Eastern Question

Eastern Question, term coined apparently in 1821 to describe various international problems concerning the Ottoman empire, in particular the Greek revolt of 1821. It came to be used especially as a shorthand for the diplomatic problems arising from the decline of Ottoman authority in Europe, including the disposition of Ottoman territories in the Balkans, the control of the Straits of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, and the possession of Constantinople (İstanbul). In this form the Eastern Question is usually traced back to the Russo-Ottoman Treaty of Küchük Kaynarja (1774), by which (in addition to an indemnity and territory) Russia gained freedom of navigation of the Black Sea, the right to send merchant vessels through the Straits, and (it was claimed) the right to make representations on behalf of the Christian Orthodox Church, to which the majority of Ottoman Christian subjects adhered. The treaty thus signalled the weakness of the Ottoman empire and indicated Russia as the great power most likely to succeed the Ottomans in Europe. Other great European powers (notably Austria and later Great Britain) feared that the balance of power in Europe might be disturbed by such Russian gains and therefore sought to ensure either that the Ottoman empire did not collapse or that if it did the outcome would not unduly favour any single European power (see British Foreign Policy Since 1800). During the 19th century (beginning with the Serbian revolt of 1804), the situation was greatly complicated by the rise of national feeling among Christian Ottoman subjects and their wish to achieve autonomy and eventual independence. The link between the ambitions of the Balkan Christians and the hopes and fears of the great powers produced the familiar 19th-century appearance of the Eastern Question.

The development of the Eastern Question may be traced through successive international crises. Following the Russo-Turkish Wars Russia made gains at the expense of the Ottoman empire by the treaties of Jassy (1792), Bucharest (1812), and Adrianople (1829). In each case other European powers failed to prevent Russia achieving her ends. When, in 1833, Russia seemed to have achieved dominance over the Ottomans by the Treaty of Unikar Skelessi, Great Britain became especially concerned, but in 1840, by the Convention of London, followed by the 1841 Straits Convention, she was successful both in gaining recognition of an internationally accepted rule for the use of the Straits and in establishing a precedent for concerted international action in the Eastern Question. When in 1853 Russia acted unilaterally against the Ottomans, Great Britain and France came to the aid of the Ottomans in the Crimean War, and by the Treaty of Paris (1856) Russia abandoned many of her claims against the Ottomans. The Ottoman empire was admitted to the Concert of Europe and the European powers promised to respect her independence and integrity and jointly guaranteed observance of the treaty. The Eastern Question was now a full international question. It was further hoped that the progress of the Ottoman reform movement (the Tanzimat) would eventually remove the complaints of the Ottoman misgovernment which had given rise to past problems.

The 1856 settlement was undermined partly by Russian resentment, but principally by the unsatisfied ambitions of the Balkan Christians. Greece had been independent since 1832 and Serbia, Montenegro, and the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (future Romania) were more or less autonomous, but all were dissatisfied, as were many Serbs, Greeks, and Bulgarians who remained within the Ottoman empire. In 1875-1878 there resulted a major Eastern crisis which began with a revolt of Christian peasants in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It spread to Bulgaria, where Ottoman efforts to suppress the rising produced the much-publicized Bulgarian massacres, war between the Ottomans and Serbia and Montenegro, an outcry throughout Europe, and a Russo-Ottoman war; this ended in an Ottoman defeat and the Treaty of San Stefano (1878), which proposed the creation of a large Bulgarian state in the Balkans. Alarmed by the prospective increase of Russian influence, Great Britain threatened war, and with support from other powers persuaded Russia to agree to an international congress (Berlin 1878) at which the Treaty of San Stefano was revised by international agreement, the new Bulgarian state greatly reduced in size, and some territory returned to the Ottomans. However, the notion of retaining the old framework of the Ottoman empire was abandoned: Serbia, Montenegro, and Romania all received their independence. Furthermore, Austria was given the right of administering Bosnia and Herzegovina. In subsequent years the Balkan states continued to press their claims, culminating in the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 as a result of which the Ottomans lost their remaining territories in Europe with the exception of eastern Thrace, the state of Albania was created, and the Balkan states made considerable territorial gains.

After 1878 the concept of the Eastern Question was widened, and it came to be seen by some writers as part of a general conflict between European civilization and the East, involving French and (in 1912) Italian occupation of North Africa, British expansion in India, the southern Middle East and Egypt, Russian expansion in Central Asia, and the conflicts which these movements gave rise to among these powers. To some extent, through the construction of the Suez Canal (1869), the second Anglo-Afghan war of 1878-1880, the British occupation of Egypt (1882), the Armenian massacres of 1895-1896, the Baghdad Railway project of 1899, and the Ottoman promotion of Pan-Islamism, these wider movements were linked to the traditional Eastern Question and the final denouement of the Eastern Question also embraced the Asian territories of the Ottoman empire.

The end of the old Eastern Question came as a consequence of World War I, which was itself in large part an outcome of the Eastern Question (the rivalry between Austria and Serbia over Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was annexed by Austria in 1908). The Ottomans fought on the side of the Central Powers, were defeated, and by the Treaty of Sèvres (1920), forfeited the Arab provinces and eastern Thrace, and were threatened with the loss of parts of Anatolia. The resulting Turkish national uprising led to the modification of the Sèvres treaty by the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) by which Turkey regained eastern Thrace, and full control of Anatolia and of the Straits, subject to an international convention.