«France and the Holy Land at the twilight of the Eastern Question »
Résumé
During the Eastern Question, the Great European Powers as well as local state or community actors, inside or around the European and Asiatic provinces of the Ottoman empire were competing each other in order to promote their own political, economic interests and cultural supremacy. Jerusalem and the region of Ottoman Palestine, represented a hub in these antagonisms, including the race for the control of ‘sacred topography’. Traditionally viewed as a country assuming the protection of the Christian-Catholic community in the Ottoman empire, France’s role had been contested by both the Italian kingdom and the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Moreover, conflicting confessional and political interests opposed her to the tsarist Russia, or imperial Great-Britain. At the same time, the educational activities of the Alliance Israélite Universelle compared to those of International Zionist Organisation in the lands of Ottoman Palestine, had been considered within parts of French public and diplomatic opinion as an expression of Franco-German competition. Furthermore, French diplomats were also interested in the relationships between Muslim and Jewish communities, as well as in the tensions arising among the different Christian patriarchates in place.
Through the exploration of Quai d’Orsay’s diplomatic archives and consular correspondence, this paper aims at studying the way intra-confessional and inter-confessional antagonisms had been perceived by French citizens between the military conflicts of 1912-1913 and the aftermath of the Great War.
Domaines
Sciences de l'Homme et Société
Origine : Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s)