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Macdermott's War Song is about the escalating events in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877
The document is a British song about the escalating events in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877, which found Britain in an unconventional allegiance with the Ottoman Turkish Empire. The song is one of nationalism, as is to be expected in wartime arts such as poetry and music. Though the song describes the Turks on neutral terms, it does not go so far as to fully demonize the Russians or paint the Ottoman Empire in a purely positive light. What is most remarkable about the song, however, is that it portrays an Islamic empire on equal terms with a Christian nation.
Macdermott's War Song describes a military struggle that encompassed the collision of two very different worlds. On the one side were the Ottoman Turks, an Islamic Empire that stretched from North Africa through the Arabian peninsula and through the Balkan states. On the other were the Russians, who sought to liberate Bulgaria and other Slavic, Orthodox Christian nations from the clutches of Islamic dhimmitude. The real politic on the part of the Russians was of course to establish a line of satellite states so as to get access to the trade-rich Mediterranean, a course of action which did not easily fool Russia's Western European counterparts. Concerned also with the Turks' brutal suppression of Slavic rebellions, European nations soundly denounced Ottoman military conduct, which also helped gain Russia several allies in its campaign against the Turks. Despite the familiar call to liberate Christianity from the dominance of imperial Islam, other states such as France and Great Britain were not quick to heed the call to a unified European (or Christian) front, as trade relations warranted a departure from traditional conclusions of Muslim-Christian relations. The Russo-Turkish War marked one of the only times in European history that one Christian nation allied itself with a Muslim nation in order to stave off the growth and expansion of another Christian sovereignty. Longtime trading partners with the Ottomans, the British Empire wasted little time in establishing a protectorate role of the Ottoman state, a position which obviously did not set well with London's one-time Russian ally. The war, however, did not escalate in the terms of the World War (WWI) as the alliances which were followed were largely extemporaneous, as was the actual military campaign which resulted in Ottoman recognition of the liberty of the Balkan states.
Macdermott's war song depicts the Russian Empire as the rugged Russian bear, strategically describing Moscow as bent on blood and robbery. Alluding to the Anglo-Russian war of 1807, the song laments having to wage war but insists that a thrashing now and again was not enough to tame that brute whose aggression against Turkey was not out of compassion for the Balkans but a part of Moscow's same old game of plundering and territorial gain. Cognizant of Britons' reluctance to side with Muslim Turks, Macdermott's War Song capitalizes on a sense of competition; fighting with the Turks was not to defend the Ottoman possessions such as Constantinople, Bulgaria, or the Balkan states, but rather a means of stifling Russian imperial competition. The song assures the British people by insisting that Britain had the ships, the men, and the money to wage a successful war against Moscow.
The song cleverly diverts attention to Turkish atrocities by conceding that while misdeeds of the Turks [had] been spouted through all lands, the Russians were surely not innocent of atrocities themselves. By pointing to historic massacres on Russian sovereignty, the British made morally defensible the Turkish position by showing that while they were a foreign force, their brutality would be no different than that of the Russians. In proving Russia's inability to show spotless hands, the song illustrated the fact that Turks were different, but their quarrel [was] just and they should therefore be thrice armed against the specter of Russian aggression.
The song is a reliable historic source, as it shows how British culture had evolved from one of religious affiliation to nationalist interests. Simple actions such as contemplating and making an argument for the support of Turkey reflects a huge shift in British international policy; though the song is not specific in its historical content regarding dates and events, it is historically indispensable as a measure of British national interests. While the student of the history of Britain and the 19th century world would find the song useful, its substance is not substantial enough to determine whether the song is a reflection of a singular frame of mind or if the song is indicative of a cohesive national conscience.
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