1

Brandon Carro

Gender & Islam

Final Paper

6/07/2014

Education and Identity in the Ottoman Empire and Turkish Republic

Once the most powerful country in the world, the Ottoman Empire shaped the lives of

millions of people. This was true not only in a trans-European sense, but in terms of the

Empire’s subjects as well. During the late nineteenth century the Empire was in a state of

decline. To solve the Empire’s ever increasing social issues, the state engaged in a number of

educational reforms. This study examines those reforms, and how they laid the foundation for

later educational transformations in the Young Turk period, and later in the Turkish Republic

under Ataturk. The central argument of this study is that the educational reforms that began in

the Late Ottoman Period are in fact central to the success of the reforms in the Turkish Republic.

It is essential to understand the continuations between these periods, rather than temporally

separating them into two distinct groups.

To accomplish this, several different influences on education will be examined. This

includes an examination of state policy towards education. Indeed, this topic makes up the bulk

of this study. In close connection with this, the influence of outsiders on the Ottomans must be

examined. This includes both the direct diplomatic actions of other countries, and the actions of

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foreign citizens living in the Ottoman Empire. In addition, the curriculum of these schools will

be examined.

Education is one of the most important functions that a government can perform. It was

of particular importance to the Ottoman Empire because of the transformative effect it can have

on an individual’s relationship to their country and government. Schools and the education they

give can shape ideology, and in doing so, “program” people to believe certain things and have

certain attitudes. As stated above, the Empire was in a state of decline in the late nineteenth

century. Not only were they losing international power, but their influence on their own

provinces in Southeast Europe and the Middle East had dropped off sharply. Because of this

decline, brought about in part due to the rise of nationalism, citizens in the Empire no longer had

strong ties to the government, and many considered breaking away. Through education the state

believed they could reaffirm their subject’s dedication to the Empire.

Not only would education solve these issues of patriotism, it was widely considered to be

a panacea for all of the Empire’s ills. During this period of decline, there was a perceived loss of

morality among the populace. By providing education that was both pro-government and

Islamic in nature, it was hoped that this moral negligence would be corrected. Another ill that

was hoped to be fixed with education was the failing economy. Education would provide better

jobs for Ottoman citizens. Not only would education effect the private industry, it would

directly help the government. By having a body of citizens who had received a modern

education, the state would be able to employ them to create a modern bureaucracy. This

bureaucracy could then reaffirm and project the strength of the Empire. Thus it was perceived

that education could solve the majority of issues facing the Ottomans.

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As historical events unfolded, the Empire eventually ceased to be. After the First World

War, the Empire was dissolved, and the modern Republic of Turkey was created. This was

accompanied by a change in focus in education; no longer was Ottomanism promoted. Rather,

Turkism, and then Secular Republicanism became the new ideology taught in schools. The

Turkish Republic also secularized education, replacing Islamic morality with Western

philosophy. These changes were only possible because of the reforms made in the Late Ottoman

Period, although certainly the new Republic denied these connections.

In addition to these topics, the issue of gender will be addressed. While the Late

Ottoman Period opened the discussion of women’s education, it wasn’t until the Young Turk and

later the Republican period that women finally gained increased access to schools. Despite this,

the education they received was different from men. This was because of the role that women

were expected to fulfill in society.

This so far has been a broad outline of the topics and conclusion that this study covers. It

is important to express these before diving directly into the subject. As a final note by way of

introduction, the difficulties facing the Ottomans should be mentioned. This was an Empire that

stretched across two continents, and radically different societies. As such, issues of language

and religion often hindered the Empire in their education programs. The Empire’s former

“hands off” approach to education also proved to be a stumbling block as they started to take a

more proactive approach; they were infringing on what was traditionally locally run institutions.

As stated earlier, in addition to these internal concerns, external forces effected the Ottomans:

neighboring countries diplomatically antagonized the Empire, and foreign nationals living within

the Empire proved to be a roadblock to educational reform.

