scholarly journals FROM TYRANNY TO DESPOTISM: THE ENLIGHTENMENT'S UNENLIGHTENED IMAGE OF THE TURKS

2001 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asli Çirakman
Keyword(s):  
Ottoman Empire ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
The Public ◽  
European Experience ◽  
European Public ◽  
The Government ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Century Thought

This study aims to examine the way in which European writers of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries represented Ottoman government. The Ottoman Empire had a special place in European experience and thought. The Ottomans were geographically close to Western Europe, yet they were quite apart in culture and religion, a combination that triggered interest in Turkish affairs.1 Particularly important were political affairs. The Ottoman government inspired a variety of opinions among European travelers and thinkers. During the 18th century, the Ottomans lost their image as formidable and eventually ceased to provoke curiosity in the European public. They were no longer dreaded as the “public calamity”; nor were they greatly respected as the “most modern government” on earth. Rather, they were regarded as a dull and backward sort of people. From the 16th century to the 19th century, the European observers employed two similar, yet different, concepts to characterize the government of the Ottoman Empire. The concept of tyranny was widely used during the 16th and 17th centuries, whereas the concept of despotism was used to depict the regime of the Ottomans in the 18th century. The transition from the term “tyranny” to that of “despotism” in the 18th century indicates a radical change in the European images of the Ottoman Empire. Although both of these terms designate corrupt and perverse regimes in Western political thought, a distinction was made between tyranny and despotism, and it mattered crucially which term was applied to the Ottoman state. European observers of the empire gave special meanings to these key concepts over time. “Tyranny” allowed for both positive and negative features, whereas “despotism” had no redeeming features. Early modern Europeans emphasized both admirable and frightening aspects of Ottoman greatness. On the other hand, the concept of despotism was redefined as inherently Oriental in the 18th century and employed to depict the corruption and backwardness of the Ottoman government. This transformation was profoundly reflected in the beliefs of Europeans about the East. That is, 18th century thought on Ottoman politics contains a Eurocentric analysis of Oriental despotism that is absent from the discussions of Ottoman tyranny in earlier centuries.

The Public and Economic Activities of the Hִatim Family of Istanbul: A Chapter in the History of the Jewish Leadership in Istanbul and Jerusalem in the 19th Century

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-127
Author(s):  
Leah Bornstein-Makovetsky
Keyword(s):  
Ottoman Empire ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
The Public ◽  
Economic Elite ◽  
Late 18Th Century ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 19Th Century

This article discusses the biographies and economic and public activities of the Ḥatim family in Istanbul in the late 18th century and throughout the 19th century. Most of the attention is focused on R. Shlomo Ḥatim and his son Yitsḥak, who were members of the Jewish elite in Istanbul and settled in Jerusalem at the ends of their lives. R. Shlomo, who is said to have served the Ottoman authorities in Istanbul, settled in Jerusalem more than ten years before the leaders of the Jewish economic elite in Istanbul were executed in the 1820s. His son, surviving this purge, followed much later, immigrating to Israel in 1846, but died immediately thereafter. This article provides insights into the business activities of the Ḥatim family, as well as the activities of Yitsḥak Ḥatim as an Ottoman official in Istanbul. I also discuss two more generations of this family, considered an elite, privileged one, and that was highly esteemed among well-known rabbis in the Ottoman Empire. I also discuss the ties that developed between the communities of Istanbul and Jerusalem in the first half of the 19th century as a result of initiatives of officials in Istanbul and of immigration from Istanbul to Jerusalem.

scholarly journals In the “Mirror” of Press: Preparation and Conduct of the First “Russian Season” by S. P. Diaghilev (1906)

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 48-58
Author(s):  
Natalia D. Melnik
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Russian Art ◽  
The Public ◽  
Cultural Activities ◽  
Russian Symbolism ◽  
The Press ◽  
The 19Th Century

Purpose. The purpose of this study is to examine the coverage in the Russian and foreign press the preparation and conduct of the first Russian season in Paris (then in Berlin) by S. P. Diaghilev in 1906, which became the beginning of implementation of large-scale activities of impresario in Western Europe, whose main objective was the promotion of almost unknown at the time for the Europeans the Russian art. Results. Quoting the correspondence of artists-friends of Diaghilev, memoirs of contemporaries, publications in the press, as well as modern research, allows the author to assert that the basis of this cultural project of the impresario was the exhibition “Two centuries of Russian painting and sculpture”, where he exhibited ancient Russian icons, works of Russian artists of the 18th century – the first half of the 19th century, as well as paintings by members of the art Association “World of Art” who were the representatives of Russian symbolism and modernism. Conclusion. The studied materials indicate that the success of the first Russian season set the stage for further cultural activities to acquaint Western Europe with a variety of achievements of Russian art and their success among critics and the public.

