EDWARD'S LECTURE NOTES:
More notes at http://tanguay.info/learntracker
C O U R S E
The Emergence of the Modern Middle East
Asher Susser, Tel Aviv University
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C O U R S E L E C T U R E Middle East Economy in the 19th Century Notes taken on August 14, 2014 by Edward Tanguay |
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19th century Middle East
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population approximately 30 million
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Iran: 6 million
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Ottoman territories: 24 million
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Egypt: 3.5 million
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since 1800, Egypt's population has increased 25 times
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in 1800, the Middle East was underpopulated, today it is highly populated
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population was kept low
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wars that continuously broke out between the Ottomans and the Persians, or between the Ottomans and the various European powers
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disease was common
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plagues
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1785: one-sixth of the population of Egypt died because of the plague
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1812: 300,000 people died in Istanbul from the plague
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birth control mainly through abortion
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famine
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population almost completely dependent on the flow of three rivers: Nile, Euphrates, and Tigris
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demographic revolution during the 19th century
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introduction of Western medicine
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public health measures
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better communications
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increased security
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reduced violence
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Ottoman Empire was gradually losing much of its Christian population
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led to the immigration of Muslims from these places
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in this way, the Ottoman Empire became more Muslim and less Christian during the 19th century
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1912-1923 demographic disaster in Anatolia
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20% of the population of Anatolia died
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10% emigrated
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territorialization of identity
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religious communities began to seek new identities in the form of a state with geographical boundaries
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led to bloody clashes
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Armenian genocide of 1915
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wholesale killing of the able-bodied male population through massacre and subjection of army conscripts to forced labor
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deportation of women, children, the elderly and infirm on death marches leading to the Syrian desert
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between 1 and 1.5 million people were killed
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because of the growth of population in the Middle East in the 19th century, by the eve of World War I, the Middle East was no longer self-sufficient in food production
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this has become a greater problem today
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in the 19th century, Britain surpassed France as the leading commercial superpower in the Middle East
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by the end of the 19th century, most of Middle East commerce was with Europe
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high amount of capital flowing from Europe to the Middle East
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Ottoman Empire created large debts to European countries and banks
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these connects to Europe were slower in Iran than in the Ottoman Empire and Egypt