The Ottoman Empire was founded in 14th
century and it stood until early 1990s.
All economic activities of Ottoman Empire resisted on farming, regional
government tax and spoils of war as all empire states in the world before
industrial revolution emerged. If we point industrial revolution as breaking
point, we should emphasize the stratification system of Ottoman before
industrial revolution to understand changes in European new society and late
Ottoman period and new Turkish Republic
society.
Ottoman
Empire that used to lie on East Europe has always been in an interaction with
Europe. However when it comes to government, there have been ocular differences
between Ottoman and Europe. Ottoman government was based on central government.
All decisions were sentenced from center-palace as well as 'sultan'. Every
autonomus province were dependent on the center. Otherwise, the central
government was partly shared with bourgeoisie and monarch in Europe. This
bourgeoisie class located in the upper layer of the social class and accounted
feodal government. The reason of the lack of such social stratification and
social classes in the Ottoman Empire is Islamic society and sense of ownership.
State was against capitalisation as well as against stratification which based
on domination. To hold land ownership in the hand of the state, prevented the
collection of capital in certain hands. This was the most important motive to
prevent western type of stratification in Ottoman. Thus, it is stunted to
possible forces that could affect the political power of big capital owners,
nobles and formation of such forces. An important
distinction of social stratification in the Ottoman Empire was ruled-managed
separation. Military were the ruler and villagers were the managed. This distinction lied on financial concerns
and religious discrimination was in the form of Muslim and non-Muslim. Legal
distinction was free-slave seperation. As Weber said, social stratification was
originated from economic stratification as in Ottoman society, bureaucrats were
wealthier than villagers and even non-Muslim merchants. State lands are
cultivated by villagers and center got reports and collected taxes from
villagers via timar holders. While this system consisting in Ottoman Empire
society, european kingdoms' state structures especially Britain state
structures resisted on 'participation', in other words 'slight influence' of
feodalism into the government. This infleunce took a big place in industrial
revolution.
In
the period until 1769, economic activities were collected on two main stream in
Europe: agriculture and commerce. Until that date, the main factors of economic
life were; members of the guild, the peasants and the merchants. There was not
any worker. Industrial capital was not on the economic stage. Wealth was not
something that emerged thanks to producing something but trade, transportation,
or borrowing money. To understand reasons for the start of the industrial
revolution, it is needed to examine differences between Britiain and other
European countries.The first of these reasons is that, Britain was more rich
than others. A century with discoveries, slave trading, piracy, trade, and wars
has become Britain world's richest state. UK wealth was not only in the hands
of nobles. Second, the United Kingdom's feudal society had a great effort for a
successful transition to commercial society. England rulers chose the path of
moral demands rather than oppose market economy even there has been conflict of
interests between the old force which based on soil and the new force which
based on money. Third is that, the UK is a land which in the field of science
and engineering studies finds the greatest
support and encouragement. However, source of all these factors into action was
that there is a group of new people in the field of economics. On the other
hand, one of the most important dynamics of the industrial revolution is
invention of steam-machine. In 1763, James Watt found steam machine in
Scotland. This event is accepted as the start point of industrial revolution in
literature.
In
20th century while these developments shaping the new industrial
age, Ottoman has reached its' last period and began to lose its' own
strategical and political power. A new military elitist group has influenced
the Anatolia with a new republican modernist thought stream after I.World War.
Mustafa Kemal and his collagues from the army proclaimed the republic in 1923
and started to work to establish a modern republician society. To transform a
new centralized state structure, the council was formed after the announcement
of republic. Centralization of Turkish Republic was more difficult because
there was feodal forces in Anatolia. Sheikh Said rebellion was a great example
of this feudal forces.This elitist governence tried to create a new constructed
society under the name of modernization by taking West as sample and regarding
to this, bourgeoise class was generated in early Rebuplic period. Republician government
didn't want any other forces that may influence the process of social
transformation project while they were generating a new economic system and
bourgeoise class and they did not let the state losing importance in national
economy by regulating capital tax to non-muslim merchants. In this context, the
first ''Five Year Industry Plan'' has been declared by the government in 1934
and decided to establishment of twenty various branches of the new factories by
government. This new industrialization brought new social classes and natioanal
economic order that undercontrolled by state. To create a state-sponsored
bourgeois class have prevented the emerging of small or medium-sized
enterprises. Under these circumstances, bureaucrats were still in the top layer of social classes. With
establishments of state-sponsored factories, workers class had begun to emerge
in the late half of 20th century. Conflicts between social classes
began after gradually evident of social classes. Bureaucrat who was living in the
city, a small number of industrialists,
peasants and worker classes began to form in mid 1940's. However, emergence of
social movements and political groups delayed because of the identification of
the individual with society and idenfication of the society with nation.
Turkish Republic's modernist society architects wanted to restructure community
to a single nation. Therefore, the unregular formation of social classes was
ill-concieved for 27 years of the republic's first and single-party, as well as
''republician people's party'' (CHP)' s interests. Because the formation of social classes meant the
formation of different ethnicities, social mobility and the emergence of
different political groups that can be a set of modernization.
Wheras, one-party regime was abonded and
Democrat Party(DP) participated in the elections. DP was the first populist
party by typify worker and villager class but not bureaucrats in contrast to
CHP. Although state control on economy became lighter after Democrat Party was
coming to power alone in 1950, there wasn't any major changes in economy but in
social structure. After transition to the multi-party regime, Turkey to open up
the world and began to feel more the effects of new movements of thought in
social life. Rural depopulation has increased and classes became visible. If we
compare the new stratification system after the proloclamation of the republic
and after the multi-party regime, we would say that there was more prominent social classes after mid-20th
century.