WESTERNIZATION MOVEMENTS AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

This paper will deal with the period starting with the beginning of the eighteenth century when the Ottoman armies were forced to abandon the siege of Vienna which resulted in the decline of the Empire. This started two hundred years' of attempts to reform and renovate the Empire by the Sultans, the viziers and the learned elite. Two very important acts that brought about great changes in Turkey were, firstly Sultan Selim the Third's attempt to establish a new army independent of the Janissaries in 1793 and, secondly, Sultan Mahmut the Second's abolition of the Corps of Janissaries in 1826. Compulsory primary education, establishment of the military academy and the school of medicine, the introduction of a modern police system and postal service were all begun during this time paving the routes for further developments. The reforms were continued and in 1839 Sultan A'bdülmecit proclaimed the beginning of a new regime, Tanzimat (Regulation) by a charter where he abdicated a portion of his authority in favour of the Council of Judicial Ordinances that had the power to make laws. This was followed by another great change, the promulation of the Constitution in 1876 which created a Parliament consisting of an Upper House and a Chamber of Deputies which opened in 1877. Even though Parliament was suspended 'by the Sultan after the Ottoman defeat in the Russian war, it was opened again in 1908. Many Secondary Schools, many Teacher's Training Colleges were opened after the promulgation of the Constitution and many young Turkish students were sent to study at the Universities in Europe, and brought back new western science and technologies.