Preface Foreword Abbreviations Introduction 1.Political and economic conditions Belgium under Leopold I The Ottoman Empire in the 2^nd and 3^rd quarters of the 19^th century 2. Belgium’s recognition and the first diplomatic and consular appointments Consulates in Smyrnaand Alexandria and the Porte’s recognition of Belgium The O’Sullivan Mission and the 1838 friendship and trade treaty The establishment of the Constantinople legation An update of the 1838 Treaty 3. Belgium and the Turkish-Egyptian crisis of 1839-1840 Some background Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and the Greek throne The Orient Crisis and Belgian neutrality Leopold’s diplomatic contribution: the five power treaty The Belgian officers in Egypt A major source of irritation: the Belgian press The Houry project 4. The legation in Constantinople Role and authority An institutional and personnel history The legation’s political role and the imaging of the Orient Budgetary rigidity and the legation’s functioning The legation’s dragomans 5. Dangerous opportunities: Belgium and the Crimean war The threat of France and the diplomaty of Leopold I A possible Belgian involvement A final balancing act Belgian volunteers and recruitment Business as usual: the Belgian arms exports 6. The Duke of Brabant and the Ottoman Empire Expansionism passed from father to son The first voyage to Egypt (1855) The Duke of Brabant as a public advocate of colonialism The Constantinople Voyage (1860) The second voyage to Egypt (1862-1863) 7. Belgian Consuls in the Ottoman Empire The particularity of consuls and consulates in the Levant The Belgian consular network in the Ottoman Empire Recruitment and the quality of personnel The Consuls’ functioning Relations with the Ottoman authorities and population Relations with others Case-Studies 8. Economic Relations Quantity and quality of trade currents The Belgian manufacturers’ attitude The absence of intermediaries: trade companies and trade agents The absence of direct shipping and the onset of a steamer connection The Société de Bateaux à vapeur entre la Belgique et le Levant and its successors Some advocates for a change-over ConclusionBibliography Appendix I: An overview of Belgian Consulates in the Ottoman Empire, 1831-1865 Appendix II: Ottoman diplomats and consuls in Belgium Appendix III: Some Belgian travellers in the Ottoman Empire Index