Autonomous Provinces and the Problem of ‘Semi-Sovereignty’ in European International Law

Through an analysis of European and Ottoman international law textbooks, this paper explores the problem of ‘semi-sovereignty’ in the Ottoman Empire and connects this to the question of the Ottoman Empire’s status in the Eurocentric international legal order. Before territorial losses in the Balkans in 1878, international lawyers described autonomous provinces such as Mt. Lebanon and Egypt as a characteristic feature of Ottoman statecraft and administration. Subsequently, European lawyers viewed autonomous provinces as a mark of diminished sovereignty. Ottoman lawyers argued instead that granting autonomy to such provinces, which arose out of agreements between the Ottoman and European empires, formed part of the treaty law of Europe—one of the main sources of international law. International agreements creating the autonomous provinces, Ottoman lawyers noted, formalized international recognition of them as integral parts of the Ottoman Empire. By the First World War, Ottoman lawyers abandoned this point of view and pursued a policy of centralization.