Reform in the Ottoman Empire

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Ottoman Empire
Historiography · Reform (Military)

Reform attempts in the Ottoman Empire refers to the efforts of updating the administration, economy and military of the Islamic empire that united much of the Islamic world in the Levant (Machrek), North Africa (Egypt and Maghreb), Anatolia and the Balkan (Rumelia), first in the face of political instabilities and revolts (in the 17th century) and later in the face of the rise of Western Europe –the first outcomes of such a rise starting to be felt with the treaty of Karlowitz in 1699 which challenged the Ottoman's status as a superpower and only taking an important toll on the Empire's security in the 19th century. Starting roughly in the 1600s, the reforms of the administration, the economy and the military were to continue under different emphases until the early 20th century and WWI. They met mixed successes as they were never entirely successful yet allowed the Empire to survive as an important political entity up until the end of WWI.[1]

Ahmed III
Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha bust at Mersin Naval Museum
Selim III
Alemdar Mustafa Pasha
Mahmud II
Mustafa Reshid Pasha
Mehmed Emin Ali Pasha
Midhat Pasha
Enver Pasha

Stagnation

The stagnation period of the Ottoman Empire in the 17th century, was marked by never-ending economic crises as well as a series of revolts called Jelali revolts in Anatolia (most of modern Turkey).[2] Some scholars like Katip Çelebi and Koçi Bey saw the need of reformation. They prepared reports to reform the institutions. Koçi Bey suggested to reduce the number of the soldiers in the standing army. This would reduce military spendings. He further suggested to improve the timar (fief) system. But his suggestions were impractical, for the empire was in constant warfare and the timar system could not be improved during the revolts.[3] Katip Çelebi who was the sole Ottoman scholar of the 17th century to note the scientific developments out of Islamic World[4] was more pessimistic. He saw no hope for returning to glorious days of the empire.[5] But the reports lacked social and scientific measures and during most of the 17th century, the only solution to internal problems was to suppress the revolts with much bloodshed and to reduce the gold content in coins (i.e., devaluation). Such methods further increased the unrest. Especially the Turkmen people of Anatolia suffered much from the harsh measures. The only really effective reform attempt was that of grand vizier Tarhoncu Ahmed Pasha. In 1652, he introduced the system of annual budget in government spendings.[6] But since he also tried to limit the expenditure of the palace, he was executed by the 11-year-old sultan Mehmet IV.

1718–1730 Tulip period

Main article: Tulip period

The Ottoman Empire lived the decline period in the 18th century. However, during the relatively peaceful years between 1718 and 1730, the so-called Tulip Age, Sultan Ahmet III and the grand vizier Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha tried to reform the economy and cultural life. New ceramic and textile factories were founded and domestic trade was supported. A group of translators were tasked with translating foreign language books to Turkish. The very first Turkish printing press was introduced and for the first time Turkish books were printed by İbrahim Müteferrika, a Hungarian convert.[7] Fine arts, literature and architecture prospered. The period got its name from the widespread popularity of tulips at the time which was a kind of tulip mania. However, the social problems peaked and after a rebellion led by Patrona Halil, Ahmet was dethroned and the grand vizier İbrahim was killed.[8]

1730–1774 Mahmut I - Mustafa III

After the tulip age the reforms continued with a slower pace. Various libraries and a paper mill were founded during the reign of Sultan Mahmut I.[9] But the majority of the reforms during the rest of the 18th century were military reforms. Sultan Mahmut I and Grand vizier Hekimoğlu Ali Pasha established the howitzer (Turkish: humbaracı) troops and founded the first engineering schools for the army. Their adviser was a French convert named Claude Alexandre de Bonneval, (renamed Humbaracı Ahmed Pasha). During the reign of Mustafa III in the second half of the 18th century grand vizier Koca Ragıp Pasha reformed the treasury and founded military industry for up-to-date weaponry.[10] A French man (of Hungarian origin) named François Baron de Tott acted as a military adviser in improving Ottoman naval defense.[11] Grand vizier Cezayirli Hasan Pasha established the Naval Engineering Golden Horn Shipyard (later Turkish Naval Academy) in 1773 following Çeşme Incident

