Tanzimat Reforms Reconsidered: the Case Study of Tuna Province (1856-1868)
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TANZIMAT REFORMS RECONSIDERED: THE CASE STUDY OF TUNA PROVINCE (1856-1868) A PhD Dissertation By YALÇIN MURGUL Department of History İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University Ankara December 2016 To My Family TANZIMAT REFORMS RECONSIDERED: THE CASE STUDY OF TUNA PROVINCE (1856-1868) The Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences of İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University By YALÇIN MURGUL In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY İHSAN DOĞRAMACI BILKENT UNIVERSITY ANKARA December 2016 ABSTRACT TANZIMAT REFORMS RECONSIDERED: THE CASE STUDY OF TUNA PROVINCE (1856-1868) Murgul, Yalçın Ph. D., Department of History Supervisor: Asst. Prof. Dr. Oktay Özel December 2016 After signing of the Treaty of Paris (1856), Westernization and other reforms were adopted by the Ottoman government as a strategy to protect the state in existence. The Christian Question in the Empire as well as the pressures of the Great Powers emerged to become the most important reasons to impel the Ottoman Government to carry out reforms. The Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg Empire were the countries that attempted to find a way out of the political difficulties and challenges arising from the legacy of an ancient regime, emerging nationalist movements and imperialist aspirations of Western powers and Russia. Focusing on the period from 1856 to 1868, the aim of this study is to re-visit the reform question by devoting a special place to the Tuna (Danube) Province (Tuna Vilâyeti), which was governed by Midhat Pasha between the years 1864 and 1868. This is simply because during that time period, the Tuna Province was designed as a governmental project to spread the reforms across the country, in other words, it served as a model for other provinces. This thesis is divided into two parts: 1) The World Encircling the Ottoman Empire iii (1856-1870) and The Reform Question (1856-1865), and 2) The Vilâyet of Tuna (1864-1868). Key Words: Balkan Crisis, Midhat Pasha, Provincial Reform, Tanzimat, Tuna Vilâyeti iv ÖZET TANZİMAT REFORMLARI ÜZERİNE BİR YENİDEN DEĞERLENDİRME: TUNA VİLAYETİ MESELESİ (1856-1868) Murgul, Yalçın Ph. D., Department of History Supervisor: Asst. Prof. Dr. Oktay Özel December 2016 Paris Barış Anlaşması (1856)’nın imzalanmasından sonra Osmanlı yönetimi reformu ve bir anlamda Batılılaşmayı varolan devleti korumak için bir strateji olarak benimsemişti. Hristiyan meselesi ve Büyük Güçlerin baskısı Osmanlı Hükümeti’ni reforma zorlayan en ciddi sebepler olarak ortaya çıkacaktı. Osmanlı Devleti ve Habsburg İmparatorluğu içinde bulundukları dönemde ancien regime mirası, ortaya çıkan milliyetçi hareketler ve Batı ile Rusya’nın emperyal hırslarından kaynaklanan siyasal sorunların karşısında çıkışı arayan ülkelerdi. 1856-1868 dönemine odaklanan bu çalışmanın amacı reformlar meselesini Midhat Paşa’nın 1864-1868 döneminde valiliğini yaptığı Tuna Vilâyeti’ne çok özel bir bölüm açarak yeniden ele almaktır. Bunun sebebi söz konusu dönemde Tuna Vilâyeti’nin Osmanlılar tarafından v reformların ülke çapına yayılmasını sağlayacak bir hükümet projesi, bir model Vilâyet olarak tasarlanmış olmasıdır. Tez iki ana bölüme ayrılmıştır. Bunlar 1) “Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nu çevreleyen Dünya(1856-1870)” ve “Reform Meselesi(1856-1865)” ve 2) “Tuna Vilâyeti(1864-1868)” dir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Balkan Krizi, Midhat Paşa, Tanzimat, Tuna Vilâyeti, Vilâyet Reformu vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I wish to thank my advisor Oktay Özel for his tolerance and support while conducting this study. He provided me the necessary strategy to conduct my research. From Evgeni Radushev, I obtained valuable guidance concerning Bulgarian History. I am thankful for his time, interest and patience. I am indebted to Zeki Sarıgil for his assistance in writing this thesis. Words are inadequate to portray the ways in which he has helped me during this project. I owe more than I can say to many friends who have helped me in innumerable ways at many stages of my work. At this point, I would like to thank Selim Tezcan, Özhan Kapıcı, Alper Ersaydı and Zozan Pehlivan for their invaluable support and friendship throughout the preparation of this work. I would like to thank especially my dearest friends Birkan Duman and Burcu Kırancı for their patience and hospitality. Financial support from Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu (TÜBİTAK), made the research and writing of this thesis possible. To TÜBİTAK, go my great thanks and appreciation. Finally, I would like to thank Fatih Durgun, Valeriy Morkva, Ömer Gezer and Mehmet Kuzu for their friendship and emotional support. