2004 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Study on Modernization in Ottoman
| Project/Area Number |
13610430
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Asian history
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| Research Institution | Rikkyo University |
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Principal Investigator |
SHIDARA Kunihiro Rikkyo University, Department of History, Professor, 文学部, 教授 (10247182)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2001 – 2004
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| Keywords | Abdulhamid II / Ottoman Empire / Hidjaz Railway / Modernization] / Islam |
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| Research Abstract |
This study explores the modernization movements in the Ottoman Empire, using various source materials preserved in the Ottoman archives in Istanbul and other places.
In the Ottoman Empire, modernization movements were in one sense attempts at westernization. They began towards the end of the 16 century, when the Ottoman sultan Selim III, who succeed to the throne in 1789, launched the first reform movements in the Ottoman Empire, named Nizam-i Cedit. The subsequent reform movements, however, were almost unsuccessful, blocked by such protesting forces as the Janissary. After the abolition of the Janissary, serious westernization movements began with the Tanzimat Reform in 1839, about the time when the Western Powers began to colonize the Ottoman Empire ; therefore, the Ottoman reform movements were difficult to continue. Next, during the 1860s, when the Young Ottomans attempted to establish a constitutional government, the sultan Murad V, enthroned in 1876 following the coup d'etat prepared for this purpose by Mithat Pasha and the Grand Vezir, stayed on the throne for only 90 days.
After this incident the succeeding sultan Abdulhamid II (1876-1909) established the constitutional regime, but the regime continued for only 2 years (December 1876 to February 1878). Though generally regarded as a despotic ruler following the idea of pan-Islamism, his political ideas were in fact based on modernization and westernization, as in the case of the Hidjaz Railway constructed according to his policy against British colonization endeavors.
This study shows that the sultan Abdulhamid II was not a pan-Islamist, but was a ruler pursuing his policies toward modernization and westernization
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