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dissolution. The essential' questions that are involved are so old that historians commonly speak of the " Eastern Question " in reference to events that happened See also:

long before the actual phrase was coined. But, wherever used, it is always the Turkish Question, the 1 Quoted by Mr F. S. P. See also:

LELY, SIR PETER (1617—168o)

Lely in The Times of See also:

NOVEMBER (Lat. novem, nine)

November 22, 1906. generic See also:

TERM

term in which subsidiary issues, e.g. the See also:

Greek, Armenian or Macedonian questions, are embraced. That a phrase of so wide and loose a nature should have been stereotyped in so narrow a sense is simply the outcome of the conditions under which it was invented. To the See also:

EUROPEAN

European diplomatists of the first See also:

HALF

half of the 19th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century the See also:

OTTOMAN

Ottoman empire was still the only See also:

East with which they were collectively brought into contact. The rivalry of See also:

GREAT

Great See also:

BRITAIN (Gr. Hperavuml vi7vot, Bperravia; Lat. Britannia, rarely Britannia)

Britain and See also:

Russia in See also:

PERSIA

Persia had not yet raised the question of the See also:

MIDDLE

Middle East; still less any ambitions of See also:

Germany in the See also:

EUPHRATES (Babylon. Purattu, Heb. Perath, Arab. Frdt or Furst, Old Pers. Ufratu, Gr. Eb4 parrls)

Euphrates valley. The immense and incalculable problems involved in the rise of See also:

JAPAN

Japan, the awakening of See also:

CHINA

China, and their relations to the European See also:

POWERS, HIRAM (1805-1873)

powers and to America—known as the Far Eastern' Question—are comparatively but affairs of yesterday. The Eastern Question, though its roots are set far back in history—in the See also:

ancient contest between the See also:

POLITICAL

political and intellectual ideals of See also:

GREECE

Greece and See also:

ASIA

Asia, and in the perennial rivalry of the powers for the See also:

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

control of the great See also:

trade routes to the East—dates in its See also:

MODERN

modern sense from the treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji in 1774, which marked the definitive See also:

ESTABLISHMENT (0. Fr. establissement, Fr. etablissement, late Norm. Fr. establishement, from O. Fr. establir, Fr. etablir, Lat. stabilire, to make stable)

establishment of Russia as a See also:

Black See also:

Sea See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power and formed the basis of her See also:

SPECIAL

special claims to interfere in the affairs of the Ottoman empire.

The compact between See also:

NAPOLEON

Napoleon and the See also:

EMPEROR (Fr. empereur, from the Lat. imperator)

emperor See also:

Alexander I. at See also:

TILSIT

Tilsit (1807) marked a new phase, which culminated in 1812 in the treaty of See also:

BUCHAREST (Bucuresci)

Bucharest, in which Russia definitely appeared as the See also:

PROTECTOR

protector of the See also:

Christian nationalities subject to the Ottoman See also:

SULTAN (an Arabic word meaning " victorious " or " a ruler," sultat, dominion)

sultan. The attitude of the various powers in the Eastern Question was now defined. Russia, apart from her See also:

DESIRE

desire to protect the Orthodox nationalities subject to the Ottoman power, aimed at owning or controlling the straits by which alone she could find an outlet to the Mediterranean and the ocean beyond. See also:

Austria, once the See also:

CHAMPION (Fr. champion, Late Lat. campio from campus; a field or open space, i.e. one " who takes the field " or fights; cf. Ger. Kampf, battle, and Kampfer, fighter)

champion of See also:

EUROPE

Europe against the Turk, saw in the See also:

RUSSIAN

Russian advance on the See also:

DANUBE (Ger. Donau, Hungarian Duna, Rumanian Dunarea, Lat. Danubius or Danuvius, and in the lower part of its course Ister)

Danube a greater peril than any to be feared from the moribund Ottoman power, and made the See also:

MAINTENANCE (Fr. maintenance, from maintenir, to maintain, support, Lat. manu tenere, to hold in the hand)

maintenance of the integrity of See also:

TURKEY

Turkey a See also:

