Vicious Circle of Technological Progress: Hopes and Discontents of the Catching-Up Military Modernization in the Ottoman Empire of the 19th Century

Abstract

The paper explores the military industry development in the Ottoman Empire during the period of active reorganization of its armed forces and implementation of Western technical innovations (1826–1880). The paper scrutinizes the activities of the most important Ottoman industrial centers: the Imperial Arsenal, the Imperial Weapons Workshop, the Powder Workshop and the sewing factory. These centers provided all kinds of troops with the necessary supplies, producing cannons, small arms, ammunition and uniforms for military personnel. The multifaceted analysis of the Ottoman military transformations allowed to highlight a number of important research findings: first, the ambivalent nature of the reforms, which improved the technical equipment, but worsened the economic situation in the empire; second, the dependence of the Ottoman Empire on imports from Europe and America, which was relevant for all aspects of the military; third, the insufficient technical and economic basis for the reforms; four, the subordinate position of the Ottoman state relative to Western military-technical thought. Reformers found themselves trapped in a vicious circle, being forced to rebuild the whole industry from scratch for each new model of weapons created in Europe. Several unsuccessful attempts of organization of the military industry resulted in the degradation of the Ottoman military production and the beginning of purchases for the entire army. At the same time, the reformers did not take into account the expenses of the innovations. This practice contributed to both economic and political collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

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