Periodic Reporting for period 1 - OliMed (At the Crossroads of History, Industry, and Technology: Olive Oil Production in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Late Nineteenth Century (1839-1914))
Berichtszeitraum: 2022-11-01 bis 2024-10-31
Olimed analyzes the history of olive oil production in the Eastern Mediterranean. It focuses on olive oil production sites (presses, mills, and factories) built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries on the islands of Crete and Lesvos (today Greece), and in the regions of Ayvalık-Edremit and Izmir (today Turkey). By comparing the olive oil economy of these regions, this research aims to examine the mechanisms through which these regions became part of the international economy of the period. It delineates the olive oil production in these regions in terms of adaptability, complementarity, and rivalry within the economic structure of the period.
The main research objectives of this project are threefold: a. Analysis of olive oil production units; b. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of olive oil production; c. Critical evaluation of integration into the international economic system during this period.
The main research objectives of this project are threefold: a. Analysis of olive oil production units; b. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of olive oil production; c. Critical evaluation of integration into the international economic system during this period.
To achieve these objectives, archival research and fieldwork were conducted. Archival research included the Ottoman Archives in Istanbul and the Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris, Nantes, and National Archives in London. Together, these archives provided an immense corpus of data on the economic and social history of olive oil production in these regions, enabling qualitative and quantitative analyses. Archival research was accompanied by fieldwork in each region. Fieldwork enabled: a. to gather more data on the production sites I already learned from the archives; b. to explore new data on production sites that were not found in archival research. The combined research methods (archival and fieldwork) clearly showed that olive oil production and trade in the Eastern Mediterranean were profoundly affected by the interplay of local, imperial, and international developments in the second half of the nineteenth century until 1914.
I found 122 “modern” olive oil factory building demands in the Ottoman archives, stretching from the 1880s to the 1910s. Their geographic distributions revealed a striking disparity. They were mainly concentrated in the northern Aegean part of the empire, in Lesvos, Ayvalık, and Edremit. There were 16 demands from the province of Aydın ( where Izmir was located) and only one from Crete (Hania). These modern factories are supposed to bring steam engines from abroad (hence, the idea of their “modernity”) to operate the mills and presses and increase production capacities.
I conducted fieldwork in these regions to evaluate the data gathered from archives. These fieldwork studies reveal important complementary data on the functioning of the olive oil economy in these regions. The region around Izmir distinguished itself from other olive oil-producing regions in the sense that olive oil production was only one of the large ranges of agricultural and industrial production in its hinterland. Therefore, factories and mills in the region are accompanied by diversified agricultural and industrial activities. In contrast, Crete, where olive oil constituted the major production and exportation commodity, stood alone, with almost no modern olive oil extraction mechanisms. It housed numerous production sites where old olive oil production systems prevailed, most of which were abandoned, and some of which were turned into museums.
The reasons for this disparity have diverse explanations, including the local, imperial, and international aspects of olive oil production and trade. The abolishment of the central administration’s monopoly over the olive oil trade in the mid-nineteenth century enabled Ottoman subjects all over the Empire to engage in this flourishing profitable economic activity. The Ottoman subjects in Lesvos (and in Ayvalık and Edremit) were best located to gain the most for several reasons. Due to their geographical proximity, Lesvos, Ayvalık, and Edremid form an integrated economic structure, which largely contributed to the industrial boom of Lesvos (Sifnaiou, 2004). This structure enabled the continuous movement of laborers and commodities. They had a “secure” domestic market, comprised of the Asia Minor coast, the Aegean islands, and the Black Sea, despite the low quality of their products. Finally, they enjoyed a relatively more stable political atmosphere that secured the continuity of their investment, at least for the period under analysis. The capital accumulation from olive oil trade enabled Ottoman Christian subjects of the northern Aegean regions of the empire to invest in industrial activities; in most cases, the owners of old olive oil mills would demand a permit to transform their mill into a “modern” factory by bringing machinery (mainly steam engines) from abroad. This transformation was not realized in Crete, where political instability and wars reigned over and decreased the volume of olive oil production (through the uprooting of olive trees), creating an uncertain and insecure environment for economic investments. It is not surprising that the entrepreneurs in Lesvos were constituted almost exclusively by the Ottoman subjects of the island, whereas the only to-be-investor in Crete was a French chemist.
