Tanzimat, Ottoman Empire and 409 Further reading: Bernard, Jack Talleyrand New York: Putnam, 1973; Cooper, Duff Talleyrand New York: Fromm International, 1986; Lawday, David Napoleon’s Master: A Life of Prince Talleyrand London: Jonathan Cape, 2006 Bill Kte’pi Tanzimat, Ottoman Empire and Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand served two French monarchs, skillfully negotiating during times of revolution and imperial rivalries empire and prince of Benevento Once so positioned, he felt freer to distance himself from Napoleon’s policies when he disagreed with them, and he resigned his ministry in 1807 over a disagreement with Bonaparte In 1812 Napoleon made Talleyrand his representative in meetings with the Russian czar Alexander i—and Talleyrand responded by becoming a Russian secret agent, selling Napoleon’s secrets and reporting to Alexander in the future Talleyrand was instrumental in restoring the Bourbons to power to succeed Napoleon and was an important negotiator in the Treaty of Paris, which helped to repair French-European relations after Napoleon’s abdication For most of his remaining life, Talleyrand stayed out of the limelight, offering comment more than action, and probably brokering and breaking deals behind the scenes He remained a womanizer and gourmand throughout his life and was a good friend of Alexander Hamilton despite the latter’s reputation for decadence His home in Paris is now the American embassy The Tanzimat, meaning “reorganization,” was a series of reforms within the Ottoman Empire during the 19th century Sultan Mahmud II initiated a number of sweeping reforms in order to strengthen the empire by centralizing administrative control and breaking the power of local provincial governors and the janissaries He also supported reforms to Westernize the education system and established military and engineering schools Although Mahmud II wanted mandatory elementary education, the Ottoman government lacked the financial wherewithal and personnel to make it a reality Like Muhammad Ali in Egypt during the same era, Mahmud II sent students to Europe; he also hired French and Prussian army officers to train his new military Mustafa Reshid, who served in many official positions, including grand vizier, helped to implement these reforms Key reformers during the Tanzimat era included Mehmed Emin Ali Pasha and Kechejizade Mehmed Fuad Pasha, both of whom were mentored by Mustafa Reshid Ali Pasha was the son of a shopkeeper and worked his way up in government service to the position of grand vizier Fuad Pasha came from a wealthy family; fluent in French, he negotiated with a number of foreign powers He often served as foreign minister when Ali Pasha was vizier, and when Fuad Pasha was vizier, Ali Pasha often served as foreign minister The reforms were supported and enlarged upon by Sultans Abd al-Majid and Abd al-Aziz As part of the price for their support of the empire in its struggles against Russia, the European powers pushed the Sultan to institute sweeping reforms that often favored minorities within the empire, particularly Christians, as well as European financial interests The Hatti-Sherif Gulhane, the Imperial Rescript of the Rose Chamber, in 1839 declared the security of life and honor of Ottoman citizens, provided for tax reforms and the end of tax farming and abuses It also mandated orderly army recruitment, fair trials with the creation of a council of justice, and equality of religious practices The rescript ended the extra tax levied on religious minorities and their exemption from military