Abstract:

19th-century -all around the world- is considered as a period of the political and economic structures evolve towards global integration. The Ottoman Empire, which mixed with the impact of these socio-economic changes, had experienced four major breaking point: Global capital accumulated with Industrial Revolution (18th and 19th centuries), downsizing of the country’s borders which started from the first soil-loss by The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (1774), expanding socioeconomic markets which were caused by the establishment of the United States (1776), and political management philosophy changings which were formed with French Revolution (1789). As a result, during the period, the state was rapidly losing its character as a determinant and the economy (especially foreign trade) input to the re-design process for the earnings of foreign states. With this international commercial mobility of Galata, the new financial institutions were established there. The first bank of the Empire, Istanbul Bank (1849), was founded by Galata bankers in Istanbul. And then, The Ottoman Bank (1856), Ottoman Şahane Bank (1863), Ottoman General Corporation (1864), Ottoman General Credit Bank (1869), Thessaloniki Bank (1888) and Midilli Bankası (1891) were established in Istanbul. The new banks were then followed by corporation activities, a financial innovation at the end of 19th-century. The first company opened in Istanbul in that period was Şirket-i Hayriyye (1886). It was followed by Istanbul Ice Company (1886) and Ottoman Insurance Company (1892). These three companies were all not profitable and efficient, but they were significant in presenting the financial thoughts of the period and the new Istanbul

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