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ATROCITY PROPAGANDA AND THE NATIONALIZATION OF THE MASSES IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE DURING THE BALKAN WARS (1912–13)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2014

Y. Doğan Çetinkaya
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Abstract

During the Balkan Wars (1912–13), the mobilization of the home front became significant for the belligerent states, which initiated propaganda activities demonizing their enemies and galvanizing the emotions of their publics. This paper explores one type of such mobilization efforts from above, atrocity propaganda, through which states sought to invoke hatred and mobilize public support for war by focusing on the atrocities (mezalim) that their coreligionists had suffered at the hands of enemies. Although the term “atrocity propaganda” has been used exclusively in the context of World War I in the historiography, the practice it describes was effectively utilized during the earlier Balkan Wars. In the Ottoman Empire, both state and civil initiatives played crucial roles in the making of atrocity propaganda, which was disseminated through intense coverage in the Turkish-language press. The imagery it employed shifted with the onset of the wars, becoming increasingly shocking. Atrocity propaganda contributed to the well-known radicalization of nationalism in the late Ottoman Empire.

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International Journal of Middle East Studies , Volume 46 , Issue 4: World War I , November 2014 , pp. 759 - 778
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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References

NOTES

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22 James Morgan Reed is the best example of this conviction. See Horne and Kramer, “German ‘Atrocities’ and Franco-German Opinion, 1914,” for a critique.

23 Report of the International Commission to Inquire into the Causes and Conduct of the Balkan Wars (Washington D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1914). The Balkan Commission of Inquiry was composed of independent members from Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Russia, and the United States.

24 Ayşe Nükhet Adıyeke, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu ve Girit Bunalımı (1896–1908) (Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 2000), 244–50.

25 Baleva, Martina, “İmparatorluğun Misillemesi: 1877–1878 Osmanlı-Rus Savaşı’nda Resim Savaşları ve Resim Cepheleri,” Toplumsal Tarih 228 (December 2012): 32–41Google Scholar. Along with her colleague Ulf Brunnbauer, Baleva provoked a public controversy in Bulgaria in 2007 by questioning the myths and truths of atrocity literature.

26 W.E. Gladstone, Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East (New York: 1876).

27 See a recent article of mine that views the 1908 Revolution as a crucial break in mobilization patterns in the Ottoman Empire: Doğan Çetinkaya, Y., “Patterns of Social Mobilisation and Collective Action in the Elimination of the Greek Orthodox Population in the Ottoman Empire,” The Low Countries Journal of Social and Economic History / Tijdschrift voor Sociale en Economische Geschiedenis 10, no. 4 (2013): 46–65Google Scholar.

28 For the details of these boycott movements, see Doğan Çetinkaya, Y., 1908 Osmanlı Boykotu (Istanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2004)Google Scholar; for the anti-Greek boycotts after 1910, see Çetinkaya, The Young Turks and the Boycott Movement.

29 Çetinkaya, The Young Turks and the Boycott Movement, 89.

30 Ibid., 164.

31 There are several variations of these leaflets. A short version is Müslümanlara Mahsus (n.p., 1329 [1913/1914]). Müslümanlara Mahsus (n.p., 1329), with a red cover page, is the longest version, and includes a list of Muslim merchants. This is probably also the last version, published at the very beginning of 1914. Müslümanlara Mahsus Kurtulmak Yolu (n.p., 1329) is a similar pamphlet. Müslüman ve Türklere (n.p., 1329) is the shortest of the four.

32 Müslümanlara Mahsus, 3–4; Müslümanlara Mahsus Kurtulmak Yolu, 4.

33 Müslüman ve Türklere, 2–4.

34 AYE (Arheio Ypourgeiou Exoterikon/Greek Foreign Ministry Archives), A21a, 1914, Ayvalık, no. 6251, 23 February 1914.

35 “Anthellinikos Diogmon eis tin Mikran Asian,” Embros, 14 March 1914.

36 “Ta Pathimata ton Omogenon” (Atrocities Incurred by the Nation), Ekklisiastiki Alitheia, 8 March 1914.

37 See Çetinkaya, The Young Turks and the Boycott Movement for more on Turkish/Muslim nationalism.

38 Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi (Prime Ministry Ottoman Archives, hereafter BOA), BEO, 4199/314867, 1331.Ş.20 and BOA, BEO, 4130/309707, 1331.M.24.

39 BOA, BEO, 4124/309292, 1331.M.07.

40 BOA, BEO, 4130/309709, 1331.M.25. This particular issue of Alem newspaper is not available in the libraries of Turkey, but the probably identical re-publication of it in Sabah is; see the next footnote.