scholarly journals From Ally to Enemy: the Ottoman Empire in Publicistic Works by Ephraim Deinard

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 77-92
Author(s):  
Esther Zyskina
Keyword(s):  
World War I ◽  
Ottoman Empire ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
The State ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
World War ◽  
Russian Government ◽  
The Government ◽  
The 19Th Century

The paper considers is the transformation of the image of the Ottoman Empire in the publicistic texts by Ephraim Deinard, outstand ing Jewish writer and journalist of the turn of the 19th and 20th centu ries. The research was based on two Deinard’s works, “Atidot Israel” (“The Future of Israel”, 1892) and “Tzion be’ad mi?” (“Zion for Whom?”, 1918), which deal with a variety of topics, including Deinard’s opinion on the Ottoman Empire. In particular, the radical change of his position from the statements in “Atidot Israel” to those in “Tzion be’ad mi?” is observed. Deinard discusses the following three aspects, each case being a vivid example of this controversy: 1. The Ottoman government’s attitude towards Jews and the pros pects of the collaboration of the Jewish community with the government; 2. The economic situation in the Ottoman Empire and its foreign policy; 3. The culture and cultural policy in the Ottoman Empire. Deinard’s interest in Turkey was initially caused by his Zionist views, as the Land of Israel was part of the Ottoman Empire. Later, after World War I and especially after the Balfour Declaration in 1917, the Zionists placed their expectations on Britain, while Turkey, after losing the war and the territory so important for Jews, could no more be praised by Dei nard. In addition, Deinard had lived in the USA for more than 30 years by 1918, and it is merely logical that his publicistic works were aimed against the USA’s enemy in World War I. This shift looks especially interesting when looked at through the context of the history of the Russian Jewish Enlightenment. A very simi lar process occurred in the ideology of the Russian maskilim in the 19th century. Throughout the 19th century, they believed that the Jews should be integrated in the Russian society and viewed the Russian government as their ally. The Russian authorities, correspondingly, tried to assimilate the Jews and to make them an integral part of the society. However, af ter the pogroms of 1880s, the authorities’ attitude towards Jews changed dramatically, and so did that of the maskilim towards the government. Laws regarding Jews were tightened and became openly anti-Semitic, and the maskilim started to criticize the state instead of hoping for col laboration with it. Deinard’s works used for this research date to a later period. More over, the aforementioned events influenced his positive attitude towards the Ottoman Empire: concerning the status of Jews in the both countries, Deinard opposed Turkey to Russia. Eventually, however, Turkey took the same place for Deinard as Russia did for his predecessors, the maskilim. His hopes for collaboration with the state were just as replaced by disap pointment and criticism. To conclude, the above similarity may suggest that the shift in Dein ard’s views might have correlated with the change in the ideology of the Russian maskilim.

Demographic and Religious Changes in Nahiya Kara Lom in the 17th–18th Centuries

Epohi ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nevena Nedelcheva ◽  
◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ottoman Empire ◽  
Detrimental Effect ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
Sharp Decline ◽  
Economic Problems ◽  
Population Migrations

The report presents the changes that took place in nahiya Kara Lom between the late 17th and early 18th centuries. It is based on published and unpublished Ottoman documents – detailed cizye and avariz defters, stored in the Ottoman Archives in Istanbul and at the Oriental Department in Sofia. They were composed in the late 17th – first half of the 18th centuries. At the turn of the 18th century, very significant transformations took place in this region, which changed its appearance and state fundamentally. The main focus of the study is on the demographic and religious changes and processes in the region. They were expressed in the sharp decline of the population. This process was specific to the whole region, and its causes can be traced to many factors that have had a detrimental effect. These included climate change, plague epidemics, population migrations, economic problems in the Ottoman Empire, and the process of Islamization. They led to a decline in the population of Kara Lom, which can be described as a demographic crisis. In the vortex of this crisis, there was a “change” of the confessional image of the nahiya, i.e. a radical change in the religious model of the district, which had disastrous consequences for many settlements in the region. The report provides possible explanations for the demographic and religious transformations in nahiya Kara Lom, which shaped the area in the next century as we know it today.

