Özet:

Despite being the dominant element in the founding and development stages of the Ottoman state, the Turkish people were long overlooked and neglected in the official discourse of the patrimonial Ottoman body politic. Once deemed “magnificient” in its heyday vis-a-vis Europe, after its classical age found it difficult to adapt to the changing milieu of the modern times. In all aspects, namely in areas of military, economy and intellectual atmosphere the once mighty Ottoman Empire began to seep into deep crises that led to the weakened Empire to its eventual demise. In its weakened state the Turkish subjects of the Ottoman Empire were relatively awakened late while the other ethnic and religious elements in the Empire were forming “national consciousness” aroused by the ideals of the French Revolution in Europe. In the second half of the 19th century the Ottoman intellectuals joined the fashion. This study surveyed the birth and ideological evolution of Turkish nationalism or Pan-Turkism historically in a broad perspective. In this framework, this thorough narrative was combined with the story of the Pan-Turkism movements in Caucasia, Crimea and Kazan (Volga region) in examination of to what extent the Turkic peoples of these regions were influenced ideologically by their Ottoman counterparts. The degree of influence was demonstrated by the military and political success of the Turkic peoples in these regions during WWI. As a historical survey of the Pan-Turkism movements in the Russian Empire during the Great War this study aims to serve as an introduction for future in-depth studies that can explore and analyse the evolution of the Pan-Turkism movements in the Russian Empire.

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