PRIME, PRIMER AND PRIMING

prime See also:

OBJECT

object of her policy. She was thus brought into See also:

LINE

line with Great Britain, whose traditional friendship with Turkey was strengthened by the rise of a new power whose rapid advance threatened the stability of See also:

BRITISH

British See also:

RULE

rule in See also:

India. But though Austria, Great Britain and presently See also:

France, were all equally interested in maintaining the Ottoman empire, the failure of the congress of See also:

Vienna in 1815 to take See also:

ACTION

action in the See also:

MATTER

matter of a See also:

GUARANTEE (sometimes spelt " guarantie " or " guaranty "; an O. Fr. form of " warrant," from the Teutonic word which appears in German as wahren, to defend or make safe and binding)

guarantee of Turkey, and the exclusion of the Sultan from the See also:

HOLY

Holy See also:

ALLIANCE

Alliance, seemed to endorse the claim of Russia to regard the Eastern Question as " her domestic concern " in which " Europe " had no right to interfere. The revolt of the Greeks (1821) put this claim to the test; by the treaty of See also:

Adrianople (1829) Russia stipulated for their See also:

AUTONOMY (Gr. abr6s, self, and v6pos, law)

autonomy as See also:

PART

part of the See also:

price of See also:

peace, but the powers assembled in See also:

CONFERENCE

conference at See also:

LONDON

London refused to recognize this See also:

settlement, and the establishment of Greece as an See also:

INDEPENDENT

independent See also:

KINGDOM

kingdom (1832) was really aimed at the pretensions and the See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence of Russia. These reached their high-See also:

WATER

water See also:

mark in the treaty of Unkiar Skelessi (See also:

JULY

July 8th, 1832). It was no longer a question of the See also:

PARTITION

partition of Turkey or of a Russian See also:

CONQUEST

conquest of See also:

Constantinople, but of the deliberate degradation by Russia of the Ottoman empire into a weak See also:

state wholly dependent upon herself. The ten years' crisis (1831–1841) evoked by the revolt of Mehemet See also:

Ali, See also:

PASHA

pasha of See also:

EGYPT

Egypt, thus resolved itself into a See also:

DIPLOMATIC

diplomatic struggle between Russia and the other powers to. maintain or to recover influence at Constantinople. The Russian experiment of maintaining the integrity of Turkey while practically treating her as a See also:

VASSAL (Fr. vassal, vassaut, vassault, &c,)

vassal state, ended with the See also:

COMPROMISE (pronounced compromize; through Fr. from Lat. compromittere)

compromise of 1841; and the emperor See also:

Nicholas I. reverted to the older See also:

IDEA (Gr. Ibia, connected with i&eiv, to see; cf. Lat. species from specere, to look at)

idea of expelling the See also:

TURKS

Turks from Europe. The Eastern Question, however, slumbered until, in 1851, the matter of the Holy Places was raised by Napoleon III., involving the whole question of the influence in Ottoman affairs of France under the See also:

CAPITULATIONS (from Lat. ca put, or its Low-Latin diminutive capitulum, as indicating the form in which these acts were set down in chapters "; the Gr. equivalent cephaleosis, KediaXalwocc, is occasionally used in works of the 17th century)

capitulations of 1740 and of Russia under the treaty of 1774.

The See also:

CRIMEAN

Crimean See also:

War followed and in 1856 the treaty of See also:

Paris, by which the powers hoped to See also:

STEM (O. Eng. staefn, stemn, cf. Du. stain, Ger. Stamm, &c., probably related to " staff ")

stem the See also:

TIDE (O. Eng. lid, cf. Ger. Zeit, time or season, connected with root of Sanskrit a-diti, endless)

tide of Russian advance and establish the integrity of a reformed Ottoman state. Turkeywas now for the first time solemnly admitted to the European See also:

CONCERT (through the French from Lat. con-, with, and certare, to strive)

concert. The next See also:

CRITICAL (in alphabetical order of authors)

critical phase was opened in 1871, when Russia took See also:

