Eduard vilde, eurooplane ja naisõiguslane
Review of: Livia Viitol. Eduard Vilde. Tallinn: Tänapäev, 2012. 375 lk.
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Review of: Livia Viitol. Eduard Vilde. Tallinn: Tänapäev, 2012. 375 lk.
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The present article seeks to analyze, via the act of donation, the relationship between donor and donee on the basis of the particular case of the will of the merchant Zafir Saroglu (1795 – 1887). Zafir Saroglu’s bequest portrays him both as a responsible family man, an exemplary Greek subject and a Bulgarian patriot who cared for Bulgaria’s prosperity. His bequest also contains the donor’s understanding of the problems facing the young Bulgarian state. In his opinion, they were focused on the need to modernize Bulgarian agriculture and raise the literacy level of the population. However, none of his plans came to fruition – his money was used for anti-Bulgarian causes and military purposes, and his name sank into oblivion.
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In this article, we will pay attention to the visible examples of the influence of some families of "western" origin according to the epigraphic documentation in the lands of the two Moesian provinces, Upper and Lower Moesia, focusing mainly on the regions where the inscriptions show us a more stable picture of established family networks of influence, as well as the changing circumstances in which these families (especially that of T. Iulius Saturninus) lost their importance in these lands. The study, made on the basis of epigraphic data and based above all on a prosopographic method, shows that the families involved in the purchase of the collection of customs fees (portorium) had serious client and family ties with wealthy families from Italy, Spain and the Danube provinces of the empire. In the article is offered a chronological sequence of the involvement and dominance of different families in the affairs of the tax-lease system in Moesia and, on the basis of a new reading of an inscription from the region of Storgozia shows the involvement of elites from the eminent North-Italian city of Aquileia in the administrative regulation of tax and customs organization in the province of Lower Moesia. The re-reading of the inscription provides an additional glimpse to the emergence of the elevated strata from this city coincided in time with the distribution of territories to the legion camps and the municipal territories and with the entrustment of the collection of these fees to the central administration, so it can be assumed that the two phenomena are connected.
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In this study, 19th century Bulgarian financial developments will be discussed in parallel with the commercial developments. The focus of the study is the network of relations established by important merchant families that emerged in the 19th century with the sarrafs of Istanbul (Galata) and important merchants like Georgiev, Puliev, Çalıkoğlu, Tezvetoğlu etc. They had established strong financial ties with the Galata bankers/sarrafs. I will try to answer some questions such as following ones. What factors were important in establishing these ties? Was this relationship necessary? What were the benefits of the money changers and Bulgarian merchants from these financial cooperations? What was the role of the state in this relationship? What was the role of local administrators in the network of sarrafs and merchants?
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On the basis of their program documents, the views on the economic development of Bulgarians of various representatives of the radical sector in the national liberation movement in the 19th century are examined and analyzed. Different research methods are applied – critical analysis, comparative historical approach. The object of the study is presented in chronological order from the mid-30s of the 19th century, when the first manifestation of the national liberation movement was organized, to the Liberation – the creation of a new Bulgarian state in the 70s of the 19th century. In the researched program documents of the so-called revolutionary or radical organizations are rarely found, and in some there are no ideas and projects for the economic development of the Bulgarians at all, apart from the most general and repeated findings about the plight of the people under Ottoman rule, which have mostly a motivational purpose. This reasoned conclusion has an important meaning, since a large part of the participants in the organizations from the radical sector live to see the Liberation, i.e. the creation of the new Bulgarian state, which they largely caused with their actions in 1875–1876. They are actively involved in the organization and state administration of the Principality of Bulgaria, despite the clearly established lack of programmatic views on the economic development of the people, which manage.