1789–1807 Nizamı cedit (new order)

Main article: Nizam-ı Cedid

Soon after the Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) new Ottoman sultan Selim III who was under the influence of the French Revolution, held a meeting to discuss the necessary reforms.[12] Then he started the program of Nizamı cedit (new order). It was aimed in modernizing the Ottoman bureaucracy. But the main emphasis had been given to abolishing the Jannissary corps which were once elite troops of the army but highly degenerated by the 18th century. They were useless in the war, but caused unrest and upheaval in İstanbul, the capital. In the past, they were responsible in killing at least one sultan (Osman II) and dethroning several sultans. Selim III founded the new army named Nizam-ı Cedid Army. The army was trained by the European advisers and it was hoped to replace the Jannissary.[13] But the Jannissary rebelled under the leadership of a certain Kabakçı Mustafa in 1807. Although the rebellion could easily be suppressed by the new corps, Selim's indetermination resulted in a surprise victory for the jannissary. They dethroned Selim III and enthroned their candidate Mustafa IV . The new army was abolished and the jannissary problem continued to be a menace for the next twenty years.

1808 Charter of Alliance

Main article: Charter of Alliance

Alemdar Mustafa Pasha a powerful local lord who was supporting Selim III defeated Kabakçı Mustafa's forces. But since Selim III was killed by Mustafa IV, he enthroned Mahmut II as the new sultan and Mahmut II appointed him as the grand vizier. One of the earliest moves of Alemdar Mustafa in 1808 was to subjugate the local rulers. The charter of alliance (Turkish: Senet'i ittifak) between the central government and the local rulers secured the rights of the rulers in return to their alliance to the sultan.[14] This agreement, although short lived, was the very first agreement between the sultan and his subjects.[15]

1826 The Auspicious Incident

Sekbanı cedit and Eşkinci Ocağı[16] were similar attempts like Nizamı cedit . But when the jannissary rebelled in 1826 following the example of 1807, Mahmut proved to be more determined than Selim and the new corps suppressed the rebellion on 16 June 1826. That event is known as Auspicious incident (Turkish: Vaka'ı Hayriye).[17] This event was the end of the five century old army.

1839–1876 Tanzimat and Islahat

Main articles: Tanzimat and Hatt-ı Hümayun of 1856

During the reign of Abdülmecit, Mustafa Reşit Pasha, the Ottoman ambassador to London (later grand vizier) convinced the 16 year old sultan of the need of a plan which would redefine the subjects of the empire as the citizens. The reform package was prepared by the grand vizier and was announced in a park in İstanbul named Gülhane on 3 November 1839. This package is now known as the decree of Tanzimat or decree of Gülhane.[18] (Lord Kinross calls this package as Turkish Magna Carta[19]) However after the Crimean War, English and French governments which were the allies of the empire urged for more reforms. On February 18, 1856 a new reform package prepared by the grand vizier Mehmet Emin Ali Pasha, introduced further rights for the citizens (especially the Christian citizens of the empire). This package was included in the text of Treaty of Paris (1856).[20] This new package is now known as Islahat. In 1860s during the reign of Abdülaziz a committee named Islah'ı Sanayi ("Reforming Industry") tried to reform the industry.[21]

The reforms undertaken in the Tanzimat did not bring to an end the previous system of governance in the Ottoman Empire. Although the Ottoman government introduced new legal codes and new court systems, they did not eliminate the Islamic shari'ah courts. Although there was an adoption of European culture, Islamic values remained. While the imposition of European culture did bring certain new ideas to the region, there was a large gap between the educated officials who ran the Empire and the peasants.[22] These reforms meant that peasants now faced conscription into armies or being drafted into public work projects.

