Causes of the Decline of the Ottoman Empire: Analytical Essay

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Introduction

Ibn Khaldun (Abu Zayd Abd al- Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Khaldun al- Hadhrami) was a 14th-century Arab historiographer and historian credited of laying foundation to the specialized field of Ilm al- Umrān (Sociology) , who was considered in his Muqaddimah of Kitab al Ibar that, every zenith had a downfall having a central theme of his creative writing is why nations rise to power and what causes their decline. Ibn Khaldun stressed on studying the realities of human society and attempted to draw conclusions based on observation, rather than trying to reconcile observation with preconceived ideas. Therefore, drawing an inference from the work of the renowned Ibn Khaldun assessing the causes of the decline of the Ottoman.

1.1 An overview of the decline of the ottomans

Prior dealing to with the causes of decline, first of all having a cursory look at the developments that took place in Europe at that time provided Europe with a position of strength. An eminent scholar has nicely analyzed these developments by observing that during the period sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, Europe experienced the thrust towards modernization, ushering in:

(a) the scientific and philosophical revolution,
(b) the cultural and theological revolution,
(c) the political and democratic revolution, and
(d) the technological and industrial revolution.

The industrial revolution brought with its revolution in technology, production processes, the generation of energy, transport, the markets, agricultural revolution, urbanization, and all-around commercial expansion. The Ottomans allowed penetration of European commerce into their empire which had a crippling effect on the native craft industries, shifted the balance of trade against the Ottomans, and made them dependent on European traders. The grant of capitulations to various European countries not only gave them commercial privileges but made the residents of those countries subject to the jurisdiction of their country’s law (not the Ottoman law) and they could claim a right of hearing in a consular court. All this gave a relative superiority to the West.

The eighteenth-century defeats on the battleground placed Turkey on the defensive; a general decay was apparent; loss of military glory had resulted in loss of political importance, and loss of power had demoralized the nation. Intellectual life had been affected too. It appeared as if the Ottomans have lost their absorptive and expansionist power. It was Tsar Nicholas I of Russia who in 1833 described the Ottoman Empire as ‘the Sick Man of Europe.’

Ottoman society on the other hand was extremely traditional with a legitimized hierarchy comprising the Sultan, the Ulema, the army, and the administrative elite at the top. Occupational groups like peasants, craftsmen, and tradesmen formed the lower stratum of society. That society had a totalitarian and centralized state which controlled the whole socio-economic and cultural-political life from above. In such a set-up of society, decay at the top gradually led to the disintegration the entire system.

However, the decline of the Ottoman Empire actually as a result of very complex factors. By putting the decline of the Ottoman Empire into an international context, identifying five key areas which stand out as explanations for the decline and fall of the Ottoman Empire. These five factors were:

the moribund nature of the Ottoman government and its relative decline economically,
the spread of nationalism in the Balkans;
the attempts to revive Turkey by the ‘New Ottomans’ and ‘Young Turk’,
the German attempts to generate a sphere of influence in the Middle East,
the impact of the Balkan wars.

Based on the five key areas above, it should be noted that the conservatism of the privileged ruling elite in Constantinople, corrupt military leaders, and the decline of their economy, resulted into the broken state. Particularly if we compare it with the rising of the industrial power in the West, it conditions placed the Ottoman in a backward position. Besides that, the rising inflation which was worsened by financial mismanagement, misappropriation of state revenue, and fierce competition from the West, also reduced the empire’s vitality. All of the economic problems lead the increasing costs of the state. Due to the concentration of the internal problems, the Ottoman Empire became less intended toward their provincial lands. Accordingly, the Empire felt difficult to protect the frontiers of the empire was rendered obsolete by the European advance. Finally, when Napoleon Bonaparte landed an invasion force in Egypt in 1798, he defeated the army of the Ottoman decisively. Ironically, in the face of this new competition, instead of finding a strategic way, the conservative leaders fell back on their faith in the ‘inherent superiority of Islam. This solution did not result in a victory, but the Ottomans lost any effective power over the periphery of their empire.