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Thus the Ottomans found themselves at a crossroads. A variety of forces shaped and

transformed the Empire during what were to be its final decades. The Empire, however, did not

believe itself to be in the twilight of its existence1. Rather, a spirit of bold curiosity characterized

the Empire for the adventure ahead, and it would be education that brought the Ottomans back

into glory.

Ottoman education reform began in the 1860s and 70s. It should be noted though, that

this was not the beginning of education reform within the Ottoman Empire. The Tanzimat

period during the 1830s and 40s saw the real start of reform, it was however, not Ottoman

reform. Rather than finding a unique solution to their educational concerns, the Ottoman

government during this time imported wholesale French school systems. This was not a

localized solution to education, rather, it was merely copying European models. As such, it

produced mixed results within the Empire. Eventually the Tanzimat period came to an end in

1876, and a new era of education reform began.

The beginning of this new period, which while lacking a distinct name like “Tanzimat”,

came to characterize education in the Late Ottoman Period. It has origins in the Education Act

of 1869. This act was decreed by the government in the twilight of the Tanzimat period, and it

set up a broad framework for education. Specifically, this act outlined the creation of two

categories of schools: public and private. The public schools would, obviously, be run by the

1 Benjamin C. Fortna, Imperial Classroom: Islam, the State, and Education in the Late Ottoman Empire (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), 12.

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state and promote state ideology. Private schools on the other hand were usually run by religious

minorities, and were often controlled by foreign missionaries.2

In addition to outlining these new types of schools, this law also radically changed the

government’s relation to education. For the first time in Ottoman history, the government would

have massive control over education.3 As mentioned earlier, before this the government had a

typically hands off approach to education. After this act was passed, the government still didn’t

have carte blanche powers to enact change. While the law gave them sweeping powers, the

limited effectiveness of the state constrained what they could actually accomplish.4

As a result of this education act, the Ottomans now had a legal base to enact reform. It

was believed that education could save the empire. Through a combination of modernization

and Islamic morality, they tried to accomplish this.

While this was the ultimate goal, there were a number of issues which stood in the way.

There were a number of external and internal influences on the Empire. Specifically, in the Late

Ottoman Period foreigners had considerable sway in the Ottoman Empire. This was not only

through diplomatic pressure, but within the Empire. The massive number of diverse

communities within the Ottoman Empire often had strong ties to neighboring countries.

Connected to this, because of the Ottoman’s previous “hands off” system, foreign missionary

schools had considerable power within these communities.5

2 Emine O. Evered, Empire and Education Under the Ottomans: Politics, Reform, and Resistance from the Tanzimat to the Young Turks (London: I.B. Tauris, 2012), 205.3 Ibid.,4.4 Ibid.,10.5 Fortna, Imperial Classroom, 132.

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Even after education reform began, these foreign schools often remained in a position of

strength. This was because the tax structure created by the government focused on creating

institutions of higher education first, leaving small and rural communities without proper

primary education.6 Despite their foreign nature, the Ottomans didn’t entirely disapprove of

these foreign schools; they brought a degree of modern knowledge to Ottoman subjects. The

major concerns with these schools though, was that they often combined general education with

religious indoctrination. As such, they greatly threatened the government’s stated goal of

spreading Islamic morality. The Education Act of 1869 did however give the government power

to close any school they wished. As such, they often used this power to shut down foreign

schools they felt were particularly threatening. Despite this somewhat heavy-handed method of

controlling education, it did establish an informal understanding with missionaries.7 Because the

government tended to only close foreign schools in predominantly Muslim areas, missionaries

understood that they could run their schools with little interference in non-Muslim parts of the

Empire.8 Even this ended up being tenuous as the Ottomans continued to expand their school

system across the Empire.

Because the Empire covered such an expansive area, and because each location was often

very different from others, it will be useful to cover each province individually rather than trying

to make generalizations about the whole. Moving from North to South, the Balkans and

Southeast Europe will be covered first.

6 Ekin Enacar, Education, Nationalism and Gender in the Young Turk Era (1908-1918). (Saarbrucken: VDM, 2009),70.7 Fortna, Imperial Classroom, 205.8 Ibid., 210.

