Imagining an imminent Victory: an imagological analysis of the Ottoman caricature of the beginning of the First Balkan War

Lyulchak Alexander Master's Degree, Faculty of World Economy and World Politics, National Research University Higher School of Economics 105082, Russia, Moscow, Bakuninskaya str., 23-41 alulchak@gmail.com

Introduction

Starting with the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878. The Ottoman Empire did not win a single war. In many ways, the reason for the defeats of the Ottoman Empire was its technological backwardness from other countries. So, during the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878, the first torpedoes were launched against the Ottoman fleet. During the Italo-Turkish War, the Italians first used airplanes as a reconnaissance vehicle, radio was used, and airships began to be used as bombers. By the time the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 began, propaganda had already been spread throughout Europe as a purposeful method of fighting against the enemy. It is a mistake to assume that by the beginning of the 1910s the Ottoman Empire did not have propaganda tools and did not know how to use them. Propaganda in the Ottoman Empire was used mainly to maintain the internal prestige of the Sultan by distributing photographs and newsreels ^[1] shot by foreign film companies, as well as to inspire students of Ottoman schools to think that the Ottoman Empire is one and indivisible ^[2].

It is expected that in the conditions of a military-political catastrophe, which for the Porte was the First Balkan War (the loss of almost all possessions in the Balkans, the direct threat of invasion of Istanbul), the Ottoman authorities turned to available tools of political propaganda. In order to somehow reduce the defeatist mood in society and mobilize the subjects, "servants of the sultan", to war. At the same time, the enemy had to be portrayed as an "enemy of the Ottomans", creating lawlessness and outrages in the occupied territories, leaving no one indifferent. Military-political tasks became a catalyst for the development of massive propaganda in the Ottoman Empire during the Balkan Wars in order to mobilize those forces that could turn the tide of wars that were absolutely unsuccessful for the empire.

In addition to the generally accepted means of propaganda – printed publications and text propaganda – a widely used means of spreading propaganda ideas is the so—called "visual propaganda" - postcards, photographs, cartoons, posters. Despite the use of cartoons and photographs before the Balkan Wars, their "baptism of fire" occurred during the wars with the countries of the Balkan Union – Serbia, Greece, Montenegro and Bulgaria.

The methodological basis for the study of the Ottoman caricature of the early 1910s was historical imagology, for which the central object of study is, first of all, the narratives of the images of the "other" ^{[3, p.18]}. The heuristic advantages of this approach are the ability to more fully decode the semantic content of caricature images, reveal the main goals of a particular image, the mood of society and propaganda ideas through the prism of visual transmission of information.

Imagology has acquired its relevance thanks to the work of a Dutch scientist, Professor J. J. of the University of Amsterdam. Leerssen ^[4,5]. Imagological research among foreign scientists has become so relevant that a special website has been created on which a list of all works devoted to imagological research around the world is published ^[6]. Special attention should be paid to the article by Angela Yannikopoulou, Professor of Children's Literature at the Department of Preschool Education at the University of Athens, and Ylgym Veriyigi Alaji, Associate Professor of the Department of Media and Visual Arts at the University of Kocha in Istanbul ^[7], which compares the use of the image of the "other" in Greek and Turkish children's books of the second half of the XX – early XXI centuries. This article also sets a certain methodological framework in the context of historical and comparative imagology. In particular, the authors identify, with reference to Emer O'Sullivan, Professor of English Literature at Luneburg University, and Andrea Immel, curator of the Kosten Children's Library at Princeton University ^[8], four questions that imagology should answer: 1) "Who sees this image?"; 2) "What is depicted?"; 3) "How is it depicted?" and 4) "Why is it depicted in this way?" These questions allow us to understand and specify how the image of the "Other" is used and why this one (and not the other) the image is used in a specific context.

