As a period of radical transformation for both Ottoman state and society, the 19th century witnessed the restructuring of the Ottoman millet system and the multiplication of the millets. The Reform Decree of 1856 and the resultant reforms brought the reorganization of the millets in the Ottoman Empire and the political fragmentation of the millet-i Rum along ethnic lines in the 1870s. The Rum/Greek Orthodox millet had already been buffeted about by several external political developments, such as the establishment of the Greek kingdom in 1830, the formulation of the expansionist policies of Greek nationalism, i.e., Megali Idea (the Great Idea) in 1844, and the recognition of the autonomy of the Church of Greece in 1850. Nevertheless, foundation of the Bulgarian Exarchate would constitute the most severe blow to the unity and existence of the notion of ‘millet-i Rum’ (Greek Orthodox millet) and lead to the cleavages within the Orthodox communities in the Balkan provinces of the Empire. At long last, the ties within the millet-i Rum would be replaced by national belongings created by new nation-states of Greece and Bulgaria. Establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchate marked the non-uttered but foreboded end of the ecumenical character of the Orthodoxy, the main element of the identity of Christians in the Ottoman Balkans.

Künye

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

NOTE ON PLACE AND PERSONAL NAMES

INTRODUCTION

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE SO-CALLED MILLET SYSTEM: AN AUTONOMOUS REALM FOR NON-MUSLIM COMMUNITIES

Nomen: Millet in the Ottoman Documents

Autonomy of the Millets

Millet-i Rum: Regional Pluralism Within Unity

REFORMING THE IMPERIAL ADMINISTRATION: THE IMPERIAL EDICT OF 1839 AND THE REFORM DECREE OF 1856

The Imperial Edict of Rose Chamber (1839)

The Reform Decree (1856)

Ottomanism: Centralist Modernization Project

VŬZRAZHDANE: ECONOMIC REVIVAL AND PROVINCIAL REFORMS

Centrifugal Tendencies: Peasant Rebellions in the Borderlands

Economic Revival: Major Centers of Economic Activity

Cultural Revival: Emergence of Schooling Network

Reverberation of Ottomanist Vision: Midhat Pasha’s Governorship in the Danubian Province, 1864-1868

RESTRUCTURING THE MILLET: MISSIONS AND THE SECULARIZATION ATTEMPTS WITHIN THE GREEK ORTHODOX MILLET

The ‘Uniate’ Movement

Involvement of the Protestant Missions

Secularization Attempts: The General Regulations of 1862

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BULGARIAN EXARCHATE

Early Demands for the Bulgarian-Speaking Metropolitan Bishops, 1830s-1847

Stefan Bogoridi and the Search for Restoration, 1847- 1859

Years of Crisis, 1859-1864

Ambassador Ignatiev and the Disruption of Russian Pan-Orthodox Policies, 1864-70

The Imperial Decree and the Establishment of the Exarchate, 1870 ;

Final Attempts for Reconciliation, 1870-1875

REBELLION, WAR, AND UNIFICATION: CONSOLIDATION OF THE BULGARIAN EXARCHATE

Mapping the Exarchate: The Treaties of San Stefano and Berlin

A Tale of two Neighbors and a Unification: Bulgarian Principality and Eastern Rumelia

Origins of the Macedonian Question

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX