Defensive Developmentaism and the Armenian Genocide (Term Paper Sample)

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1. Study on defensive developmentalism and its application in the Ottoman Empire and Iran.
Continued conquest by European countries resulted in the weakening of the Ottoman and Iran. Thus came the need to develop strategies to counteract the rise of western powers. These policies were meant to consolidate the powers of the states and boost the economy of the region despite shifting of power to the west (Gelvin,71).These strategies were referred to us defensive developmentalism. These strategies included setting up reforms in the military and tax collections, increasing cash crop cultivation and development of infrastructure. The implementation of these strategies raised concern for the future of Islamic religion and how embracing western culture would have an effect on it. Defensive developmentalism is one factor that initiated the development of the states in the Middle East.
The world system is a socioeconomic system that covers several nations. Scholars contend that their existed "a system of world empires" in the seventeenth century .This is attributed to the fact that several empires existed around the same period and often expanded through military conquests. Each empire was able to independently meet the needs of its people. The empires technological, military and economic developments were also at par (Gelvin,39).The signing of the peace treaty in 1948 and the increased levels of inflation during this period is seen to have led the fall out and collapse of the empire system. This saw the rise of the modern system of nation states which is now referred to as the world system. This system is a capitalistic in nature and dependent on trade and industry .The rise of European powers in the 19th and 20th century and the setup of economic policies during this period strengthened the "modern-world systems”(Gelvin,35).
The Ottoman Empire was one of the largest and longest empires in history. The Empire was governed by Islamic law and successful due to its highly centralized structure, its strong military and the influence of the Islamic governance system. The stability of the empire at this times attracted intellectuals and businesspersons. With the coming of the 19th Century, international power was clearly shifting to the west sparked by numerous developments during the industrial revolution. Aware of these threat, the Empires embarked in implementing the strategy of defensive developmentalism.
Following the Napoleons conquest of the Malmuk forces, the Ottoman Empire became aware of the threat that European powers posed on them. The Ottoman Empire’s through Sultan Selim the third established military reforms. This involved training of military officers using the western technique. These trained force known as the janissary however ended up being disloyal to the empire and leading revolts against it. The Ottoman Empire resorted to seek help in quelling the revolts from western powers (Quataert, 58). Military reform also had the unintended consequence of leading to a political culture within the empire that saw the eventual toppling of the sultan and the formation of the Turkey state.
The Ottoman Empire was also faced with an economic crisis that led to heavy borrowing and unfair trade treaties with the Western powers. The economic situation worsened by the day and in 1881 the empire became bankrupt. The debt administration system that was set up with the help of some European creditors accelerated the Western control of the Empires economy
In pre-World War 1 Egypt, Britain as a colonial power was regularly involved in its politics. Egyptian cotton was a principal export from Egypt to Britain. Britain’s control over Egypt cotton production saw the local cotton industry being stifled in expense of Britain’s economic interest. When Britain lost its American colony, cotton demand rapidly dropped, due to infiltration of cheaper cotton from South America. Egypt incurred massive debt that forced the Egyptian leaders to resort to borrowing from European creditors. The unintended consequence of this is Egypt had to be economically dependent to Europe to service its debts. Resentments by the Egyptian to foreign intervention led to the Urabi Revolt in 1881-1882.This further resulted in Egypt losing the Suez Canal to Britain and the annexing of Egypt as a British Colony.
In Persia under the Qajar dynasty, the Sultan had little control outside the capital and generated revenue for the empire by selling rights to cultivate, produce and market resources within Persia. European powers took advantage of this by getting the Sultan to sign a trade concession that was loop-sided and ended up favoring the European economy and creating imperial monopolies on their goods (Daniel, 185). The Sultan cancelled the concession, the consequence being the Persian empire being indebted to Britain.
Defensive developmentalism led to a situation where Middle Eastern powers had to borrow funds that then resulted in bankruptcy or economic stagnation of their economies. The prevailing situations forced the Middle Eastern powers to submit to the Western countries for economic and military interventions. Egyptians chose to revolt against this intervention leading to an invasion and finally occupation. The Ottoman Empire however chose submission which led to peaceful occupation. These Middle Eastern economies ended up acting as providers of raw materials and markets for finished goods as they could not compete economically or militarily with European powers(Gelvin,86).
4. Analysis on the Armenian genocide.
The mass killings of the Armenian people by the Ottoman Empire during and after the First World War are considered one of the worst atrocities to have happened in the world. The Armenians that lived under the Ottoman Empire constituted the minority religious group as they embraced Christianity. The Ottoman Empire was ruled by Muslim Turk, who applied the Islam law in their governance. The communities that did not profess the Islam faith were discriminated upon by the Ottoman Empire and were. The Armenians were regarded as an inferior community and were denied their fundamental political and civil rights. They however were accorded some degree of self-governance by the Ottoman rulers.
The Ottoman Empires fear that the Armenians would shift their loyalty to other neighbors such as Russia who practiced Christianity was one of the factors that fuelled the genocide. With the weakening of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th Century, came the urge to containing the Armenian people. The Armenian community was seen to flourish despite the challenges and obstacles that were imposed upon them by the Ottoman rulers. They became wealthier and more educated than the Turkish people. The wealth created resentments and suspicions among the Turkish population.
The revolution in the Ottoman Empire and emergence of the self-proclaimed reformers that took over leadership began the campaign of containing the Armenians. The rulers established a constitution whose primary goal was to eliminate the Armenian community. The emergence of the First World War provided a platform for the Turkish government to eliminate the Armenians. They declared jihad against all Christians. The Turks spread propaganda about the Armenians and branded them as traitors who were ...