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The Balkan states had a number of unique concerns which in turn prompted unique

response by the government. Of particular interest to the government was the fact that this

province bordered Serbia.9 Even at this time, Serbia had a strong interest in creating a greater

Serb state. Because of this, the Ottomans were worried that they might lose these territories.

They were less concerned with direct military conflict with the Serbs, and rather feared a “soft

power” take over. That is to say, a cultural take over. To counter this, the Ottomans expanded

their educational institutions in the Balkans, hoping to promote their pro-Ottoman ideology.

Indeed, the Balkans received more money than non-boarder provinces to put towards

education.10 Interestingly, unlike non-board provinces, the Balkans also got a fair amount of

autonomy in running their schools. This was of course as long as they followed official state

ideology.11 Thus the Ottomans countered soft power influences in the Balkan areas. To

counteract any direct threats, the Empire engaged in a policy of divide and conquer among the

local tribes in places like Albania.12 This kept them both focused on combating their rivals, and

dependent on the Ottomans.

Moving now to the Southern provinces of the Empire, Syria & Iraq have categorically

similar if individually different concerns. Syria in particular has a long history of foreign

involvement, and since the region is of considerable significance to the three major world

religions, there was much more foreign activity there compared to the Balkans.13 The primary

method that the government found to counter foreign activity were the traveling Ulamas.14

9 Ibid., 45.10 Evered, Empire and Education, 40. 11 Ibid.,62.12 Ibid.,50.13 Fortna, Imperial Classroom, 90.14 Evered, Empire and Education, 42.

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These men were Muslim scholars who moved from village to village, providing religious and

basic primary education. This system is surprising considering it has its origins in neither the

Tanzimat reforms, nor in the Education Act of 1869. Rather, this was a much older and

traditional form of education in the Muslim world. Considering the large Muslim population in

this region, it is perhaps understandable that this process would be used. This is not to say that

more modern forms of education weren’t used; they were. Indeed, the local communities were

quite clever in manipulating the government in this regard.

Unlike the Balkans, Syria and Iraq weren’t considered boarder regions. Because of this,

the state took a much more top down approach toward their education.15 In turn, this means that

while the state taxed the populace, they channeled most of that funding towards higher education

in Istanbul, leaving the locals with limited means for primary education outside of the traveling

Ulamas. In a desire for more comprehensive and permanent educational institutions, the local

population played up the fears of foreigners in the region, thus causing the government to

increase their local funding for lower level education.16

Within Syria there is a specific location that can serve as a useful case study to further

understand how the Empire dealt with foreigners. The city of Aleppo is one of the largest in

Syria, and it was a hotbed of foreign activity. In Aleppo, foreigners tended to act with arrogance

and disregard for Ottoman authority.17 To counteract foreign influence in education, the

Ottomans set up a series of school inspectors who were to regulate and censor education in

primary schools. The lack of trained inspectors, combined with the diversity of the Empire and

15 Ibid., 71.16 Ibid., 80.17 Ibid., 161.

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the government’s general ineffectiveness, meant that these inspectors often failed in their

censorship task.18 Unable to censor their own schools, the government turned to customs

officials. Rather than the difficult task of controlling schools, these men then were able to limit

foreign access to the city and the Empire.19 While these officials managed to limit foreign

influence, they also bred contempt not just from Westerners, but from Ottoman subjects who

found a new series of obstacles to get around when living within the Empire.

Iraq in particular saw a further division from both Syria and the Balkans. This division

was the separation of Sunni and Shia faith within Islam. Because of Iraq’s position within the

Empire as being on the periphery, and in what was considered to be a rather unimportant area,

the government did not invest too heavily in this province.20 When they did invest in this area, it

was primarily in religious schools rather than general education, to combat the Sunni/Shia split.21

Having covered the different approaches that the government adopted for its various

provinces, it is possible to draw some general conclusions regarding the nature of education

reform in the Late Ottoman Period. The overall goal of education reform was to promote

