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How the Ottoman Empire Was Ruined by Borrowing Money: Debt, Deception, and Economic Colonization
Views: 396 Few empires in history have experienced such a slow and tragic decline as the Ottoman Empire, which once stretched across three continents. By the mid-19th century, the empire that had ruled for over six centuries began to crumble—not from battlefield defeats alone, but from an invisible enemy: debt. What began as a desperate attempt to modernize and defend its territory through foreign loans ultimately led to economic humiliation, loss of sovereignty, and what many historians call “financial colonization.” This article explores when the Ottomans first borrowed money, who lent it, the terms and motives behind the loans, and …
