The State- Capital Relations in the 19th -Century Ottoman Economy: The Case of Foreign Railways
Başak ErgüderThis study examines the economic developments and their implications on subordinate financialization in the 19𝑡 ℎ- century Ottoman economy through the example of foreign railway investments. Foreign railway investments intensified in the Ottoman Empire in the 19𝑡 ℎ-century, when the world economy experienced the first era of modern globalization. In the first era of modern globalization (1870-1914), foreign direct investments, public debt management, and the commercialization of land by arazi kanunnameleri [land laws] were the developments that accelerated the Ottoman Empire’s transition to capitalism. Foreign railway investments contributed to the transition of the Ottoman economy to a market economy by generating the capitalist mode of production within the Ottoman economy. This study aims to analyze the contribution of foreign railway investments to the integration of the Ottoman economy into capitalism in terms of state-capital relations. In this context, the first section of the study examines the role of the state in integrating the Ottoman economy into capitalism. This section also discusses the problems in agricultural production and the effects borrowing had on the integration into the world economy. The second section of the study analyzes Türkiye’s foreign railway investments in terms of the level of internationalization regarding capital structure, imperialist spheres of influence, investment financing, and their economic impacts on Ottoman economics. This section analyzes the contributions investments made to financialization by revealing the relationship of Ottoman foreign borrowing with railway investments. The study also examines the role the Ottoman Public Debt Administration had regarding the railway investments. In this context, the study examines the effects that collecting the tithe tax in the regions along the railway line routes under the supervision of the Ottoman Public Debt Administration and allocating a significant part of it to a kilometer guarantee had on the Ottoman financial system. With reference to this analysis, the study aims to explain the place railway investments had regarding the Ottoman Empire’s relationship with capital using the concept of subordinate financialization.
19. Yüzyıl Osmanlı Ekonomisinde Devlet-Sermaye İlişkileri: Yabancı Demiryolları Örneği
Başak ErgüderBu çalışmada yabancı demiryolu yatırımları örneğinde 19. yüzyıl Osmanlı ekonomisinde yaşanan ekonomik gelişmeler ve bu gelişmelerin bağımlı finansallaşma üzerindeki etkileri irdelenmektedir. Geç Osmanlı döneminde yabancı demiryolu yatırımlarının yoğunlaştığı dönem, Dünya ekonomisinde ilk küreselleşme evresinin yaşandığı 19. yüzyıldı. Birinci Küreselleşme Evresinde (1870-1914) yaşanan doğrudan yabancı yatırımları, borç yönetimi sistemleri ve arazi kanunnameleri ile arazinin metalaştırılması süreci, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun kapitalizme geçiş sürecini hızlandıran gelişmelerdi. Yabancı demiryolu yatırımları, Osmanlı ekonomisinde kapitalist üretim tarzını oluşturarak Osmanlı ekonomisinin piyasa ekonomisine geçişine katkıda bulundu. Bu çalışmada, Osmanlı ekonomisinin kapitalizme entegrasyonunda yabancı demiryolu yatırımlarının katkısı, devlet-sermaye ilişkileri açısından analiz edilmektedir. Bu bağlamda çalışmanın ilk bölümünde Osmanlı ekonomisinin kapitalizme entegrasyonunda devletin rolü incelenmektedir. Bu bölümde tarımsal üretimde yaşanan sorunlar ve borçlanma sürecinin dünya ekonomisine entegrasyon üzerindeki etkileri ele alınmaktadır. İkinci bölümde yabancı demiryolu yatırımları, yatırımı gerçekleştiren sermayelerin uluslararasılaşma düzeyi, emperyalist nüfuz alanları, yatırımların finansmanı ve Osmanlı ekonomisi üzerindeki etkileri açısından analiz edilmektedir. Bu bölümde Osmanlı dış borçlanmasının demiryolu yatırımları ile ilişkisi ortaya konularak yatırımların finansallaşma sürecine katkısı analiz edilmiştir. Çalışmada Düyun-u Umumiye İdaresi’nin demiryolu yatırımları üzerindeki etkisi de ele alınmaktadır. Bu bağlamda, yabancı demiryolları güzergahındaki bölgelerde aşar vergisinin Düyun-u Umumiye İdaresi gözetiminde toplanması ve toplanan verginin önemli bir kısmının kilometre garantisine tahsis edilmesinin, devletin işlevleri üzerinde yarattığı etki analiz edilmektedir. Bu analizden hareketle çalışma, Osmanlı devletinin sermaye ile ilişkisinde demiryolu yatırımlarının yerini bağımlı finansallaşma kavramı ile açıklamayı hedeflemektedir.
In the 19𝑡 ℎ century Ottoman economy, state-capital relations are seen to have played a significant role in its experience with globalization. The administration supported the process of integration into the world economy through the strategy of capital accumulation and the application of property rights, as well as through public policies such as tax incentives. This study focuses on the effects state-capital relations had on the 19𝑡 ℎ-century Ottoman economy through the example of foreign railway investments. An analysis of the kilometer-guarantee system, which incentivized foreign direct investments, will help understand state-capital relations in the 19𝑡 ℎ-century Ottoman economy. The study aims to discuss state-capital relations in the Ottoman Empire by evaluating the foreign railway investments, which were the first example of treasury-guaranteed investments. This study examines the economic developments and their effects on subordinate financialization through the 19𝑡 ℎ-century Ottoman economy and the example of foreign railway investments. Foreign railway investments intensified in the late Ottoman Empire during the 19𝑡 ℎ century, when the first era of modern globalization was experienced in the world economy. This first era of modern globalization occurred between 1870-1914), during which foreign direct investments, public debt management, and the commercialization of land through arazi kanunnameleri [land laws] were the developments that accelerated the Ottoman Empire’s transition to capitalism. Foreign railway investments also contributed to the Ottoman economy’s transition to a market economy by generating a capitalist mode of production in the Ottoman economy.
This study aims to analyze how foreign railway investments contributed to the Ottoman economy’s integration with capitalism in terms of state-capital relations. In this context, the first section of the study examines the role of the state in the Ottoman economy’s integration with capitalism. This section also discusses the problems in agricultural production and the effects the borrowing process had on integrating with the world economy. The second section of the study analyzes foreign railway investments in terms of the level to which the capital structure had internationalized, the imperialist spheres of influence, investment financing, and their economic impacts on the Ottoman economy. This section also analyzes the investments’ contribution to financialization by revealing the relationship Ottoman foreign borrowing had with railway investments. The study also examines the role of the Ottoman Public Debt Administration on railway investments. In this context, the study examines the effects that collecting the tithe tax in the regions had on the railway line routes under the supervision of the Ottoman Public Debt Administration and that allocating a significant part of the tax to the kilometer guarantee had on the administration’s functions.
