Starting off with a comparison:

The Islamic World is similar to China in that it felt reluctant to adapt to Western ways of running international societies until they were in the face of imperialism. Neither were annexed or put into colonial rule, but they both quickly shrank as Europeans took influence in their surroundings. Both launched efforts to modernize to hold their ground, and had those efforts diminished by the belief systems that run those societies.

The Sick Man of Europe

Before 1800: The Ottoman Empire was the main political entity of the Islamic world.

• Its sultan would be the caliph (the religious leader of Sunni Islam, like the Pope).

• It would facilitate trade in the Black Sea, and pose a threat to the then European States trying to access the bustling trade in the Indian Ocean and beyond.
  

External Factors that led to decline:

1. Leading up to the 20th c., the Ottoman Empire faced serious territorial losses to the British, French, Russian, and Austro-Hungarian empires.

The Greater French (Napoleon) Empire would invade and briefly occupy Egypt before the country would become virtually independent and would modernize.

The British and Russian empires motivated nationalist independence movements in Greece, Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria. This was a problem within the borders of the empire, but it owed to the European powers for supporting them.

The Russian Empire found the strategic location of the Black Sea attractive.

2. The artisanal production of goods by the Ottoman Empire was could not keep up with that of European manufactured imports, and this worsened as Europeans sold their goods within the empire. (This is kind of internal too because of the weakness of Ottoman industry)

3. Capitulations: a series of agreements between European countries and the Ottoman empire granting Westerners various exemption from Ottoman law.

Made it extremely easy for the Western countries to extract wealth from the Ottoman economy, like the unequal treaties with China.

• Shows how the Ottoman Empire became subordinate to the rest of Europe over time.

4. Debt: The Ottoman Empire relied on foreign loans to finance its economy. By 1881, it could not pay these debts and this made foreign countries in control of its revenue-generating system.

Internal Factors that led to decline:

• The central state, like China, weakened

  • Lost ability to raise funds and lesser lords gained more power compared to the sultan.

• The military lost its power as the Janissaries became corrupt and weak.

• (Biggest one) The British and Russian empires motivated nationalist independence movements in Greece, Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria. This was a problem within the borders of the empire, but it owed to the European powers for supporting them.

Similarities with China:

• Neither fell under direct colonial rule like in Africa

• Central states weakened in their ability to raise revenues.

• Capitulations, unequal treaties— were both agreements that allowed Europe to penetrate their economy

• Both fell into a position of dependency on Europe, which they had to depend on their industrialization, imports, etc.

Differences with China:

• Lack of internal upheaval against the administration like the Taiping Rebellion

  • The Ottoman Empire was most concerned with the internal issue of nationalist uprisings within the empire.

• The Tanzimat reforms were earlier, more sustained, and vigorous than that of the reluctant self-strengthening movement.

• Unlike the Manchus to the general population of Han Chinese, the Muslim Turk rulers of the Ottoman empire were culturally similar to their population.

Reform and Its Opponents

When Sultan Selim III first began westernizing the army, he faced opposition from the ulama (Muslim scholars) and the Janissaries, who feared they would be misplaced. He was overthrown in 1807.

• Subsequent sultans removed the threat of revolting Janissaries and minimized the influence of ulama, allowing for smoother reforms.

In response to these challenges, the Ottoman authorities implemented a series of Tanzimat reforms (1839-1876) to make the empire a strong and centralized state that could compete with other nations.

• Industrialization, redistribution of agriculture, new Western-style legal codes and education, and the establishment of a centralized bureaucracy.

• Ottoman Reform Edict of 1856 gave non-Muslims equal rights under the law, eventually led to secular legislation and schools.

  • This was a huge change with that challenged long-established Muslim customs

    • The Tanzimat didn’t directly address gender inequities, but they established modest means for women to learn in school and provide opportunities as a means of strengthening the state.

The Young Ottomans: secret society with a Western-style education.

• Urged the extension of westernizing reforms to the political system

  • Believed that a parliament and constitution could balance the power of the sultan.

    • Example of Islamic modernism

  • Despite their initial success and acceptance, the Tanzimat reforms were quickly hindered when conservative sultan Abdul Hamid II returned to absolute rule during the Russo-Turkish War of 1876

Note that the Young Turks and Tanzimat are different movements

The Young Turks were a similar reform movement of Ottoman intellectuals who launched a military coup in 1908 (Young Turk Revolution).

• They forced al-Hamid II to restore the Western constitution and parliament

• They pushed a radical secularization of society and pushed a Turkish nationalist movement.

  • Opened modern education and suffrage for women and gave them more social mobility.

  • Pushed the practice of Islam to private life

• Turkish nationalist sentiment didn’t sit well with the non-Turkic peoples of the empire

Successful reforms by the Young Turks:

• Overthrew Sultan Abdul Hamid II which brought about a period of political modernization and societal secularization.

• Marked a departure from the long-standing autocratic rule of the Sultan for a more democratic system.

Unsuccessful reforms by the Young Turks:

• Turkic nationalism didn’t sit well with the Arabic peoples of the Empire.

• Economic pressures during the Balkan wars and WWI made it hard for the group to realize their vision.

By this point, the Ottoman Empire was hardly an empire, but had moved more towards a state. The Ottoman Empire would formally fall and become Turkey in the 1920s after their defeat in World War I.

• The Chinese Communist party thoroughly discarded of Confucianism during the Cultural Revolution, as opposed to the mere secularization of Islam in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey.

Making Connections:

AP Comparison: In what ways were the declines of the Chinese and the Ottoman empires similar?

Similar:

• Internal Corruption: Both the Chinese and Ottoman empires experienced a decline in their administrative systems, which led to corruption and inefficiency.

  • In China, the Qing dynasty faced rampant corruption among officials and bureaucrats, leading to a loss of trust from the farmer class and a weakening of the central government.

  • The Ottoman Empire suffered from a decline in its administration. It lost ability to raise funds, and nobles and Janissaries gained more power compared to the sultan and often prioritized their own individual gain over the sake of the empire.

• Attempts at Modernization: Both empires attempted to defensively modernize to maintain their status.

  • Qing China saw the Self Strengthening movement, which aimed to adopt Western technologies and military practices. This largely failed however because of the Qing elite’s reluctance to deviate from their traditional Confucian beliefs and also a fear that urban development would erode the traditional social class.

  • The Ottoman Empire saw many modernization movements over the years, but not all of them were successful. The Tanzimat reforms were ultimately unsuccessful in the long term when Sultan Abdul Hamid III rose back up to autocratic power. This reversed the efforts towards the Western parliament and constitution that the Young Ottomans believed could make the empire capable of standing against the pressuring European powers.

• Economic Decline and Foreign Dominance: Both the Qing and Ottoman empires faced economic decline and had their wealth extracted by European powers.

  • The Qing Dynasty’s economic problems largely came from the massive outflow of silver and unequal treaties that were imposed by Britain’s management of its opium. This led to a Qing decline in strength and an incapability to moderate its own markets. They were also subject to economic imperialism and colonization by various Western powers and Japan.

  • Similarly the “sick man of Europe,” the Ottoman Empire, was heavily damaged by foreign influence. The British, French, Russian, and Austro-Hungarian empires annexed various states on the outskirts of the empire, and the British and Russian empires supported successful independence movements for the Ottoman states of Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia; a point of major concern for the Ottomans.