Ottomanist and Islamist ideology; this would counteract foreign nationalism and Western

religious philosophy, thus keeping the empire united. The exact content of this will be examined

in the next section. At risk communities generally got more support; this includes boarder

communities. Locals in non-boarder communities also played to this fear in order to get greater

financial support. State inspectors and customs officials, while often alienating local

communities, managed to limit foreign influence in Ottoman territory and education. In addition

18 Ibid., 164.19 Ibid., 138.20 Ibid., 172.21 Ibid., 164.

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to alienation from government officials, the Ottoman policy of prioritizing higher education in

the core meant that rural communities often had little support for local institutions. This,

combined with the general ineffectiveness of the Ottoman government meant that the official

pan-Ottomanist ideology was often not forcefully employed in periphery provinces, despite the

creation of schools.

This is, broadly speaking, the framework and realities of Ottoman education reform.

Having established this, it is possible to now turn towards the specific content of Ottoman

education. What specifically did they use to create this modern, pan-Ottomanist, Islamic

morality? The Empire was acutely aware of what kind of educational systems were being

developed in Europe at this time, and they planned to employ these systems while replacing the

content with their own. One sees similar actions in Tsarist Russia, and China.22 A powerful

element in the Ottoman education system used to achieve their goals were new maps.

Maps were not a widely used cultural tool in the Ottoman Empire. Indeed, high culture

seemed to focus more on written material rather than pictorial ones.23 As such, most maps were

made by the military, and were of specific provinces.24 As part of their education reform, the

government instructed both the military and private industry to create new maps for schools.

These maps would show the entire Empire as one unit. This new geographical understanding,

combined with Ottoman nationalism would hopefully create a sense of national unity among the

Empire’s Subjects.25 Ottoman map making borrowed heavily from European practices, this

22 Fortna, Imperial Classroom, 166.23 Ibid., 166.24 Ibid., 170.25 Ibid.

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however, had been true for much of the Empire’s history, and as such is actually in keeping with

Ottoman tradition.26

The effects of these new maps are complex and multilayered, even if they did provide a

compelling context for the empire. Intended to promote unity, in many cases they ended up

promoting the opposite. School children from minority groups could see and imagine their own

nation within the Empire, and rather than considering themselves Ottomans, it reinforced their

separatist identity.27 In addition to maps, new academic materials which discussed nation

building in Europe during the nineteenth century encouraged this separate identity. Besides pan-

Ottoman and separatist identity, these maps also brought a third understanding of the Empire into

existence.

As students studied the history of the Empire, they learned about their country’s

territorial misfortunes from the previous hundred years. Knowing this, and having maps which

showed the Empire as a whole, some children became resentful over how many provinces had

been lost.28 Some felt that the Empire needed to take back these lands. While the government

might not have been entirely against this more aggressive form of Ottomanism, it is also not

what they were hoping for. And indeed, the Empire needed to be strengthened before it could

consider expanding.

As stated earlier, Ottoman high culture was primarily based in print. As such, there must

be some discussion of this culture. Even if these materials weren’t directly used in classrooms,

they still provide a look into the worldview of the elite who were in charge of these reforms. In

26 Ibid., 167.27 Ibid., 201. 28 Ibid., 198.

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particular, almanacs were an extremely popular form of literature that proved to be both

entertaining and educational.

These almanacs were for the elite, and often for elite women. This high culture focus has

to do with education. Specifically, the segment of the population that could read were the upper

class, and as such, these materials were directed towards them.29 These almanacs were filled

with information on both European and American history, and they tried to place Ottoman

history within this context, hoping to draw favorable comparisons between the Ottomans and

others.30 They also contained information on the nation building experiments in other parts of

the world, and similar to the maps, had varying effects vis a vis nationalism on the reader.

Because these books were often targeted toward women, they also contained biographies on

famous women across history. Taking these women as potent examples, elite Ottoman women

were possibly galvanized into action, and given the limited areas they could work in, often their

energies were directed into education.31 In the same way that maps could create a self-identity

for school children, these almanacs could create an identity for women.

