Tanzimat (reforms of the Ottoman Empire). Tanzimat reforms in the Ottoman Empire Tanzimat in the Ottoman Empire
Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation
Omsk State Pedagogical University
abstract
THE ERA OF TANZIMATA
Introduction
For a number of Eastern countries - Turkey and Iran, China and Japan - the 19th century was marked by reforms. Their study seems to be important and relevant today. Such experience could become a tool for analyzing the reformist aspirations of modern mankind, which is especially valuable for those situations that are determined by the trend of rapid economic and scientific and technological progress. Hence the marked increase in recent times the interest of Turkic researchers in an in-depth study of the reform reforms in Turkey, especially the period of the so-called "beneficent reforms" ("Tanzimat - and Hairiye"), which lasted more than thirty years - from 1839 to 1876. The close attention of specialists to the Tanzimat reforms, to a wide range of issues related to this topic, determined by the great role played in new history Turkey this special period. Analysis of the experience of interaction between government and society in the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century. provides an opportunity to learn lessons and prevent possible mistakes in similar situations in a modern environment. At present, when Russian state experiencing internal and external order related to economic, political and social problems, the issue of Russia's relations with the countries of the Middle East is as acute as possible. Knowledge of the history of Eastern culture and enlightenment plays an important role in developing a strategy for communicating with them. The Tanzimat reforms marked and determined the most important economic, political, social, and cultural transformations in the life of the Ottoman society. They were one of the significant results of the slow, sometimes imperceptible, but progressive socio-economic and political development of Turkey along the bourgeois path at a turning point in its history and at the same time an active source and factor in the confrontation between the old and the new. “The whole world started talking about the declaration proclaimed on November 3, 1839, known everywhere under the name of the Gulkhanei Hatt-i Sheriff,” wrote a Russian traveler in Asia Minor in the 40s-50s. 19th century Petr Chikhachev. "This manifesto ... seemed to promise Turkey a new era and a time of complete rebirth." The Tanzimat reforms were caused by the objective needs of the country's development. The most far-sighted figures from the ruling elite of the Ottoman Empire, especially those who visited Western Europe and became familiar with political system, conditions of economic and cultural life, came to the conclusion that without reforms on the Western model, the Ottoman state would not be able to develop along the path of progress. Carried out from above by a few statesmen, the reforms carried new ideas, unusual for the Ottoman society, about the value of the human person, the inviolability of life and property, equality before the law of Muslims and non-Muslim subjects of the empire, which left an imprint on the specifics of the development of education and culture of the country. Bourgeois ideas borrowed from the West have been transformed in various fields: in law, public administration, enlightenment. But the activity of the ideas of the Sultan's hatt, their necessity for the successful development of the state and for the creation of conditions for the functioning of bourgeois institutions were understood by few representatives of the ruling circles of the Ottoman Empire. They themselves, obviously, also did not have a clear idea of the ways of development of the traditional Eastern society, subject to its successful coexistence with the advanced capitalist states of Europe. The leaders of the Tanzimat were looking for a painless restructuring of traditional Muslim institutions. However, the reforms were not painless. They affected the social, national, religious interests of various sections of Ottoman society and caused widespread opposition, including among dignitaries who were directly involved in leading the implementation of reforms. The events of those years marked the beginning of a process that in modern Russian and foreign historiography is defined as the “Europeanization” of Turkey, and the essence of which, ultimately, was the integration of the Ottoman state into the world capitalist system that dragged on for many decades. The main purpose of the study is to study the problem of the reform movement of the Tanzimat era as the most important condition for transformations and, to analyze the impact of the Tanzimat reforms on the spheres public life Ottoman society.
