EASTERN QUESTION AND ROAD TO WW 1 The 

gunpowder empires, or Islamic gunpowder

empires, is a collective term referring to
Key players: Great powers of this period three persianized Muslim empires: the Ottoman
 Ottoman empire Empire, Safavid Iran and the Mughal Empire, in the
period they flourished from the 16th to the 18th
 Britain
century. These three empires were among the strongest
 France and most stable economies of the early modern period,
 Russia leading to commercial expansion, and greater
 Germany patronage of culture, while their political and legal
 Austria institutions were consolidated with an increasing
degree of centralization. The empires underwent a
Sequence of Events:
significant increase in per capita income and population,
1. American Revolution and a sustained pace of technological innovation. They
2. French Revolution stretched from Central Europe and North Africa in the
3. Becos of FR and Napolean, Unification of Germany west to Bengal and Arakan in the east.
and Italy happened Vast amounts of territory were conquered by the
4.Industrial Revolution made Germany powerful Islamic gunpowder empires with the use and
industrially very quickly in 10 yrs. development of the newly invented firearms,
5. 6 players especially cannon and small arms, in the course of
6. Britain vs France rivalry already there imperial expansion. Like in Europe, the introduction
7. Austria and Russia vs Ottoman (border) of gunpowder weapons prompted changes such as the
8. Rivalry b/w Britain and Germany brewing bcos rise of centralized monarchical states. According to G. S.
Germany overtook Britain very quickly Hodgson, in the gunpowder empires these changes
9. Conflict will brew b/w these powers that ll be a went well beyond military organisation.
prelude to WW 1
10. This conflict will be becos of Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire:
 Max extent: had control over
o Parts of Europe
o Parts of Africa
o Parts of West Asia

Ottoman empire, Safavid Empire, Mughal empire all

came to power at the same time
Russia didn’t have an ALL WEATHER PORT

 East side: Vladivostok port : no purpose to

larger trade route.
 Baltic sea: St.Petersburg port: freezes in winter

You see, #Russia may be the largest country by area, but geography
has dealt them a bad hand in terms of location. Asides the Crimea
(Azov) all of Russia's ports are located in areas that are frozen for a
good portion of the year. Since sea trade is vital, the Crimea IS vital.
Rostov on Don port-----> azov sea----->Kerch strait-----
>Black sea------------> Bosporus strait -------> Sea of
Marmara------>Dardanelles Strait------>Aegian sea---------
> Mediterranean sea
1850’s: Ottoman didn’t allow Russian to access Black
sea and Mediterranean sea
 Historial conflict b/w Ottoman and Russia
 Russia want ottoman to decline
Austria want this area ie eastern Europe to be very
stable
 Austria don’t want ottoman to decline. Y? bcos
Russia cud reach Austria border easily
What is the Eastern question?
Ottoman empire: Diverse empire like Mughal empire. i.e they
rule over ppl of different race ethnicity n culture.
Ottoman attitude:
 Don’t convert the ppl to islam
 Don’t consider the ppl of land they conquer as full
citizen . They r only second class citizens
Main area of control of Ottoman:
 Greece and Turkey
 Others areas of ottoman empire: Nominal control
and no real control
o 1850’s: Bcos of this nominal control, and
other internal problems , ottoman empire
started declining
Slavic ppl : culturally related to Russian
 Slavs : ethno-linguistic group
Slav, member of the most numerous ethnic
and linguistic body of peoples in Europe,
residing chiefly in eastern and southeastern
Europe
Customarily, Slavs are subdivided into 
 East Slavs (chiefly Russians, Ukrainians,
and Belarusians), 
 West Slavs (chiefly Poles, Czechs,
Slovaks, and Wends, or Sorbs), and 
 South Slavs (chiefly Serbs, Croats,
Bosnians, Slovenes, Macedonians, and
Montenegrins). Bulgarians, though of
mixed origin like the Hungarians, speak
a Slavic language and are often
designated as South Slavs.
In religion, the Slavs traditionally divided into
two main groups:
 those associated with the Eastern
Orthodox Church (Russians, most
Ukrainians, most Belarusians, most
Bulgarians, Serbs, and Macedonians)
and
 those associated with the Roman
Catholic Church (Poles, Czechs,
Slovaks, Croats, Slovenes, some
Ukrainians, and some Belarusians).
The division is further marked by the use of
the Cyrillic alphabet by the former (but
including all Ukrainians and Belarusians) and
the Latin alphabet by the latter.
Cyrillic alphabet, writing system developed in
the 9th–10th century CE for Slavic-speaking
peoples of the Eastern Orthodox faith.

French revolution, Unification of Germany
and Italy gave rise to concept of Nationalism
and Nation.
 Slavic ppl lik Austrian, Hungarians ,
Bulgarians , bosnians, Serbian etc
inspired by nationalism
 Hence the Slavic ppl region became
very charged and about to explode
The Balkans also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a
geographic area in southeastern Europe with various
geographical and historical definitions.[1][2][3] The region
takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch
throughout the whole of Bulgaria. The Balkan Peninsula is
bordered by the Adriatic Sea in the northwest, the Ionian
Sea in the southwest, the Aegean Sea in the south,
the Turkish Straits in the east, and the Black Sea in the
northeast. The northern border of the peninsula is
variously defined.[4] The highest point of the Balkans
is Mount Musala, 2,925 metres (9,596 ft), in
the Rila mountain range, Bulgaria.
The concept of the Balkan Peninsula was created by the
German geographer August Zeune in 1808,[5] who
mistakenly considered the Balkan Mountains the dominant
mountain system of Southeast Europe spanning from the
Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea. 
Two things happening at the same time:
 Individual Slavic nationalism rising:
asking for own country
 Decline of Ottoman empire
Eastern Question: What will happen to
Eastern Europe(Balkan Region) if Ottoman
empire decline?
Russia wants ottoman to decline and take the
Balkan region to itself
Austria wants Ottoman to stand. Bcos they
want the region to be stable
Germany will go with Austria bcos they speak
the same language
This becomes the perfect ground for Great
Powers to play their politics
NB: There will be no permanent friends and
Permanent enemy in geopolitics. Remove
that innocent thought from ur mind.
Why Balkan was important?
NB: The first modern effort to build a canal came in
the late 1700s, during Napoleon Bonaparte’s Egypt
expedition
OTTOMAN EMPIRE
 NB: Except Russia, all great powers want
Ottoman to somehow survive and stop Slavic
Nationalism.

ETHNIC DIVERSITY OF OTTOMAN

Confusing & Contradictory approach taken

 Support Balkan and make them
autonomus but not break out of
Ottoman (Stoke the nationalist flame
but not give them too much power)
 Support Ottoman so that they don’t
die, but at the same time not become
too powerful (Keep the sick man alive
in ventilator but not too healthy)

While Britain, France, Italian etc (Western

European countries) are getting industrialised
and becoming more and more powerful,
Ottoman were declining and sick.