Turkeycountry

Turkey, a country of southeastern Europe, eastern Asia, and north-eastern Africa, the extent and administration of which were greatly altered by the Berlin Congress of 1878. As now constituted, it comprises (1) Turkey proper, under the immediate government of the Sultan; (2) several tributary and semi-independent states. Turkey in Europe is bounded N. by Roumania, Servia, and Hungary; N.W. by Montenegro; W. by the Adriatic; S. by Greece; and E. by the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmora, and the Archipelago. The boundaries of Turkey in Asia are the Black Sea on the N.; Russian Armenia on the N.E.; Persia on the E.; the Archipelago and the Mediterranean on the W. and Arabia and the Syrian desert on the S. It is difficult to obtain trustworthy information regarding the affairs of the empire, so that the following statistics are only approximately correct.

Area and population.

The most populous towns are :-
Constantinople - 1,136,000
Smyrna - 1,396,500
Damascus - 150,000
Bagdad - 145,000
Aleppo - 127,000
Adrianople - 70,886
Salonica - 150,000
Erzeroum - 60,000
Kaisarich - 72,000
Broussa - 76,000

Physical Features and Climate. The surface of Turkey in Europe is for the most part uneven, its mountains being a south-easterly prolongation of the Alpine system. The main branch, comprising the Dinaric Alps and Mount Pindus, runs S.W. and S. from Bosnia and Montenegro to Greece, in a line parallel to the shore of the Adriatic and the Ionian Sea, The Balkans, which branch off from this range in an easterly direction, are now situated in the principality of Bulgaria; but the Despoto Dagh (7,464 feet), which forms a southern arm of the same chain, is still within the limits of Turkey proper. The Skhar Dagh, in Albania, reaches a height of 10,007 feet. The principal rivers are the Moritza, Struma, and Vardar, running S. to the Archipelago, and the Drin and Voyussa, which fall into the Adriatic. The surface is generally well wooded. There is an abundance of hardy forest trees, such as the pine, birch, and oak, and the palm, maple, myrtle, and laurel flourish S. of the Balkans. In most parts the temperature changes rapidly from extreme heat to intense cold; but the climate of the Albanian valleys is less variable. The surface of Turkey in Asia is more broken than that of Turkey in Europe. The ranges of Taurus and Anti-Taurus traverse Asia Minor, sending off branches in all directions, the involutions of which form an endless series of deep gorges, lofty plateaux and mountain-girt plains. From the eastern extremity of Mount Taurus the ranges of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon run S. through Syria and Palestine. The mighty rivers Tigris and Euphrates empty themselves into the Persian Gulf, and the Kizil Irmak flows through the northern part of Asia Minor to the Black Sea; but almost everywhere there is a great lack of water, and, as all attempts to preserve the ancient system of irrigation were long ago abandoned, many once fertile districts have for many centuries been Waste tracts of rock and sand.

Races and Creeds. It is estimated that in Turkey in Europe there are about 700,000 Turks and 1,500,000 Albanians. The Greek population probably does not fall far short of the Albanian. The other inhabitants are chiefly Serbs, Bulgarians, Wallachians, Magyars, Armenians. Circassians, Gipsies, and Jews. Turkey in Asia is supposed to contain some 6,800,000 Turks, 4,000,0OO Arabs, 1,300,000 Syrians, and 1,000,000 Greeks, in addition to Kurds, Armenians, Circassians, Jews, and other races. The number of Mohammedans is said to be 12,000,000 in Asia, 7,000,000 in Africa, and not more than 2,000,000 in Europe. The other inhabitants belong chiefly to one or another of the numerous Eastern Churches [GREEK CHUROH], in addition to which there is a considerable number of Latins or Catholics (acknowledging Papal supremacy), besides many Jews and a few Protestants in Armenia and elsewhere.

