Article | Modernisation and German influence in the late Ottoman period

Mavi Boncuk

Marco Dogo and Guido Franzinetti (eds), Distrupting and Reshaping: Early Stages of Nation-Building in the Balkans, Europe and the Balkans International Network, 17 (Ravenna: Longo Editore, 2002), pp. 117-139.
From Pan-Islamism to Turkish Nationalism:
Modernisation and German influence in the late Ottoman period*">*

Seçil Deren

In the process of nation building, the construction of the national consciousness is related to a number of factors. Turkish nationalism, which is relatively a young one among other nationalist movements, developed in close association with the attempts at modernisation and, in due course, westernisation of Ottoman Empire. This tendency coincides with the decline of the Empire, and from another respect, it emerged as a response or solution as the decline and the ethnic problems entailing separatist movements became irreversible. Turkish nationalism came out relatively late also because national identity had always been under the shadow of religious identity. Ottoman Empire, being the bearer of the title of the caliphate, was mainly an Islamic state, and the unifying element had been Islam for centuries. However, the idea of unification around the common base of Islam and development of pan-Islamism became a feature of the foreign affairs during the reign of Abdülhamit II and gained impetus after the Balkan Wars. This period coincides with the rise of German influence and interests in the Ottoman Empire and in the Near East. In this respect, Balkans and the Asiatic Turkey were held to be "Germany's bridge to the east," and gradually became more and more important for the "new imperialism" of Germany.

Read Full Text