The Age of Turkish Improvement

Abstract

This chapter explores how the Ottoman Empire came to pretend, in the 1830s, to Whig reforming patronage. Decisive steps were taken in the form of the Balta-Liman trade convention and the Edict of Gulhané. The Syrian rebellion of 1840 against Mehemet Ali, and the echo it found in the British media, helped broaden the appeal of the Ottoman cause. Official belief in Turkey’s improvement programme was moreover reflected in British policy in Syria after the invasion, in 1841. Long before, nevertheless, Britain’s espousal of Ottoman reconstruction, through a programme of free trade, laissez-faire, and security of person and property, made its alignment in the Eastern Question all but predestined.