Sharing History

Up until the 18th century, diplomatic relations between sovereign countries were maintained by regular diplomatic visits on the part of their respective ambassadors. At the beginning of the 19th century, the desire for more sustained diplomatic contact resulted in the establishment of permanent diplomatic missions. Gradually, all major European powers established embassies in Istanbul in order to ensure constant contact with the Ottoman court and access to its sultan. Embassies and consulates all over the Middle East and North Africa followed suit. In turn, towards the end of the century, Arab and Ottoman missions and embassies became an increasingly common sight in European capitals, aimed not only at consolidating diplomatic relations, but also at facilitating arrangements towards the systematic modernisation of their armies and administrations. The most important, permanent Ottoman embassies were situated in London, Paris, Berlin and Vienna. With the long-term presence of ambassadors in the different capitals of Europe and the Arab and Ottoman world, political links between the two became ever more comprehensive and far reaching, a fact that was also emphasised publicly with great pomp and circumstance through the staging of carefully choreographed state visits.