History Studies (May 2023)
THE NINETEENTH-CENTURY UPRISINGS IN THE OTTOMAN BALKANS
Abstract
The Ottoman Empire faced challenges in its relationships with its subjects as the world economy and technology changed from the sixteenth century onwards. These changes led to a decline in living conditions for the reaya. The reaya lived in constant insecurity and poverty because of the financial crisis, the disintegration of the timar system, the rise of the çiftliks, and abuses of provincial administrators, janissaries, ayans, and bandits that were ravishing the countryside. Meanwhile, the middle classes in Orthodox communities in the empire's European territories thrived in the 18th century. They were no longer satisfied with their reaya status and displeased with the lack of infrastructure and financial instability of the empire. The initial phases of the Serbian, Greek, and Bulgarian uprisings were reactions to the current conditions of the Ottoman Empire. Whereas, in the second half of the nineteenth century, the national intelligentsia, who were members of the new middle class in their respective societies promoted nationalism.