41 “Boman Paşa’nın Raporu,” Sabah, no. 8363, 30 December 1912, 2.

42 BOA, BEO, 4130/309709, 1331.M.25.

43 In the Balkan Wars, the Ottoman army was divided into two sections.

44 BOA, DH. EUM.THR., 107/52, 1331.Ra.17.

45 See Bulgarian accusations related to the Kırkkilise region in BOA, DH. KMS, 1/22, 1331.Za.20.

46 BOA, DH-SYS., 19/59, 1330.Za.13.

47 “Rumeli Muhacirin-i İslamiye Cemiyeti’nden,” Tanin, no. 1462, 6 October 1912, 3.

48 “Bulgaristan İslam Muhacirinin Muhtırası,” Tanin, no. 1470, 14 October 1912, 4. (Society for Muslim Immigrants from Bulgaria is apparently either an alternative name for the Roumelia organization or a special commission that concentrated on the plight of Bulgarian Muslims. I did not come across a society with this name again in the Ottoman periodicals or documents.)

49 Alam-ı İslam, Bulgar Vahşetleri İslamiyenin Enzar-ı Basiretine ve İnsaniyet ve Medeniyetin nazar-ı Dikkatine (Istanbul: 1328 [1912/1913]); Alam-ı İslam, Bulgar Vahşetleri İslamiyenin Enzar-ı Basiretine ve İnsaniyet ve Medeniyetin nazar-ı Dikkatin (Istanbul: 1329 [1913/1914]).

50 Yıldırım Ağanoğlu, H., Göç (Istanbul: Kum Saati Yayınları, 2001)Google Scholar.

51 “Kırmızı Siyah Kitab,” Tanin, no. 1498, 1 February 1913, 5. According to this article, the society was established at the outset of 1913. However, the report of the society, which was published in İkdam on 26 December 1912, confirms that it was constituted in the last days of 1912. Cemiyeti, Neşr-i Vesaik, “Balkan Müttefiklerinin Mezalimi,” İkdam, no. 5694, 26 December 1912, 3Google Scholar. (The names in brackets are surnames taken after the 1934 Surname Law.)

52 Comité, Lede Publication, D.A.C.B., Les Atrocités des Coalisés Balkaniques, nos. 1 and 2 (Constantinople: Journal Ifham, 1913)Google Scholar. For a similar publication by Bulgarians against Greeks, see Miletich, Liubomir, Atrocités Grecques en Macédoine Pendant la Guerre Grecobulgare (Sophia: Imprimerie de L’état, 1913)Google Scholar.

53 Cemiyeti, Neşr-i Vesaik, “Balkan Müttefiklerinin Mezalimi,” İkdam, no. 5694, 26 December 1912, 3Google Scholar.

54 İkdam published numerous articles from foreign sources. Zeitung, Fossiche, “Balkan Hükümat-ı Müttefikasının Mezalimi,” İkdam, no. 5674, 6 December 1912, 3Google Scholar; Otto, Anetid, “Balkan İtisafatı, Sırpların Mezalimi Hakkında,” İkdam, no. 5711, 12 January 1913, 3–4Google Scholar; Loti, Piyer, “Bulgar Mezalimi Hakkında Piyer Loti’nin Telgrafı,” İkdam, no. 5937, 31 August 1913, 3Google Scholar.

55 “Kitab, Kırmızı Siyah,” Tanin, no. 1498, 1 February 1913, 5Google Scholar.

56 For basic information on this pamphlet, see Karakışla, Yavuz Selim, “Balkan Savaşı’nda Yayımlanmış Osmanlı Propaganda Kitabı,” Toplumsal Tarih, no. 104 (2002): 60–63Google Scholar.

57 “Kitab, Kırmızı Siyah,” Tanin, no. 1606, 20 May 1913, 5Google Scholar. The announcement informs the readers that the Turkish version is to be published on 23 May 1913. Another announcement appeared in İkdam on 18 March: “Mezalimi, Balkan: Kitab, Kırmızı-Siyah,” İkdam, no. 5772, 18 March 1913, 3Google Scholar.

58 Cevad, Ahmed, Kırmızı Siyah Kitab: 1328 Fecayii (Istanbul: Matbaa-i Hayriye ve Şürekası, 1329), 120Google Scholar.

59 Tevfik, Mehmed Ali [Yükselen], “Rumeli Mezalimi,” Tanin, no. 1499, 2 February 1913, 3Google Scholar. For introductory information on Mehmed Ali Tevfik and his poems about the notion of “revenge,” see Birinci, Ali, “Portre: Ali, Mehmed,Yükselen, Tevfik,” Türk Yurdu, no. 243 (November 2007)Google Scholar.

