Introduction

At the 17th century the golden age of the Ottoman Empire is already completed, in spite of the naval defeat of the Othoman fleet vis-a-vis a league joining together the Spain, Rome, Malta and Venice with Lépante in 1571, this first defeat major did not have immediate repercussions, but it marked a turning in the history of the Othoman State and a renewal of confidence in the power of Christian Europe.
Le decline of the empire becomes increasingly manifest when Osman II (1618 - 1622) was assassinated by the janissaries who protested his attempts at reform, which generates a degradation of the authority of the sultans and central capacity.
Indeed, the failure of the second seat of Vienna (1683), the treaty of Karlowitz in 1699 (first unfavourable treaty with the Othomans) and the Treated of Kutchuk-Kaïnardji (1774), reflect the growing weakening of the empire and mark the beginning of a crisis which will last until the 20th century.
La Countryside of Egypt, military forwarding company by Napoleon Bonaparte (1798 - 1801), and the invasion of the troops of the governor of the Egypt, Mehmed Ali, of the Syria, shake the bases of the Othoman State brutally and oblige it to seek solutions for the crises which burst within the empire, it is the time of Tanzimat.

Tanzimat (1839-1878)

The May 29th 1807, the sultan Selim III was deposited, its new army (Nizam el-djedid) dissolved, and the first true attempt at reform was subdued by the preserving body of the empire: janissaries. This event will become a lesson for the new Sultan Mahmud II, which will try throughout its reign (1808 - 1839) to save the Ottoman Empire of collapse. A series of reforms was realized, and the institution of the janissaries, which opposed the military reform a long time was removed in 1826. despite everything the changes which were operated by Mahmud II, it is only with its successor, the sultan Abdul-Medjid I (1839 - 1861) that the era of Tanzimat will be officially started by the imperial rescrit of Gulkhane.
Proclaimed the November 3rd 1839 with Gulkhane (place beside the palate of Topkapi), the Edict of reform is one in a series of texts and measurements which will form the essential pillar of Tanzimat (in Arabic reorganization). The edict announces that the subjects of the sultan are from now on equal, it still abolishes the leasing of the tax and promise the development of new methods to ensure the installation of a system right for the conscription and the training of the soldiers of the army. Indeed, Tanzimat aim at saving the Othoman State which becomes increasingly subjected to pressures outsides, and which confronts at the same time economic and political increasing interior difficulties of order. For that a panoply of measurements will be undertaken to rectify this deteriorated situation which threatens the existence even of the empire.
Although the sultan continued to occupy an important position in the Etatique building, its role will be eclipsed by the Door which becomes the center of impulse of the reforms. Indeed, the Othoman political scene will be dominated until 1878 by four people who occupied the station of the large-vizier by alternation, and who will constitute the spearhead of Tanzimat. they is four people are: Mustafa Rechid Pasha called the `father of Tanzimat', Mehmed Emin Ali Pasha, Mehmed Fu' AD Pasha and Midhat Pasha which will carry Tanzimat to their paroxysm by the constitution of 1876. the men of Tanzimat will play a leading role in the modernization of the empire and that by imitating Europe (especially France) in its political institutions and its administrative structure, and while trying to occidentalize the Othoman company so that it adapts to the various transformations which took place during the centuries. The reforms touch all the aspects of the life, but it is the reorganization of the capacity which is most important because it will leave considerable consequences on the work of the political institutions within État.
Tanzimat created a centralized government which is composed of a new leading class, the bureaucrats. In order to give to the State a better effectiveness, ministries conceived on the European model are established. Thus a ministry for justice is born about the middle of the reign of Abdulaziz (1861 - 1876), and in 1869 a ministry for the interior established east. Other ministries are created (agriculture, trade, public works) and their tasks diversify in a considerable way. Being the bond which connects the empire with the occident, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs constitutes the window of Othoman modernity. Each one of these ministries is put under the direction of a `to nazir' or minister. Above all the State Departments, the large-vizier (or the Sublime Door) supervises the activity of the various organizations, and chairs the Council of Ministers which becomes the central body of the executive. On the legislative level, the superior council of justice, founded in 1838, experiences a significant development in his functions. Indeed, this council works out the legislative texts and becomes principal the suppliers of the laws of the empire. Moreover, several codes are written, such as the Penal code (1840) and the commercial Code (1850) and especially the Civil code (Medjelle) which is a gigantic compilation of habits and laws. Opera hats on the laic model `' European, these codes pose a true problem with regard to their conformity with the Islamic right. To ensure their application, of new jurisdictions (nizami) are founded to slice the litigations which do not enter the competence of the authorities religieuses.
The reforms are not limited to these fields, they especially touch the education which becomes increasingly secular, after the installation of a new separate educational system of the traditional religious institutions. The army also is modernized according to the European model, and into 1864 a new administrative law divides the Ottoman Empire into 27 provinces (wilaye) and associates these provinces, with the other administrative subdivisions, of a mixed body composed people named by the central authority or elected officials on the local plan. The time of the tanzimat still knew major transformations of the Othoman company. Demographic rise, and the urban expansion thanks to the development of the urban population and with the rural migration, are the feature which characterizes second half of the 19th century (ex: the population of Beirut passes from 40000 inhabitants in the years 1950 to some 80000 in the years 1980). The economy in its turn will know a metamorphosis towards the capitalist system (foundation of the banks and the private companies, considerable development of export and the importation, expension of agriculture, railroads). Despite everything these reforms, the situation is far from being positive. Indeed, the Crimean War (1853 - 1856) and the crises successive which shake the Balkans and the Lebanon, prove that the reforms are insufficient. In 1856 the sultan Abdul-Medjid I proclaims new a réscrit imperial which affirms that the Christians and the Jews have the same rights henceforth as the Moslem subjects, and than freedom of worship their is recognized. The most immediate consequence of this measurement is the recognition of denominational communities equipped with clean capacities (Millets). The need for accelerating the rate/rhythm of Tanzimat pushes Midhat Pasha deposited the sultan Abdulaziz who opposes the adoption of a constitution which limits its prerogatives. In 1876 the new sultan Abdülhamid II promulgates a liberal constitution which founds a parliamentary monarchy and which respects freedoms individuelles.
After the disastrous war against the Russia (1875 - 1876) and the humiliating treaty of San Stefano, Abdülhamid II will be convinced that old the reforms are useless and that new methods must be adopted to save the State. The `red sultan' thus suspends the constitution in 1878 and dissolves the Parliament. The era of Tanzimat is finished, the empire plunges in an authoritative reign which lasts 33 years.

