The Tanzimat Period as social modernization project (In the context of education reform) (1839-1876)

The Tanzimat Period is a process in which the reform of education is quite intense. In this study, the Tanzimat Period was considered and examined as a project of social modernization. The steps taken in the Tanzimat Period, which constituted the first stage of the comprehensive and multidimensional modernization process in the Ottoman Empire, are very important because of the inheritance left behind in terms of the effects on the Ottoman / Turkish social structure and knowledge and experience for later periods. It was emphasized that during the Tanzimat period, the process of social modernization was carried out and that the most important instrument was education in this process. With the Tanzimat period, education was taken under state control and instrumentalized in the process of social modernization. In the Tanzimat period, the bureaucrats, who are the executives of social modernization, have laid the foundations of the modern system in the Empire. The steps taken in the field of education brought with it a new social order. As a matter of fact, in this study was focused on what policies the Ottoman bureaucracy had in order to successfully carry out social modernization during the Tanzimat period and what the consequences of these policies were. In addition, modernization, reasons for modernizing the Ottoman Empire, Tanzimat Fermanı and Islahat Fermanı, which are considered as the road maps of the Tanzimat Period, and lastly detailed information about obstacles, negligence and limitations in the process of social modernization. Much of the work on the Tanzimat Period has focused on reforms in the political, military, and economic spheres, or on the process of change in these areas. It is difficult to come to an in-depth study on the education reform of the Tanzimat period and the importance of the education reform for this period. Historical research has been used in qualitative research methods in this study, which is thought to be lacking. Key Words: Social Modernization, Ottoman Empire, Tanzimat Period, Education Reforms