Authors

Emre Saral¹;  ¹ Hacettepe University, Turkey

Discussion

The Ottoman Empire was directly influenced by the destructive effects of the nationalism that emerged as a result of the French Revolution at the beginning of the 19^th century. Yet it was only in the 1880s that the Turkish national awakening began. A group of Ottoman intellectuals defined themselves as Turks for the first time. They systematically conducted programs to raise the national awareness of Turkishness, carried out language and historical studies, established institutions for this purpose and sent students to Europe while struggling with the oppressive rule of Sultan Abdulhamid II.
Ironically, this surge in Turkish patriotism and self-awareness was in part inspired by the Hungarians since the second half of the 19th century. It is not surprising that the Hungarians, who saw Pan-Germanism and Pan-Slavism as a threat to their existence, became closer to the Ottomans, who saw Pan-Slavic policies as the biggest threat to their state throughout the 19th century. This paper will investigate key figures of the time, such as Lajos Kossuth and his companies, who sought refuge in the Ottoman Empire after the failure of the Hungarian War of Independence in 1848-49, and were instrumental in the spread of nationalist ideas in the Ottoman state in the 1860s. Ármin Vámbéry, the turkologist, and the most prominent figure who contributed to the establishment of this Turkish national awareness will also be discussed. His ideas influenced the intellectual dimension of the Turkish nation-building that gained momentum after the proclamation of the Republic in 1923. A greater awareness of the impact of the Hungarians in the birth of the Turkish Republic can lead to a greater deeper of where it stands today.