Small Power Dıplomacy And Commerce Belgium And The Ottoman Empire During The Reign Of Leopold I (1831-1865)

Preface

Foreword

Abbreviations

Introduction

1. Political and economic conditions

   Belgium under Leopold I

   The Ottoman Empire in the 2^nd and 3^rd quarters of the 19^th century

2. Belgium's recognition and the first diplomatic and consular appointments

   Consulates in Smyrna and Alexandria and the Porte's recognition of Belgium

   The O'Sullivan Mission and the 1838 friendship and trade treaty

   The establishment of the Constantinople legation

   An update of the 1838 Treaty

3. Belgium and the Turkish-Egyptian crisis of 1839-1840

   Some background

   Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and the Greek throne

   The Orient Crisis and Belgian neutrality

   Leopold's diplomatic contribution: the five power treaty

   The Belgian officers in Egypt

   A major source of irritation: the Belgian press

   The Houry project

4. The legation in Constantinople

   Role and authority

   An institutional and personnel history

   The legation's political role and the imaging of the Orient

   Budgetary rigidity and the legation's functioning

   The legation's dragomans

5. Dangerous opportunities: Belgium and the Crimean war

   The threat of France and the diplomacy of Leopold I

   A possible Belgian involvement

   A final balancing act

   Belgian volunteers and recruitment

   Business as usual: the Belgian arms exports

6. The Duke of Brabant and the Ottoman Empire

   Expansionism passed from father to son

   The first voyage to Egypt (1855)

   The Duke of Brabant as a public advocate of colonialism

   The Constantinople Voyage (1860)

   The second voyage to Egypt (1862-1863)

7. Belgian Consuls in the Ottoman Empire

   The particularity of consuls and consulates in the Levant

   The Belgian consular network in the Ottoman Empire

   Recruitment and the quality of personnel

   The Consuls' functioning

   Relations with the Ottoman authorities and population

   Relations with others

   Case-Studies

8. Economic Relations

   Quantity and quality of trade currents

   The Belgian manufacturers' attitude

   The absence of intermediaries: trade companies and trade agents

   The absence of direct shipping and the onset of a steamer connection

   The Société de Bateaux à vapeur entre la Belgique et le Levant and its successors

   Some advocates for a change-over

Conclusion

Bibliography

Appendix I: An overview of Belgian Consulates in the Ottoman Empire, 1831-1865

Appendix II: Ottoman diplomats and consuls in Belgium

Appendix III: Some Belgian travellers in the Ottoman Empire

Index