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Lord Palmerston's Policy for The Rejuvenation of Turkey, 1839–18411
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 February 2009
Extract
During the period from 1839 to 1841, when the Concert of Europe intervened in the second Syrian war between Sultan Mahmoud and Mehemet Ali Pasha of Egypt to save the Ottoman Empire from destruction, Lord Palmerston the British Secretary of Foreign Affairs energetically opposed a return to the status quo ante helium in the Levant, risked the development of a serious international crisis in Near Eastern affairs, and played a leading rôle in the negotiation and execution of an arrangement by which Syria and Crete were restored to the direct rule of the Sultan and by which the authority of Mehemet Ali was confined to Egypt. The story of these developments is a familiar one; yet it is not generally known that at the same time when Palmerston was energetically attempting to exploit events in the East to bring about a settlement of the Turco-Egyptian Question in the interest of the Sultan he was also actively elaborating and extending a policy for the rejuvenation of Turkey which he had outlined in a period of peace in the Levant between 1833 and 1839.
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References
page 164 note 1 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 182, 2 Dec. 1839, Public Record Office MSS., F.O. 78/353.
page 164 note 2 Walker to Ponsonby, 20 Apr. 1840, Ponsonby to Palmerston, No. 86, 25 Apr. 1840, ibid., F.O. 78/393; Ponsonby to Palmerston, Nos. 100 and 103, 13 and 15 May 1840, ibid. F.O. 78/394.
page 164 note 3 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 69, 20 May 1840, ibid. F.O. 78/389.
page 165 note 1 Palmerston to Ponsonby, Nos. 105, 129, 140 and 154, 17 July, 3, 22 and 31 Aug. 1840, ibid. F.O. 78/390; Palmerston to Ponsonby, Nos. 201, 254, 257 and 276, 17 Oct., 30 Nov., 21 Dec. 1840, ibid. F.O. 78/391.
page 165 note 2 Palmerston to Davy, Nos. 1–4, 27 and 30 Oct. 1840, ibid. F.O. 78/4I5
page 166 note 1 Palmerston to Ponsonby, Nos. 218 and 220, 29 and 31 Oct. 1840, Public Record Office MSS., F.O. 78/391.
page 166 note 2 Davy to Palmerston, 29 Nov., II Dec. 1840, ibid. F.O. 78/415; Davy to Palmerston, 1 Feb., 4 Mch., 11 June 1841, ibid. F.O. 78/460; Davy to Ponsonby, 30 Jan. 1841, ibid. F.O. 78/430.
page 166 note 3 Ponsonby to Palmerston, No. 296, 20 Sept. 1841, ibid. F.O. 78/437; Davy to Palmerston 22 Mch., 13 July, 1 and 18 Sept. 1841, Palmerston to Davy, Nos. 7, 10 and 11, 28 Apr., 4 June, 15 July 1841, ibid. F.O. 78/460.
page 166 note 4 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 173, 15 Sept. 1840, ibid. F.O. 78/390; Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 263, 11 Dec. 1840, ibid. F.O. 78/391.
page 167 note 1 Ponsonby to Palmerston, No. 237, 14 Oct. 1840, ibid. F.O. 78/397.
page 167 note 2 Ponsonby to Palmerston, No. 88, 9 Mch. 1841, ibid. F.O. 78/432.
page 167 note 3 Palmerston to Williams, 11 Jan. 1841, ibid. F.O. 78/461.
page 167 note 4 Williams to Palmerston, 14 May 1841, ibid.
page 167 note 5 Williams to Ponsonby, 7 June 1841, Ponsonby to Palmerston, 8 June 1841, ibid. F.O. 78/434; Ponsonby to Palmerston, No. 272, “Confidential,” 28 Aug. 1841, with several enclosed copies of letters from Williams, Williams to Ponsonby, 28 Sept. 1841, ibid. F.O. 78/437; Bankhead to Aberdeen, No. 24, 29 Oct. 1841, ibid. F.O. 78/438; Williams to Canning, 24 Feb. 1842, Williams to Aberdeen, 22 July 1842, ibid. F.O. 78/505.
page 168 note 1 Palmerston to Bridgeman, No. 1, 4 Mch. 1841, Public Record Office MSS., F.O. 78/453; Rose to Palmerston, No. 26, 21 Apr. 1841, ibid. F.O. 78/455. In response to a request from the Porte, Lord Aberdeen, early in his second term at the Foreign Office, withdrew the British detachment from Syria. Cf. Ponsonby to Palmerston, No. 276, 2 Sept. 1841, ibid. F.O. 78/437; Aberdeen to Canning, No. 5, 2 Nov. 1841, ibid. F.O. 78/439
page 168 note 2 Ponsonby to Palmerston, No. 70, 21 Feb. 1841, ibid. F.O. 78/431.
page 169 note 1 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 27, 10 Feb. 1841, ibid. F.O. 78/427.
page 170 note 1 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 52, 23 Mch. 1841, Public Record Office MSS.