1876–1877 First Constitutional Era

The constitution of the Ottoman Empire was promulgated on 23 December 1876.[23] It was prepared by the Young Ottomans. Statesman Midhat Pasha, a notable member of the Young Ottomans, supported Abdul Hamid II to throne in return for his approval to constitution. Although Abdul Hamid initially agreed to appoint Midhat as the Grand Vizier and form the constitutional parliament, to the reformers' dismay, he soon turned out to be even more conservative than his predecessor. In 1878, he abolished the parliament, suspended the constitution indefinitely, and exiled Midhat Pasha.

1908–1920 Second Constitutional Era

Abdul Hamid's pretext for suspending the constitution was the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, which ended disastrously for the Ottoman side. But even after the war, Abdul Hamid continued his one man rule. The Young Turks, a reform organization encompassing all those in opposition to Abdul Hamid's autocratic rule, revolted in 1908 for the reinstatement of the constitution and parliament. The two main leaders of the 1908 revolution were Niyazi of Resne and İsmail Enver (later Pasha).[24] Abdul Hamid was forced to bring back the constitutional monarchy on 3 July 1908. On 24 July of the same year parliament was formed after a pause of 30 years.[25] After the 31 March Incident in 1909 (an attempted counter revolution on 13 April 1909 by monarchists), Abdul Hamid was finally dethroned.[26]

Although the Young Turks were able to suppress the counter revolution in 1909, their main party Committee of Union and Progress (CUP, Turkish: İttihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti) soon splintered, the more liberal Young Turks forming the Freedom and Accord Party in 1911. The CUP nevertheless succeeded in aboliting capitulations in 1911, which was usually seen as one of the major reasons of Ottoman economic decline. After they were able to form their government following the Balkan Wars, the CUP began a series of reforms. Most of these reforms were aimed at education, especially the education of women. Women were also encouraged to have careers (which was unheard of until then in an Islamic society).[27] They continued these reforms during the First World War years.

See Also

References

  1. ↑ Caroline Finkel. Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire 1300–1923 (London: John Murray, 2005/New York: Basic Books, 2006).; Halil Inalcik, “The Emergence of Big Farms, Ciftliks: State, Landlords and Tenants,” Contributions a l’histoire economique et sociale de l’Empire ottoman. Collection Turcica 3 (1984): 105-26.; Halil Inalcik, “Centralization and Decentralization in Ottoman Administration.” In Studies in Eighteenth Century Islamic History. eds. Thomas Naff and Roger Owen (Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1977), 27–52, 362-69.; Bruce McGowan. Economic Life in Ottoman Europe: Taxation, Trade and the Struggle for Land, 1600-1800 (London and New York: Cambridge University Press / Paris: Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, 1981).
  2. ↑ Yüce-Sevim, p. 28
  3. ↑ Akşin (editor)- Kunt, p.30
  4. ↑ Muslim heritage
  5. ↑ Akşin (editor)- Kunt, p.34
  6. ↑ Yüce - Sevim III, pp.111-112
  7. ↑ Iorga IV , p.373
  8. ↑ Yüce- Sevim III, p. 276-282
  9. ↑ Yüce- Sevim IV pp. 31-32
  10. ↑ Kinross, p. 398
  11. ↑ Iorga IV, p. 405
  12. ↑ Kinross, p. 420
  13. ↑ Agoston- Masters, 434-435
  14. ↑ Agoston- Masters, p.30
  15. ↑ Akşin (editor), p 95
  16. ↑ On line history by Tarif ve Medeniyet (Turkish)
  17. ↑ Agoston- Masters, p.60
  18. ↑ Agoston- Masters,p.554
  19. ↑ Kinross, p.481
  20. ↑ Kinross, p. 513
  21. ↑ Ortaylı, P.101
  22. ↑ William L. Cleveland and Martin Bunton, A History of the Modern Middle East, Fifth Edition, p. 94.
  23. ↑ Grolier America , p.38
  24. ↑ Erciyes University monthly p.467-468
  25. ↑ Iorga V, p.517
  26. ↑ Britannica on line
  27. ↑ A report by Ozan Örmeci (Turkish)

Sources