The Ottoman Crisis in Western Anatolia ─ Turkey Belle Epoque and the Transition to a Modern Nation State

Ottoman Turkey’s coastal provinces in the early nineteenth century were economic powerhouses, teeming with innovation, wealth and energy—a legacy of the Ottoman’s outward-looking and trade-orentated diplomacy. By the middle of the century, the wide-ranging and radical process of modernisation– known collectively as the Tanzimat—was underway, in part a symptom of a slow decline in Ottoman financial strength. By the 1920s, the coastal cities were ghost towns. Ottoman Decline in Western Anatolia seeks to unpick how and why this happened. A detailed, rich and authoritative regional study, this book offers a unique and original insight into the effects of forced migration, displacement, economic reorganisation and the competing political ideologies focused on ‘mopdernisation’—all of which are central to the study of the late Ottoman Empire.

Emre Erol is Docent at Leiden University where he completed his PhD under the supervision of Erik J Zurcher.