Preserving A Precarious Neutrality: The Ottoman Empire and the Hundred Days Crisis

Abstract

This article analyzes how the Ottoman ruling elite attempted to maintain their traditional policy of neutrality during the Hundred Days Crisis, which occurred between Napoleon Bonaparte’s escape from Elba and his second abdication following the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. During this volatile period, the Ottomans found themselves caught between the Allied powers, which demanded Ottoman alignment with the coalition formed against Napoleon, and Napoleon himself, who sent an envoy to the Porte to secure Ottoman recognition of his emperorship. Furthermore, the demonstrations and symbolic actions of Bonapartist French diplomats in the Ottoman capital and its periphery, such as displaying Bonaparte’s flag and wearing his imperial decorations and symbols on their clothing and diplomatic premises, led to diplomatic crises between the Ottomans and the French embassy, involving other diplomatic representations of the concerned European states. This article demonstrates that the Ottoman administration utilized its traditional policy of neutrality in European crises as a strategy to navigate these diplomatic incidents. Similar to the declaration of a republic in France after the Revolution (1792) and Napoleon’s assumption of the title of Emperor (1804), during the Hundred Days Crisis, the Ottoman administration initially adopted a wait-and-see approach and then emphasized neutrality to avoid entanglement in intra-European conflicts. Drawing on Ottoman archival documents and biographical works on Pierre Ruffin, the capable chargé d’affaires of the French Embassy, the article argues that the Ottoman policy of neutrality aimed to achieve two objectives: (1) refraining from antagonizing Bonaparte by maintaining diplomatic contact with the existing staff of the French embassy, and (2) preventing any incidents that could jeopardize Ottoman relations with the anti-Bonapartist coalition. Both objectives appeared to be met thanks to the skillful diplomatic handling of the incidents.

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It is declared that scientific and ethical principles were complied with during the preparation of this study and all the works referred are mentioned in the bibliography.

belleten@ttk.gov.tr

Artificial intelligence tools (ChatGPT) were used in the preparation of this article solely for language editing, proofreading, and checking the clarity and grammatical accuracy of the English text. No artificial intelligence tool was used for formulating the research question, developing the argument, conducting the archival analysis, interpreting the sources, or producing the scholarly content of the article. The author assumes full responsibility for the content, arguments, interpretations, and conclusions presented in the article.

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