Dyplomacja hiszpańska wobec rywalizacji mocarstw europejskich w Turcji (w świetle depesz przedstawicieli Hiszpanii w Konstantynopolu w latach 1831-1841)

Abstract

The aim of the presented study is establishing how much of the events in the Middle East in 1831-1841 was known to, and how it was understood by the Spanish diplomacy, as well as whether the authorities in Madrid were able to adapt their policy accordingly. What is of the most interest is how the Spanish diplomats perceived Turkey, how they evaluated and interpreted the policies of the powers competing in the region. In this context, we investigate the Spanish point of view on the question of the East, and the extent to which the Spanish diplomacy perceived a connection between the question of the East and the question of Poland. The basic source for the study are the telegrams sent by the Spanish diplomatic representatives in Constantinople in 1831-1841. The supplementary material includes the return mail, limited to brief and laconic notes, written on the telegrams reaching Madrid from Constantinople, and, to some extent, the political and economic disputes and the press. In Spanish foreign affairs of the first half of the 19th century the problem of the East was a crucial issue. The Madrid authorities wanted to know about the activities of the European powers in that region, in order to probe and decide with which country to engage into closer relations. Spain did not expect any profits in the area (except the trade), neither was it directly interested in the conflicts. Nevertheless, Spain’s close relations with the countries whose opinions were important in the discussion of the future of the Ottoman empire, did not allow the Spanish diplomacy to remain indifferent to the unstable situation in that part of the world. Under such circumstances, the neutral attitude adopted by Spain seemed to be a good solution. The attention of the Spanish diplomacy was concentrated on the Turkish-Egyptian conflicts (the first in 1831-1833, and the second in 1838-1841). The analysed materials reveal that, against the intentions of the authors of the mentioned telegrams, the Spanish government was unable to use their detailed and reliable knowledge of the course of the two conflicts and of the political situation in the Ottoman empire. The reasons for this should be looked for in, among others, the lack of internal stability in Spain, the weakness of its domestic economy, and the lack of strong middle class, capable of daring economic enterprises. The blame was also on the unsettled and uncertain situation within the Ottoman empire. Moreover, the Spanish authorities did not see a deeper connection between the questions of Turkey and Poland. In the diplomatic mail from the capitals of the partitioners of Poland, when the Polish question is mentioned, it is not connected with the situation in the Orient; in the telegrams from Constantinople there is no clear evidence of comprehension of the dependence and mutual conditioning of the European powers’ policies towards Turkey and Poland.