Episode in Anglo-Ottoman History: British Relief to ‘93 Refugees (1877-78)
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A “COMPASSIONATE” EPISODE IN ANGLO-OTTOMAN HISTORY: BRITISH RELIEF TO ‘93 REFUGEES (1877-78) A Master’s Thesis by SAD ĐYE SENA D ĐNÇYÜREK DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY BILKENT UNIVERSITY ANKARA June 2010 To Serra and Seva... A “COMPASSIONATE” EPISODE IN ANGLO-OTTOMAN HISTORY: BRITISH RELIEF TO ‘93 REFUGEES (1877-78) The Institute of Economics and Social Sciences of Bilkent University by SAD ĐYE SENA D ĐNÇYÜREK In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY BĐLKENT UNIVERSITY ANKARA June 2010 I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in History. --------------------------------- Assistant Prof. Oktay ÖZEL Supervisor I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in History. --------------------------------- Assistant Prof. Evgeni RADUSHEV Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in History. --------------------------------- Assistant Prof. Nur Bilge CRISS Examining Committee Member Approval of the Institute of Economics and Social Sciences --------------------------------- Prof. Dr. Erdal EREL Director ABSTRACT A “COMPASSIONATE” EPISODE IN ANGLO-OTTOMAN HISTORY: BRITISH RELIEF TO ‘93 REFUGEES (1877-78) Dinçyürek, Sadiye Sena M.A., Department of History Supervisor: Assistant Prof. Oktay Özel June 2010 This thesis aims to provide an indebt analysis of the British relief to the Ottoman Refugees of 1877-78 Russo-Turkish War (’93 Refugees). The course of the war resulted in an enormous exodus especially through the Balkans. Hundreds of thousands of Ottoman subjects had to flee towards the heartlands of the Ottoman Empire in destitute conditions. The official British foreign policy was determined as neutrality, however the British civilian initiative together with the diplomatic actors showed their support to the Ottomans through humanitarian relief. In August 1877, a campaign was initiated in London, The Turkish Compassionate Fund was established especially for the ’93 Refugees and the other British organizations soon got involved in the relief of non-combatants. The British Ambassador to the Porte superintended the whole process and mobilised the diplomatic network under his command thus iii philanthropy was used as a tool of diplomacy. The British endeavour to succour ’93 Refugees was met with content by the Ottoman authorities and received the Sultan’s appreciation. This thesis reveals a rarely known episode of Anglo-Ottoman history far from the classical approaches of the diplomatic history of the period and handles the issue as a different dimension of the Anglo-Ottoman relations. Keywords: Ottoman Empire, Britain, ’93 War, Diplomacy, Exodus, ’93 Refugees, Philanthropy. iv ÖZET ĐNG ĐLĐZ-OSMANLI TAR ĐHĐNDE “ ŞEFKATL Đ” B ĐR DÖNEM: ’93 MUHAC ĐRLER ĐNE ĐNG ĐLĐZ YARDIMI (1877-78) Dinçyürek, Sadiye Sena Master, Tarih Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Yard. Doç. Dr. Oktay Özel Haziran 2010 Bu tez 1877-78 Osmanlı-Rus Sava şı muhacirlerine (’93 Muhacirleri) yapılan Đngliz yardımının derinlemesine bir analizini sunmayı amaçlamaktadır. Sava şın gidi şatı özellikle Balkanlar’da muazzam bir kitlesel göçe sebep oldu. Yüzbinlerce muhacir korkunç ko şullarda Osmanlı Đmparatorlu ğu’nun iç kısımlarına do ğru kaçmak zorunda kaldı.. Đngiliz resmi dı ş politikası tarafsızlık olarak belirlenmi şti, buna ra ğmen sivil giri şim diplomatik aktörlerle beraber Osmanlılara desteklerini insani yardım yoluyla gösterdiler. A ğustos 1877’de Londra’da bir kampanya ba şlatıldı, Sermaye-i Şefkat-i Osmaniyye ’93 Muhacirlerine yardım için özel olarak kuruldu ve di ğer Đngliz yardım örgütleri de kısa sürede sava şmayanların yardımına v müdahil oldular. Babıali’deki Đngiliz Büyüelçisi bütün süreci yönetti ve emrindeki diplomatik a ğı seferber etti, böylece hayırseverlik diplomasinin bir aracı olarak kullanıldı. Đnglizlerin ’93 Muhacirlerine yardım için bu çabası Osmanlı yetkililerince ho şnutlukla kar şılandı ve Sultanın takdirini kazandı. Bu tez Đngiliz-Osmanlı Traihnin bu az bilinen bölümünü, dönemin klasik diplomatik tarih yakla şımlarından uzak olarak ortaya çıkarıyor ve konuyu Đngliz- Osmanlı ili şkilerinin farklı bir boyutu olarak ele alıyor. Anahtar kelimeler: Osmanlı Đmparatorlu ğu, Britanya, ’93 Harbi, Diplomasi, Göç, ’93 Muhacirleri, Hayırseverlik. