Full Description
In the mid-eighteenth century, most of the Mediterranean coastline and its hinterlands were controlled by the Ottoman Empire, a vast Islamic power regarded by Christian Europe with awe and fear. By the end of the First World War, however, this great civilisation had been completely subjugated, and its territories occupied by European powers. Sea of Troubles is the definitive account of the European conquest of the Levant and North Africa over three centuries. Ian Rutledge reveals the intense imperial rivalry between six European powers - Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Austria-Hungary and Russia - who all jostled for control of the trade, lands and wealth of the Islamic Mediterranean. The competition between these states made their conquest a far more difficult and extended task than they encountered elsewhere in the world. Yet, as new contenders entered the contest, and as rivalries intensified in the early twentieth century, events would spiral out of control as the continent headed towards the First World War.
Contents
Contents: A: Note on 'Mediterranean' B: A Note on 'Colonialism' and 'Imperialism' Introduction PART ONE c.1750 - c.1815 Chapter 1: The Islamic and Christian Worlds of the Eighteenth Century Mediterranean Chapter 2: The Ottoman 'Economic Mind': Innovation, Industry and Trade Chapter 3: The State, land and taxation: the fiscal crisis of the Ottoman system Chapter 4: At the Gateway to the Mediterranean: Britain and the 'Empire' of Morocco Chapter 5: The Ottoman Regencies and the Barbary Corsairs Chapter 6: The Russians in the Mediterranean Chapter 7: Ottoman Egypt: the Empire Fraying at the Edges Chapter 8: A Spanish Disaster Chapter 9: 'Liberating the Egyptians': the Origins of French Republican Imperialism Chapter 10: The French in Egypt: from Military Victory to Colonial failure Chapter 11: The Troubled beginings of Britain's 'Blue-Water Empire' PART TWO c.1815 - c.1870 Chapter 12: The Beginning of the end for the Ottoman Regencies Chapter 13: The Multiple crises of Mahmud II Chapter 14: The French Invasion of Algiers and the growth of the Resistance, 1830-36. Chapter 15: Saving the Sultans: the emergence of inter-imperialist rivalry Chapter 16: Algerie Francaise Chapter 17: Inter-imperialist Rivalry: Proxy War and Real War Chapter 18: France's Second Imperial Venture in the Eastern Mediterranean Chapter 19: The Industrialised and the Non-Industrialised PART THREE c.1870 - c.1895 Chapter 20: The Age of the Rentiers. Chapter 21: The 'Great Eastern Crisis', 1875-78 Chapter 22: Tunisia and Egypt, 1981-82: the Bailiffs arrive Chapter 23: The slow death of the 'Empire' of Morocco PART FOUR c.1895 - c.1918 Chapter 24: Imperialist Realignment, Colonialist Deals, New Imperialists Chapter 25: Imperialism on the Northern Shore: Austria-Hungary and Bosnia-Herzegovina Chapter 26: The French and Spanish take Morocco, 1909-12 Chapter 27: The Forgotten War: the Italian invasion of Libya, 1911-12 Chapter 28: Unexpected resistance: the Arabs and Turks fight back Chapter 29: 'Playing the Balkan Card': From Imperialism to World War Chapter 30: From World War to Imperialism Appendices A, B, C and D Note on Transliteration and geographical names Glossary Bibliography
