Rise of the Bourgeoisie, Demise of Empire

Download or read book Rise of the Bourgeoisie, Demise of Empire written by Fatma Muge Gocek and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1996-02-01 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What are the causes of imperial decline? This work studies the Ottoman empire in the 18th and 19th centuries to argue that the Ottoman imperial decline resulted from a combination of Ottoman internal dynamics with external influences. Specifically, it contends that the split within the Ottoman social structure across ethno-religious lines interacted with the effects of war and commerce with the West to produce a bifurcated Ottoman bourgeoisie. This bourgeoisie, divided into disparate commercial and bureaucratic elements, was able to challenge the sultan but was ultimately unable to salvage the empire. Instead, the Ottoman empire was replaced by the Turkish nation-state and others in the Balkans and the Middle East. This work will appeal to students of sociology and Ottoman studies.