Government and Political Organisation. The Sultan is an autocrat, but his power is limited on the one hand by the Koran, the Multeka (a sacred code embodying the views and judgments of Mohammed and his immediate successors), and the Cahon-nameh (a code drawn up by Solyman the Magnificent), and on the other by the authority of the Sheik-ul-Islam, the head of the Ulema, (q.v.), and chief religious dignitary, who may impose a veto on the imperial decrees. The chief political functionary is the Sadr-azam, or Grand Vizier, who [resodes over a divan (the Medjliss-i-Hass), a cabinet of thirteen members. Both the Sadr-azam and the Sheik-ul-Islam are appointed by the Sultan, who in the latter case must obtain the consent of the Ulema. The empire comprises thirty-one vilayets or provinces, each containing so many sanjaks or livas, the sanjaks being subdivided into kazas, the kazas into nahies, and the nahies into karies. The vilayets are administered by governors, called valis, who are responsible to the Sultan alone, but act with the advice of a provincial council. For each subdivision there is a corresponding official of inferior rank. The mutesarifs, who govern the sanjaks, called mutessarifats, are appointed immediately by the Sultan, without the intervention of the vali. Of late years both the judicial and the financial powers of the provincial governors have been much curtailed, and the farming of the variable taxes no longer gives scope for unlimited extortion.

Land Tenure, Agriculture, Industries, and Commerce. The soil of Turkey is fertile, but agriculture is in a backward condition, owing, among other causes to the unsatisfactory system of land tenure, the lack of adequate communication, and the practice of exacting tithe on all produce. The area under cultivation comprises - (1) miri, lands held immediately from the Crown and subject to the supervision of Crown officers; (2) vacouf, land originally set apart for purposes of religious or educational endowment, but now mostly in the hands of Government officials; (3) mulikaneh, hereditary possessions, originally granted as a reward for military service; (4) mulk, freehold property, the amount of which is inconsiderable. The products raised on these lands (the area of which is believed to be about 44,000,000 acres) include maize, barley, rice, millet, and other cereals; figs, grapes, and raisins; cotton, tobacco, olive-oil, and sesame and other oil-seeds. The orange, citron, peach, and various other fruit-trees grow abundantly in the Albanian valleys and the more fertile districts of Asia Minor; and the rearing of silkworms is again becoming a lucrative industry. The mountain slopes afford excellent pasture, and sheep are bred in large numbers for the sake of their wool. The chief mineral products are iron (which is abundant), copper, sulphur, alum, bitumen, salt, argentiferous lead-ore, and silver (in Asia Minor); some gold is found, and coal is common in certain districts, but it is little worked. The manufactures, few of which are exported, include woollen, cotton, and silken fabrics, carpets, shawls, morocco leather goods of various kinds, swords, and fire-arms. The fisheries of the Bosphorus are a source of great wealth. The value of the exports and imports amounted to about £13,655,180 and £18,937,370 respectively in 1889-90; and to £13,750,000 and £24,070,000 in 1898. The principal exports are tobacco, cereals, fruit (especially figs and raisins), wine, silk, opium, coffee, woll, oil-seeds, skins, valonia, mohair, cotton, carpets, drugs, and spices. Cotton and wollen goods figure prominently among imported articles. It is estimated that 43 per cent. of the imports come from Great Britain, and that 38 per cent. of the exports are sent hither. The length of the railways at the end of 1897 was 2,542 miles (1,096 miles in Europe and 1,496 miles in Asia), and that of the telegraph-wires about 21,800 miles.

Finances. The financial condition of Turkey has long been notoriously unsound_ In 1898-9 the revenue amounted to £T.16,828,475, the expenditure to £T.16,754,019, leaving a surplus of about £T.75,OOO. A deficit of £T.1,700,000 in 1890 was reduced to some extent by increased economy in several Government administrations. The public debt amounted in 1898 to £92,007,616, exclusive of the Russian War indemnity of £32,000,000, which is paid in annual instalments of £318,180. Certain excise and other duties have been assigned in payment of the debt, and the administration of these is in the bands of an international commission, which acts independently of the other departments of Government.

