Narrating Empires: Between National and Multinational Visions of Belonging

Abstract

Throughout the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century, the Habsburg and Ottoman empires struggled not only to implement legal, infrastructural and social reforms aimed at strengthening their own central power but also to legitimise their rule through new frameworks of belonging. In an age of modern communications, and against the backdrop of an evolving public discourse, the creation of new identity narratives became dependent not only on the state but also on the active participation of educated individuals who would show commitment to or rejection of the empire through newspapers, books and other written media. This introductory chapter to the volume proposes ‘Narrated Empires’ as an overarching concept to explore how imperial narratives of multinationalism responded to an increased articulation of national narratives. Even after the downfall of the Habsburg and Ottoman states, these ‘Narrated Empires’ have kept informing discourses of political homogeneity and plurality, of social closedness and openness.

We would like to thank Nadia Al-Bagdadi, Stephan Guth and Iva Lučić for their invaluable comments, and Matthew Goldman, Sebastian Haug, Charles Lock and George Winter for their thorough reading of earlier drafts of this chapter.

Appendices

Appendix

Recurring Concepts

Cisleithania:

The non-Hungarian part of the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary after 1867

Illyrian:

A concept referring to the historical name for Dalmatia. After Napoleon made the ‘Illyrian provinces’ into a short-lived state, the term was taken up by early Croat nationalists

Josephinism:

Late eighteenth-century enlightened reform movement in the Habsburg Empire, named after emperor Joseph II, aimed at, among other things, strengthening state outreach

Magyarisation:

The efforts to spread Hungarian culture, language and identity to the parts of the Habsburg Empire that were under Hungary

Millet:

(Turkish: ‘Nation’): a term used in the late Ottoman Empire with reference to the ethnoreligious groups of the empire

Nahda:

(Arabic: ‘upswing’): movement promoting an intellectual and cultural revival in the late nineteenth century Arab world

Neo-Ottomanism:

A concept used in contemporary discourses to denote current-day Turkish cultural and imperialist ambitions in the old Ottoman lands

Ottomanism:

An ideological concept denoting the attempt in the Late Ottoman Empire to foster an Ottoman patriotism that transgressed ethnic, religious, linguistic and social boundaries

Rum:

‘Roman’: the Ottoman name for the Orthodox Christian millet, indicating its origins in the pre-Ottoman Byzantine oikoumene

Tanzimat :

(Ottoman: ‘The New Order’, ‘Re-organization’ or ‘Reform’): the Ottoman reform period between 1839 and 1876

Yugoslavism:

‘South-Slavism’: a nationalist concept envisioning the unification of all speakers of south Slav languages (Slovenian, Croatian, Serbian)

Timeline

1839: The Gülhane Edict marks the beginning of the Tanzimat era in the Ottoman Empire.

1848–49: Unrest all over Europe and the end of the Vormärz era in Austria. The liberal and nationalist movements within the Habsburg Empire are suppressed with the use of the military. The 18-year-old Franz Joseph is declared emperor.

1853–56: The Crimean War. Britain and France defend the Ottoman Empire against Russia while Habsburg Austria remains neutral. The Islahat Edict clarifies the status of non-Muslims in the Ottoman Empire (1856).

1859–67: The Austrian defeats at Solferino and Königgrätz pave the way for the unifications of Italy and Germany . The Austrian Empire transforms into the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary (1867).

1875–78: ‘The Eastern Crisis’ with uprisings in Bosnia and Bulgaria . The First Ottoman Constitution is proclaimed. Russia declares war on the Ottoman Empire; Abdülhamid II suspends the constitution. The Ottoman Empire loses Bosnia to the Habsburgs; a first Bulgarian state is created. There is an influx of Muslim refugees from the Balkans to the remaining Ottoman territories.

1879–82: Britain takes control over Egypt, which grows into an important hub for exiled Ottoman intellectuals and an already growing Arabophone intelligentsia.

1894–97: Hamidian massacres in the Ottoman Empire target Armenians and other Christians in Eastern Anatolia. In Vienna , Karl Lueger wins the highest elected office in the Habsburg Empire using a rhetoric with strong anti-Semitic undercurrents.

1908–09: The Young Turks stage a revolution in the Ottoman Empire; Abdülhamid II is deposed. Austria formally annexes Bosnia , and Bulgaria declares full independence.

1912 –13: The First and Second Balkan wars. The Ottoman Empire in Europe reduced to a rump territory from Edirne to Constantinople . Through the intervention of Austria-Hungary, an Albanian state is created.

1914–18: The First World War. The Ottoman Empire resists at Gallipoli but gradually loses the Near East; the Armenians of East Anatolia are largely annihilated. The Habsburg Empire prevails with German help on the front against Russia but is defeated by Italy . Franz Joseph dies (1916). The Empire begins to dissolve.

1919–23: A German-Austria (Deutschösterreich) is created out of the remaining (German-speaking) part of the Habsburg Empire. Various partition plans for the Ottoman Empire; Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk ) prevails against Greek occupation and lays the foundation of the Republic of Turkey.

Map 1.1

The Habsburg and Ottoman empires in 1848, superimposed over the states that replaced them. © The authors

Map 1.2

The Habsburg Empire, its Crown lands and major cities after the 1867 ‘Ausgleich’ with Hungary , the bold line indicating the division between Hungary and ‘Cisleithania’ . © The authors

Map 1.3

Stages of Ottoman territorial decline in the Balkans, 1858–1913. Shading indicates areas that underwent periods of transitional rule over one or several stages. © The authors

Map 1.4

British, French and Italian colonial expansion in the Ottoman Levant , 1882–1923. © The authors