Editing Ottoman Empire (section)

=== Social-political-religious structure ===
{{See also|Rayah}}

[[File:Subject Nationalities of the German Alliance (1917) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Ethnic map of the Ottoman Empire in 1917. Black = Bulgars and Turks, Red = Greeks, Light yellow = Armenians, Blue = Kurds, Orange = Lazes, Dark Yellow = Arabs, Green = Nestorians]]

Beginning in the early 19th century, society, government, and religion were interrelated in a complex, overlapping way that was deemed inefficient by Atatürk, who systematically dismantled it after 1922.<ref>Philip D. Curtin, ''The World and the West: The European Challenge and the Overseas Response in the Age of Empire'' (2002), pp. 173–192.</ref><ref>Fatma Muge Gocek, ''Rise of the Bourgeoisie, Demise of Empire: Ottoman Westernization and Social Change'' (1996) pp 138–42</ref> In Constantinople, the Sultan ruled two distinct domains: the secular government and the religious hierarchy. Religious officials formed the Ulama, who had control of religious teachings and theology, and also the Empire's judicial system, giving them a major voice in day-to-day affairs in communities across the Empire (but not including the non-Muslim millets). They were powerful enough to reject the military reforms proposed by Sultan [[Selim III]]. His successor Sultan [[Mahmud II]] (r. 1808–1839) first won ulama approval before proposing similar reforms.<ref>Kemal H. Karpat, "The transformation of the Ottoman State, 1789–1908." ''International Journal of Middle East Studies'' 3#3 (1972): 243–281. [http://psi424.cankaya.edu.tr/uploads/files/Karpat,%20Transformation%20of%20the%20Ott%20State,%201789-1908%20(1972).pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180417032011/http://psi424.cankaya.edu.tr/uploads/files/Karpat,%20Transformation%20of%20the%20Ott%20State,%201789-1908%20(1972).pdf |date=17 April 2018 }}</ref> The secularisation program brought by Atatürk ended the ulema and their institutions. The caliphate was abolished, madrasas were closed down, and the sharia courts were abolished. He replaced the Arabic alphabet with Latin letters, ended the religious school system, and gave women some political rights. Many rural traditionalists never accepted this secularisation, and by the 1990s they were reasserting a demand for a larger role for Islam.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Amit Bein |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D1xfDfgPJr8C&pg=PA141 |title=Ottoman Ulema, Turkish Republic: Agents of Change and Guardians of Tradition |publisher=Stanford University Press |date=2011 |isbn=978-0-8047-7311-9 |page=141 |access-date=15 May 2018 |archive-date=14 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114151702/https://books.google.com/books?id=D1xfDfgPJr8C&pg=PA141 |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Istanbul asv2021-11 img71 StAnthony of Padua Church.jpg|thumb|The original [[Church of St. Anthony of Padua, Istanbul]] was built in 1725 by the local Italian community of Istanbul.]]

The Janissaries were a highly formidable military unit in the early years, but as Western Europe modernized its military organization technology, the Janissaries became a reactionary force that resisted all change. Steadily the Ottoman military power became outdated, but when the Janissaries felt their privileges were being threatened, or outsiders wanted to modernize them, or they might be superseded by the cavalrymen, they rose in rebellion. The rebellions were highly violent on both sides, but by the time the Janissaries were suppressed, it was far too late for Ottoman military power to catch up with the West.<ref>Peter Mansfield, ''A History of the Middle East'' (1991) p. 31.</ref><ref>Oleg Benesch, "Comparing Warrior Traditions: How the Janissaries and Samurai Maintained Their Status and Privileges During Centuries of Peace." ''Comparative Civilizations Review'' 55.55 (2006): 6:37–55 [https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1669&context=ccr Online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191109153441/https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1669&context=ccr |date=9 November 2019 }}.</ref> The political system was transformed by the destruction of the [[Janissary|Janissaries]], a powerful military/governmental/police force, which revolted in the [[Auspicious Incident]] of 1826. Sultan Mahmud II crushed the revolt, executed the leaders and disbanded the large organization. That set the stage for a slow process of modernization of government functions, as the government sought, with mixed success, to adopt the main elements of Western bureaucracy and military technology.

The Janissaries had been recruited from Christians and other minorities; their abolition enabled the emergence of a Turkish elite to control the Ottoman Empire. A large number of ethnic and religious minorities were tolerated in their own separate segregated domains called millets.<ref>Karen Barkey, and George Gavrilis, "The Ottoman millet system: non-territorial autonomy and its contemporary legacy." ''Ethnopolitics'' 15.1 (2016): 24–42.</ref> They were primarily [[Ottoman Greeks|Greek]], [[Armenians in the Ottoman Empire|Armenian]], or [[History of the Jews in the Ottoman Empire|Jewish]]. In each locality, they governed themselves, spoke their own language, ran their own schools, cultural and religious institutions, and paid somewhat higher taxes. They had no power outside the millet. The Imperial government protected them and prevented major violent clashes between ethnic groups.

Ethnic nationalism, based on distinctive religion and language, provided a centripetal force that eventually destroyed the Ottoman Empire.{{Sfn|Quataert|1983}} In addition, Muslim ethnic groups, which were not part of the millet system, especially the Arabs and the Kurds, were outside the Turkish culture and developed their own separate nationalism. The British sponsored Arab nationalism in the First World War, promising an independent Arab state in return for Arab support. Most Arabs supported the Sultan, but those near Mecca believed in and supported the British promise.<ref>Youssef M. Choueiri, ''Arab Nationalism: A History: Nation and State in the Arab World'' (2001), pp. 56–100.</ref>
[[File:Istanbul_asv2021-11_img03_Hemdat_Israel_Synagogue.jpg|thumb|[[Hemdat Israel Synagogue]] of [[Istanbul]]]]

At the local level, power was held beyond the control of the Sultan by the [[Ayan (class)|ayans]] or local notables. The ayan collected taxes, formed local armies to compete with other notables, took a reactionary attitude toward political or economic change, and often defied policies handed down by the Sultan.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gábor Ágoston and Bruce Alan Masters |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QjzYdCxumFcC&pg=PA64 |title=Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire |publisher=Infobase |date=2010 |isbn=978-1-4381-1025-7 |page=64 |access-date=15 May 2018 |archive-date=14 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114151704/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Encyclopedia_of_the_Ottoman_Empire/QjzYdCxumFcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA64&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref>

After the 18th century, the Ottoman Empire was shrinking, as Russia put on heavy pressure and expanded to its south; Egypt became effectively independent in 1805, and the British later took it over, along with Cyprus. Greece became independent, and Serbia and other Balkan areas became highly restive as the force of nationalism pushed against imperialism. The French took over Algeria and Tunisia. The Europeans all thought that the empire was a sick man in rapid decline. Only the Germans seemed helpful, and their support led to the Ottoman Empire joining the central powers in 1915, with the result that they came out as one of the heaviest losers of the First World War in 1918.<ref>Naci Yorulmaz, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2-eKDwAAQBAJ ''Arming the Sultan: German Arms Trade and Personal Diplomacy in the Ottoman Empire Before World War I''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101141247/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Arming_the_Sultan/2-eKDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1 |date=1 November 2022 }} (IB Tauris, 2014).</ref>