A Prosopography Study About German Experts Who Participated in the Reform and Modernization Processes of the Ottoman Empire Between 1789-1918

• Applicant: Dr. Tunca Ozgisi
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History ; Islamic Studies, Arabian Studies, Semitic Studies
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 513546130

The subject of the planned project will be a comparative and relational-historical assessment of the biographies of German experts involved in the modernization and reform processes of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1918, the analysis of the social networks in which they dealt with during their tenures, and the mapping of the places and institutions in which they workedIn the lighting of this subject, it is aimed to use the data to be obtained from the following three analysis levels: At the first level of analysis, the modernization and reform studies carried out by German experts employed in the modernization process in the Ottoman Empire between 1789 and 1918 will be discussed by a prosopographic method in which biographical data of a group are systematically created and analyzed. At the second level of analysis, questions will be formulated to determine the status of German experts. These questions will be designed to determine the personal situations, duties, corporate relations and interactions of German experts and a "German network of experts" will be created. Why this is configured data will be analyzed using the social network method according to the prepared questions. The purpose of using the social network method is to make sense of the biographies of German experts, to help explain the reform activities in the institutions in which they work, to define the social reality of the period, to analyze the nature and degree of social structure and the degree of movements within it. Mapping of the institutions and cities where German experts worked in the geography of the Ottoman Empire. This map will also form a basis for future research projects. Data from German experts working in the Turkish Republic period can be added to the biography of the places where the study was carried out on this interactive map, through new projects and research to be carried out in the futureWith this project, an up-to-date perspective on recent Ottoman history will be given by using current approaches and technology facilities instead of classical history narrative and transfer. The prosopographic method has not been used much in studies that take the modernization process of the Ottoman Empire. This is one of the contributions of the project to the literature. One of the most important contributions of the project is that from 1789 to 1918, the state presented a collective list of German experts who served for the first time. One of the most important goals and outputs of the project is that it will be the most comprehensive inventory study on German experts working in the Ottoman Empire. Again, since a multidisciplinary approach is taken with this project, a scientific-historical resource will be established not only in the field of history but also for research in many different fields such as archaeology, anthropology, culture and health.

• DFG Programme: WBP Position