Telegraphs and Territoriality in Ottoman Africa and Arabia during the Age of High Imperialism

Abstract

This paper investigates the transformation of the Ottoman Empire’s position on the international stage during the age of High Imperialism. It uses two major technological projects, namely, the two Hijaz telegraph lines of 1882 and 1901, as case studies in which to analyse the shift in the Ottoman Empire’s relationship with its European counterparts and draw important conclusions about the relationship between imperialism and technology. The paper makes the argument that only by understanding the Great Powers’ gradual stifling of the Ottoman participation in the ‘Scramble for Africa’, and the connection between the private telegraph industry and imperialism over the 1880s can we appreciate the significance of the shift from Istanbul’s dependence on European telegraph technology in 1882 to its insistence on an independently planned, constructed and run telegraph line 20 years later.