Slavs turned towards Macedonian national conscious in the second half of 19th century. Benefiting from the tolerant policy and civil approach towards minorities, they kept alive their national culture, education and language. Sloven origin Austrian ethnology specialist said, about this historical reality, If Turks did not exist in the region, there would be no Greek and Albanian in the Balkans today. Not only them, but also Armenians, Jews, Bulgarians, Serbians, Greek, Romanians and other nationalities would not exist. In the period between 1839-1912, non-Turk and non-Muslim groups developed in export, import, finance, industry, mining, agriculture, transportation and other fields of economy. They lived generally in port towns and controlled the trade and capital. Among these groups are Greeks, Armenians, Slavs, Jews and Franks. They benefited from this European Structure. These elements excluded Turks in Macedonia though Turks formed majority group in the region. They got rich with Turkish income in Turkish land, but employed foreigners instead of Turks who became alianated from Governmental issues and lived in poverty in villages.
New European Order in agriculture, commerce, industry, mining, railways and finance changed the physiognomy and strength of Ottoman Empire. This change was felt in whole Macedonia. Ottoman Empire had vast lands, which were productive and rich. It did not depend on other countries to feed its citizens. Macedonia also had productive lands. There were various agricultural products grown on its lands, corn, cotton, tobacco, grains, rice etc. Livestock was also principal income source, which was controlled by non-Turks. There were 245 thousand people working in this field in Macedonia until World War I. Production plants were spread all over the country. For example, there were workshops in Uskup producing 60 kinds of goods. More than 150 families were dealing with leather production. Some big merchants like Pop Simov, Toçkov, Mitanov, Paunçev, Ognyanov were making leather trade in the city. They exported these leather goods to Istanbul, Edirne, Selaniko and Germany. There were also enterprises producing wooden cloth, cotton cords, silk and carpets. Commercial capital controlled small enterprises in Macedonia in the second half of 19th century. Most successful families among them were Pop Simov, Taşkov and Pançev, Robev, Vasov, Korobar, Koçko Hacı Boşkov and Dırndars. These bankers gave credit to people and sold their goods in lower prices to small producers. By this way they caused native producers to go bankrupt.
Ottoman Empire had close economical relations with European countries. This system was organized by customs taxes and privileges granted in form of capitulation. Ottoman Empire was an agricultural country, which produced high quality and amount of products. European countries worked for grasp the raw materials of the Empire in order to block its production so that they could decrease the income of Ottoman farmers. By this way, they planned to harm agricultural activities in Ottoman Empire and force conflicts throughout the country.
Reforms obstructed local and foreign trade in all regions of the Empire. This affect was also seen in the import and export activities of Macedonia. The commercial capital was controlled by non-Turk and non-Muslim groups. Ottoman Empire gave these minority groups an opportunity of working in a commercial group so that they could benefit more profitably from the privileges granted by the Government. Some merchants received license from the government. Among them there were Macedonian Licensed Merchants. Thus, by the help of Ottoman Empire, there appeared a rich class of Macedonian Slavs, who played a mediator role between producers and customers. They spent their income for the training and culture of Macedonian Slavs.
To be continued