Abstract
War, Diplomacy and Trade in the Ottoman–Poland Relations
Poland, which made its presence strongly felt around the area extending from the Baltic to the Black Sea since XIVth century, played a significant role as the heir of the West wing of the Golden Horde in the history of Eastern Europe.
A serious competition between Ottomans and Poland was experienced especially on the purpose of establishing dominance over the Ukraine – Moldavia borders. Instead of fighting directly against each other, both sides made use of indirect tools. In this regard, Cossacks at the Ottoman policy of Poland and Crimean Chanate at the Poland policy of Ottomans took place as essential elements.
In spite of the political competition, trade and technical cooperation were realized between Ottomans and Poland. This cooperation was a necessity revealed by the geopolitics of these states. The principalities of Wallachia – Moldavia and the cities located on the borders played very significant role in the Ottoman trade with Poland.
Poland imported all kinds of goods from this region and in exchange exported precious stones since early periods. Nacre was amoung them. The trade between Poland and Ottoman was bounded by strict rules through treaties. Those rules can be followed in detail from archival records. These records give information about the cities that Polish traders were active. From these records we can also learn on which rules this trade was based.
In our article we intend to evaluate the dimensions of commercial relations between Ottoman and Poland, after mentioning briefly the nature of the political and military relations between both states.
Keywords
Ottoman, Poland, Crimea, Lithuania, Blacksea, Trade, Wallachia, Boğdan, Moldavia, Eastern Europe