Young Turk Governance in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War

Abstract

The article analyses the system of government of the Ottoman Empire during the First World War by looking at three elements: the constitutional-parliamentarian monarchy, the Committee of Union and Progress and the army. The analysis takes place along two axes: one in which the functioning of, and the power relations between, the different institutional elements are analysed, and one based on a series of case studies of important decision-making moments of the years 1914–18.

The civil-military relations as they developed during the war years are studies in a comparative framework. The Ottoman situation is analysed against the backdrop of changes in the balance of power between military and civilian authorities in other belligerent countries in Europe.

The conclusion is that the Ottoman Empire was a constitutional and parliamentarian monarchy only in name, but that its governance did not turn into a form of military rule either. It was run by the Committee of Union and Progress, but within that, key decisions were taken by changing informal coalitions of power brokers in such a way as to make sure that the two dominant factions, the civilian one led by Talât and the military one led by Enver were in agreement.     

Empire, Region, World: the International Context of Australian Foreign Policy since 1939

What have been the most important factors in international relations for Australian foreign‐policymakers over the last sixty years? Five broad themes stand out: the end of empire; Cold War dependency; the changing nature of security; economic development; and race and national identity. Cumulatively, and often in intertwined ways, these themes have amounted to little short of a revolution in Australia's place in the world since the Second World War. The challenges facing Australians have, as a result, been considerable. The international context in which Liberals have made foreign policy has been reshaping Australia as it has been reshaping the external environment.     

Bulgarian studies on the Ottoman Empire and Turkey

Chez les voisins de l'Afghanistan: l'Asie Centrale Soviétique (Moscow: Progress Press, 1983; 174 pp.)

’Islamskiy faktor’ v myedzhdunarodnikh otnoshyeniyakh v Azii, ‘The Islamic Factor’ in International Relations in Asia (Moscow: Nauka, 1987; 192 pp.)

Islam v SSSR: osobyennosti protsyessa syekularizatsii v ryespublikakh Sovyetskogo Vostoka, Islam in the Soviet Union: Characteristics of the Secularisation Process in the Republics of the Soviet East (Moscow: Misl’ Press, 1983; 175 pp.)

Oktay Efyendiyev's Azyerbaydzhankoye gosudarstvo Syefyevidov v XVI vyekye, The Azerbayjanian Government of the Safavids in the 16 Century (Baku: Elm Press for the Institute of History in the Academy of Sciences of the Azerbayjanian Soviet Republic, 1981; 308 pp.)

Kavkaz i Sryednyaya Aziya vo vnyeshnyey politiki Rossii: vtoraya polovina XVIII – 80ye godi XIX v., The Caucasus and Central Asia in the Foreign Policies of Russia: From the 18th Century to the 1880s (Moscow: Moscow University Press, 1984; 328 pp.)

Zapiski o Bukharskom Khanstvye, Notes on the Khanate of Bukhara (Moscow: Nauka Press for the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, 1983; 150 pp.).

M. Annanyepyesov's Ukryeplyeniye Russko‐Turkmyenskikh vzaimootnoshyeniy v XVIII‐XIX vv., The Consolidation of Russo‐Turkmenian Mutual Relations in the 18 and 19 Centuries (Ashkhabad: Ilim Press for the Institute of History in the Academy of Sciences of the Turkmenian Soviet Republic, 1981; 267 pp.).

G. Kh. Saparova's Revolyutsionniy komityet Turkmyenskoy SSR kak Pyerviy visshiy organ gosudarstvyennoy vlasti ryespubliki, The Revolutionary Committee of Soviet Turkmenistan as the First Supreme Body of Political Power of the Republic (Askhabad: Ilim Press for the Institute of History in the Academy of Sciences of the Turkmenian Soviet Republic, 1981; 132 pp.).

I.V. Pogoryel'skiy's Istoriya Khivinskoy ryevolyutsii i Khoryezmskoy Narodnoy Ryespubliki 1917–1924 gg., History of the Revolution in Khiva and the Popular Soviet Republic of Khorezm, 1917–1924 (Leningrad: Leningrad University Press, 1984; 228 pp.).

Kh. Sh. Inoyatov's Narodi Sryednyey Azii v bor'bye protiv intyervyentov i vnutryennyey konterryevolyutsii, The Peoples of Central Asia in the War with the Interventionists and with Domestic Counter‐Revolution (Moscow: Misl’ Press, 1984; 464 pp.).

Basmachyestvo: vozniknovyevniye, sushchnost’, krakh, The Basmachi Movement: Rise, Nature and Downfall (Moscow: Nauka Press, 1981; 246 pp.)

Basmachyestvo: pravda istorii i vimisyel’ fal'sifikatorov, The Basmachi Movement: Historical Truth and Fabrications of the Falsifiers (Moscow: Misl’ Press, 1986; 256 pp.).