To continue the discussion of print literature and women, there were also a number of

women’s journals printed in the Empire that encouraged women’s education. These journals had

a very specific understanding of women’s education. Specifically, they promoted the nineteenth

century idea that women’s role in society was as a housewife. They did however, highlight the

importance of education in being a successful housewife.32 Many discussions of nationalism at

29 Ozgur Turesay, “An Almanac for Ottoman Women: Notes on Ebüzziya Tevfik’s Takvîmü’n-nisâ (1317/1899),” in Social History, ed. Köksal and Falierou, 225.30 Ibid., 245.31 Ibid., 230.32 Anastasia Falierou, “Enlightened Mothers and Scientific Housewives: Discussing Women’s Social Roles in Eurydice (Evridiki) (1870–1873),” in Social History, ed. Köksal and Falierou, 216.

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this time felt that the family was the foundation of the nation. Women, as the primary up-

bringers and educators of children thus has a responsibility to be educated in order to properly

pass this education along to children.33 This speaks to a duality in Ottoman education. At the

same time as the government was passing laws and reforming schools, children also received a

fair degree of moral and identity forming education in the home. This is something which the

Empire would have a much more difficult time regulating. Nevertheless, it can be said that these

women’s journals gave agency and empowerment to women and education.

The aforementioned texts were written primarily for women. This is not to say that the

conversation in the public sphere regarding education reform was limited to women. A number

of men participated as well, and perhaps the most famous was Semseddin Sami. Sami looked to

further the intellectual bounds of the Ottoman Empire, in part through education, and also in

reforming women’s position in society. Indeed, Sami calls for a fundamental rethinking of

women in society from a legal perspective.34 Specifically, he would abolish the veil, and end

women’s seclusion. Understanding the era he lived in, Sami did not call for immediate

enactment of these reforms. Rather, he imagined this as a generational project, and not

something that could be immediately accomplished. In several books both for scholars and for

the public, Sami promoted these ideas. Eventually the government soured to him, and he lived

out his last years under house arrest. While the Empire was interested in reform, it was primarily

focused on education. To this end Sami proved useful, but his agitation for gender reform went

33 Ibid., 210.34 Gawrych, George W. “Şemseddin Sami, Women, and Social Conscience in the Late Ottoman Empire,” Middle Eastern Studies 46, no. 1 (2010): 100.

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too far. Perhaps because of this though, Sami is an excellent link between the Late Ottoman

Period and the more drastic reforms of the Turks.

This print culture, while not strictly tied to the education of children, is nonetheless

important because of the way in which shows the further education of adults. In addition, these

are the kind of works that women would be reading. Considering how women as mothers were

often in charge of their child’s early and moral education, the ideas that they were exposed to in

popular print and culture is significance. The debates which took place in cultural print also

effected wider society, and their views on education.

The combination of print culture and modern educational tools such as maps were

designed to create a sense of modern Ottomanism among children, and the general population.

In addition to these tools, Ottoman education had a powerful Islamic element in it. This

reinforcing of religious morality would be another way in which the Empire was strengthened.

The key way in which this moral education would be accomplished was in textbooks. The

government, while importing some content from European textbooks, would replace Western

ideas of philosophy and religion with moral examples and ideas from the Qur’an.35 This was in

addition to the creation of “moral textbooks” which consisted of almost entirely Qur’anic

material.36 Between these two sources, children in Ottoman schools would not be able to avoid

the religious ideas the government put forth.

The very social hierarchy that the Qur’an calls for was, to a degree, reproduced in the

classroom itself. One good example of this is the way in which students and teachers interacted

with each other. The classroom used a call-and-response method of education, in which students

35 Fortna, Imperial Classroom, 166.36 Ibid., 170.

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would ask questions of their teachers, and they would respond with the appropriate answer,

usually based on the Qur’an.37 In addition to reinforcing religious hierarchy, it was hoped that

this process would also implant in the student a respect for authority, which they would transfer

to the government after leaving school.

The reinforcement of social and religious hierarchy in schools was further accomplished

through disciplinary measures. Created in the classroom was a moral scoring system which

consisted of merits and demerits. The morals used for this system were of course Islamic

teachings.38 Students who behaved well were rewarded, while the opposite is true as well.

