The Neo-Hellenes in the Ottoman Empire, 1830–1869

Abstract:The question of Hellenic nationality in the Ottoman Empire is contemporaneous with the creation of Greece. By using the example of the Ottoman plans for the deportation of Greeks in 1869, this article contextualizes the so-called neo-Hellene population question to argue that the Ottoman Naturalization Law of the same year did not intend to create a more inclusive imperial identity; rather, it aimed to establish and maintain the control of the state over the subject peoples by facilitating expatriation, displacement, naturalization, and the loss of subjecthood. Through examination of individual cases as well as bureaucratic and diplomatic correspondence, this article also examines the practical ramifications of the Ottoman Naturalization Law for the neo-Hellene population of the Empire. This new law sought to identify, and ultimately expel, select ethno-religious communities deemed to be undesirable. In the 1860s, the Ottoman state faced a constant threat of separatism from non-Muslim populations, and reacted by creating an exclusivist imperial national identity and denaturalizing those populations. Most importantly, this denaturalization process would entail the deportation (tebʿid) of significant portions of the native Ottoman population, most of whom were Greeks by nationality.