Pan-Orthodoxy versus Ottomanism: Russian Reactions Towards Tanzimat Reforms, 1856–1912

The paper is about Russian attitudes to Ottoman attempts to strip the Patriarchate of Constantinople of its autonomy and to assimilate Orthodox Christians into a civic territorial European-style Ottoman nation. After the Crimean War (1853-1856), the Ottoman Empire had its own version of Great Reforms known as Tanzimat. The Sultan proclaimed legal equality of all his subjects regardless of the creed. Up to that point, the Islamic framework perpetuated separate communal identities and institutions for Muslims, Christians, and Jews. The inspiration and pressure for Tanzimat came from Turkey’s victorious allies in the Crimean War – England and France. Western Powers sought to make sure that defeated Russia would not be able to pose again as the only legitimate protector of its Ottoman coreligionists who included Greeks, Bulgarians, Serbs, and Arabs. On its part, Russia needed to concentrate on domestic reforms and to avoid getting into another conflict. In the greater freedom of Alexander II’s rule, there was an explosive growth of non-governmental organizations and affiliated publications. Some of them began to urge the Russian government to stress not Orthodoxy but rather ethnic ties to Slavs abroad. Thus, in their reactions to Tanzimat, Russian journalists and diplomats reflected the role of religion not just in the foreign policy but also in the Russian identity itself.