HIS 36203 - The Great Powers and the Eastern Question

This diplomatic history course will look at the Eastern Mediterranean as a center of Great Power confrontation. The Eastern Question refers to the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the consequences of its decline on the European continent. It was the most significant diplomatic problem posed in the 19th and 20th centuries by the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, centering on the contest for control of former Ottoman territories. Any internal change in the Turkish domains caused tension among the European powers, each of which feared that one of the others might take advantage of the political disarray to increase its own influence. It was the cause of the Crimean War, the only war involving the Great Powers in the 19th century, and a direct cause of the Great War.

Offered: On Demand

Semester Hours: 3