While this moral scoring system provided a useful way for students to be controlled,

further disciplinary measures were left to the instructor to choose.39 Indeed, this was perhaps a

holdover from the more hands off approach that the government initially had towards education.

Because discipline was largely left up to the individual educator, it can be difficult to

characterize these measures across the entire Empire. This is made doubly true considering the

relative ineffectiveness of school inspectors, as discussed earlier.

All of these processes are examples of active identity creation in the classroom. Not only

did the educational material promote this, but the very classroom itself worked to form a pro-

Ottoman identity. When the government began education reform in the 1870s, it took over many

schools that were built by Europeans, especially ones that had be placed in predominantly

Muslim areas of the Empire. The government renovated these buildings to look more Ottoman.

This included adding mosques and minarets, and replacing artwork within the build with pictures

37 Ibid., 177.38 Ibid., 185.39 Ibid., 144.

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of the Sultan, and banners inviting the students to praise the Empire.40 This should not be

surprising, as it is in keeping with the Ottoman’s general system of borrowing Western processes

but changing the specific content to suit their needs.

The information discussed here outlines the Empire’s attempts to revitalize and save

itself. This meant bringing education into the modern era while retaining its unique Ottoman and

Islamic character. It can be difficult to form one cohesive picture of this process, considering the

vastness of the Ottoman Empire. Indeed, each province had different circumstances and

requirements. These often included various efforts by outsiders to shape the population of the

Empire. These were the foreign missionaries who set up schools. While the government made

efforts to counter these schools, they also changed the content of the education system. These

changes reinforced the Islamic nature of moral education, while maps and the artistic trappings

of the classroom attempted to create a pan-Ottoman identity. The larger intellectual debates

taking place outside of the classroom in popular and high culture further effected how people

viewed education, and specifically women’s role in education and society.

While admittedly brief in many respects, this study so far has outlined the goals and

systems of education reform in the Late Ottoman Period. Having covered this, attention can be

brought to the Young Turk period and the Republican period. This section will show the

continuation of education reform from the Late Ottoman Period into the revolutionary period.

During the early twentieth century a new political group came into power. These were

the Young Turks, a group of young men and students who rebelled against the Sultan’s

40 Ibid.

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autocratic rule. These men hoped to continue the education reforms of the Late Ottoman period,

but with a new focus. While this was one of their goals, the shifting sands of international

diplomacy present a new series of challenges for them to overcome.

Italy, having unified in the mid-nineteenth century, began to exert its power in the

Mediterranean world. Of particular importance to the Italians was North Africa, and they began

funding schools in Tripoli.41 The Ottomans, worried about losing the support of Egypt and their

international allies, needed to reassert control over Tripoli, although timid officials wanted to

avoid an outright war.42 Among their international allies, the Empire got increased support from

the German Empire with the creation of the Berlin-Istanbul railroad. The Ottomans also had

more support with Austria-Hungary following the Bosnia-Herzegovinian crisis. Ultimately these

forces brought the Empire into the First World War on the side of the Central Powers, and their

defeat in the war brought about massive changes, and indeed, the end of the Empire.

The educational goals of the government in the Young Turk, and later in the Republican

Period, saw a dramatic change in content. They were no longer concerned with creating a sense

of Ottoman nationalism. Rather, they now were attempting to create a specific sense of Turkish

nationalism.43 While the Young Turks retained elements of Islamic morality in the schools, they

shifted their overall moral focus to what they considered to be more ancient Turkish ideals,

rather than “foreign” Islamic morals.

After the First World War, Ataturk created the secular Turkish Republic. The content of

schools in this period completely ended Islamic morality, as part of Ataturk’s massive

41 Evered, Empire and Education, 175.42 Ibid., 188.43 Enacar, Education, 51.

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secularization program. While the new government rejected the old Ottoman educational

content, they continued to use education as an important source of identity formation. Indeed,

this is was only possible thanks to the education reform in the earlier Imperial period. Having

covered in a broad sense the transformations in education, and having placed them in proper

context, it is now possible to discuss the exact content of schools in the Young Turk/Early

Republic period.

