“The Tanzimat” refers to the concept of ordering and putting in reordering certain elements. In other words, the Tanzimat is associated with the reforms in the Ottoman Empire in the period from 1839 to the late 19th century and the period of their implementation. The key objectives of the Tanzimat included legal and military reform, increased income, and the establishment of discipline. In general, the Tanzimat contributed to a certain acceleration of Turkey’s economic development, and the growth of the national bourgeoisie. It also cleared the way for the bourgeois development of the country and contributed to the development and improvement of literature, science, and the formation of the Turkish intelligentsia.
As mentioned earlier, the historical period of this term originated during the period of the Ottoman Empire. The Tanzimat was caused by the impact of the crisis of the Ottoman feudal society and socio-economic shifts. Moreover, the empire was threatened with decline and disintegration; it seemed no longer to confront any great European powers. Sultan Abdulhamid II promulgated the “holy decree,” announcing the beginning of reforms in the empire. The reforms were a progressive continuation of the usual and orderly way of life and various innovations.
The historical significance of the Tanzimat is in mortgaging the future and creating a new class of soldiers, intellectuals, and bureaucrats. The Tanzimat met the emerging needs of the bourgeois development of Turkey and created favorable conditions for it. In general, in this period, the ways to capitalist development of the Ottoman Empire were taken, supported, and continued by the “new Ottomans” and the Young Turks.