STATE INTERVENTION, LAND DISTRIBUTION, AND THE CONDITION OF SMALL RURAL PRODUCERS IN RURAL ESKİŞEHİR DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION (1929-1939)

Date

2025-9-30

Author

Durukan, Bekircan

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This thesis examines the changes in the economic situation of small agricultural producers in the Eskişehir countryside between 1929 and 1939, focusing on state-led policies and the relationship between the state, large landowners, and small peasants. The sharp decline in agricultural product prices during the Great Depression of 1929 pushed small producers in export-oriented agricultural regions, including Eskişehir, into a deadlock. In this context, the adoption of statism and the implementation of a 'land distribution' policy aimed at enabling the small peasantry to sustain their subsistence economy were among the priority objectives of the Republican cadres to improve the situation of small agricultural producers. Based on this background, the thesis addresses two fundamental questions. The first is how the Great Depression affected small peasantry in the rural areas of Eskişehir, an important trade basin during the Republican era, and to what extent it caused economic damage. The second question concerns how the 'land distribution' policy, which was intended to mitigate the negative impact of the Depression on peasantry, was implemented and what kind of resistance it encountered. In conclusion, this thesis aims to contribute to the literature by establishing a relationship between the adverse impact of the Great Depression on agricultural producers and the land reform policy. To achieve this goal, the study employs a qualitative research methodology involving a comparative analysis of archival and secondary sources.

Subject Keywords

small agricultural producers, Eskişehir, The Great Depression, land distribution, resistance

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/116139

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis