Provident Imperialism: The De Bunsen Committee and British Language of Indirect Control over the Ottoman Empire

ASLANMİRZA Ö.

JOURNAL OF IMPERIAL AND COMMONWEALTH HISTORY, 2025 (AHCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Basım Tarihi: 2025
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1080/03086534.2025.2517133
  • Dergi Adı: JOURNAL OF IMPERIAL AND COMMONWEALTH HISTORY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, IBZ Online, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Periodicals Index Online, American History and Life, Historical Abstracts, Index Islamicus, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Political Science Complete, Sociological abstracts, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
  • Kocaeli Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This article introduces the concept of 'provident imperialism' to analyse Britain's calculated strategies during World War I, focusing on the de Bunsen Committee of 1915. Through linguistic contextualism, it examines the language used in committee reports, official documents, and memoirs to reveal how Britain's officialdom advocated for indirect control, selective annexation, and cooperative arrangements to maintain dominance in the Ottoman Empire in preparation for the Sykes-Picot Agreement. The study highlights how political rhetoric legitimised Britain's ambitions while addressing the territorial, diplomatic, and administrative complexities of inter-imperial settlement in the Middle East. By analysing primary sources, including the Hansard Papers and Foreign Office reports this article uncovers British imperialism's semantic and pragmatic dynamics, demonstrating how linguistic strategies shaped policies to sustain Britain's influence. This approach provides a nuanced perspective on imperialism, bridging formal and informal practices and contributing to the imperial history of Britain in the Middle East.