Flag of the Ottoman Empire (eight pointed star)

Ottomanism or ''Osmanlılık'' (, tr, Osmanlıcılık) was a concept which developed prior to the 1876–1878

First Constitutional Era The First Constitutional Era ( ota, مشروطيت; tr, Birinci Meşrutiyet Devri) of the Ottoman Empire was the period of constitutional monarchy from the promulgation of the Ottoman constitution of 1876 (, , meaning ' Basic Law' or 'Fundamen ...

of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. Its proponents believed that it could create the social cohesion needed to keep

millets Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets a ...

from tearing the empire apart.

History

Origins of the concept

Thinkers such as

Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (; ; 18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the principa ...

(1689–1755) and

Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...

(1712–1778), as well as the events of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

of 1789, strongly influenced Ottomanism. It promoted equality among the ''millet''s. The idea of Ottomanism originated amongst the

Young Ottomans The Young Ottomans () were a secret society established in 1865 by a group of Ottoman Turkish intellectuals who were dissatisfied with the Tanzimat reforms in the Ottoman Empire, which they believed did not go far enough. The Young Ottomans so ...

(founded in 1865) in concepts such as the acceptance of all separate ethnicities in the Empire regardless of their religion, i.e., all were to be "Ottomans" with equal rights. In other words, Ottomanism held that all subjects were equal before the law. Ideally, all citizens would share a geographical area, a language, culture, and a sense of a "non-Ottoman" party who were different from them. The essence of the ''millet'' system of confessional groupings was not dismantled, but secular organizations and policies were applied. Primary education, conscription,

head tax A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments fr ...

and

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require a ...

were to be applied to non-Muslims and Muslims alike.

Development of the concept

Ottomanism was inspired and formed as a reaction to European ideas and the growing Western involvement in the Ottoman Empire. Following the

Tanzimat The Tanzimat (; ota, تنظيمات, translit=Tanzimāt, lit=Reorganization, ''see'' nizām) was a period of reform in the Ottoman Empire that began with the Gülhane Hatt-ı Şerif in 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876. ...

reforms begun in 1839, Ottomanism developed from a need to bring the Empire together. The Ottomans feared the growing threat the Europeans posed, especially after events like the 1838

Treaty of Balta Liman The 1838 Treaty of Balta Liman, or the Anglo-Ottoman Treaty, is a formal trade agreement signed between the Sublime Porte of the Ottoman Empire and Great Britain. The trade policies imposed upon the Ottoman Empire, after the Treaty of Balta Lima ...

, which allowed for British merchants in the Empire to be taxed equally to the locals, and the growing concern of the

great power A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power inf ...

s over the treatment of Christians within the Empire. The Ottomans thought that if they could unite the Empire fully under one state entity, then they would be stronger and the Europeans would have a harder time encroaching on Ottoman territory, as well as on Ottoman people. Previously, the Empire was vastly split into many small communities that mostly governed themselves. The

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

oversaw these communities, but most areas adhered to their own laws and beliefs. This accounted in part for the success of the Ottoman Empire: the Sultan didn't force any major changes on populations as he conquered them. Because of struggle for

self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...

, the concept of nation-states with shared senses of identities began to rise in Europe, most notably with the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...

of 1821-1830, which also started affecting the various other peoples of the Ottoman Empire. From these instances, Ottomanism developed as a social and political response, with the hope of saving the Empire from downfall.

Ottoman nationality

The major precursors to Ottomanism were the Reformation Edict of 1856, which promised full equality under the law regardless of religion, and the ''Ottoman Nationality Law'' of 1869, which created a common ''Ottoman citizenship'' irrespective of religious or ethnic affiliation. The nationality legislation was a 19th-century concept, and the Ottoman Empire adopted it early. The Ottoman Nationality Law appeared before any commonly-adopted international concept of the basic elements of this legislation. Many in the non-Muslim ''millets'' and many Muslims rejected Ottomanism. Non-Muslims perceived it as a step towards dismantling their traditional privileges. Meanwhile, the Muslims saw it as the elimination of their own superior position. There were claims that Ottomanism was a reaction to the ''

'', the 1839-1876 era of intensive restructuring of the Ottoman Empire by the bureaucratic elite. The inauguration of the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

in 1876 contributed to the spirit of reform, as all

were represented in this bicameral assembly.

Young Turk Revolution

Ottomanism enjoyed a revival during the

Young Turk Revolution The Young Turk Revolution (July 1908) was a constitutionalist revolution in the Ottoman Empire. The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), an organization of the Young Turks movement, forced Sultan Abdul Hamid II to restore the Ottoman Consti ...

of 1908, and during the

Second Constitutional Era The Second Constitutional Era ( ota, ایكنجی مشروطیت دورى; tr, İkinci Meşrutiyet Devri) was the period of restored parliamentary rule in the Ottoman Empire between the 1908 Young Turk Revolution and the 1920 dissolution of the ...

of 1908 to 1920. It lost most of its adherents during the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

of 1912–13, when the Ottoman Empire lost most of its European territories inhabited by minorities. Disappointment in the failure of Ottomanism became integral to the surge of

Kemalism Kemalism ( tr, Kemalizm, also archaically ''Kamâlizm''), also known as Atatürkism ( tr, Atatürkçülük, Atatürkçü düşünce), or The Six Arrows ( tr, Altı Ok), is the founding official ideology of the Republic of Turkey.Eric J. Zurche ...

in the 1920s.

References

* The concept is covered under the section ''The era of Modern Reform:Tanzimat'' at "History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey" by

Stanford J. Shaw Stanford Jay Shaw (5 May 1930 – 16 December 2006) was an American historian, best known for his works on the late Ottoman Empire, Turkish Jews, and the early Turkish Republic. Shaw's works have been criticized for their lack of factual accurac ...