The Ottoman Empire: a Historical Encyclopedia [2 Volumes]
Page 54
As with the reforms introduced by the statesmen of Tanzimat, the principal objective of Abdülhamid’s modernization schemes was to establish a strong centralized government capable of maintaining the territorial integrity of the empire. In practical terms, this meant suppressing uprisings among the sultan’s subjects and defending the state against the expansionist and interventionist policies of European powers. Despite the sultan’s best efforts, however, the empire continued to lose territory.
Building on their occupation of Algeria in 1830, the French imposed their rule on Tunisia in May 1881. A year later the British invaded and occupied Egypt. Abdülhamid did not possess the political and military muscle to challenge the British. By 1885 the British and the Ottomans had reached an agreement on the sultan’s nominal suzerainty over Egypt, and an Ottoman and a British commissioner were assigned responsibility to advise the khedive. Regardless of these formal arrangements, however, it was the British who were now the true masters of Egypt, a country they would dominate for the next 70 years.
While Tunisia and Egypt were seized by France and Great Britain, the Ottoman Empire was also losing territory in the Balkans. After the Congress of Berlin, the only European territory left under Ottoman rule was a relatively narrow corridor south of the Balkan Mountains, which stretched from the Black Sea in the east to the Adriatic in the west, incorporating Thrace, Thessaly, Macedonia, and Albania (Shaw: 2:195). Greece, Serbia, Montenegro, and Bulgaria coveted the remaining territory of the dying Ottoman Empire. In accordance with the promises made at the Congress of Berlin, the Ottomans handed over much of Thessaly and a district in Epirus to Greece in July 1881. Despite these new gains, Greece continued to push for additional territorial concessions, including the island of Crete. In 1894 the Ethnike Hetairia (National Society), which had a significant following within the Greek army, became actively involved in organizing a mass uprising aimed at unifying the island with Greece. The Cretan revolt broke out in 1896, providing the justification for the Greek government to send a 1,500-man army to the island. In the clashes that followed, many civilians were killed. Building on nationalistic feelings that had erupted throughout the country, the Greek government ordered its army to attack Ottoman territory in April 1897. To the surprise of many, however, the Ottoman forces pushed back the Greek army, capturing sizable territory in Thessaly and forcing Athens to sue for peace and to pay a war indemnity of 100 million francs. A peace treaty signed on December 4 ended hostilities. Under pressure from the European powers, Abdülhamid II agreed to the creation of an autonomous government for Crete, along with a high commissioner, Prince George, the second son of the Greek monarch (Shaw: 2:207). In 1913 the island of Crete was finally unified with Greece.
Despite the military defeats and territorial losses the empire suffered, the reign of Abdülhamid proved to be a period of significant social, economic, and cultural transformation. The autocratic sultan continued with the reforms that had been introduced by the men of Tanzimat. However, in sharp contrast to the statesmen of the Tanzimat, who wished to emulate European customs and institutions, Abdülhamid believed strongly in preserving the Islamic identity of the Ottoman state. With the loss of its European provinces, the number of Christian subjects of the sultan decreased, and Muslims began to emerge as the majority population. The Muslim population was not only loyal to the sultan, but also felt a deep anger toward the sultan’s Christian subjects for allying themselves with the imperial powers of Europe to gain their independence. Abdülhamid understood the new mood among his Muslim subjects and appealed to Pan-Islamism, or the unity of all Muslims under his leadership as the caliph of the Islamic world, to counter European imperial designs.
Starting with the reign of Abdülhamid II, Pan-Islamism began to play a significant role in shaping the ideology and the foreign policy of the Ottoman state. The Russian czar used the defense of protection of the sultan’s Orthodox Christian subjects to promote Pan-Slavism and justify his intervention in the internal affairs of the Ottoman state; similarly, the sultan could use the protection of Muslims in Russia and British India to justify Pan-Islamism and legitimize interventions in regions under czarist or British control. It was during the reign of Abdülhamid II that Sayyid Jamal al-Din Afghani (Assadabadi), the Iranian-born Shia Muslim activist and revolutionary, arrived in Istanbul to propagate Islamic unity under the leadership of the sultan as the caliph of all Muslims.