The reign of Abdülhamid II (1878-1908)

The personality of the sultan Abdülhamid II is a crucial factor to include/understand its despotic attitude. Tormented by the events which shook the beginning of its reign, and obsessed by fear to be deposited or even assassinated, Abdülhamid will choose a policy of authoritarianism, and centralization in the wide one of the Ottoman Empire to wear the nap off all independence inclinations. The first demonstration of this policy results in the displacement of the center of the capacity of the sublime door to the palate. Indeed, the Top dog is not any more that of the time of the Tanzimat, it is only one simple responsible agent only, with all the other ministers, in front of the sultan. Henceforth this last reign and control surface at the same time.
After the failure of the ottomanism, which aimed created a `Othoman nation' made up of equal subjects without any religious or ethnic discrimination, and to face the interferences of the foreign powers, in particular Great Britain which occupied Egypt in 1882 (subjected nominally to Othoman sovereignty), Abdülhamid was made the promoter of the ideology panislamist, hoping to mobilize the Moslems as well living in the empire as the other Moslem countries, and that while benefitting from its title as caliph of the whole of the community musulmane.
This strategy, adopted by the sultan, tends to consolidate the internal cohesion of the empire, and to reinforce solidarity between the Moslems, to thwart rising star of the concept of nationalism, which threatens not only the unit, but still the persistence even of the Othoman State. As example, the last decade of the 19th century was marked by the development of a spirit of nationalism at the Armenians, which degenerated with the massacres which took place between 1894 and 1896. moreover, the Crete is lost in 1897, while the Macedonia remains under Othoman sovereignty until the Guerre of Balkans in 1912. On another plan, the policies of reforms weighed heavy on the Othoman Treasury, the increased expenditure and the successive defeats military of the Othoman army during the 19th century, increased the budget deficit, which pushed the State to be involved in debt. In 1881, the Othoman Bank, makes a Franco-English establishment, increased of it its influence by the creation of the national Debt: mixed organization charged to perceive the incomes and to manage the Othoman national debt. Progressive decline of the empire, and the failure of the reforms carried out within the framework them Tanzimat to stop this decline, fermented of the ideas of opposition increasing to the despotism of Abdülhamid. Taking as a starting point the French revolution of 1789 and by the writings of Othoman intellects especially Namik Kemal, the opposition is concretized in the movement of Young person-Turkish which is constituted to some extent inside the State (Istanbul, Salonique) and to some extent outside (Cairo, Paris, Geneva). Claiming the restoration of the constitution of 1876 to be able to resist the European penetration, and to avoid the dismantling of the empire, the Young person-Turks gather liberals of various origins initially: Turkish S, Arab S, Armenian S and Kurdish S. Mouvement of nature complexes which is propagated between the students from the military medical school in Istanbul, the Young person-Turks are dominated by the Committee Union and Progress (CUP) founded in 1895 in Salonique by Tal' At bey and Rahmi bey and which recruits among the bodies of civil and military civils servant. As from 1907, this committee takes a more military coloring with the adhesion of officers of the Turkish army such Enver, Niazi bey, Jamal and Mustafa Kemal.
The crisis becomes increasingly obvious at the first decade of the 20th century. Indeed, the situation on the double economic plan and social worsens gradually, the delay in the payment of the wages to the soldiers causes several riots in the barracks. Moreover, the infiltration of Germany in the internal businesses of the empire, especially after the visit of the emperor Guillaume II, appeared by the business of the railroad of Baghdad. For that the relation of the Abdülhamid sultan with the other powers European becomes delicate, which causes a Anglo-Russian bringing together with the detriment of the Othomans. The combination of all these factors can only confirm one fact: the revolution is eminent.

