Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Young Ottoman v.s. Old Ottoman
The Ottoman Empire in the 16th and 17th century went through great change in the Ottoman Empire in the 19th and 20th century. One thing that changed was the diversity of the state. In the past they had a more muslim established state but they would go on to have Turkish people and mostly non-muslims. Because of this change in diversity they were able to set laws and principles that were not muslim based. Along with these changes in principles was the influence of western knowledge. While the "Young Ottomans" focused on the influence of western knowledge, the "Young Turks" would start a reform that would eventually allow the state to become a democratic state. Overall since their plummet in the 17th century the Ottoman empire has turned their approach to governing they have flourished and become a better ran state.
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I liked what you said about diversity. I think it's interesting how we usually think of diversity as being a positive thing, for example in the U.S., there is so much diversity that makes for a strong nation. However, that wasn't the case in the Ottoman Empire, because the addition of diversity led to its downfall. It's also true, like you said, that the newfound diversity of the Ottomans was helpful in rebuilding the nation as into a fair and democratic place.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Natalie that it's interesting how diversity can be seen in both a good and bad light. Our differences can cause huge rifts in relationships with the rest of the community, but it can also allow for a richer and more interesting culture. However some could argue that mixing different cultures, as we do here in the modern day US, means that we end up having no culture at all. This is what seemed to happen with the Ottoman empire, they had so much of a mix of cultures that they could not stay unified. I think the reason why it worked well in the US and not so well for the Ottomans is because we focus on the fact that we're multi-cultural, whereas the Ottomans simply allowed other cultures to live together, but they still focused on their Islamic culture.
ReplyDeleteJulian - I like how you include the effects of diversity on a nation's general governmental methods. The Ottomans did temporarily improve their nation as a whole, but diversity (soon leading to nationalism) is what ultimately led to the downfall of the Ottomans.
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