Peace, Reciprocity, and the Discourse of Reform in Late Eighteenth Century Ottoman Didactic Literature

Abstract

Ottoman reform literature written during and immediately after the 1768-1774 Russo-Turkish war can be viewed as a transition point in a "discourse of reform" which took place within the empire. An examination of the writings of two statesmen, Ahmed Resmi Efendi and Ahmed Vasıf Efendi, reveals the extent to which some contemporaries felt the traditional Ottoman worldview had become obsolete.