Collapse (1908-1923)

The agitation of the young person-Turks in Othoman Macedonia becomes more and more growing and is even likely to be transformed into an insurrection which threatens the capacity of Abdülhamid. The situation becomes critical when the sultan sends 18000 men to overcome this mutiny. But instead of achieving their mission, they united with the rebels. Abdülhamid, in order to stop the movement, announces in July 1908 then the convocation of the Parliament and the handing-over in force of the Constitution of 1876, it is the end of the era of the Hamidien.
despotism In spite of the extent of the events of July 1908, which occurred cannot be qualified like revolution, it is rather a takeover by force which obliged the sultan to accept the reduction of its capacities. Indeed, the situation is far from being stable. The Young person-Turkish victory is of short duration. Benefitting from the disorganization of the Empire due to the revolution, the Austria appendix officially the Bosnia-Herzégovine, while Bulgaria proclaims its independence and the Crete its fastening with the Greece. The responsibility for this disaster falls on the CUP to the capacity. Moreover, the attitude of the Young person-Turks causes a sharp opposition of the Muslim population who their reproach for being themselves allied to the Christians, to the Jews and to the freemasons. Believing to be able to profit from islamist agitation with Istanbul, Abdülhamid carries out a counter-revolution, and that by the dissolution of the Parliament and the arrest of several members of the CUP. Vis-a-vis this situation the reaction of the Young person-Turks is not made wait. With the head of an army (the army of action) coming from the Othoman Macedonia, Mahmud Chevket Pasha penetrates in Istanbul the April 24th 1909, and deposits shortly after the Abdülhamid sultan which his/her brother Mehmed Rachad succeeds, or Mehmed V without real capacity. With the fall of the `red sultan' the final chapter of the history of the Ottoman Empire opens. Indeed, the revolution of 1908 to release the Othoman company subjected so much to the yoke of the despotism of Abdulhamid. New questions, neglected before, comes to emerge on the social scene. Thus the traditional situation of the woman is called in question, and of the movements of claim are created by women influenced by the Western ideas. Moreover, the workmen become aware of their condition and start to claim the improvement of their situation by strikes which are burst in several sectors (employed trams, dockers, glass-blowers, sector of communications, textiles, mines). The freedom of expression and the multiplication of the newspapers generate a rise in the intellectual life. Initially two tendencies dominate the Othoman company: an islamist tendency whose word carries it is Mehmed Akif, and another tendency occidentalist represented by Abdullah Djevdet. A third tendency will appear dice 1908 gradually and which will play a big role in the future, that of nationalism turc.
Arrived at the capacity, the CUP seeks to preserve the integrity of the Othoman State and to ensure the unit of all the components of the Othoman company, and that by creating equal citizens in front of the law, and not of the subjects belonging to millets various. But the achievement of these objectives will encounter crises which burst in several areas of the empire. Indeed, the year 1911 marked the beginning of the italo-Turkish war, which finished in 1912 by the recognition of the sovereignty of Italy on Tripolitaine. Moreover, vis-a-vis the policy of centralization carried out by the Young person-Turks, Albania revolts against Turkey under the direction of Ismail Kemal, and reaches then independence following the conference of London in 1912. the successive defeats of the Othoman army will develop more and more a feeling of Turkish nationalism which is spread between the exasperated population of Istanbul. The last years of the life of the Othoman State are remembered by a series of wars which seriously will compromise the integrity of the empire and the credibility of the central capacity. Be a prelude to of the final dislocation of the Othoman State, the two Balkan wars which took place of 1912 with 1913 make lose with the Othomans the essence of their possessions in Europe.
