The present paper is an attempt to cut a vertical shaft into the mass of material on the late nineteenth century "West," placing special focus on politics and archaeology. The discussion shall be confined to the specific case of British archaeological networks regarding excavations in Ottoman Crete. My aim is to examine, in this manner, an example of the diverse ways in which western Europe was linked to Crete, suggesting that the gradual conceptual 'hellenization' of Crete, which had led to the eventual fall of the Ottoman regime on the island, was a complex process in which the agents of the "West" participated directly. This specific example captures the parallel transformations of the Ottoman empire and western Europe after the Crimean War that had led to the stimulation of new cultural crossroads--as well as breaks-- between the two. While the Ottomans remained one of the last European regimes trying to survive as a dynasty, the fall of the Empire in France, the unification of Germany and of Italy, and the rise of the Liberals in Great Britain marked the rapid (and often violent) shift in European ideals, away from the old networks of dynastic alliances and towards a rising community of people. Through the spectrum of relevant developments, European narratives about the past changed direction. Sociopolitical transformations allowed for the rising communities of people to legitimize their demands for democracy and liberalism through references to a glorified antiquity. In an ironic way, therefore, the ideals of antiquity, which had previously attracted the admiration of dynastic Europe, became an inspiration for movements that summoned political change and revolution. At the same time, the limited Muslim-Ottoman interest in antiquity had little to do with perceiving their ancient past as the linear history of the Ottoman people. Thus, while western thought started to aggressively claim the ancient civilizations of eastern Mediterranean in the name of the abstract history of the 'European nation,' Muslim-Ottoman narratives about their origins remained restricted to the House of Osman and to Islam. Late nineteenth century Ottoman Crete, for instance, was proclaimed to have been European since the Bronze Age by western intellectuals, who found perfect reason in appropriating the origins of Cretan civilization. The Ottomans, at the same time, were very hesitant in claiming the past of the island in the name of the 'Ottoman nation.' And yet, Crete was still one of their territories.