The Eastern Question: Part I

If one heard the phrase “Eastern Question” one or two hundred years ago, he’d know that this so-called problem encompassed the diplomatic and political issues arising from the slow decay of the Ottoman empire. Today, the Eastern Question is not about the decay of an empire but rather the integration of the Ottoman’s historical heir, modern day Turkey, into Europe.

While many see Turkey’s eventual accession to the European Union as an unparalleled step in history, there are in fact parallels. As early as 1693, there were already calls for the Ottomans to be accepted into the “European family of nations.” The author of these words was non other than William Penn, founder of Philadelphia and the US state of Pennsylvania.

Ironically enough, once Sultan Abd-ul-Mejid I began a period of Tanzimat, or reorganization, from 1839 to 1876, the Ottomans came to be considered a member of the community of nations. In 1841, during the convention of the Straits whereby the European powers that be intervened to affirm Ottoman sovereignty over the Bosphorus and sea of Marmara, due to Russia having recently gained control of Crimea, the Ottoman Empire finally gained recognition from Europe. During the Crimean war of 1853 to 1856, the Ottomans were finally formally accepted into the Concert of Europe, whose aim was to maintain the balance of power, discuss problems of war and peace and generally maintain the European order established during the Congress of Vienna. It included Britain, Austria-Hungary, Prussia, Russia and later France (after the Bourbons were reinstalled). Thus, it can be said be one of the first international organizations and therefore forerunners of the United Nations and European Union.

Perhaps most important was the long-awaited recognition of the Ottomans as a (partially) European based power with influence on the European continent and as a legitimate state with which other European powers could deal. Ironically, the decay of the Ottoman empire lead to the series of European “Great Power conferences” which aimed to maintain stability and balance as the Ottomans lost territory.

Today, the Ottoman empire is long gone but Atatürk’s Republic of Turkey finds itself again on the doorstep of Europe. With the disintegration of the Soviet Union and it’s accompanying major territorial losses, the European Union has been rapidly expanding to quickly bring former Communist states into their sphere of influence. Today’s “Eastern Question” is rather: “How far east?”