Britain And The Near East Crisis Of 1839-1841

The war in Vienna in 1683 was a turning point in Ottoman history.Prior to this,the Ottoman nation established in 1453 had fought in Eurasia and Africa without any enemy.The defeat of the Vienna war foreshadowed the downfall of Ottoman empire,once the overlord of the Middle and Near East.With the continuous southward advance in Russia in the late 18 th century,there was an armed dispute with Ottoman empire,which exposed Ottoman's military defeat.The great powers are eager to try Ottoman's heritage and divide Ottoman and its Middle and Near East possessions,that is,the "Eastern Problem" arose at the historic moment.In 1516,under the leadership of the 9th Sultan Salim I,the Ottoman army invaded Egypt and became a province of the Ottoman Empire in 1517.No matter from its strategic position or from its internal taxation,Egypt had always occupied an important position in the Ottoman empire and was also an important part of the "eastern problem".Although Britain,which took the lead in the capitalist industrial revolution,established a large number of overseas colonies and claimed that "the sun never sets on the empire",it did not show any interest in this territory in northern Africa.The main reason is that on the way to the east,Britain mainly relies on the Atlantic route,and the potential road of this land has not attracted British attention.Until Napoleon's expedition to Egypt in 1798,Britain gradually realized the importance of Egypt in Britain's Middle and Near East strategy,its role in maintaining the British-Indian Empire,and even its influence on the entire British colonial system.After Britain and France withdrew their troops,Mohammed Ali gained sovereignty over Egypt.Ali's modernization reform promoted the pace of Egypt's foreign expansion and occupied most of Levant including Syria through the first Turkish-Egyptian war.After the war,Russia took the opportunity to force the defeated Turkish government to sign the Russo-Turkish alliance treaty and gain the right of free access to the two straits.The Russo-Turkish Alliance caused an uproar in British government.How to destroy the Russo-Turkish Alliance has become the strategic focus of Britain.Ali attempted independence from Ottoman in 1838,but Ali's ambition was opposed by equally tough Palmerston and British governments.During the Near East crisis from 1839 to 1841,Britain launched three major measures around the strategic goal of maintaining Ottoman's integrity in the Middle and Near East.First,limiting Egypt to northeastern Africa and prevent Egypt from rising to independence from Ottoman.Second,France's strategic vision of defending Egypt,establishing itself in North Africa and controlling the road from the Middle and Near East to the East should be blocked.Third,stopping Russia-Ottoman alliance and Russia's strategic advantage in the straits.In June 1839,the Second Turkish-Egyptian War broke out.Britain,France,Russia,Prussia and Austria want to play the role of the European coordination mechanism and hold a meeting to solve the Turkish-Egyptian problem.Contradictions among several major powers focused on the venue of the meeting and the measures taken to deal with Ali.After the war broke out,Metternich,the builder of the Vienna system,immediately proposed to hold a meeting on the Turkish-Egyptian issue in Vienna,but in the end the "Vienna Conference" plan was stranded due to Russian opposition.Palmerston firmly seized the opportunity to move the meeting to London and won the support of major European countries except foreign countries.France's argument with other countries focused on how to deal with Egypt's rulers.France opposed the coercive measures against Ali and strives to safeguard its relations with Egypt.The French government didn't agree to re-delimit Syria and other areas that belong to Egypt to Turkish rule,and also refused Egypt to return the warship to Ottoman.In this way,a London conference was held without France's participation,and the four countries signed the London treaty behind France's back.The London Treaty brought Egypt back to the position of a vassal state of Ottoman,and the occupied Syrian territory was also returned to Ottoman.The London Treaty of 1840 was an important achievement of Britain's domination of the East.Britain's strategy in the Middle and Near East was more clear.The British government began to control the economies of Ottoman and Egypt.However,the signing of the London Treaty in 1840 did not mean the settlement of the Turkish-Egyptian problem.With the support of France,Ali refused to sign the treaty,and France's relations with the four major countries were also at loggerheads.In order to get Ali to sign the treaty,the four countries took joint military action.Before the British army Enemy at Alexander,Ali finally signed the London treaty.Meanwhile,in the face of the threat of war from French Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Thiers,British Foreign Minister Palmerston is not to be outdone.However,Thiers' s main battle thought did not get the support of the French king and he eventually stepped down.Under the mediation of Metternich,France returned to European coordination in 1841 and signed the Straits Pact with Britain,Russia,Prussia and Austria,re-establishing the ancient principle of closing the Straits.In general,in the near east crisis from 1839 to 1841,Britain achieved its goal of safeguarding the integrity of the Ottoman Empire.Not only did it kill Ali's imperial dream,it also forced Egypt into the capitalist world market.At the same time,in the Middle and Near East,Russia also replaced France as Britain's biggest rival.Although the signing of the two treaties has temporarily prevented the war from spreading,Russia is still eyeing up the region and planting the seeds of war.