page 170 note 2 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 190, 3 Aug. 1841, ibid. F.O. 78/429; Ponsonby to Palmerston, Nos. 222 and 258, 2 and 31 July 1841, ibid. F.O. 78/436.
page 170 note 3 Palmerston to Ponsonby No. 94, 21 Apr. 1841, ibid. F.O. 78/428; Ponsonby to Aberdeen, “Separate and confidential,” 8 Oct. 1841, ibid. F.O. 78/437; Aberdeen to Canning, No. 2, 30 Oct. 1841, ibid. F.O. 78/439.
page 171 note 1 Palmerston to Beauvale [Private], 25 Aug. 1839, Austrian Slaatsarchiv, England (Varia), 1833–1839, F. 29. On 1 Sept. 1839, Palmerston expressed similar sentiments in a letter to Bulwer. Bulwer, Cf., Life of Viscount Palmerston, II (London, 1871), pp. 298–299Google Scholar.
page 172 note 1 Memorandum of Reshid, “Confidential,” 12 Aug. 1839, Public Record Office MSS., F.O. 78/383.
page 172 note 2 Cf. Palmerston to Beauvale [Private], 25 Aug. 1839 as cited on p, 171, footnote No. 1.
page 172 note 3 Ponsonby, to Palmerston, “Separate and secret” 30 09 1839Google Scholar, Public Record Office MSS., F.O. 78/359.
page 172 note 4 Ponsonby to Palmerston, 22 Oct. 1839, ibid.
page 173 note 1 Ponsonby to Palmerston, No. 301, 5 Nov. 1839, ibid., F.O. 78/360.
page 173 note 2 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 181, 2 Dec. 1839, ibid., F.O. 78/353.
page 174 note 1 Ponsonby to Palmerston, No. 346, 31 Dec. 1839, Public Record Office MSS. F.O. 78/360; Ponsonby to Palmerston, No. 15, 16 Jan. 1840, ibid., F.O. 78/392.
page 174 note 2 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 17, 4 Feb. 1840, ibid., F.O. 78/389.
page 175 note 1 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 18, 4 Feb. 1840, ibid.
page 175 note 2 Ponsonby to Palmerston, No. 156, 1 Aug. 1840, ibid., F.O. 78/395.
page 175 note 3 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 228, 9 Nov. 1840, ibid., F.O. 78/391.
page 176 note 1 Palmerston, to Ponsonby, , “Separate and secret,” 24 03 1841Google Scholar, Public Record Office MSS., F.O. 78/427.
page 177 note 1 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 64, 1 Apr. 1841, ibid.
page 177 note 2 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 92, 21 Apr. 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/428.
page 177 note 3 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 116, 11 May 1841, ibid.
page 177 note 4 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 131, 2 June 1841, ibid.
page 177 note 5 Palmerston to Chekib, 15, 20 July 1841, Chekib to Palmerston, 15 July 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/463.
page 178 note 1 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 227, 9 Nov. 1840, Public Record Office MSS., F.O. 78/391.
page 178 note 2 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 266, 12 Dec. 1840, ibid.
page 179 note 1 Ponsonby to Palmerston [Private], 23 May 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/434.
page 179 note 2 Palmerston to Ponsonby, Nos. 139 and 145, 8 and 11 June, 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/428; Palmerston to Ponsonby, Nos. 175 and 181, 15 and 20 July 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/429; Palmerston to Chekib, 15 June, 2, 10 July, 9 Aug. 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/463. Early in June, 1841, Ponsonby and the Austrian and Russian representatives at Constantinople agreed to a plan collectively to urge the Porte to reform its administration in Syria. Cf. Ponsonby to Palmerston, No. 191, 8 June 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/434.
page 179 note 3 Palmerston to Chekib, 9 Aug. 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/463.
page 179 note 4 Ponsonby to Palmerston, No. 47, “Secret,” 3 Mch. 1840, ibid. F.O. 78/392.
page 180 note 1 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 61, 21 Apr. 1840, Public Record Office MSS., F.O. 78/389; Memorandum by Palmerston, “Confidential,” 16 Aug. 1841, ibid., F.O, 78/429.
page 180 note 2 Palmerston to Rose, No. 8, 15 July 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/454.
page 180 note 3 Palmerston to Rose, No. 11, 26 July 1841, ibid.
page 181 note 1 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 152, 21 Oct. 1839, ibid., F.O. 78/353.
page 181 note 4 Palmerston to Ongley, 17 Apr. 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/450.
page 183 note 1 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 222, 26 Aug. 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/429.
page 183 note 2 Bidwell to Young, No. 2, 31 Jan. 1839, ibid., F.O. 78/368.
page 183 note 3 Young to Palmerston, No. 13, 25 May 1839, ibid.
page 183 note 4 Young to Palmerston, No. 25, 13 Aug. 1839, Backhouse to Young, No. 8, 23 Nov. 1839, ibid.
