History: The Ottoman Empire - Fall 1876-1922

A period of hope and constitutional reform soon gave way to military defeat in the Balkans and Africa and unrest in Anatolia and Rumelia. We consider the experiment in merging enlightenment liberalism with Islam through the ‘Young Turk’ movement sought constitutional reform and modernisation within the existing structures of the Empire and its eventual failure. We will ask hard questions about how the Ottomans turned away from tolerance towards a narrow polity with bitter consequences. We examine the outbreak of World War One, the experience of the war in the empire and the total defeat that brought its end. We also ask whether it was inevitable. We consider the major events, personalities and trends of these years – the Balkan Wars, The Great War, the Arab Revolt, the Armenian massacres of the 1890s and 1909 followed by the Genocide of 1915 and the Turkish War of Independence as well as political, economic, religious, social and cultural developments. Much use will be made of contemporary literature and art as well as a wealth of documentary evidence as well as the latest historical analysis. Most importantly we consider the aftermath of the Empire and its consequences for the world that we live in.