REPORT ABOUT OTTOMAN CARPET WEAVING DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR

Abstract

This study deals with the situation of Ottoman carpet weaving during the First World War, within the framework of a report prepared by Smyrna Economy Directorate. This sixteen-page report on carpet weaving business is dated 14 April 1917 and has been prapared to be submitted to the local authorty and the Ministry of Trade and Agriculture. In this report, the current situation of Ottoman carpets, the major carpet centers in the Ottoman Empire, the classifications of Ottoman carpets in terms of quality, the position of Ottoman carpets aganist Iranian carpets, the dyes used in Ottoman carpets, the commercial value of carpets, the way they are manufactured, the wages in carpet manufacturing and the benefits of carpet making for the country are emphasized. The report also deals with the establishmet of Oriental Carpet Company, its orgaizations in various cities and the way it work, the damage it caused to the Ottoman political ad economic life and what it brought to the carpet business. Why it was necessary to establish a national company in order to prevent the damage caused by the monopoly activities on of the Oriental Carpet Company to Ottoman carpet weaving, in which places ottoman carpets were preferred in the world market are issues mentioned in the report. The opinions of directorate on these issues are given under different headings in the report. The titles used in the study were given in hormony with the ones in the report, minor changes were made in these titles in a way that would not distort the meaning and the mentioned information on the subject were given in a simplified manner. In this study, the accuracy of the information given in the report was also evaluated within the framework of the available literature.