ADVANTAGE

advantage of the collapse of France to denounce the Black Sea clauses of the treaty of 1856. The renewal of an aggressive policy thus announced to the See also:

WORLD

world soon produced a new crisis in the Eastern Question, which had meanwhile become complicated by the growth of See also:

Pan-Slav ideals in eastern Europe. In 1875 a rising in Herzegovina gave See also:

EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence of a state of feeling in the See also:

BALKAN

Balkan See also:

peninsula which called for the intervention of Europe, if a disastrous war were to be prevented. But this intervention, embodied in the "See also:

ANDRASSY, JULIUS (GyuLA), COUNT (1823—1890)

Andrassy See also:

Note" (See also:

DECEMBER (Lat. decent, ten)

December 1875) and the See also:

Berlin memorandum (May 1876), met with the stubborn opposition of Turkey, where the " See also:

young Turks " were beginning to oppose a Pan-Islamic to the Pan-Slav ideal. The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78 followed, concluded by the treaty of See also:

San Stefano, the terms of which were modified in Turkey's favour by the congress of Berlin (1878), which marks the beginning of the later phase of the Eastern Question. Between Russia and Turkey it interposed, in effect, a barrier of independent (See also:

Rumania, See also:

SERVIA

Servia) and quasi-independent (See also:

Bulgaria) states, erected with the counsel and consent of collective Europe. It thus, while ostensibly weakening, actually tended to strengthen the Ottoman power of resistance. The See also:

period following the treaty of Berlin is coincident with the reign of Sultan Abd-ul-Hamid II. The international position of the Ottoman empire was strengthened by the able, if Machiavellian, statecraft of the sultan; while the danger of disruption from within was lessened by the more effective central control made possible by See also:

RAILWAYS

railways, telegraphs, and the other See also:

MECHANICAL

mechanical improvements borrowed from western See also:

CIVILIZATION

civilization. With the spread of the Pan-Islamic See also:

MOVEMENT

movement, moreover, the undefined authority of the sultan as See also:

CALIPH, CALIF

caliph of See also:

ISLAM

Islam received a fresh importance even in countries beyond the See also:

BORDERS, THE

borders of the Ottoman empire, while in countries formerly, or nominally still, subject to it, it caused, and promised to cause, incalculable trouble.

The Eastern Question thus See also:

DEVELOPED

developed, in the latter years of the 19th century, from that of the problems raised by the impending break-up of a moribund empire, into the even more complex question of how to See also:

DEAL

deal with an empire which showed vigorous evidence of See also:

LIFE

life, but of a type of life which, though on all sides in See also:

close See also:

TOUCH (derived through Fr. toucher from a common Teutonic and Indo-Germanic root, cf. " tug," " tuck," O. H. Ger. zucchen, to twitch or draw)

touch with modern European civilization, was incapable of being brought into See also:

HARMONY (Gr. dpµovia, a concord of musical sounds, dpA'ew to join; &plan midi (sc. TeXvil)

harmony with it. The belief in the imminent collapse of the Ottoman dominion was weakened almost to extinction; so was the belief, which inspired the treaty of 1856, in the capacity of Turkey to reform and develop itself on European lines. But the Ottoman empire remained, the See also:

MISTRESS

mistress of vast undeveloped See also:

WEALTH

wealth. The remaining phase of the Eastern Question, if we except the concerted efforts to impose( See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good See also:

government on See also:

MACEDONIA

Macedonia in the interests of European peace, or the See also:

side issues in Egypt and See also:

ARABIA

Arabia, was the rivalry of the progressive nations for the right to exploit this wealth. In this rivalry Germany, whose See also:

INTEREST

interest in Turkey even so See also:

LATE

late as the congress of Berlin had been wholly subordinate, took a leading part, unhampered by the traditional policies or the humanitarian considerations by which the interests of the older powers were prejudiced. The motives of See also:

German intervention in the Eastern Question were ostensibly commercial; but the See also:

