Assimilation Policies by Machiavelli

(by Ömer Faruk Yalçın)

In The Prince, Machiavelli advises rulers to either live in their new territories or to colonize the new occupied lands. Otherwise, it is not possible to secure those territories since the differences in language, customs, and institutions will eventually cause problems, according to him (1).

Machiavelli gives the example of the Ottomans making Constantinople the capital of the empire. By doing so, he claims, the Ottomans secured their position there and could interfere in any problems at the moment they arise (2).

                                                                                                                               (3)

This idea is that you have to be a close threat who aims to assimilate the people of the new occupied lands. Otherwise, there would either be revolts or an enemy state could invade there, thus you would lose the land.

Machiavelli mentions Constantinople as the positive example for his claim, though Ottomans had not settled in Belgrade, thus kept losing the city to their enemies. It would be wrong not to give his credits.

Though, if the rulers would settle in the foreign territory, they would either assimilate the citizens with the culture they bring from their homelands or the citizens would assimilate the rulers with their settled culture.

In the Ottoman case, it is not difficult to observe that the citizens of Constantinople assimilated the dynasty. Before, Turks were nomads riding horses without forming any cities; but with the role of the Byzantine culture, they started to live civic lives and built palaces, bath-houses, gardens, etc., with an Eastern perspective for sure (4).

However, the case could be the opposite, as well. Romanization or latinization of the British is an example for this. Before the Roman Empire expanded through the island of Britain, the Saxons were far away from the culture of an empire. With the expansion of the Romans, the British were assimilated by Romanization or latinization. Though, since no Caesar or emperor even thought of living in the cold island of Britain, even assimilation policies could not help their decline in the island (5).

In sum, Machiavelli’s ideas on settling in the new territories were applicable in the medieval times. Though, the cultural aspect of the situation must not be forgotten. Both the victorious and the defeated of the invasion may be subject to cultural assimilation. In other words, the culture of the new ruler may change when settled in the newly occupied lands. Whether there is anything wrong with this or not is a topic of another debate.

References:

  (1)   Machiavelli, Niccolò. Selected Political Writings. Edited by David Wootton. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub Co, 1994. p. 9.

  (2)   Ibid. p. 9.

  (3)   Wikipédia, L’encylopédie libre. Chute de Constantinople. Last access 25 December 2013. Image. URL = <http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chute_de_Constantinople>.

  (4)   Necipoğlu, Gülru. From Byzantine Constantinople to Ottoman Kstantiniyye: Creation of a Cosmopolitan Capital and Visual Culture under Sultan Mehmed II. Last access 24 December 2013. URL = <http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic570061.files/articles/From%20Byzantion%20to%20Istanbul.pdf>. p. 269.

  (5)   Millett, Martin. The Romanization of Britain: an Essay in Archaeological Interpretation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. Last access 24 December 2013. URL <http://www.google.com.tr/books?hl=tr&lr=&id=l51aUiHfUKoC&oi=fnd&pg=PR8&dq=romanization&ots=Q_XLUnloC5&sig=xDevSOJUfYiYlxhlHo7D5N9iZs4&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=romanization&f=false>.