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UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Wired Ottomans: A Sociotechnical History of the Telegraph and the Modern Ottoman Empire, 1855-1911 Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/985895xr Author Lewis, Pauline Lucy Publication Date 2018 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Wired Ottomans: A Sociotechnical History of the Telegraph and the Modern Ottoman Empire, 1855-1911 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Pauline Lucy Lewis 2018 © Copyright by Pauline Lucy Lewis 2018 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Wired Ottomans: A Sociotechnical History of the Telegraph and the Modern Ottoman Empire, 1855-1911 by Pauline Lucy Lewis Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Los Angeles, 2018 Professor James L. Gelvin, Chair This dissertation explores the connection between telegraphy and the emergence of new institutions, practices, and imaginaries in the modern Ottoman Empire. First established during the Crimean War (1853-1856), the Ottoman telegraph system grew into a complex network of human and non-human actors that shaped both the material and imaginative landscape of the empire. Emphasizing the co-constructive relationship between telegraphic infrastructure and Ottoman society, this study examines how the telegraph was a mode for specific practices and discourses that were unique to modernity as it emerged in the empire, specifically the development of territorial sovereignty; the rising ethos of technocratic authority; the ii interdependence of the Ottoman state with foreign companies; and new conceptions of time and space among Ottoman citizens. This study also positions the history of the Ottoman telegraph network within the broader story of global telegraphy. Drawing on sources from the Ottoman state, Arabic and Turkish literature, British telegraph companies, and the International Telegraph Union, it reveals how telegraphy both supported and strained the process of Ottoman state-building in an increasingly connected world. First, this study shows how the development and operation of telegraphic infrastructure contributed to practices and discourses associated with modern governance, specifically territorial sovereignty and technocratic authority. The building and managing of an expansive, grounded, and technical network required the Ottoman state to perform new functions, such as defending remote territory and maintaining a corps of telegraphers who were knowledgeable in the “universal” science of telegraphy. Second, this study demonstrates how the network acted as a site for the empire’s participation in the globalization of the late nineteenth century, which was marked by the transnational reach of British capital and the new epistemic framework offered by electrical communication. From the Ottoman state’s partnership with British companies to manage its submarine cables, to the emergence of new temporal and spatial concepts that could only exist in a telegraphic episteme, the network connected the empire to a world governed by European technical norms and electrical speed. The study concludes with a brief discussion on the role of the telegraph network in the Armenian Genocide, exploring how the technology’s form and its social practices set particular temporal and spatial parameters for the catastrophe. By offering new possibilities and constraints to the Ottoman state and society, the sociotechnical network of the telegraph undergirded modernity as it emerged in the empire, in its grandest and most brutal forms. iii The dissertation of Pauline Lucy Lewis is approved. Sarah Abrevaya Stein M. Norton Wise John A. Agnew James L. Gelvin, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2018 iv I dedicate this work to my father, Dr. William I. Lewis, who taught me to think critically, live bravely, and find humor in most situations. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract of the Dissertation ........................................................................................................... ii Committee Page ............................................................................................................................. iv Dedication .......................................................................................................................................v List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. vii List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................................. viii Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................................... ix Vita .............................................................................................................................................. xvi Introduction .....................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: Disciplining Experts: The Roots of Technocratic Authority .......................................20 Chapter 2: Electrical Boundaries: Telegraphy and Territorial Sovereignty .................................60 Chapter 3: Entangled: The Eastern Telegraph Company and Ottoman Society ..........................98 Chapter 4: Ottoman Telegraphy and New Conceptions of Space and Time ..............................132 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................170 Bibliography ...............................................................................................................................179 vi LIST OF FIGURES 2.1 “Carte Télégraphique de L’Empire Ottoman, 1869” 3.1 Untitled painting from “Sketches on Djedda Cable Repair” by H.W. Ansell 4.1 Illumination from Syriac Orthodox Church in Idil vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Archives in Turkey: Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi (BOA) SALT Araştırma (SALT) Atatürk Kitapliği (AK) Archives in Switzerland: International Telecommunication Union Library and Archive (ITU) Archives in the United Kingdom: Telegraph Museum Porthcurno (POR) viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS During the seven years that I have been working toward my PhD, I have adopted many metaphors to describe my dissertation. Some weeks, it has been a steadily growing sapling; at other times, it has been an unwieldy load that I could neither grasp nor put down. But as I finish this project, I increasingly view my dissertation as a long-anticipated, yet never-guaranteed harvest. It has required hard work, community support, good luck, and a great deal of faith that the years of hidden growth would ultimately bear tangible fruits. Part of this feeling stems from the fact that my plan to write a dissertation nearly combusted as soon as it began. During my first week as a graduate student at UCLA, I was diagnosed with advanced Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Stunned by the news, I nonetheless decided to continue with the program. I brought my readings to the bi-weekly chemo sessions and attempted to think big about my dissertation project, even as I was unable to plan more than a week at a time. When my tumors proved resistant to the initial treatment, I began to have doubts about my decision. Dissertations are long, arduous journeys; they are not for the faint of heart, nor for those with limited time. I was also pursuing a doctorate because I wanted to be a professor, a career that has a long runway before takeoff. As my 5 year survival chances dwindled from 80, to 60, and then to 50 percent, I started to question what I was doing; why was I investing precious time and energy into a project and a career that I might never see the end of? Somehow, I decided to keep at it. Not because I was gripped with some insatiable desire to understand what made the late Ottomans tick, or because I couldn’t think of anything else to do. I persevered simply because I continued to find meaning, and personal growth, in my development as a historian and scholar of the Middle East. My experience as a cancer patient left ix me with a nagging interest in the role of science and technology in shaping the human condition, and the shortage of such scholarship in modern Middle Eastern History gave me a renewed sense of purpose. But the real reason I was able to keep going was because I was surrounded by an incredible community that provided support, guidance, and many helping hands along the way. First I want to thank my advisor, James Gelvin, for his unwavering support, steady guidance, and thoughtful feedback throughout the years. The more I grow as a historian, the more I realize how little I knew when I started the program, and I will be eternally grateful that he took a chance on me and helped me find my voice as a scholar and writer. He has profoundly shaped how I think, write, and teach, and if I have learned anything about the study of history, it is because I was his student. I am also deeply indebted to Sarah Stein, who I was fortunate to gain as a committee member through a twist of fate. Her brilliance as a scholar is matched only by her warmth and dedication to her students, and I am very grateful to have worked with her over the years. M. Norton Wise, a man who embodies his surname, was a welcoming ambassador to the intimidating world of the History