Some things did not change under the Young Turks. For example, the government

continued to focus on creating institutions of higher education in Istanbul, rather than creating

primary schools in rural areas.44 In this period schools also continued to set up pictures and

banners honoring the Sultan, and they continued to use Islamic morals and prayers in

education.45 Thus we can say that the Young Turk period continued older processes, while

shifting the focus of overall identity creation to Turkism. While radicals in many ways, they also

recognized the limits of their reform and didn’t remove Islam from schools, despite their focus

on ancient Turkish traditions.46 Naturally, in the secular republican period Islam was removed as

were the icons of the Sultan.

An additional element that did not change was some of the specific content taught in

classrooms. Schools in this period taught a number of subjects that were pioneered in the Late

Ottoman Period, specifically from the Balkan schools. These were the study of a pan-national

history, and using geography to further reinforce this sense of identity.47

44 Ibid., 71.45 Ibid., 98.46 Ibid., 99.47 Ibid., 87

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While some things did not changes, others did. The teacher’s position in the classroom is

an example of this. Rather than seeing the teacher as a disciplinarian figure, one who issued

moral demerits, the teacher was supposed to be viewed as a new parental figure.48 This was part

of the continued goal to reinforce social hierarchies. Even if the teacher was no longer a stand in

for a sultan, or Islamic scholar, his/her position as a parental figure was meant to instill youth

with a familial, paternal relationship with the government. In addition to the role of the teacher,

literature available in schools promoted education as a way to success.49 This would be a new

family of the nation that all could take part in, while the traditional family was portrayed as old

fashioned.50

As the Empire transformed into the Republic after World War One, the Islamic elements

in education were removed completely. This is connected with broader changes in education

practice. Students no longer had to memorize and repeat passages from the Qur’an. Rather, a

slower and more gradual education system based on comprehension was used in primary

schools.51 This had the dual effect of providing a more effective form of learning while

simultaneously removing compulsory Islamic education. At the same time, the Turkish alphabet

was Latinized, thus further separating direct educational practices in this period from the earlier

period. Of course, the fact that these schools existed, and that the government had the power to

regulate these schools, is a direct result of the Late Ottoman Period.

48 Benjamine C. Fortna, Learning to Read in the Late Ottoman Empire and the Early Turkish Republic. (Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke, 2012), 45.49 Ibid.,154.50 Ibid.,170.51 Fortna, Learing to Read, 135.

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By the Young Turk period, and certainly in the Early Republic period, the educational

efforts of nineteenth century reform had a considerable effect on the population. Namely, many

more people could read. This necessitating an expansion of the publishing industry. Whereas

journals and magazines in the Late Ottoman Period were aimed at the elite, these new journals

were written for popular consumption.52 Given their sheer numbers, it became much more

difficult for the already partially impotent government to regulate them. Thus, school children

were exposed to magazines which mocked the government, and the school system.53 This further

undermined government efforts at identity creation in schools. If the Late Ottoman Period saw a

duality of education, including both school and home education, this period saw a tri-ality: the

school, the home, and the commercialized reading space. As mentioned, the government could

not effectively regulate these publications. Perhaps this worked to their benefit though; because

the government was less effective than the autocratic sultan, it was viewed slightly more

favorably.54

While efforts at reforming education based on gender were somewhat limited in the Late

Ottoman Period, rapid progress was made in the Young Turk and Republican period. While

women had greater access to schools in this period, they received a very different education.

During this time boys were taught to be little citizens of the nation, ready to support their

country, and to love it.55 Girls, on the other hand were taught to be the “citizen-mother”. That

52 Ibid., 140.53 Ibid., 136.54 Enacar, Education, Nationalism, 69.55 Enacar, Education, Nationalism, 105.

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is, their job was to raise boys into men who could support the state. Because of this, women

were inherently alienated from the Republic; they were not citizens until they were mothers.56

This particular focus did however mean that women needed to be educated. The school

system of this period was greatly influenced by late nineteenth century ideas about motherhood.

