7/23/2019 History of the Modern Middle East Midterm
1/4
Discuss the effects of the global capitalist economy on the
Middle East up to World War I
The capitalist economy traces its history back to 17 thand
18thcentury Western Europe, wheretechnological breakthroughs, rapid
industrialization and the organization of trade mark the
beginning of a new global economic system (el!in, "#$% Europe
benefitted from first mo!ers
ad!antage in introducing this system of a global economy, while
capitalist ideologies diffused toregions around the world,
including the &iddle East% The effects of the global capitalist
economy
on the &iddle East are di!erse' some would argue that
capitalism brought de!elopment and
modernity to the region% owe!er, an ob)ecti!e argument points to
the data suggesting economicdi!ergence between Western Europe and
the &iddle East starting in the 17*+s1% n this essay,
will look at the -ttoman Empire, challenging the two dominant
narrati!es that e.plain the
economic stagnation at the dawn of global capitalism' the first
blaming e.ternal factors,
specifically the Western domination of -ttoman trade and
economic resources throughcapitulations and colonialism, and the
second blaming internal factors, specifically /haria0s
(slamic law$ inability to adapt to the demands of a global
capitalist economy%
Throughout the 1
th
and 17
th
centuries, the -ttoman economy was in many ways similar to
anypre2industrial economy% The main occupation was agriculture, and
trade was limited to a specific
class of wealthy notables that e.changed lu.ury goods on their
trips to &ecca and &edina fora) (religious pilgrimage$%
&ost of the land of the &iddle East was owned by the
-ttoman
Empire and peasants worked on this land as tenants% /ubsistence
farming was a common
practice' any surpluses were taken by the state and distributed
amongst other neighboringpro!inces (anioglu, 1#$% The -ttoman
Empire encouraged self2sufficient practices% They did so
3by e.tending rural security, repairing and building
infrastructure, making ta. collection more
efficient and less harsh, remo!ing barriers to intraregional
trade, establishing go!ernment
monopolies4, among other things (el!in, "8$%
The main characteristic of the -ttoman Empire at the end of the
18
th
century was decentralizationand fragmentation% The Empire
consisted of a strong regional hold in 5onstantinople, where
thesultanate was based, and se!eral 6uasi2independent local states
that adhered to !arious
administrati!e patterns% The -ttoman legal system depended upon
two ma)or sources' /haria, or
traditional slamic law, and /ultanic aw, or anun (anioglu, 18$%
The -ttoman military units,the )anissaries, were largely
ineffecti!e and in need of reform%
Two -ttoman leaders, the /ultan /elim , and &ehmet 9li who
ruled in Egypt, were the first to
recognize the need for military and administrati!e reforms in
order to strengthen the -ttomanEmpire and enable it to participate
in a growing worldwide capitalist economy% /pecifically,
administrati!e reforms were needed to strengthen the
go!ernment0s ability to collect ta.es, to
produce mobilize economic resources for trade, and to protect
the empire from potentialuprisings%
1 one example of such data is sited in the rst page of The Long
Divergenceby TimurKuran: As of late 1750 the picture !as di"erent#
Around that time the purchasing po!er ofthe a$erage !or%er in
&ondon or Amsterdam !as only t!ice that of the a$erage !or%er
in'stanbul the largest metropolis and leading commercial hub of the
(astern )editerranean#
The gap bet!een )iddle (astern and !estern li$ing subse*uently
!idened until +orld +ar'#,
7/23/2019 History of the Modern Middle East Midterm
3/4
The introduction of a modern capitalist system in the -ttoman
Empire was supported by the
large2scale go!ernment reforms% n the case of Egypt, &ehmed
9li0s destruction of the &amlukrule brought about * ma)or
reforms that supported the integration of Egypt into a modern
capitalist system% These reforms include land tenure, that
corresponded with the capitalist !iew
of land as an economic commodity, ta. reforms and the
introduction of a modern, Western2stylebureaucracy, army and
military reforms, as well as constitutional change in 187%
&ehmed 9li0s
reforms made supported brought cash crops,
The treaty of =alta iman, also known as the 9nglo2-ttoman treaty
is a trade agreement signed
by the -ttoman Empire and The ?nited :ingdom in 18"8% The treaty
is a classic e.ample of
Western dominance o!er the -ttoman economy through trade
agreements, because it conditions
the -ttoman Empire abolish all monopolies and allow =ritish
merchants full access to -ttomanmarkets% owe!er, the agreement
doesn0t stipulate e6ual concessions by the =ritish' in fact,
the
?nited :ingdom held in place its protectionist policies on
agricultural markets% 3in practice, a
"@ tariff was le!ied on =ritish goods entering the -ttoman
market, whereas -ttoman e.ports
were ta.ed at a rate of +@% (onglulu 7+$
The -ttoman Empire faced a ma)or challenge to its integration
into the global economy% n the17*+s, the -ttoman Empire was a
geographically di!erse region that lacked a strong central
go!ernment that could effecti!ely organize trade and ta.
collection% n order to participate in this
global economy, reforms were needed to impro!e and strengthen
the power of the centralgo!ernment, to increase the power of the
military in order to fight against in!asion threats, and to
build modern infrastructure to enable for trade% These types of
reforms took place in Egypt under
&ehmet 9li, and in the -ttoman Empire under /ultan
9bdulhamid0s tanzimatefforts%
There were no serious efforts to increase industrial production
in the -ttoman Empire and Egypt,
howe!er, European trade regulations did not allow for the
&iddle East to become a significantindustrial power% While
=ritian and