Late Imperial Economy, 960–1895

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Wright
Keyword(s):  
Economic History ◽  
Song Dynasty ◽  
Tang Dynasty ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Chinese Economy ◽  
Early 19Th Century ◽  
Late Imperial ◽  
The Song Dynasty ◽  
European Experience

Although for most purposes “late imperial China” refers to the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368–1911), many scholars believe that key aspects of China’s late imperial economy came into existence as a result of a series of changes that began in the late Tang dynasty and culminated during the Song dynasty, known as the “Tang-Song transformation.” While these changes included, for example, the growth of markets, they were by no means limited to—or even mainly related to—economic history but included political changes, such as those in the nature of the elite. Without prejudging the issue, this article covers the whole period from the establishment of the Song dynasty to the first Sino-Japanese War, after which railways and economic modernization began to change the Chinese economy. The old stereotype of premodern China as unchanging and economically stagnant has long been discarded, and scholars recognize that China had a dynamic and successful economy that managed to feed a growing population and developed a range of sophisticated institutions. The stereotype is now being turned on its head, and many are asking whether as late as the 18th century at least parts of China were as prosperous and as advanced as western Europe, whether Chinese commercial and legal institutions were as accommodating of economic growth as those in Europe, and, as a result, how one can explain the “great divergence” that took place between Europe and the rest of the world from (in this view) the early 19th century. A further underlying issue is to what extent models based on the European experience can be used to understand or explain development patterns in China. The most notable example of trying to force Chinese development into a European framework was of course Marxist stage theory. But more recently “Eurocentric” theories and models of development that are based on the European experience have been more widely rejected coupled with attempts to develop more distinctively Chinese—or Asian—models.

The development of nursing care of the sick in Western Europe in the 18th and the first half of the 19th centuries

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-28
Author(s):  
Jerzy Supady
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
French Revolution ◽  
Nursing Care ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Religious Congregations ◽  
The Right ◽  
Napoleon I ◽  
The 19Th Century

The Enlightenment ideology and the French Revolution had a very negative impact on the activities of religious congregations in respect of nursing care of the sick in hospitals in the 18th century. Emperor Napoleon I attempted to improve the existing situation by restoring the right for nursing care to nuns. In the first half of the 19th century, in Germany catholic religious orders had the obligation to provide nursing care and in the 30’s of the 19th century the Evangelical Church also joined charity work in hospitals by employing laywomen, i.e. deaconesses.

scholarly journals THE STATE OF GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS CONCERNING ILLEGAL INCIDENTS IN THE OTTOMAN PROVINCE AN EXAMPLE OF SARUHAN SANJAK

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (49) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Ottoman Empire ◽  
Financial Support ◽  
The State ◽  
Western Anatolia ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Innocent People ◽  
The Public ◽  
Utmost Care ◽  
The Government ◽  
Official Crime

Saruhan, one of the sanjaks of the Ottoman State in the Western Anatolia, in addition to having various features, has witnessed illegal events that took place within its structure. These events are similar to those occurring in other parts of the Ottoman Empire. In this study, the government officials who played an important role in the occurrence and prevention of illegal incidents in the Saruhan Sanjak, in other words, "Soldiers" were discussed. The state of the government officials in these incidents has been evaluated in terms of their positive and negative aspects in line with the records from the archive documents. In addition, some issues that the Ottoman Empire paid attention to, applications such as rewarding, compensation and various orders were included with examples from the records from the archive documents. The Ottoman Empire paid utmost care not to harm innocent people while fighting against the bandits. Also, in order to be successful in fighting against the bandits despite its economic difficulties, while revealing all its possibilities, it collected financial support from the public by means of taxation. In the study, the documents, especially the ones called "Muhimme Books", recorded in various classifications obtained from the Presidential Ottoman Archive were used. Keywords: Ottoman, Saruhan, government official, crime, punishment

The Public Sphere and Journalism

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthea Garman
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Position Statement ◽  
Social Imaginary ◽  
The Public ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
The People ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
And Function