Chapter I . Prerequisites for the emergence of reforms in the Ottoman Empire
The Anglo-Turkish Convention of 1838, as well as trade agreements concluded by the Porte later with other European powers, significantly accelerated the involvement of the Ottoman Empire in the world economic system. This circumstance had important consequences both for the Turkish and other peoples of the empire, whose further progress increasingly depended on the development of world capitalism. Due to its socio-economic backwardness, the Turkish empire was forced to turn into an agrarian and raw material appendage of Europe. The main export items of England, France, Austria and other European countries from the Ottoman Empire were raw silk, wool, raw leather, oil seeds, natural dyes, olive oil, tobacco in leaves, grain, nuts, opium. Among the imported goods, cotton and woolen fabrics, metals, metal and glass products, medicines, ready-made clothes and processed leather prevailed. The transformation of the Sultan's possessions into a source of raw materials and a market for the capitalist countries led to an increase in the role of agriculture and a decrease in the importance industrial production in the empire's economy. Up to late XVIII in. local artisans generally satisfied the slowly growing domestic demand. Moreover, opportunities were created for the development of manufacturing production - the process of decomposition of the guild organization of the craft intensified, buying up, advance payments and other simple forms of subordinating handicraft production to commercial capital became more and more widespread. However, in the first half of the 19th century, especially after the completion of the industrial revolution in Europe, the conditions for the functioning of urban crafts, both in Asian and European provinces, deteriorated sharply, many industries fell into decay. In Anatolia, the centers of the most developed industries - cotton, cloth, silk industry, metalworking - Bursa, Ankara, Diyarbakir, Amasya, Tokat, were especially affected. Russian traveler M.P. Vronchenko, who carefully studied the economic situation in Asia Minor in the 30s of the 19th century, noted that the number of woolen looms in Ankara had decreased from 2000 to 100, since European products made from angora wool are much cheaper. Other industries that did not feel the same degree of impact from foreign competition were forced to reduce production due to a significant narrowing of the raw material base in connection with the removal of restrictions on the export of local agricultural products. Agriculture, which employed up to 90% of the country's population, reacted much weaker to changes in the economic situation. The growing demand for agricultural and livestock products contributed to a certain increase in the marketability of agricultural production, but it did not change general position in the village. Crushed by the heavy burden of taxes and duties, cut off from the market in some cases by impassability, underdevelopment of vehicles, and in others by the presence of intermediary harvesters, peasant farms retained their natural character. Government measures aimed at ensuring tranquility in the capital and provinces, the abolition of the state monopoly on the purchase of wool and a number of other goods after 1838, the elimination of internal barriers and government regulations contributed to the revival of domestic trade, which was manifested in an increase in trade between certain regions of the country, the revival of annual fairs and weekly markets. Describing Asia Minor, M.P. Vronchenko noted: “The villagers sell their works and buy the things they need at auctions that take place on certain days of the week. Almost every city and town has such market days; in some places the confluence of people is very large. goods by a special class of merchants from different places. Further development trade and the formation of a single internal market were hindered by the dominance of feudal orders and the instability of the economic situation in the empire. The one-sided and slow development of the Ottoman economy had a great impact on social processes. The gradual transformation of the empire into a peripheral component of the world economic system made it difficult for the local bourgeoisie to form, but helped transform the most enterprising part of the merchant class into intermediaries for European companies. Of these, a special class of "Levantines" developed - persons who enjoyed the patronage of European embassies and received from them a special document - berat, good; to which they could enjoy capitulation privileges. The bulk of the "beratly" were representatives of various Turkish nationalities, who concentrated in their hands the main income from entrepreneurship. The emergence of capitalist elements in Ottoman society was also hampered by the fact that the ruling elite preferred not to invest large amounts of money in economic undertakings. The difficulties of accumulating wealth and passing it on by inheritance created the strongest incentive for excessive and wasteful consumption. Therefore, large capitals did not accumulate in the hands of the upper stratum, and constant wars prevented the accumulation of significant amounts in the state treasury.
