Environmental World History Essay

The Ottoman Empire

Agenda

• Lecture
• Discussion: Marks, “The Gap”

1. medium-length paper duetonight at 11:59 pm
2. extra credit due tomorrowat 5 pm
3. Marks, Chapter 6, “TheGreat Departure”PGS: 161-84
4. Reading Quiz #10 due nextWed at 11:59 pm
5. rough draft due in 3 weeksSTART WORK NOW

Learning Objects

• Name two theories for Ottoman decline.
• Name three reforms.
• Name three difficulties for Ottoman Empire before WWI
• Name three difficulties during WWI
• 2 examples of efforts to overcome wartime difficulties

In 1829

In 1913

In 1920

What caused decline?

• Traditional interpretation:

• Modernization was toolate
• composite state (Parker)weakened their reformefforts

1839 Edict ofGülhane: started reform

• Religion:

• Official Islam
• permittedJews/Christians (milletsystem)

• Ethnicity:

• Pre-19thcentury, identity= religion
• Nationalism: political-ethnic identity ‘Slav’‘Arab’ ‘Turk’

• Territory:

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/92/b8/00/92b800f009593647a2b4bbcf89a06107.jpg

In 1829

• Religion:

• Official Islam
• permittedJews/Christians (milletsystem)

• Ethnicity:

• Pre-19thcentury, identity= religion
• Nationalism: political-ethnic identity ‘Slav’‘Arab’ ‘Turk’

• Territory:

• Before 19thcentury =northern Africa, Balkans,Arabian Peninsula

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/92/b8/00/92b800f009593647a2b4bbcf89a06107.jpg

Reform Efforts (Tanzimat= Reorganizing)

• 1839:Edict ofGülhane

• Secular laws
• Compulsory education
• Regulated taxes
• Response: some in empirefeared it was foreign“Europeanization”

MustafaReşidPasha, a reformer

Reform Efforts (Tanzimat= Reorganizing)

1. Edict ofTanzimat

• Equal access to education/jobs
• Commercial/criminal laws appliedequally to all
• minority representation on courts
• Effect: began to respect lingual andreligious differences, BUT non-Muslims also had to join the army

MustafaReşidPasha, a reformer

Constitutional Reform

• 1876-8: Parliament andnew constitution

• ended by new sultanAbdülhamid

Constitutional Reform

• 1878-1908: rule undersultan withoutconstitution orparliament
• New constitutiondeclared after YoungTurk revolution

• Parliament includedpolitical parties

Resistance to Reform

• Europeans disliked strong OttomanEmpire
• Religious leaders feared loss ofreligious privileges and power
• Reform tried to make centralgovernment in Istanbul stronger

Environmental Difficulties

• Almost no coal deposits

• Expensive to transport with animals

• Extremely disadvantageous in 19thcentury
• better sea transportation =cholera from India spread toMiddle East in 1821

• 1831-1912: 40 outbreaks

Economic Difficulties

• Over 90% of society agricultural(biological old regime)
• only 0.2% of population =manufacturing
• Infrastructure (railroads/ports/publicutilities) owned by foreigncompanies

• Sent agricultural goods to ports(bypassed Ottoman control/consumption)

Ottoman Empire on the Eve of War

• Hadlost most of European territoriesin severalwars (of liberation)from1820s to 1913
• when alliance with Francerejected,alliedwithGermany(thus, CentralPowers)

WWI and the Environmental Difficulties (1/2)

• Without large reserves of coal oriron ore–no major armamentproduction like in Germany, Russia,or Great Britain

• Relied on Austrian and Germansupplies
• Had lost ½ weapons supplies in BalkanWars (1912-13)

• localgeography + lack of roads =soldiers walked several months toget to front

• Hard to supply troops without rails orroads

http://s1.e-monsite.com/2009/06/21/04/51412217railroads-short-history-png.png

WWI and the Environmental Difficulties (2/2)

• Draft animals were requisitioned forwar

• Fewer for fields, food productiondropped
• Revenue from land taxesdecreased(funding for war dried up)
• Less food = prices increased

• British/FrenchMediterraneanblockade+ locus plague (1915)causedmassive famine inLebanon

• 200,000 starved to death
• Exacerbated by official Ottoman policynot to send grain (to avoid speculation)

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/media/images/78442000/png/_78442325_lebanon.png

Efforts to Overcome Difficulties

• CemalPasha (navy minister & governor ofGreater Syria)

• developedroadand rail systems throughout Arabprovinces

• Forests denuded for fuel and to build railwayties

• Set up communications and water supply lines in aridregions

• Still experienced military defeats despite supplies

• Experimented with tree nurseries and plant gardens
• Following 1915 typhoid epidemic in Aleppo, hadarchitect design water supply
• Set up agricultural school

Conclusions

• Ottoman Empire collapses in 1922

• Many provinces break away becauseof poor treatment by Ottomangovernment OR as a result ofBritish/French imperialism

• Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk)creates Republic of Turkey

• Modern, secular country
• Today Turkey looks to Ottoman pastas ‘glory days’

Learning Objects: Recap

• Name two theories for Ottoman decline.
• Name three reforms.
• Name three difficulties for Ottoman Empire before WWI
• Name three difficulties during WWI
• 2 examples of efforts to overcome wartime difficulties

Marks questions

• Why is the chapter called “The Gap”? What are examples of growing gapsthat Marks describes in the opening pages of the chapter?
• What is de-industrialization and why did it happen to India? How didindustrial processes change agriculture during this era?
• How did free trade contribute to inequalities between different regionsaround the world?
• Compare industrialization in France, Britain, Russia, the US and Japan.
• What factors led to New Imperialism?
• Describe some of the environmental consequences of the IndustrialRevolution
• How did El Niño famines contribute to “the Gap”?
• How did Europeans useSocial Darwinismto justify imperialism?

1. medium-length paper due tonight at 11:59 pm
2. extra credit due tomorrow at 5 pm
3. Marks, Chapter 6, “The Great Departure”PGS: 161-84
4. Reading Quiz #10 due next Wed at 11:59 pm
5. rough draft due in 3 weeks START WORK NOW