In this situation of disorder, and especially after the assassination of the top dog Mahmoud Chevket Pasha on June 21st, 1913, the capacity passes to a unionistic triumvirate made up by Tal' At, Jamal and Enver. Consequently, the increasingly exclusive promotion of a strict Turkish nationalism which results in a repression increased with regard to the minorities, consolidates the authoritarianism of the triumvirate and accentuates the competition and mistrust between Arabic and CUP.
The June 28th 1914, with Sarajevo, the archduke François-Ferdinand of Austria is assassinated by a Bosnian student. By the play of complex alliances in Europe, the First World War is started. November 2nd, Russia, followed the following day by the the United Kingdom and the France declared the war with the Ottoman Empire which had signed a secret pact with Germany. Except for the Battle of Gallipoli, the Turkish army does not gain any success either over the northern face with Russia, or in the south over the face of Suez Canal. The situation becomes more and more alarming with the Arab revolt, led by the sherif of the Mecque Hussein ibn Ali in June 1916 and supported by the British. In 1918 the Turkish army is ready to succumb, the British invaded Lebanon and Syria, took Damas (September 29th), then strategic Alep and other points, while the French naval forces occupied Beirut. An armistice was concluded the October 30th in Moudros. The Turks will be obliged to demobilize, break the relationships to the central Empires and to authorize the men-of-war combined to pass by the strait of Dardanelles. Humiliated by the treaty of Sevres which recognized Greek control on certain territories of the Anatolia, the government of Istanbul falls in discredit. Refusing this situation of national catastrophe, Mustafa Kemal succeeds in gaining decisive victories over the Greeks, in Sakyara (August 1921) and in Dumlupinar (August 1922), then occupied Smyrna in September again. By the new treaty of Lausanne in 1923, current Turkey reaches its independence, the sultanate and the caliphate were abolished (the last sultan Mehmed VI Vehid-el-Ddin was deposited in 1922) and the republic was proclaimed the October 29th 1923 with Mustafa Kemal for president. From now on the Ottoman Empire does not exist any more.

Conclusion

The structure of the Othoman company was based on a cultural unit and complex monk who ensured the persistence of the Othoman State. But successive defeats of the Othoman army during, and the increasing infiltration of the occident in the internal businesses of the empire obliged the leaders of the Othoman State to give up the traditional mode of government and to open on the Europe. Indeed, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire can be explained by the failure of the movement of reform which characterized them. Conscious of the need for modernizing the political apparatus and administrative, the men of Tanzimat could not solve the essential problems which resided at the center even of the Othoman company. Not having known a rebirth similar to that which dominated Europe at the 15th century, the Othomans imposed the reforms on a heteroclite population which is not yet ready to accept this major upheaval in the social norms. Moreover, the religious traditions anchored in the mentality of the people destroyed the role of the individual and transformed this last on a simple subject of a community which claims the protection of an external power. This antagonism between the communities caused the fragmentation of the empire and the loss of cohesion between the components of the Othoman company. Indeed, the various currents of thought which tried to save the empire (Ottomanisme, Panislamisme, Touranisme, Nationalisme) were only one alternative to the failure of the preceding current. In this situation of political, economic and social deterioration, the fall of the Ottoman Empire was only one matter of time. The First World War gave the blow of thanks to this corrupted building which had been already eroding slowly for four centuries.

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