Published in November 1839, the Gulhane hatt-i-sheriff stated that the new sultan aims to provide guarantees to all subjects for the security of their lives, honor and property, to abolish the system of farming out and streamline taxation, and also to change the order of conscription to military service. To implement this program, in the early 40s, a number of reforms were carried out in the field of administration (the creation of majlises, i.e., advisory bodies with the participation of non-Muslims under the governors of vilayets and sanjaks), the courts (drawing up criminal and commercial codes), education (creation of a system secular schools), and a number of measures have been taken to improve land relations and develop the economy.
The reforms caused fierce resistance in the country, especially from the clergy, zealous adherents of Islam. In the transformation of the traditional system of relations, they saw another step towards the Europeanization of the country and, accordingly, to the weakening of their influence, which they could not but regard as a collapse of the foundations. One of the most vulnerable points of the entire Tanzimat program was the question of the status of numerous subjects of the empire who were not Turks and in general Muslims: an attempt to equalize the rights of non-Muslims with Muslims met with the greatest resistance in the country. As a result, the order of conscription for military service was not changed (the army was still recruited from Muslims). Moreover, the problem of the status of Christians caused a conflict with Russia, which claimed patronage in relation to them and to the "holy places" in Palestine, which ultimately was the reason for the Crimean War of 1853-1856. As a result of the war, Turkey found itself in the camp of the winners, but this victory was pyrrhic for it, because it exhausted the treasury and laid the foundation for the country's dramatically growing external debt. The main result of the war and the subsequent pressure of the powers was the continuation of the Tanzimat reforms.
The reforms of the 50-60s took another step towards establishing the equality of all subjects of the empire: the official status of non-Muslim communities-millets (Greek, Armenian, Jewish, etc.) was established, and their representatives were admitted to public service(the question of their participation in the army remained unresolved). An important law on land was adopted, shop regulations in cities were abolished, and the system of tax deductions was streamlined. The judiciary was separated from the administrative, and the Sharia
courts are a little off. The Ministry of Education was created, which was in charge of secular educational institutions up to the highest. And finally, the reforms provided many rights and benefits to foreign capital, primarily the right to own real estate. The implementation of all these reforms was associated with the activities of the most prominent reformers of the second half of XIX in. Ali Pasha and Fuad Pasha, advisers to Abdul-Majidai, his successor Abdul-Aziz1 (1861 - 1876), who led the government of the empire. Guided by the doctrine of Ottomanism (all subjects of the empire are Ottomans), they sought to maintain the dominant position of the Turks in the country with the formal equality of all peoples inhabiting the empire. Understanding the need for further Europeanization of the country, they made appropriate concessions to foreign capital, although they clearly realized how unpopular this policy was and what powerful forces in the empire opposed it.
As for the concessions, they boiled down to tariff privileges (8% - a single customs tax for foreign goods), to the confirmation of the capitulation regime, to the establishment of the Anglo-French Ottoman Bank, leading in the financial affairs of the empire (1856), which soon acquired the status of a state bank, and also to extensive investments in industrial, railway construction, extraction and processing of agricultural and other raw materials. It should be noted that at the same time the country's external debt grew, because the state budget deficit since the Crimean War was repaid through loans. The debt by 1876 reached a huge amount of 6 billion francs. The price for this was an ever wider opportunity for foreign capital to penetrate the empire's economy. The result of this was a gradual change in the economy of the country, drawn into the world market. The face of the economy was changing both in the field of traditional crafts and trade, and in the field of agriculture. Increasingly prominent positions in the economy were occupied by the emerging industry, and a developed infrastructure was created for its needs.
All these generally positive changes for the country, including the fact that they resulted in the economic invasion of the country by foreign capital, were accompanied by the growth of national self-awareness, especially among educated intellectuals. In 1865, a secret society of "new Ottomans" arose, which aimed to create a regime in the country constitutional monarchy. In the early 70s, the Ibret (Instruction) newspaper began to be published in Istanbul, reflecting their ideas. And although the newspaper was soon closed down, the position of the supporters of the constitution, headed by the imperial dignitary Midhat Pasha, became noticeably stronger by the mid-1970s. The mass demonstrations of students in May 1876 served as a signal for the start of decisive action: Sultan Abdul-Aziz was deposed, and the new Sultan Abdul-Hamid II agreed to the constitution, which was officially adopted in December 1876.