Having recognized the threat posed by Russia, Great Britain, and France to the security and territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire, Abdülhamid adopted a closer relationship with Germany, seeking the support of the kaiser to modernize and centralize the Ottoman state. When the Ottomans began to build a railway system, which would connect the capital of Istanbul to the Arab Middle East, the sultan awarded the contract to the German government. Although he established closer ties with Germany, the intelligent and shrewd sultan maintained friendly relations with all European powers.
Despite his best efforts to modernize Ottoman society under an Islamic ideology, Abdülhamid failed to win the support of Western-educated intellectuals and the young army officers, many of whom supported the opposition as represented by the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP). In July 1908 a group of army officers staged a revolt and forced Abdülhamid to restore the 1876 constitution. Despite its victory, the CUP did not depose the sultan. In April 1909, after a counterrevolution tried to restore Abdülhamid’s autocratic rule, the army intervened and suppressed the rebellion. Shortly afterward the sultan was deposed and removed to Salonika. In 1912 Abdülhamid II was allowed to return to Istanbul. He died there on February 10, 1918.
See also: Beys and Pashas: Midhat Pasha; Empire and Administration: Ottoman Constitution; Rebels: Afghani, Jamal al-Din; Young Turks; Primary Documents: Document 13
Further Reading
Ahmad, Feroz. The Young Turks: The Committee of Union and Progress in Turkish Politics. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969.
Davison, Roderic H. Reform in the Ottoman Empire, 1856–1876. New York: Gordian Press, 1973.
Findley, Carter V. Bureaucratic Reform in the Ottoman Empire: The Sublime Porte, 1789–1922. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1980.
Hanioglu, M. Șükrü. Preparation for a Revolution: The Young Turks, 1902–1908. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Hanioglu, M. Șükrü. The Young Turks in Opposition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Jelavich, Charles, and Barbara Jelavich. The Establishment of the Balkan National States, 1804–1920. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1977.
Shaw, Stanford J. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. 2 vols. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1976.
Zürcher, Erik-Jan. Turkey: A Modern History. London: I. B. Tauris, 2004.
Abdülmecid (Abdülmejid) (1823–1861)
An Ottoman sultan who ruled from 1839 to 1861. During his reign Abdülmecid (Abdülmejid) issued two major reform edicts. The first was Hatt-i Șerif-i Gülhane (Hatt-i Sherif-i Gülhane) (Noble Rescript of the Rose Garden), which was issued in 1839, and the second was Hatt-i Hümayun (Imperial Rescript), which was announced in 1859. The Noble Rescript of the Rose Garden ushered in the new era of governmental reforms known as Tanzimat (Reorganization). Throughout his reign Abdülmecid relied on the support and assistance of a group of reform-minded government officials led by Mustafa Reșid Pasha (Mustafa Reshid Pasha), Fuad Pasha, and Mehmed Emin Āli Pasha.
Abdülmecid was born in Istanbul in April 1823. He was the son of the Ottoman sultan Mahmud II, who ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1808 to 1839. His mother was Bezmi Alem Valide Sultan. When Abdülmecid ascended the throne on July 1, 1839, he was only 16 years old. The Ottoman sultan was a highly educated and enlightened man. Aside from his native tongue, Turkish, he was fluent in Arabic, Persian, and French. He was an avid reader, who was especially attached to the masterpieces of Western literature. He loved classical music, while at the same time enjoying a close relationship with the Mevlevi Sufi order.
Abdülmecid built on the reforms introduced by his father, Mahmud II. These reforms, known as Tanzimat (Reorganization), were intended to halt the further disintegration of the Ottoman state. On November 3, 1839, in a gathering attended by ministers and dignitaries, as well as the representatives of foreign powers, Abdülmecid’s foreign minister, Mustafa Reşid Pasha, read a decree titled Hatt-i Şerif-i Gülhane (Hatt-i Sherif Gulhane), the Noble Rescript of the Rose Garden (Davison: 36; Zürcher: 50–51). The document guaranteed the subjects of the sultan security of life, honor, and property (Davison: 36–38). It also promised a regular system for assessing and levying taxes, as well as a just system of conscription and military service. The royal rescript also committed the central government to a number of essential reforms, such as establishing a new penal code, eradicating bribery, and creating a regular and just tax system that would eliminate inequities and special privileges, such as tax farming.
