Faith over Blood? Russians, Greeks, and Muslim Slavs, 1856–1914

Russia's political and cultural interests in the Balkans had long

been shaped by Orthodox Christianity which made it convenient for

Russian policymakers to appear as protectors of many Ottoman subjects

including Christian Arabs, Greeks, Rumanians, Serbs, and Bulgarians.

But after the French Revolution had politicized ethnicity across

Europe, many Russian intellectuals and government officials began to

see in the last two groups not just brothers in Christ but also fellow

Slavs. Russian perceptions of Slavic followers of Islam also began to

change. The main goal of this paper is to examine how Russian

attitudes and policies towards Balkan peoples were affected by modern

nationalism from the end of the Crimean War to the beginning of the

First World War (1856-1914). Did it matter that so many Christians and

Muslims in parts of Serbia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Macedonia, and

Bulgaria under and after Ottoman control spoke Slavic languages? How

did this heightened ethnic awareness affect Russia's traditional

relationship to the culturally Greek Patriarchate of Constantinople as

the established centre of Christian Orthodox communities in the

Ottoman Empire? To answer these questions, I will study not only the

reactions of diplomatic and military agents but also the opinions of

Pan-Slav scholars and journalists. The timeframe is important for

several reasons. In late 1800s, the ideas of ethnic affinity became a

powerful force in European politics most clearly seen in the

unification of Italy and Germany. After its defeat in the Crimean War

(1853-1856), Russia launched a series of far-reaching modernizing

reforms at home. It also sought to boost up its weakened political and

cultural clout by expanding its consular network in the Ottoman Empire

and funding numerous schools and churches there.