The constitution proclaimed the basic rights and freedoms of the citizens of the empire, created a bicameral parliament and somewhat limited the prerogatives of the sultan. But the elected parliament turned out to be obedient to the will of the monarch, and the great vizier Midhat Pasha was expelled from the country in February 1877. The Sultan, despite all the constitutional restrictions on his power, clearly became the master of the situation. And there were good reasons for this. The fact is that the changes and transformations of the 40-60s, i.e. all the Tanzimat reforms and closely related changes in the country's economy, which were the result of the penetration of foreign capital into the empire, brought some benefits only to the urban sections of the population, which supported the new reforms, including the constitution. It is worth recalling that this was at that time a largely non-Turkish and even non-Muslim population of the country. As for the Turks themselves, not only did they not benefit from the innovations and could not take advantage of their fruits, but, on the contrary, they felt disadvantaged in their usual privileged position and even suffered some economic losses, in particular in connection with the land reform.
The discontent kindled by the Muslim clergy became more and more tangible over time, which was used by the new sultan, who found in this discontent a powerful support to oppose the constitutionalists. Defeat in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 only added fuel to the fire: it could easily be explained as the result of innovations that weakened the power of the ruler. In February 1878, Abdul-Hamid carried out a coup d'état: the parliament was dissolved, and the empire was turned into a very gloomy despotism for many years (in Turkey, the years of Abdul-Hamid's rule began to be called the term "Zulum" - despotism, tyranny).
The weakness of the Turkish state became apparent from the end of the 18th century. The country needed fundamental changes. The first administrative and financial reforms called " new order"were undertaken under the impression of defeats in the war with Russia even under the padishah Selime III(1789-1807). His work was continued Mahmoud II(1808-1839). In 1826, at the height of the Greek uprising, he liquidated the Janissary corps, which had shown its failure as a military force. The barracks of the Janissaries in Istanbul were burned along with the people, then the Janissaries were subjected to total extermination in all provinces. The destruction of the Janissaries opened the way for the formation of a new Turkish army and for other reforms that were undertaken after the Russian-Turkish war of 1828-1829.
At this time, the first Turkish newspaper appeared, Turkey received a modern administrative structure, and private ownership of land was recognized. However, to transform a country like the Ottoman Empire, these measures were not enough. “How many natural forces are wasted here fruitlessly!” - wrote the future winner of Napoleon III G. von Moltke, who served as a military instructor in the Turkish army.
The first period of "Tanzimat"
November 3, 1839, after the beginning of the second Egyptian crisis, the new padishah Abdul Mejid(1839-1861) issued a decree on reforms, which opened the era of transformation - "tanzimat-i-hairie"("beneficent reforms"). “In the last hundred and fifty years, a series of incidents and various causes” have led to the fact that “the strength of the state and internal well-being have turned into weakness and poverty,” said this historic decree. Therefore, it was decided "by means of new institutions to deliver the benefits of good government to the regions that make up the Ottoman Empire." The decree proclaimed the following "institutions" necessary for the well-being of the empire:
1) ensuring the complete safety of their lives and the safety of their property to citizens;
2) fair distribution and collection of taxes;
3) the correct organization of recruitment for military service and the establishment of its reasonable period.
Mahmoud II |
Importance for cultural development countries had a law on the establishment of secular, non-religious, schools. A monetary reform was also carried out and new commercial legislation was adopted. The formal equality of the rights of the Muslim and non-Muslim population was proclaimed (in reality, nothing was done to resolve the national question, which occupied a key place in the fate of the country).
