Internal colonization, political geography and security in the Ottoman Eastern Provinces (1895–1899)

Abstract

This article analyzes the re-making of the political geography of the Ottoman eastern provinces between 1895–1899, after the Memorandum of Great Powers in 1895, by examining the relationship between internal colonialization and security policies. This study reconsiders the interplay between European colonial techniques and Ottoman internal colonialism by discussing techniques of administration and institutional memory of security. Using archival documents, this work explores the reports and proposals of the General Inspectorate of Anatolia to analyze the construction of the political geography in a borderland as part of the security infrastructure which came along with long-term violence toward the Armenian community.