The Last of The Ottomans
56In the 19th century, The Ottoman Empire was called the sick man of Europe. It was once a great power but had become weak and was economically, militarily, and technologically falling behind the European powers.
Abdulmejid’s greatest achievement was the announcement and implementation of the Tanzimat reforms, which were prepared by his father to modernize the Ottoman Empire, ranging from the judiciary to the military.
In 1853, the Ottoman Empire entered into what would become known as the Crimean War against Russia, and was soon joined by France and Britain. The Ottoman Empire emerged victorious from the conflict and was a triumphant signatory of the Treaty of Paris.
Abdülmejid had one of the largest harems of the dynasty. He is known as the first sultan whose harem consisted not of slave girls, but rather of free-born women, both noble and bourgeois, sent to the sultan by their families’ volition, reflecting the progressive abolition of slavery in the Ottoman Empire.
Abdulmejid had at least twenty-seven daughters and nineteen sons; however, only four of them would be part of the Empire’s last generation.
Murad V
Abdulhamid II
Mehmed Resad
Mehmed Vahdeddin
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