Outline of the April 9th Lecture / Y. Terzibaşoğlu

Old Empires: Romanovs, Ottomans and Habsburgs
The Struggle for Survival

Old empires versus colonial empires

City-states, empires and nation-states

Empires are characterised by indirect rule, carried out under a special contract between the central power and the local intermediaries.

Flexible and adaptable polities

Consequences of the fall of empires
The break-up of old empires disrupted the basic state structure at the centre by dividing the empire into a number of successor states.

Common characteristics of the Russian, Ottoman and Habsburg empires in the 19th century in terms of:

1) Re-ordering of state structures

2) The ‘national question’

3) Their position in the international state system of the 19th century