French Humanitarian Aid. Protecting Minorities and Implementing Imperialism in the Ottoman Empire in the Nineteenth Century

Essay from the year 2018 in the subject History - Miscellaneous, grade: 7,0, Utrecht University (Geesteswetenschappen), course: European Imperialism in the Middle East, language: English, abstract: France, the cradle of enlightenment, has the historical reputation of being a nation that fought in the vanguard for liberty, equality and justice. For many scholars France is one of the few European powers of the nineteenth century, if not the only one, that would provide humanitarian and political aid to several minorities that suffered under a dictatorial power in the time after the French Revolution. Perhaps the most known example is the French support for the American revolutionaries who fought for their own enlightened ideology against their British overlords. But ideology cannot be the only reason France would act as benefactor of several minorities.