History Talks- Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nda İlksel Birikim: Savaş, Mülksüzleştirme ve Sermaye-Devlet İlişkisi (1914-1918)

Date: November 26, 2025 - Wednesday

Time: 17:00 – 19:00

Place: santralistanbul Campus, E1- 103B

This presentation will discuss Marx's concept of primitive accumulation within the context of the economic and social history of the Ottoman Empire, focusing on the First World War period as a specific moment of this primitive accumulation process. Drawing upon primary sources such as the Directorate of State Archive, the French Diplomatic Archives, Parliamentary reports, and newspapers of the period, the material foundations of the capital accumulation that emerged during the war will be addressed. Thus, it will be demonstrated that wartime capital formation occurred through mechanisms of primitive accumulation, such as expropriation, dispossession, and state protectionism; and simultaneously, the capitalist nature of the state was reinforced as the state itself became subordinate to capital interests during this process.