Eastern Question - Mehmet Ali

Mehmet Ali

Just as the Greek Revolt was coming to an end, a conflict broke out in the Ottoman Empire between the Sultan and his nominal viceroy in Egypt, Mehmet Ali. The modern and well trained Egyptians looked as though they could conquer the entire empire. The Tsar of Russia, in keeping with his policy of reducing the Ottoman Sultan to a petty vassal, offered to form an alliance with the Sultan. In 1833, the two rulers negotiated the Treaty of Unkiar Skelessi, in which Russia achieved the aim of securing complete dominance over the Ottomans. The Russians undertook to protect the Empire from external attacks; in turn, the Sultan pledged to close the Dardanelles to warships whenever Russia was at war. This provision of the Treaty of Unkiar Skelessi raised a problem known as the "Straits Question." The agreement provided for the closure of all warships, but many European statesmen mistakenly believed that the clause failed to restrict Russian vessels. The United Kingdom and France were angered by the misinterpreted clause; they also sought to contain Russian expansion. The two kingdoms, however, differed on the means of achieving their objective; the British wished to uphold the Sultan, but the French preferred to make Mehmet Ali (whom they saw as more competent) the ruler of the entire Ottoman Empire. Russian intervention led the Sultan to negotiate a peace with Mehmet Ali in 1833, but war broke out once again in 1839.

Sultan Mahumd II died in the same year, leaving the Ottoman Empire to his son, Abd-ul-Mejid I. The state of affairs at the time of the new Sultan's accession were extremely critical; the Ottoman army had been signally defeated by the forces of Mehmet Ali. Another disaster followed when the entire Turkish fleet was seized by the Egyptian forces. Great Britain and Russia now intervened to prevent the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, but France still continued to support Mehmet Ali. In 1840, however, the Great Powers agreed to compromise; Mehmet Ali agreed to make a nominal act of submission to the Sultan, but was granted hereditary control of Egypt.

The only unresolved issue of the period was the Straits Question. In 1841, Russia consented to the abrogation of the Treaty of Unkiar Skelessi by accepting the London Straits Convention. The Great Powers — Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Austria and Prussia — agreed to the re-establishment of the "ancient rule" of the Ottoman Empire, which provided that the Turkish straits would be closed to all warships whatsoever, with the exception of the Sultan's allies during wartime. With the Straits Convention, the Russian Emperor Nicholas I abandoned the idea of reducing the Sultan to a state of dependence, and returned to the plan of partitioning Ottoman territories in Europe.

Thus, after the resolution of the Egyptian struggle which had begun in 1831, the weak Ottoman Empire was no longer wholly dependent on Russia. It was, however, not a truly independent state, for it relied on the Great Powers of Europe for protection. Attempts were made at internal reform, but they failed to terminate the decline of the once great Empire. By the 1840s, the Ottoman Empire had become the "sick man of Europe", and its eventual dissolution appeared inevitable.