Κοινωνία και οικονομία της ύστερης Οθωμανικής περιόδου-Αγροτική οικονομία -Εξάρτηση και Χρεοκοπία

This course focuses on the Ottoman economy, which was in deep trouble by second half of the 19th century. The main reason for the economic crisis lay in the loans accumulated by the Ottomans, who borrowed from European Great Powers, although there were certainly financial difficulties in the empire before then.  Territorial losses, the corruption of public servants and the concession to certain owners of capital (Mültezim) of the right to collect taxes reduced state revenues, which became the principal feature of the history of the 18th and 19th centuries.

These developments, in combination with various political changes and reforms, led the Ottoman Empire to economic dependence. The rise of capitalism in the 18th century transformed the Ottoman Empire into a peripheral state in a globalizing world. The newly established state of Greece found itself in similar circumstances, declaring bankruptcy in 1898.

The Ottomans declared bankruptcy in 1876, although some years passed before an agreement was signed with the creditors. Later, in 1881, the Sublime Porte signed a harsh agreement with creditors, known as Muharrem Kararnamesi (‘The Arrangement of the Month of Muharrem’). The austerity this imposed deprived Ottoman society of considerable funds, thus rendering impossible the improvements to education and health that were required and in general hindering development.

Lecture Topics

1. Introduction:  Main characteristics of the Ottoman social and economic structure.
2. The economic infrastructure of the Ottoman Empire.
3. Money and prices during the19th century.
4. Loans to the Ottomans from western European banks.
5. Customs and duties in the Ottoman Empire.
6. The decline of the Ottoman guild system 
7. Tithe-based rural tax system in the 19th century.
8. Tax payment and tax collectors during the 19th century.
9. The establishment of banks in the Ottoman peripheral economy.
10. The Corruption of public servants and the ineffectiveness of the state apparatus.
11. Ottoman budgetary planning during 19th century.
12. The Budget of 1304/1888.
13. Constructing railways in an underdeveloped empire.