Bulgarian Market Foreign Trade Dilemmas during the 1850s – 1870s Cover Image

Външнотърговски дилеми на българския пазар през 50-те – 70-те години на XIX век
Bulgarian Market Foreign Trade Dilemmas during the 1850s – 1870s

Author(s): Ivan Roussev
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, History, Social Sciences, Economy, National Economy, Business Economy / Management, Comparative history, Economic history, Political history, Social history, Modern Age, 19th Century, Financial Markets, Marketing / Advertising
Published by: Център за стопанско-исторически изследвания
Keywords: Bulgarian market; European markets; commercial companies; trade networks; cereals; silkworm cocoons; rose oil; wool; tobacco; colonial and manufactured goods

Summary/Abstract: The article presents Bulgarian market main foreign trade relations in the period of its foundation, i.e. in the 1850s, 1860s and 1870s. The Bulgarian lands foreign trade during this period is presented as an attempt to answer the question which foreign markets have the strongest influence on the processes in the Bulgarian economic space. The research paper is based on primary archival sources from the French Diplomatic Archives (Archives diplomatiques du Ministère des Affaires étrangères), mainly on reports of French consuls in Plovdiv (Philippopolis), Varna, Kustendje (Constanța) and Tultcha, on the data of archival sources and published research results concerning large Bulgarian companies such as “Evlogiy and Hristo Georgievi”, “Hristo P. Tapchileshtov” and others. The main conclusion of this article is that the foreign trade dilemmas facing the Bulgarian market in the third quarter of the 19th century in the alternative between the East and the West were decisively resolved in favour of the West, in favour of Western and Central Europe. Cereals, silkworm cocoons, rose oil, wool and tobacco are exported from the Bulgarian lands to the European markets while colonial and manufactured goods are imported. Another important conclusion is necessary – since its consolidation in the middle and in the third quarter of the 19th century, the Bulgarian national market is closely connected to the free European market and this is a good reason for the Bulgarians to adjust to the free market behaviour – a behaviour that’s not tied with political interventions or ideological interventions.

  • Issue Year: VII/2022
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 64-78
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: Bulgarian