Ottoman Response to Industrialization
In the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire was no longer at the peak of its political power. However, it maintained some economic power. Sultan Mahmud II (ruled 1808–1839) reformed the Ottoman system. In 1826, he abolished the corps of Janissaries, which had opposed him, and developed a new artillery unit trained by Europeans. When the Istanbul Janissaries revolted, he had them massacred. The abolition of the feudal system in 1831 marked the final defeat of the Janissaries’ power. Military officers were no longer able to collect taxes directly from the populace for their salaries. Instead, tax collections went directly to the central government, which paid military personnel, thus ensuring their loyalty.
Mahmud’s reforms also included building roads and setting up a postal service. To fight the power of popular religious charities, he set up a government directory of charities. To operate the central administration of government, Mahmud II created European-style ministries.
Reorganization Reforms after Mahmud (during the years 1839–1876) are called Tanzimat (reorganization) and include the following changes:
• The sultans in this period worked to root out long-standing and widespread corruption in the central government.
• Education had long been under the control of the ulama, the educated class of Muslim scholars. Now the sultans created a secular system of primary and secondary schools. Secular colleges were also gradually set up, one for each special purpose: military, engineering, translation, civil service, and so on.
• The sultans codified Ottoman laws and created new ones, including a commercial code (1850) and a penal code (1858). These codes made it easier for foreigners to do business in the empire.
• In 1856, the sultan issued an edict known as the Hatt-i Humayun (Ottoman Reform Edict) that updated the legal system, declaring equality for all men in education, government appointments, and justice regardless of religion or ethnicity. The new legal system also regulated the millets, which were separate legal courts established by different religious communities, each using its own set of religious laws. Christians in the Balkans protested the new regulations because they felt that their autonomy was being threatened. Muslims, on the other hand, protested the reforms because they conflicted with traditional values and practice.
Although not achieving religious equality, the Tanzimat reforms continued to have wide effects in areas such as the military and education. These effects continued even when succeeding sultans blocked other reforms.
Ottoman Economy and Society The reforms under Mahmud II and the Tanzimat occurred during a period of economic change in Turkey. After the Napoleonic wars ended in 1815, prices for food and other crops declined in the Ottoman Empire. However, a global economy was in place, built partially on the flow of wealth into the Mediterranean from European colonial expansion in the Americas. Ottoman workers were increasingly paid in cash rather than in goods. Financial enterprises such as banking increased. These economic changes occurred along with the slow spread of industrialization. The growth of industry affected men and women differently. For example, most new industrial jobs went to men.
Legal reforms also benefited men more than women. Traditionally, under shariah, women had been allowed to hold money, to gain from inheritance, and to receive some education. The reforms of Mahmud II made the law more secular, and ended the right of women to distribute their property or cash through trusts to family members.
Although women had indirect control of their property, the new nonreligious courts ended even these limited rights. Many reforms had no effect on women. Since women were excluded from the army, the professions, higher education, and commerce, reforms in these areas did not affect them directly. The Tanzimat reforms of 1839 did not even mention women.
Opposition to Reform When Sultan Abdulhamid took power in 1876, he supported the efforts at internal reforms. He accepted a new constitution for the Ottoman Empire and he continued to emphasize primary education and secularization of the law. A few girls were allowed to attend girls’ secondary schools by the beginning of the 20th century.
However, fearful of any “seditious” reform, the sultan and the central government maintained tight control over the empire. Abdulhamid eventually drove the advocates for reform, known as “Young Turks” into exile. Further, his government whipped up anger against minority groups, particularly Armenians and Assyrian Christians. Between 1894 and 1896, between 100,000 and 250,000 Armenians were killed throughout several provinces in what has become known as the Hamidian massacres. For this bloodshed, he received the nickname the Red Sultan.