This dissertation analyzes the role of the Greek &ldquo / other&rdquo / in the process of Turkish national identity formation. Addressing the transformation of Turkish identity from multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious imperial character into a homogeneous and unitary national form, this thesis mainly focuses on the changing attitude of the Ottoman elites of the last period and the modern Turkish state elites towards the Greeks in domestic and foreign affairs. In fact, this change can be evaluated as a part of constructing a Turkish nation which had been long carried out as break from the plural Ottoman inheritance. Within this context, this dissertation aims to understand the importance of Greek culture in Turkish identity, the stimulating role of the Greek existence in Anatolia during the Turkish War of Independence, neglect of the Turkish history writing about the Greek background or the Rumi identity and besides, the fragile relations between Turkey and Greece via questioning the overlapping aspects of Turkish nationalism and Greek &ldquo / otherization&rdquo / .

This thesis examines Turkey&rsquo / s Balkan policy in the Post-Cold War Era with regard to changing parameters in this region. Every crisis and conflicts in the Balkans affects not only Turkey but also all international actors. For this reason, it is argued that external dynamics rather than internal ones largely affected the change in Turkish foreign policy. It is pointed out that the policy maintained by Turkey during the wars and crisis in the Balkans, was harmonious with its power and capacity in international arena. After Bosnian War and Kosovo crisis the European Union (EU) policy towards the Balkans gained impetus. Turkey attempts to participate in both North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the EU initiatives in the Balkans for the sake of balancing Greece. Besides, Turkey encouraged and took an active role in the process of the Balkan countries to NATO and the EU for the sake of following the regulations being made for Turkish minority. Then, this thesis argues that the neo-Ottomanist ideas lost its significance as the process of EU&rsquo / s incorporation of the Balkans gains impetus.

This thesis attempts to challenge the way military historiography deals with the state of the Ottoman army between 1683 and 1792 and the military reform attempts prior to the Nizam-i Cedid army. Western military historians have ascribed to the inferiority of the Ottoman military technology the waning of the Ottoman military power in the post-1683 period. Any attempt at reform was allegedly obstructed by religious reaction against borrowing European methods and technology. This thesis argues that technology was not the decisive factor in the Ottoman failure against the Austrians and Russians since those two were not too far ahead of the Ottomans with regards to the level of military technology to justify such a conclusion. The comparison with the Russian army, the archenemy of the Ottomans in the period under question, reveals that the Russian success in such departments as conscription, logistics, military leadership and continuous tactical adjustments made to accommodate the needs of steppe warfare, rather than outright application of Western methods of warfare, resulted in victories against the Ottomans. The Ottomans in the meantime were bothered by instability at the Porte, which could neither provide the necessary leadership on the battlefield nor carry out the military reforms. As a result, the vestiges of the Ottoman military organization in its classical form continued to take up economic resources and block any attempts at reform. Religion in this process served as nothing more than a rallying cry for a certain group who vied for power in Istanbul at a time of state formation.

In this study, some aspects of the Armenian Question between 1914 and 1918 have been evaluated within the frame of historical methodology. For the first time, all the issues of Tavir-i Efkar, a daily newspaper published during the studied period, have been evaluated in the frame of the Armenian Question. All news and articles related to the Armenians have been examined and a great deal of them has been used in the study. By doing so, it is aimed to submit Tasvir-i Efkar as a historical source for the studies on the Armenian Question.

David Lloyd George, who was the Prime Minister during the period of 1916-1922, served in the British Parliament almost half-century. This thesis focuses on his foreign policy concerning the Ottoman Empire during his Premiership. Lloyd George intruded himself into almost every aspect of the &lsquo / Turkish Question&rsquo / during and after the World War I, and was at the &lsquo / centre&rsquo / in determining the fate of the Ottoman Empire. Although, the effect of &lsquo / forces&rsquo / of economics and social elements have replaced the &lsquo / Great Man&rsquo / theory of history, as it is in this case, Lloyd George&rsquo / s role in the dissolution of the Empire can not be truly abandoned. In the episode of &lsquo / building&rsquo / a new Europe and the dissolution of the Empire, Lloyd George worked closely with other actors such as / Clemenceau, Wilson and on domestic platform, Balfour, Curzon and Churchill who all shared the very similar views. Lloyd George, starting from a modest and humble Welsh background, made his way in politics to the top, through his ability and persistent determination and earned rightfully to be remembered as the &lsquo / man who won the war&rsquo / and as the founder of modern welfare state. His determination to &lsquo / finish&rsquo / the Ottoman Empire is often attributed to his devotion to Greece rather than to his personality and imperialistic approach / on the other hand, the British State&rsquo / s role in decision making process in this issue is overlooked. This study, attempts to establish the roles of Lloyd George and the British State during the attempts for the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, and exemplifies the formation and implementation of the policies towards the Ottoman Empire, an end carried out whether due to Lloyd George or otherwise. This study traces in detail the evolution of Lloyd George&rsquo / s and the British State&rsquo / s policies in regard to the Ottoman Empire, and is based primarily on original research conducted in private and governmental documentary collections in England.

This thesis analyzes the Ottoman travellers&rsquo / perception of &ldquo / the East&rdquo / in the late Ottoman Empire. In doing that, it links the Ottoman intellectual debates on the concept of civilization to their perceptions on the non-European lands and peoples. It mainly argues that the Ottoman intellectuals&rsquo / attempt to create a synthesis between the material elements of Western civilization and their own morality resulted in a perception of the East different from the Western perceptions. While the Western perceptions envisage a monolithic, unchanging and static East, the Ottoman perceptions vary in accordance with the temporal and spatial setting as well as with the intellectual inclinations of the travellers. Hence, this thesis contributes to the literature by fulfilling the gap about the Ottoman perceptions of the concepts of civilization and the East, by questioning the limits of existing literature on the Ottoman perception of the East which defines it as Orientalist/colonialist, by attracting attention to the use of Ottoman travel literature in understanding the Ottoman identity and their perception of the world, and, finally, by underlining the importance of the Ottoman perceptions of civilization and the East in understanding the historical roots of the &ldquo / identity question&rdquo / in Turkey.

This thesis aims to analyze the contributions of the Ottoman Empire to the construction of modern Europe in the early modern period. Conventional historiography generally argues that the Ottoman Empire contributed to the emergence of the modern European identity only through acting as the &amp / #8216 / other&amp / #8217 / of Europe. This thesis, however, aims to show that such an analysis is not enough to understand the Ottoman impact on the European state system. Moreover, it argues that the Ottoman Empire contributed to the construction of this system both politically and economically. By depriving the Habsburg Empire of dominating whole continent, Ottoman Empire helped the proto-modern centralizing states, i.e. England, France and the Netherlands, and Protestantism to survive the suppression of the Habsburgs. On the other hand, by granting capitulations to these European states, it contributed to the economies of these states in a way that they could be able to develop their emerging capitalist economies. In all, this thesis concludes that the Ottoman Empire was not a passive actor and an outsider to the European system, acted only as a counter-reference point in the formation of the European identity / rather, it actively involved in the European politics and economics as an active actor.