World War I led to the complete end of the Ottoman Empire, and the birth of a Turkish nation as aftermath of the defeat in the war. It further accompanied by the occupation of the Western powers to the Ottoman Empire territory. Then, after a nationalist struggle that ended the occupation, and also a brief civil war between nationalists and the Ottoman dynasty, the Turkish Republic was proclaimed by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. The events of 1919 and 1920 vividly demonstrated the strength of the nationalist tide sweeping through Anatolia. Although the Sultan’s government was supported by the Allies, the condition proved unable to withstand the nationalists under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal. Then, in 1920 he was elected President of the Embassy, and by the end of 1922, he had defeated the Greeks and expelled the Allies. Further declaring the abolishment of the Caliphate in 1924 and the emergence of the modern state of the Republic of Turkey.

1.2 Transition from empire to nation (1908–1923)

July 23, 1908, brought a dawn with the restoration of the constitution of 1876, put at bay nearly 30 years before by the then Sultan Abdul Hamid. It became the moment of significance, considering it would alter their life beyond expectation. Thus in reality it was a dawn, the credit of such drastic change owes to the series of movements likely; Tanzimat, Young Turks. The leaders of the religious-ethnic communities welcomed the restoration of the constitution, they were quite sure that the end of absolutism would enhance their own power and influence. They were very optimistic in their view. Their expectation was to be a part in sharing political power in both the cabinet and the assembly in accordance to their demographic and material strength in the empire. Their influence can be greater if authority be decentralized thus, they vehemently supported the liberal faction of the Young Turks led by Prince Sabahuddin who had been the key exponent and speaker favouring the ‘decentralization and private initiative’.

The transition phase of the Ottoman Empire also witnessed an important development, the emergence of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) in 1889, it was the progressive group that were the supporters of the political regime or in other words, they were the constitutionalist and having the same ideology like that of the Liberals (i.e. the Young Turks or the upper class of the Ottoman Society). Unionists viewed to overthrow the autocracy, the first step toward the social and economic transformation that the constitutional government was expected to carry out. They lack faith in the laissez-faire policies popular among the earlier reformers. The Unionists were immensely inspired by Germany and Japan, optimistically expected the new state to bring about ‘union and progress’ in the empire. They favoured curbing of power of the Palace and the Porte and vesting authority in the assembly which they envisioned to control after elections were held.

The Unionists basically belong to the lower middle class, the class which had suffered the consequences of the progressive integration into the world market due to the erosion of the indigenous economy. The transitional period also witnessed a latent struggle for power between the sultan, supported by conservatives and reactionaries, the high bureaucrats, supported by the Liberals, and the Unionists who relied on their organizational strength in the army and society at large. Elections were held in November-December 1908, leading to the victory of the Committee (CUP), but very soon dramatic episodes occurred leading Grand Vizier Mehmed Kamil Pasha to dissolve the ministry, and appointing his own men to the key positions. Later the Charismatic Unionist leader Enver Bey, played vital role leading to the fall of the Grand Vizier Mehmed Kamil Pasha through vote of no confidence.

The following timeline can clearly indicate the transition from the Empire to Nation :

