Tools of Revolution: Global Military Surplus, Arms Dealers and Smugglers in the Late Ottoman Balkans, 1878–1908*

Öztan, Ramazan Hakkı

doi:10.1093/pastj/gtx034

Cited by 5 publications

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“…The Danubian cities, such as Rusçuk, were certainly privileged settings that experienced the first wave of globalization, with its characteristic markers of growing connections, faster pace of life, and incessant inflows of laborers, refugees, goods, travelers, and capital – borne as much out of interstate rivalries as due to the integration of world economy. Revolution and revolutionaries thrived in this fin-de-siècle world, particularly in its port-cities, such as Rusçuk, where they could come and go, as they pleased, with ready opportunities to plug themselves into illicit circuits providing arms, explosives, and revolutionary literature (Öztan 2017). Yet, this was neither given, nor easy, but rather contingent.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Bulgarian connection: the Young Turks in exile and the making of radicalism in Ottoman Europe, 1895–1897

Öztan

2024

New Perspect. Turk.

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Focusing on the years between 1895 and 1897, this article reconstructs what happened after the arrival of Young Turk revolutionaries into the cities of the Danubian hinterland, particularly centering on Rusçuk (Ruse in today’s Bulgaria). In tracing the footsteps of İbrahim Temo and Mustafa Ragıp, two self-exiled figures from İstanbul, this study captures a particular moment when the Danubian cities became the hotbed of transnational radicalism, as a number of assassination plots began to be hatched by Muslim revolutionaries. A well-connected port city serviced by regular steamship links, Rusçuk was where professional revolutionaries met with the local Muslims, much to the ire of Ottoman diplomats in the region. In capturing their encounters, the goal is to point to the significance of Young Turk activities in the Balkans before the turn of the century, a phase which remains understudied in the existing literature. By focusing on a secondary port city that became home to failed assassination plots, this article also seeks to contribute to ongoing discussion in global history that warns against narratives of unhindered globalization. In studying fin-de-siecle radicalization, I hope to contribute to these debates by reflecting upon the limits of globalization as a productive field of historical inquiry.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%