M. Syeytakova, entitled Obraz Russkogo chyelovyeka v Turkmyenskoy Sovyetskoy prozye, The Image of the Russian Person in Turkmenian Soviet Prose (Ashkhabad: Ilim Press for the Academy of Sciences of the Turkmenian Soviet Republic, 1981; 57 pp.)

A.K. Rzayev, entitled Azyerbaydzhanskiye vostokovyedi XIX vyeka: ochyerki, Azerbayjanian Orientalists of the 19 Century: Essays (Baku: Elm Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies in the Academy of Sciences of the Azerbayjanian Soviet Republic, 1986; 141 pp.)

Tatarskaya lityeratura i publitsistika nachala XX vyeka, Tatar Literature and Journalism of the Early 20 Century (2nd edition, Kazan: Tatar Book Press, 1983; 352 pp.).

Azat Akhmadullin's Gorizonti Tatarskoy drami: lityeraturno‐kritichyeskiye stat'i, The Horizons of the Tatar Drama: Papers of Literary Criticism (Kazan: Tatar Book Press, 1983; 216 pp.)

R. U. Amirkhanov's Tatarskaya dyemokratichyeskaya pyechat’ (1905–1907 gg.) The Tatar Democratic Press, 1905–1907 (Moscow: Nauka Press, 1988; 190 pp.).     

Opium and Empire: McCoy on Heroin in Southeast Asia

Abstract

More and more, as scholars search to understand the history of U.S. intervention in Southeast Asia, they are forced to study the largely submerged operations of crime. The tripartite symbiosis which A. J. Liebling a generation ago described in Chicago—between local government, the Syndicate, and less visible economic interests—operates with the same brutal efficiency in the Far East as well. There too the tightly-knit, ruthless bagmen and enforcers from narcotics and other vice operations become the indigenous local cadres for venal and demoralized regimes, which in turn are fronts for more powerful imperial and economic forces. Al McCoy has written a fascinating and exhaustive analysis of the interpenetration between crime and local government in Southeast Asia. But, as we shall see, he has less to say about U.S. influence behind the scenes, and as to economic interests he is largely silent.     

Tribes and Empire on the Margins of Nineteenth Century Iran

Turkish Historical Society's four‐volume Tarih (History) published in 1932–33     

Restructuring the Empire: The Nixon Doctrine after Vietnam

Abstract

Ever since Richard Nixon announced that the United States would adopt a “low profile” defense posture in Asia, American foreign affairs analysts have sought to construct an accurate model of the new policy. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, who analyzed the Nixon Doctrine in a 1969 report to the Congress, concluded that henceforth “The United States will avoid the creation of situations in which there is such dependence on us that, inevitably, we become enmeshed in what are essentially Asian problems and conflicts.” Lest this conclusion alarm any of our more insecure clients in the area, Vice President Agnew toured Asia in early 1970 to announce that the President had never intended such a sweeping reversal of policy: “Let me make it very clear,” he told newsmen in Canberra, “that despite a great deal of speculation and rumor, we are not withdrawing from Asia and the Pacific…. As a Pacific power, we will remain in the Pacific.” Nixon himself seems to have encouraged this dichotomy: thus the invasion of Cambodia in 1970 and the massive air attacks on Hanoi in 1972 suggested that he was committed to the interventionist stance represented by Agnew; while the cease-fire in Vietnam and the initiation of diplomatic contacts with China suggest that he leans toward the more restrained position of Mansfield.     

Eco‐Cultural Networks and the British Empire: New Views on Environmental History

Eco‐Cultural Networks and the British Empire: New Views on Environmental History. Edited by James Beattie, Edward Melillo and Emily O'Gorman (London, New Delhi, New York and Sydney: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015), pp. xvi + 323. 20 Illustrations. £65.00 (cloth).     

帝国研究视角下的苏联解体研究

苏联的建立与演进,似乎都与"帝国"有复杂的关联性。其前身——俄罗斯帝国是典型的陆上帝国。苏联成立后坚持反帝立场,但之后逐渐演变成为一个"社会帝国主义"国家。其标志就是形成了核心—边缘的帝国结构体系,以苏联统治中枢莫斯科及俄罗斯为核心,向外形成了三层边缘地带,其中第一层是苏联的加盟共和国,第二层是中东欧华约成员国,第三层是在亚洲和美洲的经互会成员国。苏联解体实际上是"帝国终结"历史的一个组成部分,是一次迟来的非殖民化,也是人类历史发展的自然进程。这方面的具体原因至少有以下三个:其一,苏联领导人对当时局势的认识及判断和采取的对策及政策;其二,边缘地区民族主义产生了重要的动员和发动作用;最后,"帝国的负担"成为难以承受的现实负担。