1912 A national uprising against rule in Albania launches a full-scale Balkan War.
Turkey, beset by troubles elsewhere, cedes to Italy her north African province of Libya.
An Albanian uprising against the Ottoman empire is so successful that the Albanians are able to capture Skopje in Macedonia.
By a prearranged pan Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia together launch the First Balkan War against Turkey.
1913 Bulgaria launches Second Balkan War, in the end to the great detriment of Bulgarian interest.
The Balkan states and the Ottoman empire agree an armistice in Bucharest, ending the Second Balkan War.
A coup led by Enver Pasha brings the Young Turks to power in Istanbul.
1914 Germany and the Ottoman empire sign a secret treaty of alliance.
Turkey, launches an attach on Russian ports in the Black Sea, enters the war on the German side.
Russia declares war on the Ottoman empire.
Britain and France declare war on the Ottoman Empire.
1916 Sharif Hussein, the emir of Makkah, proclaims himself the leader of the Muslim world, thus launching an Arab revolt against the Ottoman empire.
1918 an armistice was signed between Turkey and the Allies on the warship Agamemnon in the Greek port of Mudros.
1920 A punitive peace treaty, negotiated at Sevres, is designed to dismember the Ottoman empire.
The Sultan of Turkey signs the Treaty of Sevres with the Allies but it is rejected by the new nationalist government.
1922 The nationalist government in Turkey abolishes the sultanate and the last Ottoman emperor, Mehmed VI, goes into exile.
1923 The Treaty of Lausanne, with more favorable terms than those negotiated at Sevres, finally bring peace between Turkey and the Allies.
Turkey becomes a republic with Ataturk as president and Ankara as its new capital.

1.3 An era of one-party democracy (1923-45)

Mustafa Kemal – lovingly known as Kemal Atatürk – emerged as a leading figure of stature. Atatürk’s model of Turkish nationalism was quite different from the pan-Turkic ideas of stalwarts like Enver Pasha. Kemal believed that the once-great Ottoman Empire had become burdensome on the Turkish people, who now needed a homeland of their own. He and his supporters sought to establish a new Turkish state based on Anatolia, where most of the empire’s Turkish population had traditionally lived.

Later onwards Turkish attitudes began to harden; the interim Ottoman government came under increasing pressure from the Allies to suppress the nationalist groups. In the end, they were reluctantly forced to act. In the face of this crackdown, on 23 April 1920, the nationalists convened a Grand National Assembly in Ankara, deep in central Anatolia. They elected Mustafa Kemal as its first president, effectively establishing an alternative government.

The proclamation of the republic brought tensions between Kemal and his military rivals to a head. There were even rumors of a general’s plot against him. In order to neutralize their power in the army, Kemal had the Assembly pass a law obliging officers who wanted to be in politics to resign their commissions. Some Kemalist generals left the Assembly and returned to their military commands; the dissidents who wanted to continue their opposition to Kemal in the Assembly resigned their commissions thereby severing their links with the army. The long-term result of this law was to disengage the army from politics for the next generation.

It was during this period that Mustafa Kemal felt threatened to his authority which came from within his own party. He had not as yet carried out measures such as state intervention in the economy, protectionism, or even secularist reforms though such measures were under discussion. With rivals actively exploiting the very real economic discontent then widespread in the country, it would be virtually impossible to enact any radical legislation, legislation which the Kemalists considered vital for transforming Turkey. Kemal first considered dealing harshly with what he described as a counterrevolutionary threat. But he was dissuaded by moderates in the party to refrain from such action and persuaded instead to appease liberal opinion by replacing Ismet (Inönü), who was generally viewed as a hardliner, with Fethi (Okyar), the de facto leader of the liberal wing of the ruling party. Thus further crushing the Progressive Republicans.

Later in around the 1930’s the ideology of Kemalism was launched, adopting the six ‘fundamental and unchanging principles of (1) Republicanism, (2) Nationalism, (3) Populism, (4) Statism, (5) Secularism, and (6) Revolutionism/Reformism. These principles of Kemalism became part of the constitution of Turkey in 1937. The Constitutional Article reads as: ‘The Turkish State is a Republican, Nationalist, Populist, Statist, Secularist, and Revolutionary-Reformist.’

The death of Mustafa Kemal ‘Ataturk’ on November 1938, tended toward the process of thinking toward a Multi-Party system, it due to the success of the Ataturk could not maintain the cohesive bond within the party. It further paved way to the end of the party’s control over the bureaucracy so that party officials would no longer hold state office.

The World War II period was of difficulty for Turkey and the government could not control the ongoing unrest, and the introduction of the ‘Capital Tax Law’ was a deadly blow to the public, thus further causing unrest and heading towards the end of the One-Party Rule in 1945.

