Societies+at+Crossroads;+The+Ottoman+Empire+in+Decline

=Societies at Crossroads; The Ottoman Empire in Decline= -The Ottomans were a weak military society. MH -The industrial powers (US & Europe) were powerful and seized lands and sought business opportunites with the miliary societies. MH -Ottoman empire had internal weakness as well, due to population pressure, falling government, and rebellions from the poor.= chaos MH -By late 19th century, the society ahd to undertake political, social, and economical reform. MH

__**The Nature of Decline (AK Start)**__ //Military Decline// 1. By late 1600s, Ottoman empire reached limits of its expansion. Began to lose on battlefield, getting crushed by Austria and then Russia. 2. 1 big reason: Ottomans lacked technology, strategy, and training of European foes. 3. In particular, the Janissaries (elite soldiers) neglected training and technology, and Ottomans became more vunerable. 4. The gov. was losing ability to govern its own provinces. Local rulers were hiring mercs and slaves to support the sultan for freedom to rule their area. 5. They began to hoard revenue from sources like taxes and would not pass money up to central rule.

//Territorial Losses// 1. Ottomans maintained control of center of empire (Anatolia and Iraq) but was losing to Russia in the East and Austria in the West. Eventually the Ottomans had to recognize independence of the Balkans, like Greece and Serbia. 2. The biggest loss was Egypt. In 1798 Napoleon led France there to attack, hoping to attack Britain in India. He lost, and went back to France to take down the Directory. 3. The invasion sparked turmoil. Led by Muhammad Ali [lol =)], peasants joined the army and French and Italian troops were hired to train the forces. He started industrialization, mostly with textiles and armaments. 4. In 1820 he established himself as the leader of Egypt. He invaded Syria and Anatolia, but the Ottomans won with help from Britain, who didn't want an Ottoman collapse to result in Russian gain. 5. Still, Ali made Egypt basically independent from the Ottomans (AK end.) / (EJC start) 6.Economic problems aggravated the military and political problems of the Ottoman state. 7.In the later 17th century, the volume of trade passing through the Ottoman empire declined. 8.The European merchants traded directly with tier counterparts in India and China. 9.By the 18th century, the focus of European trade had shifted to the Atlantic Ocean basin, where the Ottomans had no presence at all.

//Economic Difficulties// 1.Meanwhile, as European producers became more efficient in the 18th & 19th centuries, their textiles and manufactured goods began to flow into the Ottoman empire. 2.These goods were inexpensive and high-quality products, so they placed considerable pressure on Ottoman artisans and crafts workers. 3.Gradually, the Ottoman empire moved toward fiscal insolvency and financial dependency. 4.After the middle of 19th century, economic development in the Ottoman empire depended heavily on foreign loans. 5.In 1882, the Ottoman state was unable to pay interest on its loans and had no choice but to accept foreign administration of its debts.

//The Capitulations// 1.Capitulations were agreements that exempted European visitors from Ottoman law and provided European powers with extraterritoriality - the right to exercise jurisdiction over their own citizens according to their own laws. 2.By the 19th century, however, Ottoman officials regarded the capitulations as humiliating intrusions, because capitulations also served as instruments of economic penetration by European businesspeople who established tax-exempt banks and commercial enterprises in the Ottoman empire, which permitted foreign governments to levy duties on goods sold in Ottoman ports. 3.By the early 20th century, the Ottoman state lacked the resources to maintain its costly bureaucracy. 4.Declining incomes led to reduced morale, recruitment difficulties, and rise in corruption. 5.Increased taxation designed to offset revenue losses only led to increased exploitation of the peasantry and a decline in agricultural production. 6.The Ottoman empire was ailing, and it needed a major restructuring to survive. (EJC end)


 * __Reform and Reorganization (BS start)__**

//The Reforms of Mahmud II// Mahmud became sultan in 1808 he created a more effective European-style army he created a secondary school for boys from mosques to more advanced schools Mahmud tried to transfer power from the traditional elites to the sultan (himself) and his cabinet he taxed rural landlords, abolished the system of military land grants, and undermined the islamic leadership, or ulama to make his power more effective, he established postal services, constructed new roads and telegraph lines, and established European-style ministries By the time of Mahmud's death, the Ottoman empire was much smaller, but also more managable and powerful than it had been since the 1700s

//Legal and Educational Reform// The tempo of reform increased during the Tanzimat (reorganization) era When designing new education programs, Tanzimat reformers drew inspiration from enlightenment thought and the constitutional foundations of western European states Reformers attacked the ottoman laws hoping to make it acceptable for Europeans using the French legal system as a guide they created; a commercial code (1850) a penal code (1858) a maritime code (1863) a new civil code (1870-1876) Decrees were also issued designed to safegaurd the rights of subjects, both muslim and nonmuslim

//Opposition to the Tanzimat// several distinct quarters opposed the Tanzimat Ideas


 * //The young Turk Era (JY)//
 * A group of dissendents form the ottoman bereaucracy were convinced they needed to check the sultan's power.
 * They persuaded Abdul Hamid to accept a constitution. It limited is authority and established a representative fovernment.
 * The next year, the sultan suspended the constitution, dissolved parliaments, exiled liberals, and executed others.
 * He contintued to develop the army, and also over saw the formation of a police force, educational reform, economic development, and the construction of railroads.
 * Many liberal opposition groups were formed.
 * Ottoman bureaucrats went to school and learned political, social, and cultural traditions. Many fell our of favor with Abdul Hamid and spend years in exile.
 * Educated people began to believe the biggest problem of the ottoman empire was that it had unchecked power in the sultan.
 * The Young Turk Party was and organization that tried to make a constitution that limited the sultan's power.
 * it was founded in 1889 by a exiled ottoman.
 * They made newspapers to spread their message.
 * They called for universal suffrage, equality before the law, freedom of religion, free public education, secularization of the state, and the emancipation of women.
 * They dethroned the sultan and established Mehmed B rashid as a puppet sultan. from 1908-1918, ottoman sultans reigned but no longer ruled.
 * They worked to make Turkish the official language of the empire.
 * The Ottoman empire existed by the early twenieth century only because European diplomats couldn't agree on how to dispose of the empire without upsetting the European balance of power.