Ottoman Westernization and the Reval Agreement Contradiction
How Western powers undermined Ottoman modernization while the empire pursued Westernization as a survival strategy.
Ottoman Westernization and the Reval Agreement Contradiction
An academic examination of how the Reval Agreement positioned the Ottoman Empire within international power balances, and how this contradicted Ottoman modernization and Westernization strategies.
The Research
This study analyzes the Reval Agreement in the context of Ottoman Empire's international positioning during the Second Constitutional Era. It focuses on how Western powers' external interventions shaped—and ultimately undermined—the Ottoman Empire's internal reform efforts during the reign of Abdülhamit II.
The Reval Agreement is examined not merely as a diplomatic summit, but as a symbolic threshold marking the final phase of the Ottoman Empire's political liquidation. The research demonstrates how Western powers dismantled the Ottoman state not only territorially, but also in terms of power and functionality.
Key Arguments
The work evaluates the balance of power among Western nations, the clash of Pan-strategies, German and Russian policies toward the Ottoman Empire, and ultimately the formation of the Triple Entente within a broad historical and sociological framework.
It reveals a fundamental contradiction: the Ottoman Empire pursued Westernization and modernization as survival strategies, yet these same Western powers were actively working to dismantle the empire's ability to function as a sovereign state.
Publication Details
Journal: Sosyologca (Sociology Journal)
Issue: 29 (July 2025)
Pages: 151-168
Keywords: Ottoman Empire, Reval Agreement, Westernization, Modernization
Significance
This research contributes to understanding how modernization efforts by non-Western states can be systematically undermined by the very powers whose institutions they seek to emulate. It provides a sociological lens on imperial dissolution and the contradictions inherent in dependent modernization.