The public sphere is a social entity with an important function and powerful effects in modern, democratic societies. The idea of the public sphere rests on the conviction that people living in a society, regardless of their age, gender, religion, economic or social status, professional position, sexual orientation, ethnicity, race, or nationality, should be able to publicly express their thoughts, ideas, and opinions about issues that matter to them and impact their lives. This expression should be as free as possible in form and function and should operate through means and methods that people themselves deem suitable, so not via channels that are official or state-sanctioned. The classic Habermasian idea of the public sphere is that it is used by private individuals (not officials or politicians) who should be able to converse with each other in a public-spirited way to develop opinions that impact state or public-body decisions and policies. Also contained within this classic idea is the conviction that public sphere conversations should be rational (i.e., logical, evidence-based, and properly motivated and argued using an acceptable set of rhetorical devices) in order to convince others of the usefulness of a position, statement, or opinion. In commonsensical, political, and journalistic understandings, the public sphere is a critical component of a democracy that enables ordinary citizens to act as interlocutors to those who hold power and thereby hold them to account. As such it is one of the elements whereby democracy as a system is able to claim legitimacy as the “rule of the people.” Journalism’s imbrication in the social imaginary of the public sphere dates back to 17th- and 18th-century Europe when venues like coffee houses, clubs, and private homes, and media like newspapers and newsletters were being used by a mixture of gentry, nobility, and an emerging middle class of traders and merchants and other educated thinkers to disseminate information and express ideas. The conviction that journalism was the key vehicle for the conveyance of information and ideas of public import was then imbedded in the foundations of the practice of modern journalism and in the form exported from Western Europe to the rest of the world. Journalism’s role as a key institution within and vehicle of the public sphere was thus born. Allied to this was the conviction that journalism, via this public sphere role and working on behalf of the public interest (roughly understood as the consensus of opinions formed in the public sphere), should hold political, social, and economic powers to account. Journalists are therefore understood to be crucial proxies for the millions of people in a democracy who cannot easily wield on their own the collective voices that journalism with its institutional bases can produce.

Epidemie i choroby w doniesieniach polskiej prasy rękopiśmiennej z drugiej połowy XVIII w.

2021 ◽  
pp. 11-41
Author(s):  
Adam Kucharski
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Preventive Measures ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
Human Diseases ◽  
The Public ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
Deadly Disease

The advancement of medical knowledge in Europe and Poland of the Enlightenment did not completely eliminate the recurring epidemics of infectious diseases. The plague, which gave way from Western Europe to reappear on Polish soil several times in the second half of the 18th century. The study is devoted to the problem of presenting epidemics and diseases to the public, or rather to the process of informing the public about them, also about other human diseases, such as typhus or smallpox, but also mental ailments in the so-called written newspapers, edited cyclically for specific recipients. It was a characteristic information medium that existed alongside the titles of the printed press. For this reason, apart from the analysis of the dominant narrative of the handwritten press, reference was also made to reports of its printed counterpart during the great plague epidemic of the early 1770s. The newspaper information concerned mainly the specter of the plague threat from the south-eastern borderlands of the country, mainly the areas of Podolia or Volyn, which, however, triggered preventive measures and quarantine even in Warsaw, but also descriptions of local outbreaks of this deadly disease. The first was also mentioned reports on vaccinations. Epizooties, mainly mass cattle sickness, are discussed separately.

Modernization without Westernization

2014 ◽  
pp. 296-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nailah Ayub ◽  
Norizan M Kassim ◽  
Mohamed Zain
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Questionnaire Survey ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
Traditional Values ◽  
The Public ◽  
Incremental Change ◽  
The Government ◽  
Integrate Development

This chapter examines various radical and incremental changes and innovations (physical, economic, educational, societal, and cultural) introduced by the government of Saudi Arabia in view of the slogan “modernization without westernization.” The slogan highlights the government efforts to encourage incremental change to integrate development or modernization with the traditional values. However, the authors aim to confirm whether this is an incremental change accepted by the public or a radical change where the tradition is being replaced by westernization, that is, whether it is modernization with or without westernization. The approach taken in this study is to examine the literature in order to find some evidence that supports or refutes the slogan. The authors also conducted a questionnaire survey involving 237 respondents in order to determine their perceptions toward this slogan. The results provide strong support for both modernization and westernization since these two practices have brought about many positive changes to Saudi Arabia. Thus, if one were to include certain Saudi values into the concept of modernization, particularly those related to culture and religion, one could safely say that the slogan or motto, “modernization without westernization,” is true or acceptable only up to a certain extent. In other words, the findings suggest Saudi society is more accepting of both “modernization” and “westernization” as long as they do not go against the basic tenets of Islam.

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