Imagological studies are also conducted in Russia. So, it is worth highlighting the doctoral dissertation of A. S. Medyakov, devoted to the problem of images used in German postcards during the First World War (1914-1918) ^[3], in which the author separately identifies historical imagology as one of the methodological foundations of his work. Also, it is necessary to highlight the work on imagology, written by O. Y. Polyakov and O. A. Polyakova ^[9]. Nevertheless, despite the presence of works on imagology and historical imagology, the science is poorly studied in the domestic literature. Imagology, as well as historical imagology, allow us to understand the interpretation of the image of the "other" in different countries at different periods of time through the prism of studying visual images and paradigms.

There are obvious gaps in the studies of Ottoman propaganda during the Balkan Wars (1912-1913). Despite the presence of works by Western and Turkish authors, such as, for example, a study by Professor Efrata Aviv of the Israeli Bar-Ilan University ^[10], as well as an article by A. Fatih Ozbai ^[11] devoted to visual methods of propaganda, there is no clearly identified theme of cartoons of the Ottoman Empire during the Balkan Wars, although A. Fatih Ozbai analyzes some trends related to visual propaganda during the Balkan Wars. However, there is no separate study that would focus exclusively on the study of Ottoman caricature. This article is intended to enrich the existing literature by considering the main paradigms of caricature in the Ottoman Empire in 1912.

Ottoman caricature before the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 .

The appearance of the first political cartoons in the Ottoman Empire can be dated to the 1860s. By that time, the shadow theater "Karagez" was spread, which illuminated and ridiculed the social and political aspects of the Ottoman Empire. "Karagez" was, in fact, the only source of information for residents of the quarter or district of the city. The theater informed the residents of the quarter about the events that took place, from funny episodes of a local nature to changes of national significance ^[12]. Pashas, officials, and sometimes the sultan himself were often caricatured. Moreover, it got to the point that when the plays were not to the taste of the official, then, according to the memoirs of the diplomat M. Tchaikovsky, "the actors were subjected to corporal punishment, exiled, and the dolls were burned" ^{[13, p.28]}.

Later, the press borrowed dialogues and plots from the shadow theater of Karagez in the first political cartoons of the XIX century ^{[14, p.52]}. The official "date of birth" of the Ottoman caricature is 1867, when the first caricature appeared in the magazine "Istanbul". A few years later, in 1870, the first independent satirical magazine "Diogenes" ("Diojen") was founded. According to the information published in the first issue, the main purpose of the magazine was to publish information that was different from the government, more close to the people, thus considered oppositional to the sultan's power ^{[15, p.163]}. Thus, the caricature began to play an important role for those who were not members of the government, or were not connected with the Port in any way. Later, under Abdul Hamid II, despite the fact that the Sultan attached great importance to public opinion and did not want to allow the press to fall into the hands of opposition forces, cartoons began to be published less frequently and as a result, by 1908 the genre of political cartoons had practically disappeared in the Ottoman Empire.

Political caricature after the Young Turk Revolution of 1908

Despite the persecution by the Abdulhamid authorities during the Zulum period (1878-1908), the Turkish political caricature did not die out. 1908 was a turning point for the Ottoman caricature, as, due to the coming to power of the Young Turks, the number of newspapers, including satirical newspapers, increased. The satirical press of that time was able to successfully depict the "reality" of what was happening in such features that newspapers could not or did not want to. Along with satire, cartoons were once again distributed, which successfully accompanied the humorous text. 92 satirical and cartoon magazines began to be published immediately after the overthrow of Abdul Hamid II in 1909. Among these magazines, it is worth highlighting several important magazines both for research and for the history of Ottoman caricature - "Cem" ("Cem"), "Pero" ("Kalem") and "Black-eyed" ("Karag?z").  

In the period 1908-1909, a large number of humorous magazines appeared, including the magazine "Pen" (issue dates 1908-1911), which used new technologies in printing, such as high-quality black-and-white drawings. An important innovation of the magazine "Pero" was its bilingualism: the magazine was published simultaneously in the Ottoman and French languages, which showed the orientation of the magazine to the higher and educated layers of the Ottoman Empire who spoke French.

