CONSTITUTIONIST MOVEMENTS, CAPITALISM AND THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Yıl 2009, Cilt: 11 Sayı: 2, 59 - 78, 01.12.2009

Ahmet Özkiraz Berkan Hamdemir

Öz

The history of mankind has been shaped by transition from hunting and
gathering to settled life(i.e. to simple agricultural production), industrial
revolution, the change that the technology created by this revolution brought in
terms of cultivating land(transition to modern agriculture) and finally the
emergence of modern capitalist system. This historical process came together
with the conception of plus-product,which first emerged following the transition
to settled life and then got completely set along with industrial revolution, and
the issue of sharing this plus-product.
People used to earn their living by hunting and gathering in a process
starting 2 million years ago(i.e. from Paleolithic Era) and continueing until
8000 AD(i.e. until Neolithic Era).This era came to an end with people’s starting
to grow food in addition to hunting and gathering. Later, Medieval economic
mentality which had had a stable,idle and unrationalized understanding of
economy dominated the life of economy for a long while. In the West was a
process of transition and transformation -which got started by geographical
discoveries that the adventurers of 15th and 16th centuries had made in the
hope of seeing new places and obtaining unexpected wealth there ,and
accelarated in 17th century ,and eventually peaked thanks to industrial
revolution in 18th century. In this proces, a new mentality began to develop in
the West.The name of this new mentality was the mentality of ‘’profit’’ and
‘’enterprise’’. Putting an end to Medieval mentality and expressing rationally
earning money by means of using reasonable methods of production and
commerce, this new rationalized mentality caused many a change in the fields of
economy, sociality and law in the West.
Industrial revolution and capitalist system caused by a newly-shaped
economic mentality in the West created a social class which was itself called
‘bourgeoisie’. Having emerged in Europe following industrial revolution and
capturing an important portion of production means, this dynamic class of
capitalist system always acted in the incentive of defending itself against
governmental power. As a result of this incentive, in the West, limiting state’s
power by individuals’ rights and liberties, establishing basic rights and liberties
in accordance with natural law theory and puttin them under a legal guarantee,
constitutional state and constitutionist movements –as a way to realize these
all- came into being
The Ottoman Empire, on the other hand, did not experience these transitions
and transformations being seen in the West. The chief reason to this was
Medieval economic mentality being dominant in the Empire. Large landownership
and sort of sovereignty based on this land-ownership, spirit of
landlordship and nobility steming from land-regime, economic system resulted
from the fact that wealth was based upon land, dullness of commerce except for
some certain districts, simple market guilds in towns, -different from active
working mentality based upon conveyable wealth in modern times- inactive and
slow understanding of wealth and value , and a mystical understanding of
religion(Inwardness) which surrounded all these were of a classical economic
mentality in Middle ages. The Otoman failed to transform this economic
mentality into a Wester-like economic mentality. This condition has several
various reasons such as phsical circumstances, ‘inwardness’ and political
attitude of the state.
Since the Ottoman Empire failed to transform into capitalism, it was also not
possible to mention a class of bourgeoisie. As a result, reformation movements
in many fields-especially in those of military, government, law and educationfailed
owing to lacking of a social order(capitalist system) which would support.
In the field of law , as in other fields, this condition hindered legal institutions
peculiar to constitutional state to be established.
The main aim of this study is to determine why reformation movements,
particularly in the field of law, that started in 18th century in the Ottoman
Empire could not be successful.
Important developments regarded as turning points in the process of the
history of mankind and new economic mentality which these developments
yielded, and the emergence of new social institutions that this mentality
determined in the context of state-individual relation and civil-state, and the
comparison of the Ottoman’s constitutionist movements to this contidion are in
the scope of this study.
For the study, relevant books,magazines and articles on economic mentality,
economic morality, modernism, bourgeoisie, capitalism, and emergence and
development of constitutionist movements were scanned.And, obtained data was
interpretively used.
Generally speaking, what have been found are the facts that developments in
the field of economy change economic mentalities, that changed mentalities
constitute new economic systems, and that those economic systems form
institutions-particularly in the field of law- peculiar to themselves. Specifically
speaking, what have been found are the facts that the existing economic
mentality in the Ottoman did not transform so did that in the West, and that
consequently a capitalist system and a class of bourgeoisie as in the West did
not come into being, and that attempts to import legal institutions peculiar to
capitalist system without having economically experienced this transformation
failed because of lacking of a class which would form and protect such legal
institutions.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Economic Mentality, Economic Morality, Modernism, Constitutionist Movements.

ANAYASACILIK HAREKETLERİ, KAPİTALİZM VE OSMANLI

Öz

Bu çalışmadaki temel amaç, Osmanlı Devleti’nde 18. yüzyılda başlayan ve özellikle hukuki alana hasredilen yenilik hareketlerinin neden başarıya ulaşamadığını tespit etmektir.Çalışma bu amaçla insanlık tarihinin seyrinde yaşanan ve dönüm noktası olarak kabul edilen önemli gelişmeleri, bu gelişmelerin yarattığı yeni iktisat zihniyetini ve bu iktisat zihniyetinin devlet birey ilişkisi ve hukuk devleti bağlamında belirlediği yeni toplumsal kurumların ortaya çıkışını ve bu durum ile Osmanlı ’daki anayasacılık hareketlerinin mukayeseli olarak incelenmesini kapsamaktadır.Çalışma ’da konu ile ilgili özellikle iktisat zihniyeti, iktisat ahlakı, modernizm, kapitalizm, burjuvazi ve anayasacılık hareketlerinin doğuşu ve gelişmesi konulu kitap, dergi ve makale gibi ikincil kaynaklar taranmış ve ulaşılan bilgiler yorumlanarak kullanılmıştır.Çalışmanın genelinde elde edilen bulgular, iktisadi alanda yaşanan gelişmelerin mevcut iktisat zihniyetlerini değiştirdiği, değişen iktisat zihniyetlerinin ise yeni ekonomik sistemler oluşturduğu ve bu ekonomik sistemlerin de başta hukuk alanında olmak üzere kendine has kurumlar oluşturduğudur. Çalışmanın özelinde elde edilen bulgular ise Osmanlı Devleti ’ndeki mevcut iktisat zihniyetinin, Batı ’dakine benzer şekilde değişip dönüşmediği ve bu sebeple Osmanlı ’da, Batı ’daki gibi bir kapitalist sistem ve burjuva sınıfının oluşmadığı, ekonomik anlamda bu dönüşüm yaşanmadan kapitalist sisteme has hukuki kurumların ithal edilmeye çalışılmasının bu hukuki kurumları icat eden ve koruyan sınıfın yokluğundan dolayı yerleşip olgunlaşamamasına sebep olduğudur.

Anahtar Kelimeler

İktisat Zihniyeti, İktisat Ahlakı, Modernizm, Anayasacılık Hareketleri