BAGDAD, or BAGHDAD

Bagdad railway concession, postulating for its ultimate success the control of the trade route by way of the Euphrates valley, involved political issues of the highest moment and opened up a new and perilous phase of the question of the Middle East. This was the position when in 1908 an entirely new situation was created by the Turkish revolution. As the result of the patient and masterly organization of the " young Turks," combined with the universal discontent with the rule of the sultan and the See also:

PALACE (Lat. Palatium, the name given by Augustus to his residence on the Palatine Hill)

palace camarilla, the impossible seemed to be achieved, and the heterogeneous elements composing the Ottoman empire to be See also:

UNITED

united in the desire to establish a unified state on the constitutional See also:

MODEL (0. Fr. modelle, mod. modele; It. modello, pattern, mould; from Lat. modus, measure, standard)

model of the See also:

West. The result on the international situation was profound. Great Britain hastened to re-knit the bonds of her ancient friendship with Turkey; the powers, without exception, professed their sympathy with the new regime. The establishment of a united Turkey on a constitutional and nationalist basis was, however, not slow in producing a fresh complication in the Eastern Question. Sooner or later the issue was sure to be raised of the status of those countries, still nominally part of the Ottoman empire, but in effect independent, like Bulgaria, or subject to another state, like Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The cutting of the See also:

GORDIAN, or GORDIANUS

Gordian See also:

knot by Austria's See also:

ANNEXATION (Lat. ad, to, and nexus, joining)

annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and by the See also:

PROCLAMATION (Lat. proclamare, to make public by announcement)

proclamation of the See also:

independence of Bulgaria, and of See also:

Prince See also:

Ferdinand's See also:

ASSUMPTION, FEAST OF

assumption of the old See also:

TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title of See also:

TSAR, or CZAR

tsar (See also:

king), threatened to raise the Eastern Question once more in its acutest See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form. The inter-See also:

NATIONAL

national concert defined in the treaty of Berlin had been rudely shaken, if not destroyed; the denunciation by Austria, without consulting her co-signatories, of the clauses of the treaty affecting herself seemed to invalidate all the See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest; and in the See also:

ABSENCE (Lat. absentia)

absence of the restraining force of a united concert of the great powers, See also:

FREE

free See also:

PLAY

play seemed likely once more to be given to the See also:

RIVAL

rival ambitions of the Balkan nationalities, the situation being complicated by the See also:

NECESSITY (Lat. necessitas)

necessity for the dominant party in the renovated Turkish state to maintain its See also:

PRESTIGE

prestige. During the anxious months that followed the See also:

AUSTRIAN

Austrian coup, the efforts of diplomacy were directed to calming the excitement of Servians, Montenegrins and the Young Turks, and to considering a European conference in which the fait accompli should be regularized in accordance with the accepted canons of international See also:

law. The long delay in announcing the See also:

ASSEMBLY, UNLAWFUL

assembly of the conference proved the extreme difficulty of arriving at any satisfactory basis of settlement; and though the efforts of the powers succeeded in salving the wounded See also:

PRIDE, THOMAS (d. 1658)

pride of the Turks, and restraining the impetuosity of the Serbs and Montenegrins, warlike preparations on the part of Austria continued during the See also:

winter of 1908—1909, being justified by the agitation in Servia, See also:

MONTENEGRO

Montenegro and the annexed provinces. It was not till See also:

APRIL

April 1909 (see EUROPE: ad fin.) that the crisis was ended, through the effectual backing given by Germany to Austria; and Russia, followed by See also:

England and France, gave way and assented to what had been done. See TURKEY: See also:

HISTORY

History, where See also:

CROSS

cross-references to the articles on the various phases of the Eastern Question will be found, together with a bibliography. See also E. Driault, La Question d'orient depuis son origine (Paris, 1898), a comprehensive See also:

SKETCH (directly adapted from Dutch schets, which was taken from Ital. schizzo, a rough draft, Lat. schedium, something hastily made, Gr. oxE&os, sudden, off-hand, axeb6v, near by; Ger. Skizze and Fr. esquisse are from the same source)

sketch of the whole subject, including the Middle and Far East. (W. A.

End of Article: EASTERN QUESTION, THE

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