Social-Economic Life in the Erzeroum Province after the Russo- Turkish War (1877-1878) according to the British Consular Reports (1878-1885)

Abstract

Some territory of the Ottoman Empire was occupied during Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878), and the war had a negative effect on almost all the state institutions. In this context, especially in regions where war took place, economic and social life was negatively affected and even came to a standstill. The subject of the study, the post-war socio-economic structure of Erzeroum, is located in the reports and correspondence of Harry Charles Augustus Eyres, William Everett and George Pollard Devey, who were the British Consulate in Erzeroum. Consul Augustus Eyres stated that the economic structure of Erzeroum province had not been reported for years and that it was important to reveal the economic structure of the province, and made detailed evaluations about the socio-economic structure of the province in 1880, 1881 and 1882 years. The Consul William Everett in 1882 and 1883, Vice-Consul George Pollard Devey in 1884 and 1885, made detailed evaluations of the province's socioeconomic structure. All three consuls presented comparative information in their reports, especially after the war, they wrote the economic and social life of Erzeroum province. The English consular documents used as the basic source in this study contain important information that will reveal the economic and social structure of Erzeroum province and its surrounding settlements. In this study, the market situation of Erzeroum province, annual income-expense items, imported from eastern and western states such as France, Austria, America, Germany, Switzerland, Iran, Britain, Russia, and exported to foreign countries; and the amount and market value of products purchased from cities such as Van, Bitlis, Moush, Seart, Diarbekir, Mardin, Alleppo, Kharpout, Trebizond, Rize, Erzinjan, Arabkir, Ayntab, Baghdad, Kara-Hissar and sold to these regions were given in the tables and detailed evaluations were made based on the importance of some products.In this study, we tried to show not only how much the Erzeroum province was affected by the war but also the trade potential of the province.