60 Hilmi, Tüccarzade İbrahim, Türkiye Uyan (Dersaadet, Kütübhane-i İslam ve Askeri, 1329 [1913/1914]), 19Google Scholar.

61 In 1908, “the national economy” referred to the project of developing the Ottoman economy as a whole. After the Balkan Wars, it became more of a program to replace the non-Muslim bourgeoisie with a Muslim one, and non-Muslim capital with Muslim capital, reflecting the economic aspect of eliminating non-Muslims from the Ottoman Empire.

62 Hilmi, Tüccarzade İbrahim, Türkiye Uyan, 21Google Scholar.

63 Ibid., 15.

64 Ibid., 18.

65 Cemil, Dr., Bulgar Vahşetleri, İntikam, Evlad ve Ahfada Yadigar (Dersaadet: 1330 [1914/1915])Google Scholar.

66 Ibid., 216.

67 Ibid., 81.

68 Ibid., 92.

69 Ibid., 85, 170. This is an irony of history: in the republican era, the Turkish state would force its male citizens by law to wear hats.

70 See Çetinkaya, Y. Doğan, “Illustrated Atrocity: Stigmatization of Non-Muslims through Images in the Ottoman Empire during the Balkan Wars,” Journal of Modern European History 12, no. 4 (2014)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

71 Horne and Kramer, “German ‘Atrocities’ and Franco-German Opinion, 1914,” 24.

72 “Bulgaristan Müslümanlarına Edilen Hakaretler,” Senin, no. 1435–42, 7 September 1912, 5.

73 “Zavallı Müslümanlar,” Tanin, no. 1459, 3 October 1912, 2.

74 BOA, BEO, 4097/307208, 1331.Za.01 (the original date on the document is 29 Eylül 1328/12 October 1912).

75 “Bulgarların Mezalim-i Hunharanesi ve Tahribat-ı Vahşiyanesi,” Servet-i Fünun, no. 1158, 14 August 1913, 325.

76 “Mezalim-i Salibiye Bulgar Zulüm ve Vahşeti, Hududlarda,” Sebilürreşad, no. 35–215, 21 Teşrinievvel 1328 [3 November 1912], 179.

77 “Kudurmuş Bir Düşman İslamları Parçalıyor!” Tanin, no. 1460, 4 October 1912, 5.

78 “Filibe’de Vahşet,” Tanin, no. 1460, 4 October 1912, 5; “Varna’da,” Tanin, no. 1460, 4 October 1912, 5. “Filibe’de,” Sebilürreşad, no. 35–215, 21 Teşrinievvel 1328 (3 November 1912), 179.

79 “Bulgar Vahşeti: Yeni Tafsilat,” Tanin, no. 1461, 5 October 1912, 4.

80 “Bulgar Vahşeti: Vidin’den ve Filibe’den . . .,” Tanin, no. 1461, 5 October 1912, 4.

81 “Sebilürreşad Ceride-i İslamisi İdaresine,” Sebilürreşad, no. 41–223, 6 Kanunuevvel 1328 (19 December 1912), 274.

82 “Bulgar Vahşeti: Osmanlı Donanması ve Bir Vazife-i Mühime,” Tanin, no. 1462, 6 October 1912, 3.

83 Salih, Mehmed, “Muhacirinin Hal ve İstikbali,” İkdam, no. 5682, 14 December 1912, 5Google Scholar; see also “Muhacirler,” İkdam, no. 5673, 5 December 1912, 1.

84 “Tekzib Ediyorlar!,” Tanin, no. 1461, 5 October 1912, 4.

85 Sahibi, Gayret GazetesiRıza, ve Muharriri, “Bulgaristan Mezalimi,” Tanin, no. 1464, 8 October 1912, 5Google Scholar.

86 “Bulgar Gazetelerinin Yalanları,” İkdam, no. 5775, 21 March 1913, 1.

87 Wagner, Lieutenant Hermenegild, With the Victorious Bulgarians (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1913)Google Scholar. Each state found a European writer who supported its national cause or rightfulness. Wagner seemed to be pro-Bulgarian, while Henry Nivet and Pierre Loti wrote of how Muslims suffered at the hands of Christian armies. See Nivet, Henry, La Croisade Balkanique (Paris: 1913)Google Scholar. This book was translated and published in Istanbul in the same year; see Nivet, Henri, Balkan Ehl-i Salib Seferinde Avrupa Siyaseti ve Türklerin Felaketi (Istanbul: Şems Matbaası, 1913)Google Scholar. Leo Freundlich wrote about the Serbian atrocities committed against Albanians in Albaniens Golgotha: Anklageakten gegen die Vernichter des Albanervolkes (Vienna: 1913).

