Confidential, secret and prompt : intelligence activities across the Ottoman Empire during the Reign of Abdulhamid II, 1876-1909

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dc.contributor.authorAKINCI, Arda
dc.date.accessioned2023-02-22T11:21:01Z
dc.date.embargo2027-02-21
dc.date.issued2023
dc.descriptionDefence date: 21 February 2023en
dc.descriptionExamining Board: Prof. Pieter Judson, (EUI, supervisor); Prof. Giancarlo Casale, (EUI, second Reader); Dr. İlkay Yılmaz, (Freie Universität Berlin, external); Dr. Ozan Özavcı, (Utrecht University, external)en
dc.description.abstractThis thesis analyzes one of the most disputed subjects of late Ottoman historiography: namely secret intelligence activities and state espionage during the reign of Sultan Abdulhamid II (r.1876- 1909). So far, the topic has been evaluated in terms of contemporary political debates in Turkey. However, this dissertation approaches the topic by focusing on the transformation of Ottoman secret intelligence activities as a consequence of Ottoman modernization, advances in technology and as a response to the internal and external threats that the Ottoman Empire perceived at the turn of nineteenth century. The focus of this thesis lies on Istanbul as the capital of the Empire, and the three extremely volatile frontier regions of Bulgaria (in the Balkans), the Province of Erzurum (in Eastern Anatolia), and Egypt and Sudan (in Northeastern Africa). By concentrating on these geographically separated outposts of the Ottoman Empire, this dissertation reveals the transnational intelligence networks created by the Ottoman imperial administration, and how the Empire crafted different networks for different regions according to its capacities and needs. Furthermore, by following such an approach this dissertation unearths the organizational structure and the operational scheme of intelligence activities during the Hamidian Era. Finally, the thesis focuses on the transformation of state espionage and its institutional character at the end of Abdulhamid II’s reign with the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 and the abolition of spying in the Ottoman Empire.en
dc.description.versionChapter 2 'An increase in spying in the province of Erzurum during the 1880s and 1890s' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as chapter 'Sultan II. Abdülhamid Devrinde Hafiyelik : 1890'larda Erzurum Vilayeti Örneği' (2022) in the book 'Sultan 2. Abdülhamid ve Osmanlı modernleşmesi (Vol. I)'. Chapter 5 'The end of an era: the Young Turk Revolution OF 1908 and the abolition of spying' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as an article ''We do not want spies anymore' : the abolition of spying after the Young Turk Revolution' (2022) in the journal 'Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish studies association'.
dc.embargo.terms2027-02-21
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationFlorence : European University Institute, 2023en
dc.identifier.doi10.2870/708704
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1814/75364
dc.language.isoenen
dc.orcid.uploadtrue*
dc.publisherEuropean University Instituteen
dc.relation.ispartofseriesEUIen
dc.relation.ispartofseriesHECen
dc.relation.ispartofseriesPhD Thesisen
dc.relation.replaceshttps://hdl.handle.net/1814/92710
dc.relation.replaceshttps://hdl.handle.net/1814/92717
dc.rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/embargoedAccessen
dc.subject.lcshEspionage -- Turkey -- History
dc.subject.lcshSecret service -- Turkey -- History
dc.subject.lcshTurkey -- History -- 1878-1909
dc.titleConfidential, secret and prompt : intelligence activities across the Ottoman Empire during the Reign of Abdulhamid II, 1876-1909en
dc.typeThesisen
dspace.entity.typePublication
eui.subscribe.skiptrue
person.identifier.orcid0000-0002-4706-6918
person.identifier.other42535
relation.isAuthorOfPublicatione130f1f1-edf6-4376-9374-b970cb80da74
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscoverye130f1f1-edf6-4376-9374-b970cb80da74
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