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Preface to the second printing
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- By Ezelrural Shaw, G. E. von Grunebaum Center for Near Eastern Studies University of California, Los Angeles
- Stanford J. Shaw, Ezel Kural Shaw
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- Book:
- History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey
- Published online:
- 20 May 2010
- Print publication:
- 27 May 1977, pp x-x
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- Chapter
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Summary
This second printing of Reform, Revolution, and Republic has provided an opportunity to incorporate many useful comments and to correct a number of errors.
We also have noted communications from Armenians who contend that we have failed to sufficiently take into account their situation in the Ottoman Empire and, in particular, their sufferings in the last half-century of the Empire, and that this was the result of overemphasis in the use of Ottoman sources.
We make no apology for using Ottoman sources for a history of the Ottoman Empire. For too long the Ottomans have been studied without the use of any of their sources, resulting in serious distortion and error. No history of France would be considered methodologically sound and balanced if it were written on the basis of English and Italian observations. At the same time, however, we have made use of a mass of relevant non-Ottoman materials, as is evident in the Bibliography.
No one denies, or seeks to deny, that the Armenian people suffered terribly during the last years of the Ottoman Empire. We do make this clear, but in the context of Ottoman history. What may be overlooked is that the experience of the Armenians, however terrible it undoubtedly was, was not unique to them. It was part of a general tragedy that engulfed all the people of the Empire – Turks, Greeks, Armenians, Arabs, Jews, and others, all of whom have traumatic memories of the period.
Preface
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- By Ezelrural Shaw, Los Angeles, California
- Stanford J. Shaw, Ezel Kural Shaw
-
- Book:
- History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey
- Published online:
- 20 May 2010
- Print publication:
- 27 May 1977, pp vii-ix
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
During the nineteenth century the Ottoman Empire witnessed a sustained effort of reform that saw the long-preserved and honored institutions of the classical Ottoman state replaced by new ones, inspired by an increasing knowledge of European thought, society, and government and modified to satisfy Ottoman needs and conditions. In the process the scope of government was extended far beyond the limits imposed by the traditional Ottoman way into every aspect of life, overwhelming the autonomous religious, economic, and social groups that had survived for so long as the substrata of Ottoman society. A new, modern, westernized ruling bureaucracy replaced the old Ruling Class, extended its power throughout the empire, and created a highly complex system of government that ruled with an autocracy unmatched in traditional times.
The era of modern Ottoman reforms began in the last decade of the reign of Sultan Mahmut II (1808–1839), who laid the foundations for what followed. His work was extended and at least partially completed during the Tanzimat reform period, which encompassed the reigns of his sons Abdulmecit I (1839–1861) and Abdulaziz (1861–1876), and it was carried out by the reformist bureaucracy of the Men of the Tanzimat, led by able statesmen such as Mustafa Reşit Paşa, Âli Paşa, and Fuat Paşa.
Reform in the Ottoman Empire was a complex process; each solution created new problems. The application of new laws and practices was slowed for a number of reasons. First of all, the empire remained very large, with a heterogeneous society and relatively poor communications.