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On 3 November 1839, the Grand Vizier Mustafa Reşid Pasha solemnly read out a sultan’s order (Hatt-ı Şerif) marking the beginning of significant transformations in the Ottoman Empire. Thus began the Tanzimat (from tanzimat – reorganisation, reconstruction), or the period of reforms. A period marked by the extreme polarisation of the Ottoman administrative elite, which would divide itself into a pro-Western liberal group and one that defended religious traditions and opposed change in the empire. The struggle between these antagonist groups would be fought with variable success. The liberals would seemingly win – they would provide the ideological inspiration for the next great reformist decree, the Sultan's Firman (Hatt-ı Hümâyûn) of 1856, and especially the Constitution (Kanun-i Еsasi) promulgated in late 1876. Ultimately, however, they would come to lose after a series of vicissitudes. Sultan Abdul Hamid II put an end to the constitutional reforms, dissolved the convened Ottoman parliament, and established an authoritarian regime until the Young Turk Revolution of 1908. The purpose of this article is to present and analyse, using an economic point of view, the three main acts of the Tanzimat – the Hatt-ı Şerif, the Hatt- ı Hümâyûn and to emphasize on the Constitution. The latter, although ambiguously assessed in scholarly literature, appears as a logical conclusion of the reform period. Despite its short duration, it presents the ideology of reforms in terms of property, finance and economics. The constitution secured the most important principles of liberalism and capitalism and this should be considered as an undoubted achievement and significant breakthrough for such traditional society like the Ottoman. First of all, it guaranteed private property, ensured freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of association and freedom of expression. Ottoman state finances became public and were placed under the control of deputies elected by the subjects, a significant step in the direction of modern budgeting and auditing.
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The agricultural legislation of the last decade of the 19th century is distinguished by an impressive number of laws. In the period from 1894 to 1899, the following were passed and applied: Law on Agricultural Competitions, Law on Township, Law on Repeal of Natural Tithes with Land Tax, Law on Agricultural Funds, Law on Phylloxera, Law on Agricultural Education, Law on Fruit Growing , Model Farms Act. Bills are being drafted on rice sowing and the development of rural merit. The purpose of the present study is to show the place and role of the legislation for reforming agriculture – from backward and routine to modern, highly productive and competitive. Also to show the commitment above all of the agricultural population and that of the district and municipal administrations with the implementation of the laws. Тhe sources used are: documents from the State Archives – Plovdiv, Regional History Museum, Plovdiv, as well as publications in periodicals. Mainly: “Journal of the Bulgarian Economic Society”, “Bulgarian Gathering” and some newspapers such as “Agricultural Protection”, “Mir”, “Plovdiv”. Based on the collected factual material, some more important conclusions and generalizations have been made. First: Laws are necessary to properly regulate the activities of farmers in order to create a qualitatively new model in the development of the industry. Second: Agriculture is related to education and science. For this purpose, the Agricultural Education Act of 1897 was drafted, which created legal prerequisites for educating the population in lower and secondary agricultural schools. Third: The implementation of the legislation shows the relationship between the agricultural population, which constitutes 80% of the country's population, and the central and local governments. Fourth: The laws provide for criminal liability for those who violate the regulations. However, violations and abuses continue to exist, and the number of persons punished is insignificant. At the same time, it is logical to reduce the trust of the population in the institutions. Fifth: A significant shortcoming of the legislation is that it should pay more attention to the promotion of the entrepreneurial spirit and private initiative. They exist anyway, but they are limited in nature. Far from the idea of covering all aspects of legislation in agriculture during the considered period, the research concerns the reasons for its appearance, its meaning and character, systematizes the consequences of the implementation of the laws. With the help of the typological and comparative method, the problems are explained, the similarities and differences are pointed out in solving them in our country and in other Balkan and European countries.
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The Institute for constitutional Ministerial criminal liability in Bulgaria is based on article 155–159 from the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bulgaria, adopted in 1879. It provides for a specific procedure through which the members of the government to be judged outside of the civil courts. The whole procedure has been developed in the Law for trial of ministers, adopted in October 1880. The Second State Court (1910–1914) examines possible crimes of ministers of the Second People’s Liberal Government (1903–1908). As a source for writing the article, the author uses the indictment of the Second State Court. This article examines the initiative of the then Minister of Trade and Agriculture N. Genadiev to grand a concession for oil refining in Bulgaria and the reasons why it does not take place. The Bulgarian government considers that the concession will harm Bulgaria. A monopoly of the oil trade will be formed in the country.
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The goal of this review paper is to show the development of Bulgaria's foreign trade during one of the most turbulent periods in the history of the world economy – the 1930s. The general international conditions in which foreign trade relations were developing in the world at that time are outlined and the place of Bulgaria in these relations is noted. The main focus is on the Bulgarian state foreign trade policy. As a result of the complicated conditions for foreign trade activity, the state intervened aggressively on the market. It began to use new, hitherto unknown, interventionist policies, and gradually became a decisive factor in this field. The paper shows the results of the state intervention in foreign trade and the conclusion is made that this intervention is the main factor for Bulgaria to successfully overcome the difficulties caused by the Great Depression, related to the international exchange of goods. At the end of the considered period, foreign trade of the country was on the rise.