Rice.1. Cartoon "Entertaining journey" from the magazine "Cem" dated October 9, 1912 Cem; 9 Ekim 1912, No: 41.

The beginning of the First Balkan War was greeted with delight not only by the Ottoman society, but also by the Ottoman press. Thus, the newspaper "Tanin" was published on October 9, 1912 with the headlines "The war has begun: Montenegro first" ("Muharebe Ba?lad?: Evvela Karada?!") and "Thank God!" ("Hele k?r!") ^{[16, p.54]}. There was euphoria in society from the expectation of an "easy victory" and some "looking down" on their opponents. A vivid illustration of this trend is a cartoon in the magazine "Cem" ("Cem") dated October 9, 1912 [Figure 1]. The magazine itself was founded in 1910 and was considered a competitor to the magazine "Pero" ("Kalem"), which, shortly after the founding of the magazine "Jam" ceased to exist. Both of these magazines were published in both Ottoman and French, which corresponded to the trend of that era: the publication of postcards, magazines, cartoons simultaneously on two (or more) languages.

In the cartoon "An Entertaining Journey", the Minister of War of the Ottoman Empire Nazim Pasha (1848-1913) buys a ticket at the railway ticket office with the following words: "- Give me round-trip tickets to Sofia, Belgrade, Cetinje and Athens; with the possibility of a refund. - Please, how many tickets? - 700 or 800 thousand at the moment" ^[17]. This example shows the confidence and even self-confidence of the Turks in relation to the coming war. The war was shown in the caricature as a matter of fact solved: the Ottoman troops certainly had to win by defeating the enemies.

Figure 2. Cartoon from the magazine "Kalem" dated July 22, 1909. Kalem; 22 Temmuz 1909.

Nevertheless, after the first defeats, the tone of satirical magazines changed. And here it is worth remembering the cartoon, which was published in 1909 in the magazine "Kalem" [Figure 2]. At the time of publication of the cartoon, the territory of the Ottoman Empire was decreasing. Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to Austria-Hungary in 1909, and in 1908, after the proclamation of the Third Bulgarian Kingdom, the autonomous province of the Ottoman Empire Eastern Rumelia was annexed.

It is worth stopping at this caricature, paying attention to the imagological component of this caricature. This caricature is seen by the educated layers of the Ottoman Empire who can read in the Ottoman language. In the cartoon, the Ottoman Empire, depicted as a cow, is surrounded by small people, personifying the Balkan countries. Also , a Turkish soldier is depicted nearby driving people away with the words: "You have enough; leave a little bit to the owner" ^[18]. It is no coincidence that the image illustrates the Ottoman Empire as a cow, because the author of the cartoon wrote "The Ottoman State" ("Memalik-i Osmaniye") on the cow's udder, since the author wanted to show the wealth of the Ottoman Empire, which the Balkan states are hunting for in the form of people with buckets. The author of the cartoon deliberately depicted a cow more than people in order to show the size of the Ottoman Empire. Also, in this cartoon, the empire is depicted not only as a rich country, but also a country that, despite its size, cannot stand up for itself and use its riches and, despite the futile attempts of a Turkish soldier to drive people away from a cow, it is still visible how one of the people managed to break through to the udder.

Thus, already in 1909 it was obvious that war was imminent and that there would be a struggle for the wealth of the Ottoman Empire and this struggle could turn into problems not only for the "owner", but also for the "cow" itself.

During the First Balkan War, the image of Karagez became widespread, largely thanks to the widely distributed magazine "Karagez" (years of issue 1908-1968). Karagez was a kind of messenger of the people, who clearly made it clear what to do and how to do it in an emergency situation.

Figure 3. Cartoon from the magazine "Karag?z" dated September 23, 1912. Karag?z, 23 Eyl?l 1328, Nu. 453, S.4.

