Ottoman and Japanese Political Systems (c.1820-1920) Essay

Ottoman and Japanese Political Systems (c.1820-1920) - Essay Example to the conquest of Varna and capture of Constantinople that made the Ottoman Empire as the oldest surviving empire of Europe within a century (Rahme 31). The old Ottoman Empire however declined and became as the Turkey that we know today after it allied with Germany in the First World War. Prior to its dissolution attempts were made to improve its state in reconstituting its own political system but the reforms instituted were just too late to save the old Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire decline begun with the series of war beginning with the invasion of Egypt and Syria by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798 to 1801. The intervention of the French, Russian and British due to the advances and occupation of Muhammad Ali Pasha’s army in Anatolia and Syria also precipitated its decline as it has grown weaker due to the war. The call for independence of the Greeks that eventually led to its independence as a self-governing nation also diminished its territory. European leaders however were concerned how will the Ottoman collapse will pose to the general peace. Such they made an attempt to maintain the Ottoman State so as not to cause instability in their region. They agreed to maintain its integrity by â€Å"reversing the potentially devastating results of war at the negotiating table and, in 1856, admitting the Ottoman state into the â€Å"Concert of Europe† (Quataert 56). Thus the European consensus then was to keep Ottoman state intact despite its weak stature as an attempt to maintain it as a viable state. Internally, an attempt was made by Selim III and Mahmud II instituted drastic reform known as the Tanzimat or reform or reorganization as an effort to reinvigorate and reconstitute their own political systems. One of the main reason of the decline of Ottoman was its harsh and inept rule coupled with a bankrupt coffers and Tanzimat was implemented to address it. Hat-i Shariff launched the firstTanzimat in 1839 where all persons banished or condemned to death