Between stumbling and fall towards insolvency : the endeavors of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century
Author
Karademir, Ekrem
Advisor
Kermeli, Eugenia
Date
2007Publisher
Bilkent University
Language
English
Type
ThesisItem Usage Stats
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Abstract
This thesis, at first, intended to analyze one aspect of the 19th century
Ottoman economic history, particularly the possible impact of the 1873 Panic in
Vienna, which is addressed as the first global financial crisis, on Ottoman
insolvency in 1875. However, research on the reasons of the insolvency revealed
more complex relations and deep-rooted problems.
In this thesis, firstly the reasons of financial disorder in the Ottoman
Empire and road to foreign loans are explained. Later on, efforts of the Ottomans
in order to overcome financial problems and their attempts for establishing banks
and industrialization are analyzed. Afterwards, the reasons for the Ottomans’
tardiness to establish banks and to construct railways despite the encouraging
environment in the post-Crimean War period and the impacts of this delay are
discussed. Besides, emergence of Vienna as a financial center beginning from the
1860s and its repercussions on the Ottoman economy are analyzed. Moreover,
reasons for extensive foreign borrowings and attempts for railway constructions
which were realized by the Ottomans beginning from the second half of the 1860s
are explicated. Lastly, the impacts of 1873 Panic on stunning railway investments
and the Ottoman insolvency are discussed. In the whole study, the interactions
among actors and the changes in their roles throughout the period are taken into
account.