II. Meşrutiyet Döneminde Eşraf Ve Köylü İlişkisi Üzerine Örnek Bir Olay: Çayırhan Köylüleri İle Hilmi Bey Arasındaki Arazi Anlaşmazlığı

Abstract

In the mid-19 th century and early 20 th century, when the Ottoman Empire was partially articulated in European capitalism, a number of fundamental changes occurred in the relations of production and land ownership. Particularly, the Committee of Union and Progress, which dominated political power during the 2 nd Constitutional Period, needed the support of the oppressed social groups under difficult economic conditions, has taken some steps on issues such as granting land to landless or less landed peasants and providing cheap loans. However, these steps taken in good faith did not completely eliminate the injustice of income and property distribution, especially in rural areas. On the other hand, in a war environment, the Committee of Union and Progress has aimed to push foreign agricultural companies out of the life of agriculture and trade. However, in this process, many war-rich people were born in the country and the poor folk and peasants became poorer. Eventually, this situation, rather than improving the social and economic situation of the peasant, has led to a class with rich and large farms, has further distorted the balance in agricultural income distribution, and has increased disputes over land and ownership. In this study, on land ownership as an economic and social issue, the land-pasture dispute between the people of Cayirhan village and Hilmi Bey was discussed, in this respect, the attitudes of the central and local governments towards the villagers and Hilmi Bey were evaluated. In the study, archival documents related to the subject were used as a first hand source. In addition, it has been benefited from the book, Tanin in Anatolia, which is written in Ottoman Turkish, and which contains the letters of Ahmet Serif Bey, who is the reporter of Tanin Newspaper, and from some research works.