So, it is worth paying attention to the cartoon depicting Karagez in the magazine of the same name dated September 23, 1912 [Figure 3]. At that time, the First Balkan War had not yet begun (the conflict would gain momentum on October 8, 1912), but the atmosphere of the war was in the air and therefore, in this vein, the cartoons were clear catalysts for the military sentiments prevailing in Ottoman society.

Like all caricatures of that time, it is seen by the educated layers of the Ottoman Empire who can read and write in the Ottoman language. The image shows the hero of the Turkish shadow theater with a gun in his hands, who stands between Talaat Pasha, Khalil Menteshe Pasha and Javit Pasha, who represented the party "Unity and Progress" ("Ittihat ve Terakki"), holding a drum, and Ryza Tevfik Pasha and Lutfi Fikri Pasha, who They represented the party "Freedom and Consent" ("H?rriyet ve Itil?f"), holding a musical trumpet in their hands. Karagez addresses with the words: "Well... gentlemen, now is not the time for noisy proceedings, leave your all sorts of pipes and take this. Now is the time for this" ^{[19, p.4]}. Thus, the cartoon calls on the public to rally in the face of the threat from the West, forget about political contradictions and unite to fight the enemy.

Figure 4. Caricature "What does Karagoz say?" from the magazine "Karag?z" dated September 23, 1912. Karag?z, 23 Eyl?l 1328, Nu. 453, S.1.

In the same issue of the magazine "Karag?z" dated September 23, 1912, you can see a more serious caricature, rather resembling an agitation poster [Figure 4]. Karagez is depicted in a soldier's uniform with a weapon in his hands, that is, Karagez is fully equipped in accordance with the army requirements of that time. There is a poem next to it, which is an appeal to the Ottoman youth with a call to military action: "Hey, guys! Today is the day, there will be no other/We need to gather at the border/Even I took my gear with me/Young people! Don't wait! It is necessary to crush the enemy!.." ^{[19, p.1]}. Karagez called not only politicians, as shown in the first cartoon, but also ordinary people, young people, to take up arms and go to war against enemies, that is, the image of Karagez was used for mobilization purposes.

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The Ottoman caricature of the Balkan Wars vividly reflected the public mood. Based on a fairly long history of its existence, the Ottoman caricature after 1908 began to function as a kind of mirror of public sentiment, the focus of which the authorities tried to adjust to current political needs. Using the caricature as a propaganda tool, the Ottoman government hoped to mobilize the public by using national heroes such as Karagez, inspiring the warriors. Despite the available resources to spread propaganda, the Ottoman mobilization failed to achieve a positive effect of inspiration on the fronts. Defeats at Kyrklareli and Lyuleburgaz threw the demoralized army almost to Istanbul. By that time, the cartoons acquired a different tone and instead of self-satisfied images, much more topical cartoons appeared, the plots of which echoed the plot about the cow from the magazine "Jam", that is, the motive of a defenseless country surrounded by small people who strive to snatch a part of it for themselves. Nevertheless, the Ottoman cartoons of the beginning of the First Balkan War showed that the Ottoman Empire had the necessary tools for conducting propaganda campaigns. Despite the defeats in both Balkan wars, the Port has demonstrated the potential of using its propaganda arsenal, which will become even more widespread during the First World War.

The imagological analysis of the cartoons allowed us to reveal the mechanisms characteristic of the cartoons of that time – the calculation of mass character, the use of allegorical images. "Visual propaganda" became an important part of Ottoman propaganda during the Balkan Wars. Despite the presence of printed publications, it was the image that represented the most intelligible and publicly accessible way for Ottoman citizens to perceive information, even if it was presented through the humorous prism of cartoons. The images of Karagez and the heroes of the national theater were actualized, fit into everyday life not only to ridicule political differences, but also to call to arms at the very beginning of the First Balkan War.