19th Century Game of Thrones: When Europe Conquered Jerusalem (Without Firing a Single Shot)
- Nir Topper
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
The Land of Israel in the early 19th century was a neglected, sparsely populated backwater on the fringes of the Ottoman Empire. Yet, within a few decades, this forgotten place transformed into the hottest arena of global diplomacy. Historians call it "The Eastern Question," but in practice, it was a massive race for influence, prestige, and real estate. The European powers looked upon "The Sick Man of Europe" (the declining Ottoman Empire) and decided it was time to stake a claim in the Holy Land. Thus began the "Penetration of the Great Powers"—a process that shaped the face of the land as we know it today.
The primary tool in this silent conquest was the "Capitulations." What began as trade agreements evolved into a sovereignty-shattering weapon: foreign citizens in the land were granted total immunity from Ottoman law. A Turkish policeman could not arrest a French subject or enter their home without being accompanied by a consular official. The powers cynically exploited this, expanding their patronage ("protection") to locals as well—Russia protected the Orthodox, France the Catholics, and Britain, lacking local Protestants, extended its patronage to the Jews and the Druze. A reality of "states within a state" was created.
In 19th-century Jerusalem, diplomatic facts were being established on the ground. Britain was the first to open a consulate in 1838, immediately followed by Prussia, France, Austria, and Russia. The consuls were not merely diplomats; they acted as de facto governors, traveling in grand carriages with bodyguards (Kavasses) and competing over who could build bigger and taller. The French erected the massive Notre Dame de Jérusalem facing the walls, and the Russians built the "Russian Compound"—a tiny city in the heart of Jerusalem designed for thousands of pilgrims, part of the Tsarist ambition for influence in the Middle East.
The powers were also the engine of the technological revolution in the land. Steamships cut the journey from Europe from weeks to days; in 1892, the Jaffa-Jerusalem railway was inaugurated, turning a grueling two-day donkey trek into a 4-hour train ride. This allowed for the transport of heavy construction materials, changing Jerusalem's skyline forever. Simultaneously, foreign postal services and telegraph lines connected the land to the stock exchanges of London and Paris in real time.
Each power had its own style: The Germans (the Templers, followed by Kaiser Wilhelm II) brought modernization, urban planning, and monumental architecture like the Dormition Abbey and the Church of the Redeemer. The British, with a fascinating mix of cold interests and religious faith, established the PEF (Palestine Exploration Fund). Under the guise of archaeological research, they conducted precise mapping and military intelligence gathering that General Allenby would later use when he arrived to conquer the land in 1917.
The Ottoman Empire tried to defend itself, but without much success. The Land Code of 1858, intended to create order, resulted in many Falahin (peasants) failing to register land in their names out of fear of taxes and conscription. This allowed wealthy families to amass huge tracts of land—which were later sold to Zionist settlers. Thus, unintentionally, the legal and economic infrastructure of the colonial powers laid the foundations for the growth of the Jewish Yishuv and the modernization of the entire country.
When we walk today through the streets of Jerusalem, Jaffa, or Haifa, we are stepping inside this imperial mosaic. The hospitals, churches, railways, and magnificent buildings are not just history; they are evidence of the clash of powers that dismantled Ottoman sovereignty from within and turned the Land of Israel from a remote corner into the heart of the world. The British Mandate that followed was, in effect, merely the official stamp on a process that had begun decades earlier.
Image Caption: Notre Dame de Jérusalem "Our Lady of Jerusalem," a building and complex near Safra Square (Tzahal Square) in Jerusalem. Background to the hostel's establishment: In 1882, Count de Piellat returned to Jerusalem with about a thousand Catholic pilgrims, an event known as the "Caravan of the Thousand," aimed at creating a counterweight to the strengthening Russian pilgrimage in Jerusalem. After the French pilgrims arrived on luxury ships via the port of Haifa, Count de Piellat discovered that existing hostels in the city were insufficient to house them all, forcing a thousand pilgrims to stay in improvised, modest tents in the French compound. At this point, the Count realized a new place of lodging for the French was needed. He raised the necessary capital to build a hostel and commenced construction on June 10, 1885. By 1904, the building designed by Father Étienne Boubet was ready for accommodation, although it had already opened its doors in 1888. Source of image:
Image Caption: The Austrian Post Office The branch at the Jaffa Gate plaza, opposite the Citadel, established in 1870. The post office provided services including mail delivery, sending of regular and registered letters, parcels, and money transfers. Initially, the post office was closed on Sundays, but as its Jewish clientele grew due to its reliability, a Jewish clerk was appointed to handle mail on Sundays to prevent a two-day delay (Saturday and Sunday) in mail delivery. Austrian postal services began operating in Jerusalem in 1846, distributing mail brought to Palestine via Beirut. Following the visit of Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria, and the completion of the carriage road from Jaffa to Jerusalem, mail was transported on ships of the Austrian shipping agency from Trieste to Jaffa Port, and from there to Jerusalem. Ships from Trieste arrived at the country's shores once every week or two, and the mail delivery time from Jaffa to Jerusalem ranged from 12 hours (in the early period) to 7 hours (as roads improved). Source of Image:
Image Caption: Sharona Bridge The inauguration of the Sharona Bridge over the Musrara crossing in 1898, one of four bridges built for the passage of Kaiser Wilhelm II's entourage during his visit to the Land of Israel. Source of Image:
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