ottoman delegate participated.
As has been shown, there were several factors that led to European entry in to Middle East in the 19th Century. These factors are all somewhat intertwined with the decline of the Empire. The need for modernization, economic growth and maintaining its borders, all put pressure on the elites to come up with measures that ultimately failed.