A Russian traveler wrote in 1850: “... New laws clash with the ancient injunctions of the Koran, corporal punishment completely replaces the death penalty... Sultan's promises are also in clear contradiction with reality. The system, which the Sultan's decree solemnly branded as a shame and a scourge of the empire, continues to dominate here at the present time with the permission and with the most energetic support from the authorities. Of all the reforms promised, only the military reforms came closest to being realized, although the old abuses persisted in this area as well.
Second Tanzimat period
Constitutional reforms
The crisis of the financial system, the cruelty and persecution to which all the disaffected were subjected, gave rise to a movement for constitutional reforms. It was headed by the Society of New Ottomans. The movement was soon crushed and "new Ottomans" moved their activities abroad. At the same time, new reforms were undertaken: representatives of non-Turkish peoples received wider opportunities for trade, the regulation of crafts was abolished. Of particular importance was the law of 1869 on universal education.
In general, the Tanzimat policy failed. The main branch of the Turkish economy is Agriculture- fell into disrepair. The New Ottomans wrote: “As for agriculture, due to the lack of means of communication, its products do not have markets, and, moreover, they are crushed by endless taxes, the collection of which is carried out with merciless barbarism.” The population suffered from constant hunger, which destroyed entire villages. The Ottoman Empire entered a period of general crisis.
On this page, material on the topics:
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Fall of the Ottoman Empire Egypt's struggle for independence
Ottoman Empire report briefly
Synopsis of the Ottoman Empire
Brief report of the Ottoman Empire
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Tanzimat reforms (first and second periods)
The reforms of the 1920s and 1930s did little to change the situation in the state, and the far-sighted politicians of the Turkish Sultan understood this well. One such politician who gained the confidence of the Sultan was Mustafa Reshid Pasha (1800-1858). For many years he was in the diplomatic service in France and England, worked as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Under the leadership of M. Reshid, a plan for new reforms was developed. Their goal was to strengthen the power of the Sultan, to stop the national liberation movement in the Balkans and the pressure of European powers on Turkey, reformation state structure countries modeled after the Western powers.
Although the reform decree was prepared during the reign of Sultan Mahmud II, it came into effect during the reign of his son Abdul Majid. In November 1839, in front of the summer palace of the Sultan Gulhane, the people solemnly announced the Holy Decree - “Gulhane hatt-i sheriff”. This was the beginning of a new historical period in Turkey of the reform era - tanzimat - reorganization. “Gulhane hatt-i sheriff” contained three main ideas for renewal: ensuring the safety of life and property of every citizen of the empire, regardless of religion, the correct collection of taxes from citizens, and the reduction of military service.
Due to the constant resistance of the ruling circles, it was possible to implement only part of the measures. Codes were adopted on land, criminal and civil matters. After the official ascension to the throne, the ruler took an oath - not to violate adopted laws. A monetary reform was carried out, and strict restrictions were imposed on the wages of employees. Secondary schools were opened, within the empire built railways and made a connection. The first industrial enterprises appeared.
Started in 1853 Crimean War slowed down the progress of the reforms. During the first period of the Tanzimat (1839-1853), reforms were carried out in the administrative sector, state administration, economy and culture. However, they did not affect the lives of the urban and rural poor. No restrictions were imposed on foreigners, including their right to interfere in state affairs.
In the middle of the XIX century. the problem called the eastern question, concerning the fate of the states that turned into colonies of the Ottoman Empire, became aggravated. Russia, France, England launched a struggle with each other for the right to own the Middle East market. The Russian Tsar Nicholas I sent an ultimatum to the Turkish Sultan, in which he demanded recognition of the rights of all Orthodox peoples that were part of the Ottoman Empire. The Turkish Sultan considered this requirement as interference in the internal affairs of the state. Enlisting the support of England and France, he refused to satisfy the demands of Russia, as a result of which in 1853 the Russo-Turkish, or Crimean War, broke out. The Russians, counting on an easy victory in the war, miscalculated. With the help of the British and French, the Turks defeated the Russian army.