page 183 note 5 Palmerston to Ponsonby, Nos. 62, 80 and “Separate,” 5, 30 May, 27 June 1840, ibid., F.O. 78/389; Palmerston to Wilkinson, 23 May, 29 Aug. 1840, ibid., F.O. 78/413; Palmerston to Consuls in Levant, 27 June 1840, ibid., F.O. 78/416. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Commission of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland urged the British Government on this occasion to defend the persecuted Hebrews in Damascus and Rhodes. Cf. Palmerston to Ponsonby, Nos. 248, 251 and 278, 24, 25 Nov., 22 Dec. 1840, Public Record Office MSS., F.O. 78/391.
page 184 note 1 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 248, 24 Nov. 1840, ibid.
page 184 note 2 Ponsonby to Palmerston, Nos. 19 and 29, 21 Jan., 1 Feb. 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/430.
page 184 note 3 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 33, 17 Feb. 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/427.
page 185 note 1 Ponsonby to Palmerston, No. 113, 27 Mch. 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/432.
page 185 note 2 Palmerston to Ponsonby, Nos. 187, 210, and 227 “Confidential,” 26 July, 16, 27 Aug. 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/429.
page 186 note 1 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 270, 17 Dec. 1840, Public Record Office MSS., F.O. 78/391.
page 186 note 2 Palmerston to Napier, 11 Mch. 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/461.
page 186 note 3 Palmerston to Admiralty, 26 June 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/467.
page 187 note 1 Ponsonby to Palmerston, “Separate and confidential,” 20 May 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/433.
page 187 note 2 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 147, 15 June 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/428.
page 187 note 3 Ponsonby to Palmerston, No. 336, 18 Dec. 1839, ibid., F.O. 78/360.
page 187 note 4 Ponsonby to Palmerston, No. 45, 27 Feb. 1840, ibid., F.O. 78/392.
page 188 note 1 Ponsonby to Palmerston, No. 76, 14 Apr. 1840, Public Record Office MSS., F.O. 78/393.
page 188 note 2 Ponsonby to Palmerston, Nos. 214, 219 and [Private], 20, 26 and 27 Sept. 1840, ibid., F.O. 78/397.
page 189 note 1 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 46, 31 Mch. 1840, ibid., F.O. 78/389.
page 189 note 2 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 189, 10 Oct. 1840, ibid., F.O. 78/390.
page 189 note 3 Palmerston to Ponsonby, No. 279, “Confidential,” 30 Dec. 1840, ibid., F.O. 78/391. Also in the period between 1839 and 1841, British capitalists headed by the House of Reed, Irving and Company were interested in the reform of Turkey's monetary system and in the establishment of an Ottoman National Bank. Their projects were supported by Ponsonby and by Sandison, a British consular agent in the Levant, both of whom acted without specific instructions on this matter from Palmerston. The Porte, besieged similarly by a group of French capitalists under the leadership of M. Coste, managed to avoid committing itself definitely upon the projects of either party. Cf. Ponsonby to Palmerston, “Confidential,” “Separate and confidential,” and [Private], 22, 30 July 1840, ibid., F.O. 78/395; Coste to Ahmed Fethi, 18 Sept. 1840, ibid., F.O. 78/397; Irving's Memorandum, 26 Sept, 1840, ibid., F.O. 78/422; Ponsonby to Palmerston Nos. 125 and 166, 6 Apr., 17 May 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/33; Irving's Memorandum, 6 Mch. 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/465.
page 189 note 4 Palmerston to Ponsonby, Nos. 225 and 281, 5 Nov., 30 Dec. 1840, ibid., F.O. 78/391; Palmerston to Ponsonby, Nos. 19 and 35, 29 Jan., 18 Feb., 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/427. The Porte agreed to pay for these military supplies, and beginning late in the year 1841, made advances in small instalments upon them. Cf. Ponsonby to Palmerston, No. 91, 9 Mch. 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/432; Ponsonby to Palmerston, No. 143, 27 Apr. 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/433; Bankhead to Aberdeen, Nos. 40, 56 and 67, 10 Nov., 1 and 24 Dec. 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/438; F.O. to Treasury, 25 Oct., 9 and 21 Nov. 1842, ibid., F.O. 78/512.
page 190 note 1 Ponsonby to Palmerston, No. 103, 17 Men. 1841, Public Record Office MSS., F.O. 78/432.
page 190 note 2 Ponsonby to Palmerston, No. 159, 11 May, 1841, ibid., F.O. 78/433.
page 191 note 1 Canning to Aberdeen, No. 67, 27 Mch. 1842, ibid., F.O. 78/476.
page 191 note 2 Lane-Poole, , Life of Stratford Canning, II, pp. 76–78 (London, 1888)Google Scholar.
page 192 note 1 Lane-Poole, , op. cit., p. 79Google Scholar; Aberdeen to Canning, No. 2, 30 Oct. 1841, Public Record Office MSS., F.O. 78/439.