A Heritage at Risk: Protection Initiatives at the Topkapı Palace During the First World War

This study examines the protective initiatives undertaken for Topkapı Palace during World War I, based on official documents and bureaucratic correspondence. Initiated by symbolic practices developed after the Hague Peace Conferences, the process evolved into concrete measures amid rising aerial threats. Protecting items of high material and symbolic value, including the Imperial Treasury and Sacred Relics, is addressed in the context of military activity around the Palace. Some valuable items were transferred to Anatolia, and in autumn 1918, a commission was formed by the General Inspectorate of Ordnance to safeguard the Palace and remaining valuables. The report recommended relocating military structures, transferring valuables to safer locations, and reinforcing architectural elements. However, these proposals remained unimplemented due to the signing of the Armistice of Mudros the following day. Nevertheless, the report is noteworthy in reflecting the Ottoman administration's wartime approaches to the protection of structures and objects of historical and symbolic significance.