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The research question of the paper is: does the concept of homo economiocus is adequate for understanding the economic behavior of people under Marxian politico-economic system? The answer is based on research of primary archival sources on the activities of several socialist enterprises in Bulgaria. The author found that some activities of the socialist enterprises management or individuals are completely understandable and rational. Among them are: the desire to exploit common property for private benefit, the use of non-economic coercion in some sectors, the labor shortages in others, the desire of workers to receive higher incomes for less work, etc. Other actions, however, if taken out of context appear irrational: poor production organization, systemic low quality problems, an “epidemic” of reluctance to work, etc. They do not seem to serve the interests of homo oeconomicus as they do not result in higher incomes. Most important explaining factor of irrationality is the main characteristic of the socialist economy: absence of private ownership of the means of production. It removes the incentives to work and to improve organization and production quality. Seen in this light, all the above mentioned characteristics of the economic reality in socialist Bulgaria are completely rational. For this reason, the theoretical construction homo oeconomicus is suitable both for understanding the past and for predicting the possible results of market mechanisms elimination in the future.
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Although it is a village, according to the way it is designated in the Ottoman register material from the 16th and 17th centuries as ‘qarye’, Etropole has established itself as a significant mining (madanci), craft and literary center during this period. A circumstance that undoubtly is of a particular importance and has impacted on its significance as a mining, derbentci and literary center, is its designation as a passage zone of centuries-old importance. The location and natural conditions of the region, favorable and encouraging for trade contacts and the development of a number of crafts, are also important. An opportunity to trace the development of Etropole as a Derbentci and later mining center, as well as its overall economic characteristics and socio-economic profile of its inhabitants from the second half of the 15th to the first half of the 17th century, gives the voluminous and still unpublished compact information contained in several mufassal (detailed, nominal) defters from 1516–1517, 15141–1545, 1613–1614 and 1642–1646, selected for the purposes of the study. The annotated register data reveal a rather heterogeneous socio- economic profile of the residents of Etropole. It is difficult to determine which status of the settlement – derbentci or mining (madenci) – during the Ottoman period proved to be the leading one for its economic and cultural development. But it is indisputable that the economic rise of Etropole in the 16th and 17th centuries coincided with the activation of the literary and spiritual life, attested in the available sources published by the great Bulgarian medievalist Petar Mutafchiev, as well as in a number of attributions and author's notes of writers, priests and wealthy residents of Etropole. The comparative analysis of the newly translated and summarized register data convincingly highlights the close connection between the heyday of mining, the Ottoman fiscal and legal privileges granted to the residents of Etropole and the overall literary and educational activity of the Etropole Monastery “St. Troitsa” – an important cultural and spiritual center.
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How does the common Balkan history develop? What divides and connects the Balkan peoples? Tracking cultural, religious, and economic relations between the Wallachian and the Bulgarian lands during the 19th century shows that neither the political boundary nor the physical "barrier" – the Danube river, the differences in governing, or the differences in languages hinder their rich and diverse relations. It turns out that the history of the Bulgarian lands and Wallachia has been connected for a long time thanks to the cultural, religious and economic ties. These relations are analyzed on the basis of the example of the village of Arbanassi, which, as important commercial center located not far from the capital Bucharest, demonstrate the intensity in economic relations. In addition, Arbanassi evolved as center of Orthodox Christianity and conductor of the politics and influence of the Constantinople Patriarchate in northern Bulgarian lands, which connected it directly with the Phanariot aristocracy in Wallachia.
