Sick man on the Bosphorus
As the "sick man of Europe" was established in the 19th century, the weakened Ottoman Empire , which later became the Turkey should be apparent by many media of that time satirizes .
background
In the 19th century, the previously powerful Ottoman Empire was weakened by revolts within its European territories ( Rumelia ) and increasingly became the plaything of the European powers. In 1804 the Serbs rose up and were given extensive autonomy until 1830. The rule of the Phanariots in the Danube principalities also came to an end in 1826. In the 1820s, the independence movement in Greece, supported by some Europeans, gained momentum. From 1831 to 1841 dominated the Egyptian viceroy Muhammad Ali Pasha in addition to Egypt , the Sudan , Arabia and the Levant and Syria , this power of an Ottoman member State was limited by the intervention of Britain, Russia, Prussia and Austria. 1840
The Russian Tsar Nicholas I first coined the saying about the sick man in 1852 in a conversation with the British ambassador. The oriental question (regarding the continued existence of the Ottoman Empire) could be resolved once and for all within a short time if Russia and Great Britain were to agree:
“We have a sick man in our arms. It would be a disaster if one day it should slip away from us. "
The Russian tsar was referring to Sultan Abdülmecid I , but the expression became the proverbial name for the crumbling Ottoman Empire. Helmuth von Moltke , who was an instructor for the Turkish troops in the Ottoman Empire from 1836 to 1839 , put it:
“For a long time it has been the task of the Western armies to set barriers to Ottoman power. Today it seems to be the concern of European politics to eke out their existence. "
The Oriental question became a constant theme in diplomacy. Russia saw the opportunity to exert greater influence in Europe . Austria as well as Great Britain and France feared Russian expansion, for example in the Crimean War , and therefore tended to maintain a weak Ottoman Empire. They were of the opinion that the Ottoman Empire must be preserved despite its enormous expansion.
Derived usage
Some other states that are considered to be in urgent need of reform have been or are being called the “ sick man ” of a region, for example the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the “sick man of Africa”.
literature
- German Werth : The Crimean War. The world power Russia was born. Ullstein, Frankfurt am Main 1992, ISBN 3-548-34949-8 , pp. 32-38.
- Nicolae Jorga : History of the Ottoman Empire. Perthes, Gotha 1908; Reprint: 5 volumes, Eichborn, Frankfurt am Main 1990, ISBN 3-8218-5026-4 .
- Gerhard Herm : The Balkans. The powder keg of Europe. Econ, Düsseldorf / Vienna / New York, NY / Moscow 1993, ISBN 978-3430144452 , p. 278.