French Archive Sources On Turkish History

Abstract

France sought to cultivate political relations with the Turkish Empire, which reached its apogee in the 16^th century and expanded its influence into Central Europe through the Balkans. This led to the establishment of a bond of friendship between the Ottoman Sultan Süleyman and King François I of France. In the 18^th century, the evolving political landscape in the wake of the French Revolution of 1789 and the growing competition between France, Britain, the Ottoman Empire and Russia in the Mediterranean led to a reversal in Turkish-French relations. Prior to the First World War, France and Britain devised a plan for the partition the territories of the Ottoman Empire, which was aligned with Germany. Following the 1921 Ankara and 1923 Lausanne treaties, the primary concerns in Turkish-French relations during the Atatürk period were the Turkish-Syrian border, Hatay, the status of the Straits, and the gradual termination of 400 years of capitulation privileges. The bilateral relationship between Türkiye and France has resulted in the creation of a substantial corpus of archival materials pertaining to a multitude of domains, including cultural, economic, military, and political matters. The archives in France, both public and private, are broadly categorised and rich in content. The diplomatic archives, national archives, military archives of the Ministry of Defence and the National Library in France constitute invaluable primary sources for research on the history of Türkiye and Turkish-French relations. Furthermore, the Gallica BnF digital archives provide researchers with the opportunity to access materials remotely. It is also worth noting the collections of French Catholic missionary organisations in the Ottoman territories in France, which are similarly worthy of consideration. This study discusses the content and importance of these archives.

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