Transportation, Steamships and the Rise of Postal Protectionism in the Ottoman Empire under the Reign of Abdülaziz (r. 1861–1876)

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the increasingly protectionist policies of the Ottoman government against the foreign steamship postal services operating between the imperial ports under the reign of Sultan Abdülaziz (r. 1861-1876). This remarkable phenomenon has both local and international dimensions. First of all, rising postal monopoly claims of the Ottoman government against the foreign postal services on its territory are the striking consequences of increasing autonomy of the local steamship networks in the Ottoman Empire. In other words, foreign postal services had lost their utility in the Empire as a result of the development of the local postal services. Nevertheless, the Ottoman Postal Administration under Abdülaziz manifested substantial deficiencies in relation to its services outside the Empire. By adopting protectionist policies, the Ottoman government aimed to eliminate financial and political threats to the Empire that were coming through foreign postal channels. Finally, at an international level, the protectionism of the Ottoman government was a local response to the globalisation of postal communications.