Bridging Identities: The Techniques of Promoting National Identity through Armenian History Textbooks in the Context of Loyalty to the Ottoman Empire

• In Event: Shaping Nations: Education, Media, Identity, and Politics in the Late Imperial and Early Soviet Caucasus

Abstract

The ideas of the French Revolution were enthusiastically embraced by the Armenian intelligentsia within the Ottoman Empire. Revolutionary concepts were particularly championed by the Young Armenians, a group of educated young men who had studied in Europe. Upon their return to Istanbul, they published books and newspapers and wrote articles urging their compatriots to "be educated and be included among the civilized nations," believing that education was the key to improving the condition of the Armenian “nation” within the empire. This emphasis on education paralleled the Ottoman Empire's own reforms during the Tanzimat period. As a result of these state reforms, the balance of power within non-Muslim millets, especially the Armenian Apostolic Millet, began to shift in favor of the Young Armenians. They started to secure positions in the Ottoman bureaucracy and played a significant role in governing the Armenian Millet. Promoting education, fostering national ideas, and identity, and being integrated into the affairs of the Empire, all three ambitions are reflected in the Armenian History textbooks of the Armenian schools.
This paper analyzes the manifestations of national identity promotion in the context of being Ottoman subjects in history textbooks published for Armenian schools in Istanbul between the 1860s and 1890s. By employing thematic and discourse analysis, it explores how educational narratives shape national consciousness, collective memory, and loyalty toward the Ottoman Empire while fostering a sense of belonging both to the Armenian community and the Empire.

Author

• Anahit Kartashyan, Yerevan State U (Armenia)