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Tobacco penetrated the territory of the Balkans at the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century, and over time it became the main livelihood for a considerable part of the population, as well as an important commercial product with a significant contribution to both, the tax system and the financial situation of those involved in its production and trade. The high increase in the use of tobacco products in the 19th century had commercial and cultural motives. As a result, tobacco production areas were expanding and the demand for tobacco on the domestic and export market was rising. From the second quarter, and especially from the middle of the 19th century on, more and more wealthy Bulgarians established a position in the tobacco sector through the production, trade or purchase of tax revenues. Part of this group, from the first half of the 1950s on, were Christo and Evlogi Georgiev. The purpose of the present study is to reveal for the first time the place of tobacco in the economic enterprises of the Georgiev brothers. It aims to outline the rationale behind their decision to venture in this economic sphere, as well as to trace the hurdles and dilemmas they faced. Correspondence from the 50s–60s of the 19th century between entrepreneurs and the two brothers reveals in detail various issues related to the trade or cultivation of tobacco. Tobacco was present for a much longer time in the Georgiev brothers’ commercial enterprises – from the first half of the 1950s to the period of war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire in 1877–1878. In addition, Christo and Evlogi Georgiev sought to increase the quantity of traded tobacco through attempts of own production on the territory of Wallachia, which was not characteristic of their economic profile until the mid-1960s and was a supplement to other large-scale productions. With their involvement in the production and trade of tobacco during the period from the beginning of the 50s till the end of the 70s of the 19th century, the Georgiev brothers became part of the generation that established positions in the tobacco sphere. Regardless of the difficulties and dilemmas they often faced, they provided the crucial solid historical basis needed for the establishment of tobacco as an essential element, both, in the economic mentality of the following generations and in the economic infrastructure of the Bulgarian state from the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.
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The practice of giving money with interest is a long tradition in different societies. Today’s examples are studied by the microeconomics. This paper investigates the case of Ivan Hadzhi Teodorov and his family. The study in based mainly on unpublished documents from his archive at the Museum of the Revival Period – AIK “Daskalolivnitsa” in town of Elena and from the Bulgarian Historical Archive at the National Library “St. Cyril and St. Methodius”- Sofia. The main emphasis of the research is giving of money with interest, following the example of the Elena’s notable Hadzhi Teodor and his successor from the mid-19th century. In the process of research, several conclusions were drawn: the interest on the allocated matches does not exceed the percentage of other money lending examples presented by authors from the same period. The research shows that Elena’s notables were not only lenders but also borrowers of money. The documents reveal the existence of an orphanage fund, created by Hadzhi Theodor – a practice in which there is something human and noble.
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The present research was provoked by an extremely interesting correspondence between two Bulgarian merchants, Dimitar Brakalov and Hristo Tapchilestov, entirely dedicated to the leasing, management and organization of production in several çiftliks in the Burgas region, on the Black Sea coast. The documents span from the 1860s to the 1870s and are stored in the Bulgarian Historical Archive of the National Library "St. St. Cyril and Methodius". There are a total of 72 letters with the main addressees – Hristo Tapchilestov and Nikola Tapchilestov. Our paper dwells in more detail on the history of the çiftliks in question – in the villages of Atanasköy and Keleshköy. The information from the letters was correlated to data extracted from two types of Ottoman archives, which are particularly valuable for the reconstruction of the Ottoman economy in the 19th century – the temettuat and nüfus defters. Thanks to these documents, the complete reconstruction of the structure of the çiftliks was possible: quantity of crops, yields, employment of seasonal workers, but also the amount of owned land, farm animals, taxes paid, total annual yield etc. The economic networks that were built around the çiftliks is also outlined. Judging from the data, the estates were quite profitable, strived for capitalist modernization and paid decent wages to the hired labour force. Our archival work showed that the çiftliks Atanasköy and Keleshköy were originally owned by high-ranking representatives of the Tanzimat political elite, but also direct relatives of the ruling sultans – Mahmud II and Abdulmejid I. This shows that large estates were considered a profitable investment by the Muslim elite at the time, but also by rich Christian merchants like Brakalov, who started leasing the çiftliks in the 1860s. The researched estates continued to be profitable even after the separation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire in 1878, when Brakalov became their owner, showing the durability of the çiftlik phenomenon.
