OG from the #archives! Two letters from 1890 by #Serbian consul Luka Marinković in Priština (#Kosovo Vilayet, #Ottoman Empire at the time) about the closure of Serbian schools in the province.
Today in Labor History March 30, 1856: The Treaty of Paris was signed, ending the Crimean War, between Russia and the victorious Ottoman Empire (allied with the UK, France and Sardinia-Piedmont). The flashpoint was a conflict over the rights of Christian minorities in Ottoman-controlled Palestine, and control of its holy sites.
The Crimean War was one of the first to utilize modern armaments, like explosive shells, railways and telegraphs. Much of these armaments came from Alfred Nobel’s family armament factory. It was also a particularly deadly war. Around 670,000 soldiers died in only four years, the majority from preventable infectious diseases (e.g., typhus, typhoid, cholera, and dysentery), not from battle wounds. Mortality rates for soldiers were 23-31%, compared with U.S. troop mortality rates of only 2% during the Vietnam War.
In the aftermath of the Crimean War, Russia sold Alaska to the U.S. out of fear that the UK would simply take it from them in their weakened military state. The last living veteran of the Crimean war was a Greek tortoise, named Timothy, who had served as a ship’s mascot during the war. He died in 2004, nearly 150 years after the war ended. Despite their victory, the Ottomans gained no new territory, and the war nearly bankrupted them, contributing to their decline as a super power. The Crimean War also helped forge the alliances and grievances that would lead to the First World War, and quite likely to the conditions leading up to Russia’s recent annexation of Crimea and its current fight with Ukraine.
Florence Nightengale became famous as a nurse during this war. Tolstoy fought in the 11-month Siege of Sevastopol. His experiences in this war contributed to his pacifism and anarchism. After witnessing a public execution in France, one year after the Crimean War ended, he wrote, “The truth is that the State is a conspiracy designed not only to exploit, but above all to corrupt its citizens ... Henceforth, I shall never serve any government anywhere.” The war also influenced his novel, “War and Peace.”
On the docket today: Combing through French ambassadorial requests to have the #Ottoman minister of foreign affairs certify its consuls and #interpreters (c. 1700). Later in the 18th century and/or during the 19th century, French diplomats had many #Armenian interpreters. But, at this point, they were all Frenchmen and Ottoman Jews. Except this guy: Matusagha (Մաթուսաղա), son of the somewhat famous Abro (Ապրօ) Çelebi.
Excited to be on a great round table on the production of space in contested territories. So many great scholars with me - Matthew Worsnick, Pamela Ballinger, Karolina Follis, Marta Verginella.
What does it mean to think about empire and the decolonial approach in territories contested between empires? Considering we live in a world of multiple competing empires, I believe this to be quite relevant!
#PALESTINE was #Muslims, #Christians, and #Jews. Although they identified differently, they all spoke Arabic. #Ottoman state language was #Turkish. It was a fast-growing society. Even while few could read or write, schooling grew rapidly. At the turn of the century, roads, railroads, electricity, and more.
Additionally, society has been generally tranquil for a long period. No violence occurred between Muslims, Jews, Christians, or other groups in Palestine. In several hundred years
Happy to share my new article, "Letters from the Ottoman Empire: Migration from the Caucasus and Russia's Pan-Islamic Panic," published by Slavic Review. https://doi.org/10.1017/slr.2023.164
For years, I have been searching for Muslim refugees' letters exchanged between the #Ottoman and Russian empires in the 1850s–1914. I was lucky to find quite a few: in archives in Tbilisi, Baku, Moscow, Vladikavkaz, and Makhachkala and private collections in #Jordan and Dagestan. The article explores the secret transborder #letter exchange of Caucasus Muslims and reactions by #Russia.
I argue that Muslims' letters from the Ottoman Empire fueled the Russian government's paranoia about Pan-Islamism that purportedly threatened Russia's colonial project in the #Caucasus. The Pan-Islamic panic shaped Russia's migration policies and colonial governance, including bans on Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, emigration, and return migration.
As a tribal history, the word #Palestine derives from Philistia, the name given by Greek writers to the land of the Philistines, who in the 12th century bce occupied a small pocket of land on the southern coast, between modern Tel Aviv–Yafo and Gaza.
Giving a talk tomorrow, Jul 13 on #imperial history and contemporary #gentrification in the #Balkans at UniKonstanz. It will take place via Zoom (link below).
Do you want to know why certain historic buildings are restored, and what that has to do with rising rent? Are you interested in #Habsburg and #Ottoman cities? Do you care about post-industrial #urbanism? Come check it out!