Ottoman Tobacco and the Moral Economy of State-Led Development (c. 1908–12)

What is it about?

The Second Constitutional Era (1908-1912), following the so-called Young Turk Revolution in the Ottoman Empire, was a period of intense political tensions. Ottoman subjects debated various models for national development under the leadership of the Committee for Union and Progress (CUP). In tandem, Ottoman subjects sought out solutions to economic and fiscal problems facing the empire. The tobacco industry of the southern Balkans, especially around Kavala, was a forum for these debates. Tobacco had for nearly three decades been at the crossroads of local economic development and European financial domination. Within the region a number of debates took place over the agricultural credit market and customs regime since the domestic tobacco monopoly was set to expire in 1913. In this context, members of the CUP proposed different plans for economic development in the agricultural sector all of which revolved around state-led initiatives.

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