Anti-Reformists and Mustafa Reshid Pasha: The Cost of the Tanzimat Edict

Mustafa Reshid Pasha was ambassador in London when Mahmoud II died. When he returned to Istanbul, opponents of reform forced the new sultan Abdulmecid for his death. However, Abdulmecid took him under his protection and let him prepare the Tanzimat Edict. The need to support Britain in Egyptian affairs and Reshid Pasha's close proximity to the British kept the conservatives silent to the declaration of the Tanzimat Edict. Reshid Pasha started a rapid reform process after this date. However, the radical changes were enough to disturb the conservatives. The Egyptian issue came to the solution phase at the end of 1840. The given conjuncture prompted the anti-reformist led by Husrev Pasha to reckon with Reshid Pasha. The following reforms were put in jeopardy. At this stage, Reshid Pasha sent numerous help messages to the British Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston. This study is focused on intrigues against Reshid Pasha, the Tanzimat Edict author, by the anti-reformist conservative faction and the process of his dismissal from the foreign affairs ministry in 1841. The memorandum known to belong to Reshid Pasha, which so far has not been published by domestic and foreign researchers, will be examined in this context here. The memorandum provides an overview of the Tanzimat reforms which were made and requested assistance from England against the conservatives. The Ottoman and British public and private archives of the new information will be set forth in the light. It is expected that this study will provide a contribution to the literature in terms of the Tanzimat period.

Keywords

Mustafa Reshid Pasha, Sublime Porte, Tanzimat, Reform