The international exhibitions were the outcomes of the radical changes in economic, social and political structure brought out by the revolutions of the eighteenth century. Although, exhibitions are generally evaluated as commercial centers, they were, at the same time, spheres in which the nineteenth century states’ entire power relations were displayed. In the international exhibitions, the world of the nineteenth century was divided into two parts. According to this two-parted world, it is considered that the concepts like technology, science and industry belong to the West; on the other hand, the East was associated with backwardness, superstition and manufacture. In the exhibitions, the Eastern participants answered the West’s sense of wonder about the East and they were involved in the amusement part of the exhibitions. In this study, the motives of the Ottoman Empire, which cannot be classified under these binary categories, in participating the international exhibitions were discussed. In this regard, the main focus of the study is the transformation of the exhibitions towards the platforms, where the states displayed their cultural identities with the impact of the peace period, the material progress and colonialism, all of which surpassed their initial commercial agenda. The aim of the Ottoman Empire to participate in the exhibitions was emphasized as an attempt to display an accurate Ottoman representation in the international public by benefiting from the transformation of the exhibitions. The main argument is that the Ottoman mind realized that the international exhibitions were not only commercial centers but also arenas for self representation.

Künye

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIst of FIgures

LIst of AbbrevIatIonS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I

THE ORIGINS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS

1.1. A Short Overview of Pre-Industrial Fairs

1.2. The Origins of the International Exhibitions of the Nineteenth Century

1.3. The Peace Period (1815-1914) and the International Exhibitions

1.4. Period of Material Progress and the International Exhibitions

1.5. The New Imperialism and the International Exhibitions

CHAPTER II

THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE IN THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

2.1. The Ottoman Empire in the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations in 1851

2.2. The Ottoman Empire in the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1855

 2.3. The Ottoman Empire in the London International Exhibition of 1862

2.4. The Ottoman Empire in the Paris Exposition Universellein 1867

2.5. The Ottoman Empire in the Vienna Die Weltausstellung in 1873

2.6. Ottoman Empire in the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures and Products of the Sole and Mine in 1876

2.7. The Unofficial Presence of the Ottoman Empire in the two Parisian Exhibitions, Exposition Universelle 1878 and 1889

2.8. The Ottoman Empire in the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition in 1893

2.9. The Ottoman Empire in the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900

CHAPTER III

AN EMPIRE ON DISPLAY

3.1. Destroying the Clichés: The Myth of the East/Ottoman/Turk

3.2. Surpassing the "Exotic"

3.3. The Progressive Monarchy

3.4. The Prestigious and the Equal with the West

3.5. The Ottoman Image as the Leader of Islam

3.6. The Social Harmony and Ottoman Image as the Ideal Society

3.7. The Ottoman Image as an Empire with Ancient History

CONCLUSION

APPENDICES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX