Western Interventions and Formation of the Young Turks' Siege Mentality

Abstract

This study is a preliminary attempt at understanding the correlation between the formation of the Young Turk mindset and the European interventions toward the Ottoman Empire in light of the documents written by the Young Turk generation. The Young Turk movement emerged in the period when the European powers were penetrating into Ottoman geography more strongly than ever. The Young Turks witnessed numerous territorial losses, the rise of nationalist sentiments among the imperial subjects and more importantly, the increasing political dependency of the Ottoman Empire. This article argues that modern Turkey's nationalism is deeply rooted in ‘siege mentality’ that evolved during the late nineteenth to early twentieth century Ottoman experiences. This ‘siege mentality’ is understood as a conviction among Young Turks that the state was on the eve of an enemy siege and thus engaged in a struggle for its very survival. Consequently, anti-Western reactions and survival anxieties among the Young Turk generation shaped and affected the nascent Turkish nationalist discourse and identity, both as an organic process through the experiences of the Young Turks as well as a social construction.