Although many political parties were established between 1945 and 1950, only the Democratic Party was successful., the first party was the National Development Party, a religious conservative party. It was established by Nuri Demirbas, Huseyin Avni Ulas, and Cevat Rifat Atilhan on July 18, 1945, but they did not achieve to be a part of the democratic system.

The member of the RRP, on January 7, 1946, Adnan Menderes, Celal Bayar, Fuat Koprulu, and Refik Koraltan led to the establishment of The Democratic Party. It grew rapidly in a very short time, with the election of 61 deputies in the 1946 elections. The eighth Assembly (1946) was the first real multi-party Assembly, but the first completely free and openly contested election in Turkey was not achieved until 1950. The period of 1946-50 could be named as the ‘Transitional Period’ to the multi-party system.

The Democratic Party won the election with 53.35% of the popular vote and 83.57% of the Grand National Assembly seats while RPP gained 39.78% of the votes and 14.40% of the seats. The populist politics, good weather conditions, inflationary economic policies, and foreign capital brought social and economic welfare for the people. Menderes’ Democratic Party won a splendid election victory in the 1954 elections.

Adnan Menderes’ despotic and neurotic behavior and politics led to his downfall and his party’s end by the 27th May 1960 overthrow. Menderes’ deviation from democracy, privilege given to his own supporters, and declination from Kemalist principles, all together, was an invitation to young patriots and Kemalist soldiers.

A new constitution was prepared and this Constitution was very civilized and radical. Under the 1961 Constitution, Turkey enjoyed a greater degree of freedom than ever before. People had more civil rights, the universities had greater autonomy, and students were given the freedom to organize their associations. Workers were given the right to strike.

By the 1960s Turkey had been thoroughly politicized and ideological politics were permitted. In those years the ultra-nationalist and neo-fascist National Action Party (NAP) and the Socialist Workers Party (WPT) had been founded. The Socialist Workers Party would get 16 seats in Parliament in the 1960s. It was the first and the last great success of the Turkish Socialists in Turkish modern history. The Islamist movement had also become quite powerful.

Two new political parties were formed as the inheritors of the Democratic Party in 1961: the New Turkey Party (NTP) and the Justice Party (JP), for the first election realized under the new election law. The two biggest parties were RPP and JP in all the elections during this period. The 1960s could be named the period of coalition governments.

As a result of high inflation, high political tension, rising unemployment, and rapid social-political change, Turkey dissolved into chaos. The Islamist movement had become more aggressive and its party, the National Order Party, openly rejected Ataturk and Kemalism. On account of this, the generals presented a memorandum to the President and the chairmen of the two chambers in 12 March 1971. The Generals demanded the formation of a strong, credible government capable of implementing the reforms envisaged by the constitution.

Nihat Erim constituted the government in 1971. According to Erim and the Military High Command, the liberal constitution of 1961 was a luxury for Turkey. They started an operation against civil rights and liberties. Political terrorism had become a regular feature of Turkish social life. There was a fundamental difference between the terrorism of the left in the early 1970s and the terrorism of right and left in the mid/late 1970s: In the first period, the action was against imperialism, western influences and capitalism whereas in the second period, the aim was to create chaos and demoralization.

In 1977 Ecevit established a minority government but he could not get a vote of confidence. This was the beginning of one of the darkest periods of Turkey in her modern history which would eventually bring the 12 September 1980 Coup D`etat. Enabling the Junta to set up the National Security Council (NSC) under the chieftainship of the chief of Staff Kenan Evren. The other members of the National Security Council were the chiefs of the armed forces that were army, navy, air force, and gendarmery. They ruled Turkey until November 1983. They attempted to change all areas of social life except foreign policy and the economic stabilization program which had been in place since 24 January 1980. In the first place, they suspended the Constitution and dissolved Parliament, then they closed down the political parties, detained their leaders, and suspended the professional associations and confederation of trade unions. The 1980s created a society of a society of haves and have-nots’ in Turkey.

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Causes of the Decline of the Ottoman Empire: Analytical Essay

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