In 1856, an agreement was signed in Paris between Russia and Turkey, according to which Russia gave Bessarabia to Turkey. Russia agreed to "neutralize" the Black Sea. In Serbia, Moldavia and Wallachia, the sultan's power was preserved. At the same time, England and France signed a special agreement, which confirmed the preservation of the integrity and independence of the Ottoman Empire in the framework of the Treaty of Paris. Turkey received a huge loan from these countries, thereby falling into their bondage.
In 1856, the Sultan's government allowed foreigners to acquire private ownership of land and real estate. This opened the way for a large amount of foreign currency to enter the empire's economy. To implement the reforms, the government of the Sultan was forced several times to take a loan from foreign powers.
In the second half of the XIX century. in order to strengthen the empire, the Turkish government made concessions regarding national movements. Equal rights were granted to 40% of the inhabitants of the empire of non-Muslim faith: Armenians, Bulgarians, Greeks, Romanians, Serbs. As a result of this policy, all the peoples subordinate to the Sultan were now called Ottomans, and they all had equal rights.
In 1856, Abdul Mejid issued a manifesto in which, for the first time in the history of the Ottoman Empire, the equality of all citizens, the equality of rights of Muslims and non-Muslims before the law, was proclaimed. The state has legalized the right to existence of non-Muslim religious associations. System higher education moved from the Muslim religious direction to the secular direction. Christians were allowed to serve in public institutions.
Tanzimat reforms 1839-1870 were aimed at the renewal of the state. Thanks to the changes that have taken place in the country, measures were taken to get rid of foreign dependence, bring the country out of the crisis, and weaken national movements. Reformation, by transferring the right to private ownership of land, opened up opportunities for the development of industry and trade. This was of particular benefit to the citizens. The urban inhabitants of the Ottoman Empire were mostly non-Muslim peoples - Greeks, Armenians, Jews. Most Turks lived in rural areas, so taxes were increased as a result of the reform. The introduction of private ownership of the land deprived the peasants of the right to transfer it by inheritance, because now the land belonged to the sipahis. The new owner could drive out the peasants who had settled on it from their land.
Prior to the Tanzimat reforms, non-Muslim peoples paid additional taxes and were excluded from public service. The equalization of the rights of non-Muslims and Turks caused dissatisfaction among the latter, since they believed that their centuries-old traditions were violated by this.
The group welcoming the reforms included merchants, industrialists, European-educated employees and the military. In 1865, a secret society called "New Ottomans" was organized. Their leader was a young but already well-known writer Namyk Kemal. In 1876, this liberal society overthrew Sultan Abdul Aziz from the throne. Sultan Abdul Hamid II came to power, who in December 1876 approved a bicameral parliament and announced the basic rights, duties and freedoms of citizens.
The constitution proclaimed the state Turkish language the state religion is Islam. Sultan Abdul Hamid II realized that strict observance of constitutional rights bound him hand and foot, so he decided to take advantage of the results of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. The Sultan used the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in this war to fight the New Ottomans and to annul the Constitution. In January 1878, he dissolved parliament and announced his sole rule. The constitution continued to exist formally, but in reality none of its articles were implemented.
The establishment of equality between Muslims and non-Muslims remained a fiction. The government suppressed the national liberation movements. In 1894, to suppress the Armenian uprising, the Sultan sent a punitive detachment to the eastern region of Asia Minor. Punishers destroyed the inhabitants of the entire region, so the period of the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1876-1908) is called “zulum” (“evil, oppression, pressure”). The activities of the “New Ottomans”, who sought to rebuild the empire in a new way, remained inconclusive.
The “New Ottomans” movement was of great importance in the history of Turkey. They achieved the development of education in the country, prevented the absolutization of feudal power, the oppression of the country by foreign capital, and the formation of political consciousness in Turkish society. At the same time, the “New Ottomans” were far from the true interests of the people. Putting forward the idea of Ottomanism, they proposed to consider the entire population of the Ottoman Empire as a single people, regardless of religion, language, nationality. Because of this, non-Turkish nationalities did not support this movement.