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So far the business relationships of the Revival-period entrepreneurs Peter Kermekchiev and Evlogy Georgiev haven’t been independently researched. The various types of business, social and charity activities of both prosperous Bulgarians show their ability to influence and change the community’s tendencies and attitudes. The scale of their business activity outreaches the Bulgarian borders and goes as far as the Balkan peninsula, Central Europe and Russia. After accumulating substantial funds from trade, state concessions, government provisions and credits of companies and sole proprietors, they dived into brave investments in the modern era. Being very well educated, adaptive and well-known with the political and economic tendencies of the liberated Balkan countries the two entrepreneurs managed to successfully multiply their capitals. They maintained relationships with the government circles in Bulgaria and Romania, as well as contacts with the embassies of England, France and others. In the Central State Archive in Sofia, in the personal archive of Peter Hadzynenchov Kermekchiev are preserved letters and financial extracts sent from Evlogy Georgiev – a Bulgarian principal agent in Bucharest who was managing the Agency of Bulgarian Principality in Romania and was an owner of an office for currency exchange and securities trade. The letters are sent to Peter Kermekchiev for the period from 4th of October 1879 until 23rd of January 1881. They are a source of information on the invested capitals and securities of Peter Kermekchiev into the Trading and Banking house of Evlogy Georgiev and their subsequent management for sending of securities of the Bulgarian entrepreneur for keeping in the Ministry of Finances of Bulgaria, for renting an apartment in Bucarest for Kermekchiev and others. There are also some extracts and bills sent to Peter Kermekchiev and a draft letter to Evlogy Georgiev in Bucharest. The archived documents are reflecting the last years of Peter Kermekchiev when he withdraws himself from an active trading and commends the work on managing and multiplying his finances and investments to the Bank House of Evlogi Georgiev in Bucharest.
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The article traces the policy of the municipality of Svishtov in the field of local finances and budget in the period 1879-1886. The research is based on previously unused empirical material, mainly the protocol books of the city administration. When drawing up the budgets, the Svishtov City Council strives, on the basis of the law, to match them with the real possibilities of the taxpayers and the urgent needs of the city. By using the comparative approach, the conclusion is reached that for the period 1884-1886, the fees from the withdrawal and measurement of the goods and from the barrier fee, inherited from the Ottoman legislation, have the highest high relative share in the budget revenues. It is concluded that the funds invested in the local infrastructure, for the fire service, for the maintenance of the schools and for health care contribute to the improvement of the living and working conditions of the citizens. The results achieved are modest, since at this stage the legislation cannot yet provide municipalities with regular and secure sources of income.
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This article traces the economic behavior of the heirs of Svishtov Revival merchants after 1878. Based on the available information, the participation of the second and third generation of merchant elite in the political and cultural life of the country and the city is highlighted and supplemented. Their education, professional orientation and realization are noted. The analysis of the available materials allows us to outline three main models of the realization of the heirs of the Renaissance merchants. In the first model, the sons continued to develop commercial activities, initially jointly with their fathers within the city, and after their withdrawal, they successfully expanded the bequeathed capitals. In the second model, the heirs develop an independent commercial activity. A significant part of them leave the family businesses and join the administrative and management apparatus of the country, they form the third model of realization.
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The article is focusing on the changes in the Bulgarian rose oil production during the 1940s and 1950s and especially on the cultivation of rose oil plants and rose oil production in socialist agricultural cooperative (TKZS) in the village of Buzovgrad. This period is characterized by significant changes in the politico-economic system of Bulgaria. Private land ownership was legally abolished. The research period presented in this article covers the years between 1944 and 1959. The main purpose of the article is to analyze the problems with which were faced by the management of the socialist agricultural cooperative and the decisions taken for the effective implementation of the state plans for rose oil production. The rose oil production results and activities involved were negatively impacted as a consequence of the political and economic changes in Bulgaria. The main source of information for this article is the archive documents from the creation of the TKZS up to 1959 which were researched at State Archive – Stara Zagora. The documents researched included the protocols of minutes from the management board, general meetings, annual plans and reports regarding the production activities of the collective farm, yearly financial and accounting reports, and balance sheets.
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The specifics of the economic changes in Bulgaria in the 1990s were determined by the internal and external conditions under which the transition from centrally planned administration to a market economy began. This is particularly true for the town of Kyustendil and its district, which was declared administrative one in 1999. Its development in recent times has been accompanied by political changes, internal and external disturbances, which lead to permanent economic backwardness and demographic collapse. The past years provide examples of a clear discrepancy between proclaimed ideas and actual achievements. The present study aims to analyze form an economic-historical perspective the deep internal causes, as well as the impact of external shocks, leading to a negative or positive effect on the economy of the town during the considered period. The final reflections direct attention to the possible ways of developing the potential of Kyustendil and the region in the fields of tourism, balneotherapy and industrial production.
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