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First of all I would like to express my gratitude to Assist. Prof. Oktay Özel for his guidance and help through my research and writing of the thesis. He spared a great portion of his time for me and always shared my excitement with my humble discoveries. I am also thankful to the members of the examining committee, Assist. Prof. Nur Bilge Criss and Assist. Prof. Evgeni Radushev for their comments and contributions to the text. I am extremely grateful to Sinan Kuneralp for his invaluable advises, encouragement, and sharing his materials as well as the manuscript of his work with me, which provided me with crucial information on the subject. Prof. Christoph K. Neumann had always been an encourager for my historical studies since my first undergrad year. He kindly spared time to read the first draft of my thesis and provided me with his precious feedback. All of the personnel of the Ottoman Prime Ministry Archives have been very helpful, however I especially would like to thank Halis Güven for his heartedly assistance. I would also like to thank the stuff of the National Archives and the archivist of the British Red Cross for facilitating the research process for me. vii Margaret and Alan Bond had been wonderful hosts and turned my stay in England into a pleasant memory with their friendship and care. My friends Gizem Ka şoturacak, Ay şegül Avcı, Elvin Otman, Fatma Gül Karagöz and especially Gül şah Şenkol and Berke Toruno ğlu did not only variegate my masters studies in Bilkent but also contributed at various phases of my thesis preparation. My father, who draw me a map of Balkans for my class presentation on the Siege of Plevne in elementary school, is the reason of my love for history, never ceased supporting me together with my mother. I will be indebted to them for the rest of my life. Academic studies have probably stolen most from the times that I could spend with my sisters, Serra and Seva, so I am thankful for their patience and love. It was also a great relief to enjoy the appreciation of my parents in law. I save the greatest of gratitude for my best friend, my better half, Gökçe. He had to get through all the difficulties of this academic process with me, never left me alone. Without his presence, support, encouragement and love I could not follow my dreams. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................... iii ÖZET ........................................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................................................................... vii TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... ix CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................. 1 CHAPTER II: THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND .......................................... 7 2.1. Political Developments and Anglo-Ottoman Relations in the Second Half of the 19th Century ................................................................................................... 7 2.1.1. A Landmark: The Crimean War 1853-1856 ............................................ 8 2.1.2. Bosnian Upheaval of 1875 ....................................................................... 9 2.1.3. The Triumph of Agitation: Bulgarian Crisis of 1876 ............................ 11 2.1.4. 1876: Ottoman- Serbia, Montenegro War .............................................. 16 2.1.5. 1877-78 Russo-Turkish War .................................................................. 19 2.2. ‘93 Refugees............................................................................................... 25 2.2.1. Usage of the Terminology ...................................................................... 25 2.2.2. Causes of the Exodus ............................................................................. 27 2.2.3. Structure of the Influx ............................................................................ 28 2.2.4. The Volume of the ’93 Refugees ........................................................... 31 ix 2.2.5. The relief efforts ..................................................................................... 33 2.3. Victorian Philanthropy in the Ottoman Empire ......................................... 36 2.3.1. Victorian Understanding and Application of Philanthropy ................... 36 2.3.2. Emergence of British Relief in the Ottoman Empire ............................. 38 2.3.3. Benevolence as a Political Tool ............................................................. 41 CHAPTER III: HUMANITARIAN DIPLOMACY ............................................. 45 3.1. British Diplomacy and Relief to the Refugees of the 1877-78 War .......... 45 3.2. Austen Henry Layard: the British Ambassador to the Porte (1877-1880) . 48 3.3. The Role of British Consular Network