This economic structure of olive oil production would be reshaped with the advent of fats, mineral oils, and other vegetable oils from Africa, Asia, and America into European markets, precipitating a profound economic crisis in Mediterranean countries (Ramon-Muñoz, 2003, p.506). The olive oil-producing regions of the Ottoman Empire would take their share of this crisis, and the central administration tried harshly to block the entrance of these oils into the empire, hoping to ease the effects of the crisis. However, Mediterranean countries, which transformed their olive oil production from industrial use to the food sector, were able to overcome the effects of the crisis. The Ottoman central administration and olive oil producers were not able to take the necessary steps for this transformation and fell behind, producing low-quality olive oils and selling in bulk to the newly flourishing Italian blending industry to be re-exported abroad under Italian labels.
I conducted fieldwork in these regions to evaluate the data gathered from archives. These fieldwork studies reveal important complementary data on the functioning of the olive oil economy in these regions. The region around Izmir distinguished itself from other olive oil-producing regions in the sense that olive oil production was only one of the large ranges of agricultural and industrial production in its hinterland. Therefore, factories and mills in the region are accompanied by diversified agricultural and industrial activities. In contrast, Crete, where olive oil constituted the major production and exportation commodity, stood alone, with almost no modern olive oil extraction mechanisms. It housed numerous production sites where old olive oil production systems prevailed, most of which were abandoned, and some of which were turned into museums.
The reasons for this disparity have diverse explanations, including the local, imperial, and international aspects of olive oil production and trade. The abolishment of the central administration’s monopoly over the olive oil trade in the mid-nineteenth century enabled Ottoman subjects all over the Empire to engage in this flourishing profitable economic activity. The Ottoman subjects in Lesvos (and in Ayvalık and Edremit) were best located to gain the most for several reasons. Due to their geographical proximity, Lesvos, Ayvalık, and Edremid form an integrated economic structure, which largely contributed to the industrial boom of Lesvos (Sifnaiou, 2004). This structure enabled the continuous movement of laborers and commodities. They had a “secure” domestic market, comprised of the Asia Minor coast, the Aegean islands, and the Black Sea, despite the low quality of their products. Finally, they enjoyed a relatively more stable political atmosphere that secured the continuity of their investment, at least for the period under analysis. The capital accumulation from olive oil trade enabled Ottoman Christian subjects of the northern Aegean regions of the empire to invest in industrial activities; in most cases, the owners of old olive oil mills would demand a permit to transform their mill into a “modern” factory by bringing machinery (mainly steam engines) from abroad. This transformation was not realized in Crete, where political instability and wars reigned over and decreased the volume of olive oil production (through the uprooting of olive trees), creating an uncertain and insecure environment for economic investments. It is not surprising that the entrepreneurs in Lesvos were constituted almost exclusively by the Ottoman subjects of the island, whereas the only to-be-investor in Crete was a French chemist.
This economic structure of olive oil production would be reshaped with the advent of fats, mineral oils, and other vegetable oils from Africa, Asia, and America into European markets, precipitating a profound economic crisis in Mediterranean countries (Ramon-Muñoz, 2003, p.506). The olive oil-producing regions of the Ottoman Empire would take their share of this crisis, and the central administration tried harshly to block the entrance of these oils into the empire, hoping to ease the effects of the crisis. However, Mediterranean countries, which transformed their olive oil production from industrial use to the food sector, were able to overcome the effects of the crisis. The Ottoman central administration and olive oil producers were not able to take the necessary steps for this transformation and fell behind, producing low-quality olive oils and selling in bulk to the newly flourishing Italian blending industry to be re-exported abroad under Italian labels.