War and imperial capital: Public order, crime and punishment in Istanbul, 1914-1918


Tezin Türü: Doktora

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Edebiyat Fakültesi, Tarih Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2015

Öğrenci: DENİZ DÖLEK SEVER

Danışman: FERDAN ERGUT

Özet:

The Great War was the last and the most important part of the series of wars that the Ottoman Empire had been involved in since 1911. This was also a total war, as the boundary between the front and home front became almost indistinguishable. Therefore, the Great War, which lasted four years, had a great impact on state-society relations in all belligerent countries. This study aims to examine state-society relations in the Ottoman Empire by specifically addressing wartime policies related to public order, crime and punishment implemented in Istanbul. While doing this, there will be particular focus on issues such as the consolidation of modern state apparatus; the increasingly authoritarian rule of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP); and the government’s capability and/or incapability to penetrate into the society. In order to make this analysis, the chapters of this dissertation focus on topics as follows: the structure of police and Criminal Code; travel documents, passports and reports of the Travel Office; policies implemented on vagrants, refugees, countrymen, foreigners and minorities; criminal policy of the CUP government against theft, profiteering and bribery; official attitude towards some crimes regarded as threat to the survival of state and continuation of the CUP government; the practice of collecting arms; and amnesties.