Army and Navy. The army consists of (1) the Nizam, or regular army and reserves, divided into seven corps of infantry, cavalry, engineers, and artillery; (2) the Redif (Landwehr), comprising twelve army corps; (3) the Mustahfiz (Landsturm), the strength of which can be increased indefinitely. The number of officers and men comprising the Nizam probably does not exceed 170,000, but the whole force available in time of war has been estimated at 900,000 or 1,000,000, of which some 600,000 are infantry, and 55,000 or 60,000 mounted troops. All Mussulmans between twenty and forty are liable to service in the field. Little information is forthcoming concerning the state of the navy, which, on the whole, fails to meet the exigencies of modern warfare, though it is now being gradually remodelled. It is supposed to contain between seventy and one hundred steamers (including, it is said, eighteen ironclads) and twenty-five or thirty torpedo-boats. The number of sailors lies somewhere between 12,000 and 30,000.

Education. The educational system, which is closely connected with the Mohammedan religion, was reformed in 1847, and 1,087 free schools for elementary education are now attached to the mosques. Middle schools have also been provided, and the study of medicine, agriculture, and other sciences may be pursued in special colleges.

History. The Ottoman Turks, or Osmanlis, are sprung from the Oguzian Turks, who in the 13th century were expelled from their settlements E. of the Caspian and driven westwards by the advancing hordes of Mongols. As a reward for services rendered to the Seljuk Sultan of Konieh in his struggle with the Mongols and Chorasmians, a portion of the tribe was allowed to take possession of lands in Phrygia. After extending their dominion in Asia, they crossed the Aegean under Orkhan (1256-59), and seized some of the maritime fortresses of the Eastern Empire. Before the close of the 14th century they had become masters of the larger portion of the empire, the last relics of which disappeared with the capture of Constantinople by Mohammed II. in 1453. The Slavonic provinces in the neighbourhood of the Danube, the northern Adriatic seaboard, the S., E., and part of the N. coasts of the Black Sea, Syria, Rhodes, and Egypt were gradually added to their conquests, which reached their farthest limits under Solyman I. (1520-66). During his reign the Turks experienced serious reverses in Hungary, and their subsequent history bas been one of continuous decline. They finally resigned all claim to Hungary by the Peace of Carlowitz in 1699. In 1736 they encountered a new danger in the aggressive policy of Russia, and after half a century's warfare they were compelled definitely to abandon all the land they had occupied E. of the Dniester (1792). After further hostilities, Russia succeeded in extending her boundary to the Pruth (1812). The Greek struggle for independence (1822-28) was regarded with favour by most of the Continental Powers, and resulted in the formation of Greece into an independent kingdom. It was also mainly through foreign intervention that the Ottoman Empire was saved from the ruin which threatened it in consequence of the ambitions designs of Mehemet Ali, Pasha of Egypt (1833). His rebellion was so far successful that it virtually brought Turkish supremacy in Egypt to an end. In 1853 the Czar found a new pretext for attacking Turkey in his claim to exercise a protectorate over all subjects of the Porte who belonged to the Greek Church. His attempts to enforce his demands brought on the Crimean War, in which Turkey received effectual aid from England, France, and Sardinia. It was brought to a close by the Treaty of Paris (1856), which disallowed the Czar's claims, reinstated the Turks on the banks of the Lower Danube, and excluded all war-vessels from the Black Sea. This latter provision, however, was abolished in the interest of Russia in 1871. Two years later Moldavia and Wallachia were formed into the principality of Roumania. In 1876 Russia again took up arms against Turkey, nominally for the purpose of preventing the maltreatment of the Christian inhabitants of the empire. The Turks offered a courageous and stubborn resistance, but Russia was eventually successful, and in January, 1878, Adrianople was occupied by her troops. The final outcome of the war was the Congress of Berlin, which rendered Roumania, Servia, and Montenegro independent states, placed Bosnia and Herzegovina under the protection of Austria, rectified the Greek frontier, and handed over a considerable part of Armenia to Russia. Since 1878 the English have occupied Cyprus (q.v.). In 1897, in consequence of serious disturbances in Crete, war broke out between Turkey and Greece. After a very brief contest, Greece was completely defeated.