Ottomanism and Varieties of Official Nationalism

Abstract

This chapter takes Ottomanism (Ottoman official nationalism) as a case of official nationalism and explores the trajectory of Ottomanism and its fluctuations throughout the nineteenth century. This exploration is done through a comparative analysis of Ottomanism with regard to the official nationalisms of Habsburgs and Romanovs. The chapter argues that the Ottomans vacillated between the Habsburg model of federal plurality and the Romanov model of centralization and assimilation. This vacillation is most evident in their approach to the millet system which simultaneously followed the contradictory policies of undermining millet boundaries in order to promote a sense of unity across the multi-faith society and policies of promoting and safeguarding the privileges and group specific rights of non-Muslim communities. Understandably, the peripheral powers opted for a more plural form of Ottomanism à la Habsburg while the central bureaucracy and particularly the Turkish element within the army inclined towards a more centralized system.KeywordsOttomanismCentralizationPluralismOttomansHabsburgsRomanovsNationalism