In emulating Western European states, the Ottoman government was divided into several ministries that had specific tasks and responsibilities. A council of ministers was created to act as the highest advisory body to the sultan as he attempted to save the empire from further disintegration by imposing the authority of the state over the remotest provinces. Building new roads and railways was viewed as one of the most important priorities of the central government. Armies sent to quell internal rebellions and confront foreign invaders could reach their destination much faster using a modern road or riding on a train. Telegraph services were introduced as a means of communicating orders from Istanbul and receiving the latest news from provinces. The improvement of the transportation and communication systems also stimulated the economy and intensified commercial ties among various regions of the empire.
In addition to the modernization of the empire’s infrastructure, the Tanzimat period witnessed a significant transformation in the Ottoman educational system. The fear of opposition from conservatives, however, slowed down educational reform and forced the reformers to attach modern schools to various governmental ministries and bureaus. Thus, the first medical and engineering schools in the Ottoman Empire were introduced as academic units within a military school. Finally, the men of Tanzimat tried to create a modern financial structure and an efficient tax collection system that would provide the central treasury with sufficient funds to support governmental reforms.
Despite its best efforts to focus on reform, the Ottoman state faced serious foreign policy challenges that ultimately resulted in the further disintegration of the empire. Beginning in 1840, the Ottomans and the British began to pressure Mehmed Ali (Muhammad Ali) of Egypt to withdraw his troops from Palestine and Syria. Mehmed Ali evacuated Syria in February 1841. In return, Abdülmecid issued a decree granting Mehmed Ali and his family the right to rule Egypt.
Another important foreign policy crisis during the reign of Abdülmecid was the Crimean War. In October 1853, after he had secured the support of the British and French governments, the sultan declared war on Russia after czarist armies invaded the Romanian-populated Danubian principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia (Finkel: 456–458). After negotiations collapsed in March 1854, France and Great Britain declared war on Russia. Fearing an attack from Austria, the Russian forces withdrew from Wallachia and Moldavia (Jelavich: 107). The attack on Sevastopol by the British and French naval forces in October 1855 forced Russia to sue for peace.
As the representatives of European powers arrived in Paris in February 1856, Abdülmecid, under pressure from France and Great Britain, issued a second major reform decree, the Hatt-i Hümayun, or the Imperial Rescript, committing his government to the principle of equality of all Ottoman subjects. The Treaty of Paris, signed in March 1856, forced Russia to withdraw from Wallachia and Moldavia, which, along with Serbia, were to regain their autonomy under Ottoman rule. Russia’s access to the Danube River was blocked by its surrender of southern Bessarabia to Moldavia. That famous river and the Turkish Straits were declared open to ships of all countries, and the Black Sea was demilitarized. Russia also was obliged to withdraw its forces from eastern Anatolia, which it had occupied during the war. The Crimean War and the Treaty of Paris resulted in the de facto inclusion of the Ottoman Empire in the “Concert of Europe,” which had tried to maintain the balance of power on the continent since the defeat of Napoleon and the convening of the Congress of Vienna in 1814 (Zürcher: 54; Shaw: 2:140–141).
The costly Crimean War forced the Ottoman government to apply for high-interest loans that eventually undermined the economic independence of the state. The accumulation of significant debts to European banks and the continuous struggle to generate sufficient revenue to repay them undermined efforts to reform the government for the remainder of the 19th century. Abdülmecid died of tuberculosis on June 25, 1861, at age 39. He left behind 37 children, including four future Ottoman sultans: Murad V (r. 1876), Abdülhamid II (r. 1876–1909), Mehmed V (r. 1909–1918), and Mehmed VI (r. 1918–1922) (Çakir: 9).
See also: Beys and Pashas: Āli Pasha, Mehmed Emin; Fuad Pasha; Mustafa Reșid Pasha; Empire and Administration: Tanzimat; Sultans: Mahmud II; Primary Documents: Document 12
Further Reading
Çakir, Coșkun. “Abdülmecid.” In Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire, edited by Ágoston, Gábor and Bruce Masters, 9. New York: Facts On File, 2009.
Davison, Roderic H. Reform in the Ottoman Empire, 1856–1876. New York: Gordian Press, 1973.
