FRANSIZ İHTİLALİ İLE DEĞİŞEN AVRUPA DÜZENİNDE OSMANLI DEVLETİ’NİN UYGULAMAYA ÇALIŞTIĞI DENGE SİYASETİ VE SONUÇLARI (1795-1801)
THE EQUILIBRIUM POLICIES IMPLEMENTED BY THE OTTOMAN STATE IN THE EUROPEAN ORDER THAT WAS ALTERED BY THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND ITS CONSEQUENCES (1795-1801)

Summary/Abstract: The developments in Europe during the last two decades of the 18th century led to worldwide consequences. Post-French Revolution Coalition Wars seriously affected Europe, while the Ottoman Empire attempted to remain neutral during these wars. The Ottoman State considered the early conflict as a development peculiar to Europe. However, the French success in the war after 1795 and annexation of the Adriatic Coast to France by the Campo Formia Treaty in 1797 increased the French threat to the Ottoman Empire. Subsequently, in 1798, a French navy under the command of Napoleon invaded Egypt. These successive developments forced the Ottoman State to take certain military, political and diplomatic steps. Thus, several reforms were implemented by Selim III within the context of the “New Order” in several areas, and important diplomatic steps were taken. As the Ottomans knew that the current state of the empire was no match for France, the administration decided to form alliances with the enemies of the current enemy to balance the powers based on equilibrium policies due to the above-mentioned rapid developments. Accordingly, alliances were formed with the UK and Russia against France. The Ottoman administration desired to save Egypt from the French occupation with the equilibrium policies it tried to implement with these alliances. However, due to the development levels of the Western nations, their various diplomatic action plans based on selfinterest were so variable that the implementation of equilibrium policies would not be as easy as Ottomans predicted. In a period of a few years, it was observed that the UK and Russia, which the Ottomans believed to be allies, would not be permanent partners. The problems associated with the Ottoman equilibrium policies were evident in the political sphere where the alliances changed frequently. The present study aimed to tackle the Ottoman equilibrium policies, alliances, changes in the balance of powers and their consequences during the post-French Revolution period, especially between 1795 and 1801.

• Details
• Contents