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ISLAM IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES
2017.02.011. ALEXANDER VITOL. ACCESSION OF TURKEY INTO "THE CONCERT OF EUROPE": EUROPEAN UNDERSTANDING AND CONFLICT WITH ISLAM // "Natsii i natsionalizm na musulmanskom vostoke". Moscow, Institute of Oriental Studies, 2015, P. 164-170.
Keywords: Turkey, Crimean war, the Khatt-I Humayun 1856, Islam, the Treaty of Paris in 1856.
Alexander Vitol,
PhD (History), Senior Researcher,
Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of RAS, St. Petersburg
Turkey officially became one of the victorious powers that were called "the Concert of Europe" at the conclusion of the Treaty of Paris in 1856. In particular, this privilege was honored by the fact that the Sultan Abdulmajid published the decree "Khatt-I Humayun" on the equality of all Turkish citizens, both Muslims and Christians. The Sultan promised to continue reforms (tanzimat), which were supposed to bring Turkey closer to Europe even more. The accession to the European concert meant serious psychological problems in addition to the benefits for the Turkish people because of the current national mentality.
The author believes that a great deal still had to be done on the path of rapprochement with the West and in the search for the place of Islam in the new society. The Crimean War was ended with negotiations in Paris in 1856 that made the significant changes in the international status of Turkey and Russia. The
purpose of the war, in the words of the French Emperor Napoleon III, was to prevent the spread of Russian influence and force the Russians to return to Asia, to deprive Finland, and the Baltic lands, Poland and the Crimea, causing a grandiose fall of Russia.
The author quotes the well-known French historian A. Malé, that in 1856 Turkey achieved the goal, which it was refused in 1815, i.e. it was not admitted to the meetings of the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815). Expectations of Turkey had not been realized: that it would have been included in a number of countries - members of the Holy Alliance, as a victim of the Napoleonic invasion of Egypt and other military campaigns. There were problems even with the acceptance of England into the Holy Alliance, since it was a Protestant country. On the other hand, England, France and Austria looked with prejudice at Orthodox Russia. And, moreover, could not imagine Muslim Turkey in the pan-European "consent".
The relations between Turkey and France were quickly restored, but France's invasion of Egypt had not passed without a trace. The new course of Islam - Wahhabism, gradually consolidated in the Arabian Peninsula - was largely directed against the Muslims of Turkey, the Caucasus and Iran.
Europe declared Russia a "suppressor of freedom" after the events in Hungary and Austria in 1848, while Turkey turned into the refuge of "progressive" emigrants from Hungary, Poland, Italy and other countries in the descriptions of the European press. The real triumph for Turkey was the success of the Turkish exposition at the First World Exhibition in London in 1851.
The author notes that Turkey's accession to the European "concert" has been considered the highest and unique achievement of the diplomacy of the Ottoman Empire and the European anti-Russian politicians of the West. Signatures of not only Western but also Russian officials were put under the articles of the Treaty of Paris in 1856. Unlike the projects of the past, Turkey was accepted into the "concert" without the absurd
conditions of refusal of Islam. The situation in Europe has changed so much that the idea of imposing a rejection of religion would seem insulting and "anachronistic". There were requirements for accession, but they did not concern religious issues, but civilization ones.
Entering the "concert" meant continuation of the policy of state patronage for reforms in Turkey - this is the formulation of a course for the improvement of its civilization and the adaptation of elements of Western achievements to it. The consequences of "Khatt-I Humayun" in 1856 were ambiguous. Contradictions between Muslims and Christians became acute in the Ottoman army after the declaration of "equality" between them. France was forced to introduce a significant military contingent to Syria. There was tension in some areas of the Christians residence in the Balkans. This process is sometimes called the Westernization of Turkey, connecting it with France, Britain, Russia and other states.
Summarizing the written, the author emphasizes that: the preconditions for the revolution of 1856 can be deduced from the invasion of Europe into the Ottoman Empire; Turkey's image in Europe has been so favorable since the 1840s that Napoleon III and his British counterparts used it to motivate its defense and attacks on Russia; The Ottoman reformers won support from both their own authorities and foreign diplomats, and certain groups of immigrants; There was no noticeable improvement for Christians in Turkey after 1856, but the trends of the revolutionary changes were felt; Although the changes in the Ottoman Empire were not noticeable, the new principles were gradually beginning to affect.
Author of the abstract - N. Ginesina
