From Empire to a Nation-State: State Projects and Local Identities in the Nineteenth Century Ottoman Province of Edirne.

The modernizing and Westernizing Tanzimat reforms (1839-1878) were an attempt to transform the multiethnic Ottoman empire into a nation-state. This paper studies the state attempt to form an Ottoman national identity at the local level during the Tanzimat. In studying state reforms and local responses, the paper raises broader questions for the study of state transformations and identity building: How do existing local identities interact with state projects? What kind of local relations, especially social networks, contribute or challenge state reform projects? In answering these questions, the paper studies intercommunal relations in the Balkan province of Edirne. The research is based on the analysis of archive documents that include petitions between the state and the local level. The findings of the paper show that local networks (dense connections between and within ethnic and religious communities) influenced the outcome of the state attempt to form an inclusive Ottoman citizenship in Edirne. Dense connections between communities facilitated local contributions for state projects in the administrative infrastructure. However, increase in state control over the administrative structure did not facilitate the formation of an Ottoman national identity at the local level. Rather, well-organized and closely-knit communities strengthen religious and ethnic identities and led to the failure of the Ottoman citizenship project in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]