Alliances and cultural exchanges

Britain’s main interest is not territorial control but commercial influence and security of the routes to India. The Indian Empire, which grows through treaties with ruling potentates, makes Ottoman strategists fearful of a creeping British (and French) colonialism. The Indian pattern is replicated in the Gulf, with treaties made with local rulers leaving local matters to them, but demanding a monopoly on external relations and defence. British and Ottoman interests converge in the 1850s when Britain (and France) become the Ottoman Empire’s ally in the Crimean War, in the latter’s latest war against an expansive Russia. The increase in travel to the Ottoman capital, Constantinople, fuels a brief enthusiasm for all things Turkish – fashion, art, bathing and tobacco. Ottoman fears of encroachment are confirmed by the British take-over of Egypt in 1882 as well as France’s expansion in Algeria and Tunisia. When the Ottoman Empire declares it is bankrupt in the 1870s, Britain stands as guarantor for the debt, only adding to Ottoman fears. British visitors stimulate a growing enthusiasm for travel literature, and fuel an interest in the classical sites of Asia Minor. Christians promote biblical archaeology, and missionary work expands in the Levant.