As mentioned earlier, to be a good mother required a degree of education. This meant that the

government increased access to schools for girls, although they limited how high they could

move through the system.57 They did not think that mothers needed higher education. This

meant that families tended to support the education of their sons, rather than their daughters

because they viewed them as having less potential.58

This exact focus on women as citizen-mothers also effect the skills they learned in

school. They received information on sewing, cooking, and child-rearing, whereas men learned

about agriculture and military training.59 This may seem like a very limited type of education,

but women who directly experienced it often found it was successful in creating loyalty to the

state, and infusing their lives with purpose.60 This is of course, something that is very difficult to

speak about without generalizing.

What was left out of the Young Turk/Republic period education system is information

about women working in the civil service. During the Balkan Wars, and in the First World War,

many women found jobs with the government while men were out fighting. Despite their

56 Ibid., 125.57 Ibid. 110,58 Zehra F. Arat “Educating the Daughters of the Republic,” in Deconstructing Images of “The Turkish Woman,” ed. Zehra F. Arat (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998), 170.59 Ibid., 163.60 Ibid., 173.

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importance to the state, the school system did not actively encourage women to follow this

path.61 As unfortunate as this may have been, it is reflective of the era in which it occurred.

All of these changes in women’s education represent important differences from the Late

Ottoman Period. During that time women received no education past primary school, and they

were taught homemaking skills by their mothers. During the Young Turk/Republican period,

women received greater access to formal education, and were expected to raise good sons.

It is possible to summarize this period as one of changes and continuations. In the

political world, the geo-politics of the Mediterranean were shifting rapidly as Italy expanded, and

the Central Powers reached out to the Ottomans. The wars in the Balkans, and the First World

War, brought dramatic change to the Empire. It saw the expansion of women in the civil service,

and eventually brought about the end of the Empire. This period saw a shift in educational

goals: the Ottomanism & Islamism of the late nineteenth century shifted into Turkism, and

finally after World War One, into Secular Republicanism. The content of schools changed

during this time as well, and the exact methods of education also saw reform. These however

were often implemented somewhat piecemeal, and the fact that they were even possible in the

first place is a direct result of reform in the Late Ottoman Period. Although Ataturk certainly

would not admit that. Education for women expanded during this time, although what they

learned was still distinct from men’s education. This is but a brief look at education in this

period. As Ataturk’s republic expanded and solidified over the course of the twentieth century,

education continued to change.

61 Enacar, Education, Nationalism, 109.

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Thus a history of education in the Ottoman Empire has been established. This, combined

with transformations caused during the Young Turk/Republican period, creates a compelling

picture of how a government attempted to shape its people at the most basic level. Because of the

importance that the state placed on education it is an indispensable topic in Ottoman/Turkish

history.

Education was viewed in the Late Ottoman Period as the solution to all of society’s

problems. It would have the dual effect of restoring Islamic morals to the population, while also

modernizing the government. With the Empire at the crossroads of tradition and modernity,

reformers adapted modern methods of education and educational bureaucracy. This was done in

an attempt to promote a pan-Ottoman nationalism. Because of the vast nature of the Empire,

each region required different approaches and focuses to accomplish this goal. This is

particularly true because of foreign influence, either through direct diplomacy, or through the

actions of foreign missionaries. Wider debates about education and women’s position in society

also occurred during this time, which further effected education reform.

During the Young Turk/Republican era, the content and practice of education changed,

but the goal remained functionally the same: to create a sense of nationalism and identity. In this

period, it was first Turkism that replaced Ottomanism. This was later changed to Secular

Republicanism. The fact that this was even possible was due to the reforms of the Late Ottoman

Period. Gender was also directly addressed. While women were still alienated from the state,

they were considered important to the survival of the nation due to the mother-citizen concept.

This period also planted the seeds for further reform both in terms of education and gender in the

Turkish republic.

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The sick man of Europe was eventually put to rest. Even though education failed to save

the Empire, it provided the framework on which later institutions and policies were built. While

the phoenix burned, it did not fail to rise again.

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