Salonika Incident

The Salonika Incident was a major diplomatic incident that broke out on 6 May 1876 after a mob murdered the consuls of France and German Empire in the Ottoman city of Salonica, Jules Moulin and Henry Abbott. After a young Orthodox Christian woman of Bulgarian origin^[1] attempted to convert to Islam to marry a Turk against the will of her family, she was detained by the US Consul at Thessaloniki. An enraged mob attempted to retrieve the woman, and murdered Moulin and Abbott when it failed to find her. A diplomatic backlash ensued, leading to displays of force and to reforms in the Ottoman Empire.

^ One example is an international incident that erupted in Salonika in May 1876. A young Bulgarian woman arrived by train from Skopje and begged gendarmes in the station to take her to the authorities so she could convert to Islam. For more see: Howard, Douglas A. History of the Ottoman Empire. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521898676, 2017. p. 256.

[1] One example is an international incident that erupted in Salonika in May 1876. A young Bulgarian woman arrived by train from Skopje and begged gendarmes in the station to take her to the authorities so she could convert to Islam. For more see: Howard, Douglas A. History of the Ottoman Empire. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521898676, 2017. p. 256.

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