Abstract:

In this study, the reasons that pushed the Ottoman Empire to foreign debt and the effects of foreign debt on the Ottoman Empire were examined. It was found in the study that the Ottoman Empire lost land as a result of the wars that were lost one after another in the 17th century. The financing of the wars and the war reparations paid disrupted the economic structure of the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman budgets started to give deficit and this deficit increased even more during the war years. In addition, the uprisings that broke out in the country due to the provocations of some states or for various reasons damaged the Ottoman state, and the Ottoman Empire, which sometimes had challenges in suppressing the rebellions, had to seek assistance from foreign states. As the governor of Egypt, Kavalalı Mehmet Ali Pasha, came to Kütahya with his army. In addition, the Ottomans asked for help from Russia, and then England stepped in and demanded commercial concessions from the Ottomans in return for suppressing the uprising. The commercial concession given to the British was given to other European states in time, and the economic independence of the state began to be harmed. As a result of the capitulations, concessions given to some European countries enlarged the foreign trade deficit of the Ottoman Empire. Other borrowings followed the first foreign borrowing made in 1854 to finance the Crimean War. According to the conditions of the day, the Ottoman borrowed at high. Concessions had to be made in order to borrow money from foreign markets, and the concessions caused the Ottoman Empire to fall into a debt spiral, to lose its economic independence. The states that lent to the Ottoman Empire also supported the secession movements within the country and accelerated the disintegration process of the Ottoman Empire.