PUSH OR PULL FACTOR: RATIONALE FOR THE COLLAPSE OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE, 1839-1908

Authors : Usman Abass

Pages : 1-27

Doi:10.69494/jirps.1663826

View : 122 | Download : 75

Publication Date : 2025-08-31

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :The present paper attempts to chronicle the historical reasons for the collapse of the Ottoman Empire from the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth century through a discourse of the “Push” or “Pull” analyses. There may be numerous reasons for the phenomena from varied perspectives due to the grandness of the empire, which spanned nearly 600 years; thus, it is too broad in scope for all to be penned down in this study. Hence, the paper focuses on the “Push” or “Pull” debate rationale raised by Quataert as put forward by two scholars: Halil Inalcik and L.S. Stavrianos, respectively. The “Push” perspective of Inalcik viewed the collapse of the Ottoman state from its good intentions of bridging the equality gap between the various echelons of the state through the promulgation of various Imperial Rescripts but failed to implement the reforms holistically in the nineteenth century effectively. In contrast, the “Pull” standpoint of Stavrianos did not see any good intentions from the Ottoman state but attributed the disintegration of the empire to its political and economic exploitations of the subject peoples, especially the non-Muslim subjects. Thereupon, the paper attempts to connect the dots by exploring these two perspectives from the announcement of the Gulhane Hatt-i in 1839 to the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 that ousted the last Ottoman sultan, Sultan Abdulhamid II from the throne to end 600 years of the Ottoman Empire. The paper uses qualitative research techniques in the form of secondary sources to probe the phenomenon.
Keywords : Osmanlı İmparatorluğu, Tanzimat, İtme ve Çekme Faktörleri, Müslümanlar, Gayrimüslimler

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