Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Tarih Okulu Dergisi, cilt.11, sa.37, ss.316-336, 2018 (Hakemli Dergi)
As a four times Prime Minister William E. Gladstone was a cult figure inBritish political history so as Sultan Abdülhamid II who ruled the Ottoman Empire for33 years. When Abdülhamid II came to the Ottoman throne on 7 September 1876, theuprisings in the Balkan provinces were at their peak. Gladstone had published hisfamous Turcophobic pamphlet entitled “Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of theEast” only two days before. This was a turning point not only in British public opinionattitudes towards the Turkish government but also the intensity of the politicalantagonism between Gladstone and Sultan Abdülhamid II that affected their decisionmaking.Both politicians were in search of new policies in this politically chargedatmosphere. For instance, Abdülhamid II’s strategy was Pan-Islamism in order to unitehis Empire within a Muslim brotherhood while Gladstone asserted the essentiality of theConcert of European Christian Powers in Ottoman diplomacy since the Treaty of Berlin.Seen in this light, it would be essential for the scope of this research to draw parallelsbetween the perceptions of two statesmen who basically determined the course of theAnglo-Ottoman relations. In addition to Hansard Parliamentary debates and Britishlocal newspapers, British foreign telegrams and correspondence will illuminate theaspects of this understanding.