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT......................................................................................................... iii ÖZET.................................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................... viii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION............................................................................ 1 CHAPTER II: THE WORLD ENCIRCLING THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE (1856- 1870) .................................................................................................................. 29 2.1. The Reign of Speed and Quantity in the West .............................................. 29 2.2. Europe ........................................................................................................ 37 2.3. Russia ........................................................................................................ 49 2.4. Danubian Principalities ............................................................................... 77 2.5. Serbia and Montenegro ............................................................................... 88 CHAPTER III: REFORM QUESTION(1856-1865) : MAJOR ISSUES................103 3.1. The Treaty of Paris(1856) and the Reform Question ......................................103 3.2. General Problems in the Country ..................................................................117 3.3. Crisis in Mount Lebanon and Syria ...............................................................142 3.4. The Christian Question .................................................................................151 3.5. Circassian Emigration ..................................................................................173 CHAPTER IV: REFORM QUESTION: PROJECTS AND PROPOSALS……… 180 viii 4.1. The British Reform Proposals .......................................................................180 4.2. Reform Efforts (1856-1864) .........................................................................199 4.3. Reform Efforts in the Provinces ....................................................................217 4.4. Bosnia and Herzegovina ...............................................................................228 4.5. Financial Crisis ............................................................................................242 CHAPTER V: THE VİLAYET OF TUNA(1864-1868): BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT ..........................................................................................................256 5.1. Establishment of the Vilâyet of Tuna ............................................................256 5.2. The Bulgarian Question................................................................................264 5.3. Midhat Pasha’s Governorship of Niş Province ..............................................281 CHAPTER VI: MODERNIZATION OF TUNA PROVINCE: (1864-1868)……. 293 6.1. Administrative Reform .................................................................................293 6.2. Infrastructure Works…………………………………………………………..318 6.3. The Problem of Immigrants ..........................................................................332 6.4. Efforts for the Creation of a Strong Economic Society...................................342 6.5. Urban Renewal ............................................................................................367 6.6. Modernization of Education .........................................................................385 6.7. Renovation of the Police Organisation and the Construction of Military Buildings............................................................................................................403 CHAPTER VII: MİDHAT PASHA’S LAST MOVES AGAINST BULGARIAN NATIONALISM…………………………………………………………………..415 7.1. Midhat’s Struggle with Bulgarian Revolutionaries ........................................415 7.2. The End of Midhat’s Governorship ...............................................................434 CHAPTER VIII: CONCLUSION........................................................................449 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..............................................................................................460 APPENDICES ...................................................................................................477 ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Gathering in Istanbul at the end of December, 1876, representatives of the European Powers were discussing the fate and the future of the Ottoman Empire; while Ottoman statesmen declared, as a “last resort”, The Ottoman Constitution of 1876 (Kanun-i Esasi), the first Ottoman Constitution, with artillery fire and ostentation which would not escape the notice of the representatives. Hatt-ı Humayun and