International submarine telegraphic communication from the eastern mediterranean to the indian ocean during the 19th century: According to the british archival documents

Abstract

The telegraph is a good example of the concretization of scientific and technical developments, which has been increasing since the beginning of the 19th century, and its transformation into technological devices. Thanks to the invention of the telegraph, communication over long distances became possible for short periods. Telegraph lines, which previously ran across the continents via copper cables laid on poles erected on the ground, provided the opportunity for communication on land and submarine, with the addition of submarine telegraph lines to these lines in a short time, in parallel with technological transitions. However, the development and regular maintenance of the lines were vital to the global communication network. By the 1850s, a strong communication network consisting of telegraph lines and hundreds of telegraph stations had been established in many European countries such as England, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany, with telegraph lines of over 4000 km. This infrastructure, used effectively in both world wars, starting from the Crimean War, also formed the basis of military communication. Industrialized countries such as Great Britain have dramatically increased their global influence by using these technological developments, thus gaining a great military, political, and economic advantage by directing the logistical support provided by communication to the real political field. The brilliant ideas developed on telegraphy during this time would be significant for today's digital communication infrastructure. This study, employing the document analysis method, distinguishes itself from previous research on land and submarine telegraph lines that primarily rely on Ottoman archive documents. It focuses on the subject of submarine telegraph lines, especially in the Eastern Mediterranean, based on British archive documents. In this context, in our study, using British archival documents, we tried to reveal, in parallel with the technological development of telegraphy, scientific studies carried out to lay submarine telegraph lines, established submarine telegraph companies, and their activities, the process of laying submarine telegraph lines in the areas from the Eastern Mediterranean basin to the Indian Ocean and Australia especially during the second half of the 19th century and finally how this communication network infrastructure contributed to the construction of the contemporary today's world.