Lecturer: Inrahim Koncak

Student: Aidana Sheralieva IR 4-A

Take home exam:

Compare the reform attempts of the Ottoman Empire with

Russian Empire
Ottoman and Russian empires in its history, in the first place had a
grandiose accumulation of different cultures, peoples and religions, owned by
both Christian and Islamic civilization. Second, these two great
transcontinental empires for centuries had sharp conflict with each other
because of the control over the border areas, and even were in the negative
quality relations.
Both empires were characterized by the sacred character of the supreme
power. In Istanbul and St. Petersburg, the imperial order and the imperial idea
were the sacred image of the ruler: Ottoman Sultan - only the Caliph of all
Sunni Muslims in the Islamic world and the Russian emperor - the only
Orthodox king for all subjects in the Orthodox world and the "White King" for
the Muslim subjects of the empire.The capital cities of two empires were
Istanbul and St. Petersburg were huge cosmopolitan cities at that time, in
sharp contrast to most other cities of the empire. In Istanbul, home to many
European Christians, Greeks, Jews and Armenians. In the same cultural
tolerance for other religions and ethnic groups was Petersburg, which lived in
the XVIII-XIX centuries. far more foreigners than in other Russian cities.
The main difference between two great empires was religious- Sunni
Islam and Orthodox Christianity. Especially in contrast to Russia, where
Muslims, although they were not incorporated into the empire-wide elite, at
the same time were not unequal denomination on the tax regime in the
Ottoman Empire, Christians were initially placed in an unequal position
compared with the Muslims. Unequal were Christians with Muslims and in
legal terms. Another difference was in the relationship of religion and state. If,
before the XVIII century Russia was an Orthodox-theocratic state, then,
starting with Peter the Great, in the state prevailed over the secular regime of
statehood and legal legislation, and the loyalty of subjects to the Orthodox
Church and religion relegated to the background in relation to the service of
the Emperor and the Fatherland. But the Koran and the Sharia is the norm in
the Ottoman Empire, the dominant legislation during the whole period of the
Empire. The Ottoman Empire was a clerical state, in which the role of the
clergy was very significant. For example, when the majority of the Ulema
made open opposition Western reforms of Selim III (1789-1807 gg.), It was an
important condition for the failure of the reform at the beginning of the XIX
century.1 Unlike Istanbul Russia much earlier and more decisively on the path

of western modernization. During the XVIII century. and the XIX century. The
Russian Empire, in contrast to the Ottoman (she took the path of partial
modernization in the middle of the XIX century-Tanzimat reforms), constantly
expanded and was victorious not only over Asian powers (Turkey and Iran),
but even over the more advanced (in the economic and technological against)
the European powers and empires (Napoleon's empire).At the Ottomans it did
not, Empire and Istanbul are increasingly transformed depending on the state
of the West. By the end of the XIX century the keys of its economic and
financial sovereignty are in London and Paris, not in Istanbul. The lack of
consistent modernization of the army and the industry did not allow the
Ottoman defeat the more modernized, and hence stronger European powers
and Russia. Ottoman Empire had stopped its expansion at the end of the XVII
century., Losing a decisive battle of Vienna in 1683 But the Russian Empire is
constantly expanding its imperial territorial area until the beginning of the XX
century, and the zenith of its power was the XIX century. End of Russian
expansion in the Far East has become a losing Russian-Japanese war of 19041905., Which has a centuries-old continental marathon one of the greatest
empires the world-Russian. By the beginning of the fateful for both empires of
the First World War, the Russian Empire was the first-order power, while the
Ottoman Empire was in all indicators at the end of powers of the second order.
Despite the apparent superiority of one empire (Russian) over another
(Ottoman) on the eve of World War I, the degree of its vitality was low in
comparison with Istanbul. Paradoxically, fighting in different camps (However,
Russian was in the camp of the winners and the defeated Ottoman camp),
both empires that war crushingly defeated and disbanded almost
simultaneously. The dramatic similarity between the two irreconcilable with
each other empires.
References:
https://books.google.kg/books?
hl=ru&lr=&id=nK5ZDKf3JgkC&oi=fnd&pg=PP7&dq=the+comparison+
+of+the+Ottoman+empire+with+those+of+the+Russian+empire&ots=IsNz
2oMMK1&sig=BeuDPqaVoLIVZQn2gQ1hLiJVopk&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f
=false
Book: A Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire