L'unité économique des Balkans et la Méditerranée à l'époque moderne [The Economic Unity of the Balkans and the Mediterranean in the Early Modern Period]

Abstract

The question of the economic integration of the Balkans and their relationship with the Mediterranean in the early modern period has long remained on the margins of historical research, dominated by the study of political and religious conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Christian states. Yet economic ties between the two shores of the Mediterranean were not interrupted even in wartime, owing to the structural complementarities of their economies.
This article aims to analyze the mechanisms and factors that led to the economic unification of the Balkan countries in the 16th century and to their integration into the Mediterranean economy, particularly its western commercial circuits.
The study draws primarily on the rich documentation of the Dubrovnik Archives as well as Venetian and Dalmatian sources. It examines the structures of the Balkans' external and internal commerce – the routes of communication, the Ottoman customs union, the fairs, and merchant networks – and the role of the various actors: Ragusans, Jewish merchants, and indigenous traders.
The analysis shows that in the 16th century the Ottoman Empire succeeded in economically unifying the Balkan countries, previously fragmented into numerous small feudal states. The customs union, the routes of communication maintained by the Ottomans, and the activity of the Ragusans – present in more than thirty cities of European Turkey – constituted the decisive factors in the economic integration of the Balkans. The Balkans became a rich source of agrarian raw materials – wheat, hides, wool, furs – for the Mediterranean and Western countries, in exchange for artisan and manufactured goods. Thus an unprecedented economic unity of the Balkans was established, facilitating their integration into Mediterranean commerce and accelerating the penetration of certain elements of the capitalist system into the Ottoman Empire.