Findley, Carter V. Bureaucratic Reform in the Ottoman Empire: the Sublime Porte, 1789–1922. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1980.
Finkel, Caroline. Osman’s Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire. New York: Basic Books, 2005.
Jelavich, Barbara. History of the Balkans: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Vol. 1. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
Mardin, Şerif. The Genesis of Young Ottoman Thought: A Study in the Modernization of Turkish Political Ideas. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1963.
Shaw, Stanford J. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. 2 vols. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1976.
Zürcher, Erik-Jan. Turkey: A Modern History. London: I. B. Tauris, 2004.
Ahmed I (1590–1617)
A sultan of the Ottoman Empire who ruled from 1603 to 1617. When the Ottoman sultan Mehmed III (r. 1595–1603) died of a sudden stroke in 1603, his son Ahmed, who was only 13 years old, ascended the throne (Alderson: 110). In sharp contrast to his father and grandfather, who executed all of their brothers upon ascending the throne, Ahmed refused to order the murder of his brother, Mustafa. The young sultan, who ruled under the influence of his mother, Handan, and the eunuch Derviş (Dervish) Mehmed Ağa (Agha), was faced with the continuing war against the Habsburgs, the rise of Shah Abbas (r. 1588–1629) in Iran, and the continuation of the celāli (jelāli) revolts in Anatolia. The celāli revolts, combined with a new wave of attacks from Iran, convinced the sultan of the need to conclude a peace treaty with the Habsburgs so that his armies could suppress the rebels in Anatolia and confront the challenge posed by the Safavid dynasty in Iran. Prospects for a peace treaty improved in September 1604 when Ottoman forces captured Pest. By 1605 the Habsburgs had evacuated Transylvania, allowing Prince István Bocskai, an Ottoman ally, to emerge as its unchallenged prince. The new prince of Wallachia declared that the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia would accept the suzerainty of the Ottoman sultan. The Ottomans signed a peace treaty, the Treaty of Zsitvatorok (Zsitva-Torok), on November 11, 1606 (Sugar: 196). The Ottoman territories north of the Danube remained intact, but the sultan agreed to treat the Habsburg emperor as an equal and withdraw his demand for payment of an annual tribute (Shaw: 1:188). With the cessation of hostilities in Europe, the Ottoman state shifted its focus to eastern Anatolia, where the Safavid monarch, Shah Abbas, was wreaking havoc and challenging Ottoman rule in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, and Kurdistan.
Having first defeated the Uzbeks in the east, Shah Abbas turned his attentio
n to Azerbaijan and Anatolia in 1603/1604, moving his forces against the Ottomans at blazing speed, catching Ottoman garrisons in the Caucasus and eastern Anatolia by surprise and capturing the city of Tabriz and later Nakhchivan. He then pushed into eastern Anatolia and southern Caucasus, laying siege to Yerevan and Kars, which surrendered. Using Armenia as his base, Shah Abbas invaded and occupied the entire eastern Caucasus as far north as Shirvan. The crisis caused by the campaigns of Shah Abbas coincided with the accession of Ahmed I to the Ottoman throne.
Sultan Ahmed I, who built the magnificent Sultan Ahmed Mosque (the Blue Mosque) in Istanbul, ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1603 to 1617. (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)
The Ottoman sultan mobilized a large force. The decisive battle was fought near Lake Urumiyya (Urmia) in present-day northwestern Iran, on September 9, 1605. The Iranians scored an impressive victory against the larger Ottoman force; thousands of Ottoman soldiers were killed on the battlefield (Shaw: 1:188; Sykes: 178). In addition to Azerbaijan and the Caucasus, the Safavids captured Kurdistan as far west as Diyarbakir in southeastern Anatolia. The Safavids also seized northern Iraq, including the city of Mosul, as well as the southern Iraqi cities of Baghdad, Najaf, and Karbala. The victory over the Sunni Turks and the conquest of important Shia religious centers in southern Iraq enhanced the prestige and popularity of the Safavid monarch among his people. The defeat at the hands of the Safavid armies undermined the sultan’s authority in Anatolia. Kurdish and Turkoman tribal chiefs defected, and a new series of celāli (jelāli) revolts erupted, particularly in Syria, where the Kurds staged an uprising against the Ottoman state (Shaw: 1:188).