THE FRENCH LANGUAGE CURRICULUM AT THE OTTOMAN MILITARY SCHOOLS (1830s – 1870s)
Études balkaniques (Sofia) 2026, N 1, pp. 129-171
DOI: https://doi.org/10.62761/645.EB.LXII1.05
Margarita DOBREVA 
Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria
Abstract: The French language had been established as a universal medium of communication since the time of Louis XIV. It gradually consolidated its position in the European school curricula. Since the late 18th century, there had been a steady increase in Muslim interest in French, especially in Ottoman military academies, despite the political nuances between the Ottoman Empire and France. Notwithstanding certain particularities, the French texts taught in Europe and Istanbul were frequently indistinguishable, and the principles communicated promoted universal human values that had been sustained for centuries by Islam and Christianity. It may thus be posited that between the 1830s and 1870s, the Ottoman foreign language education did not result in the cultural assimilation of the principles and attitudes of non-domestic nationalities. In the telegraph era, a time when digital translation programmes might still be considered implausible futuristic concepts, the Ottomans’ proficiency in a foreign language was primarily employed as a medium for quotidian, commercial, and scientific information, rather than as a conduit for ideas that could potentially disrupt society.
Keywords: Ottoman Military Schools, French language, universal human values, transfer of information