Abdu’l-Aziz (1830-1876), was the 32nd sultan of the Ottoman
Empire and 2nd sultan of the Tanzimat period of Ottoman reforms (1839-1876).
This reform era was built on the changes instituted under Sultan Mahmud II, who
sought to centralize and modernize government during his reign from 1808 to
1839. The Tanzimat period was inaugurated by Abdu’l-Aziz’s brother, Sultan Abdu’l-Medjid
I. Abdu’l-Aziz succeeded Abdu’l-Medjid I to power in 1861. The reforms
instituted by Abdu’l-Medjid and continued by Abdu’l-Aziz were numerous and
affected many areas of the government, including the election of officials and
military service. The reforms were supported by many countries throughout
Europe. In the end, however, these reforms failed to contain nationalism or to
stave off foreign aggression or internal corruption.
In administration, a highly centralized provincial organization
and bureaucracy began to replace the old fief system. Central executive
functions were gradually distributed to newly established councils of experts,
which evolved from advisory councils to more modern ministries. In the field of
justice, the "men of the Tanzimat," as the reformers were known,
tried to assure security of life, honor, and property for all subjects,
regardless of race, religion, or wealth. The old system of internal communal
organization was preserved, but non-Muslim members, called rayas, were given
legal equality with Muslims.
In addition, the dictatorial and sometimes oppressive power
of government figures was being replaced by rule through elected councils. New
civil codes of law based on European examples were introduced. However, these
new codes retained many characteristics of the old Islamic law due to the
influence of Ahmed Jevdet Pasha, the chairman of the judicial commission and
close friend of Abdu’l-Aziz. In the military, a regular system of compulsory
military service was established. Because the non-Muslim subjects were being
given legal equality, they were obliged to participate in military service in
the Ottoman army for the first time.
The reforms met with varying responses. They were only
partly carried out, mainly because of the opposition of the military and
administrative classes, who benefited from the old system. There was a
widespread Muslim reaction against the new privileges, military and otherwise,
given to the non-Muslim rayas, since many of the changes were being pressed on Abdu’l-Aziz
and his ministers by the European powers. The non-Muslim minorities were glad
to accept legal equality, but they sought to retain the privileges they had
been given in return for inequality, such as that of exemption from military
service.
The non-Muslims were supported in their position by several
European powers, each of which used its influence to increase the special
privileges of the minorities in order to advance its own position in the
empire. Britain and France both tried to defend Ottoman territorial integrity
by pressing new reforms on Abdu’l-Aziz, while Austria, Russia, and Prussia
tried to prevent reforms.
Abdu’l-Aziz was content to accept the Tanzimat reforms so
long as he was under the direction of his ministers. He was the first Ottoman
sultan who was relatively accessible to his subjects and who even attended the
social gatherings held by European residents in Constantinople (now İstanbul).
The sultan’s tour of Europe in 1867 was the first such trip by an Ottoman
ruler.
After the death of his trusted adviser, Ali Pasha, in 1871, Abdu’l-Aziz
fell into the hands of less capable ministers, of whom the most influential was
Grand Vizier Mahmud Nedim Pasha. Instead of maintaining the previously
established friendship with Britain and France, Mahmud Nedim pursued close
relations with Russia, whose ambassador in Constantinople, Nikolai Pavlovich
Ignatiev, gained great influence over the sultan. As a result, many of the
Tanzimat reforms in internal affairs were suspended or ignored. Corruption
returned to the administration, and vast government extravagance was financed
by foreign loans acquired at ruinous rates of interest. Mahmud Nedim's
financial policies culminated in the empire’s virtual bankruptcy in 1875. In
addition, at about the same time, the Ottomans were defeated in a war against
their former Balkan subjects in 1875 and 1876.
A constitutional movement then dethroned Abdu’l-Aziz in
1876. A new constitution was announced on the grounds that it was the unchecked
absolutism of Abdu’l-Aziz and the upper class that had caused the disasters
that wracked the empire. Abdu’l-Aziz lived in Constantinople for a short time
under his successor Murad V, but he was found dead with his wrists slashed on
June 4, 1876. (Britannica Encyclopedia)