88 Gueshoff, I. E., “Introduction,” in Wagner, Lieutenant Hermenegild, With the Victorious Bulgarians (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1913), xiiGoogle Scholar.

89 “Tab’-ı Mezalim-ü’l-Balkan,” Donanma, no. 38 (April 1913): 669–72.

90 BOA, BEO, 4100/307478, 1330.Za.08 (the original date on the document is 14 October 1912). Diplomatic correspondence about the civilian population and the accusations of the Bulgarian state regarding the Bulgarians in Eastern Thrace continued even after the war ended; the Ottoman army was accused of wiping out the Bulgarian peasantry. BOA, KMS. 1/22, 1331.Za.20 (October 1913).

91 “Bulgar Vahşeti,” Sebilürreşad, no. 41–223, 6 Kanunuevvel 1328 (19 December 1912), 275.

92 “Bulgar Vahşeti: Acıklı Hikayeler, Bulgar Muhacirlerinin İhtisasatı,” Tanin, no. 1465, 9 October 1912, 3.

93 “Vidin’de,” Sebilürreşad, no. 35–215, 21 Teşrinievvel 1328 (3 November 1912), 179.

94 “Bulgar Vahşeti: Acıklı Hikayeler, Bulgar Muhacirlerinin İhtisasatı,” Tanin, no. 1465, 9 October 1912, 3.

95 “Bulgar Vahşeti,” Tanin, no. 1466, 10 October 1912, 4. Similar incidents also emerged in Balchik (Balçık); see “Bulgar Vahşeti,” Cenin, no. 1469, 13 October 1912, 2.

96 “Bulgar Vahşeti,” Cenin, no. 1472, 16 October 1912, 4.

97 “Sırp Vahşetlerinde, İslamlar İrtidada Mecbur Ediliyor,” Tanin, no. 1467, 11 October 1912, 3. For an account from Montenegro, see “Muharebeden Evvel Karadağlıların Vahşiyane Bir Tecavüzü,” Tanin, no. 1469, 13 October 1912, 2.

98 “Ehl-i Salibin Mezalimi,” Sebilürreşad, no. 248, 30 Mayıs 1329 (12 June 1913), 236.

99 “Bulgar Vahşeti,” Tanin, no. 1467, 11 October 1912, 4. For a similar report from other places, see “Bulgar Mezalimi,” Cenin, no. 1475, 19 October 1912, 3.

100 “Bulgar Vahşeti, Razgrad’da,” Cenin, no. 1476, 20 October 1912, 4. For events in Nikopol (Niğbolu), see “Bulgar Vahşeti, Niğbolu’da,” Cenin, no. 1476, 20 October 1912, 4. For incidents in Targovishte (Eskicuma), see “Bulgar Vahşeti,” Senin, no. 1481–52, 25 October 1912, 3.

101 “Bulgar Vahşeti,” Senin, no. 1477, 21 October 1912, 4.

102 “Bulgaristan’da İslamlar,” Tanin, no. 1499, 2 February 1913, 4; “Dedeağaç Mezalimi,” Tanin, 3 February 1913, 5.

103 For example, see NTV Tarih, no. 45 (October 2012), a special issue to mark the 100-year anniversary of the Balkan Wars. This is a popular history journal that might be considered liberal in the context of nationalist publications. For a nationalist handling of the Balkan Wars, see the site of the Turkish Coalition of America: http://www.tc-america.org/issues-information/turkish-history/1912-1913-balkan-wars-death-and-forced-exile-of-ottoman-muslims-an-annotated-map-755.htm (accessed 30 June 2014).

104 Scholars such as Kahraman Şakul and Mehmet Beşikçi are pioneering a new way of writing Turkish military history. See Kahraman Şakul, “Osmanlı Harbiyesi Üzerine Bir Literatür Değerlendirmesi,” Türkiye Araştırmaları Literatür Dergisi 1 (2003): 529–71; Kahraman Şakul, “Yeni Askeri Tarihçilik,” Toplumsal Tarih 198 (2010): 31–36; Mehmet Beşikçi, The Ottoman Mobilization of Manpower in the First World War (Leiden: Brill, 2012); and Mehmet Beşiki, “Son Dönem Osmanlı Harp Tarihi ve ‘Topyekun Savaş’ Kavramı,” Toplumsal Tarih 198 (2010): 62–69.