The imperial Fez factory in the industrialization process

The Imperial Fez Factory, which had to compete against the fezzes produced in both Europe and Tunisia since its establishment, has economic and political importance for the Ottoman Empire. The aim of the factory was to achieve success in domestic production with an import substitution policy against high-quality but expensive Tunisian fezzes and cheap but low quality French fezzes. After the first unsuccessful attempts, Ömer Lütfi Efendi was appointed as the minister of fez production and in order to obtain the missing technical knowledge, the skilled Tunisian masters were brought to the Factory in 1832. Since the domestic "kıvırcık" sheep fleece did not give the desired result in fez production, the importation of Spanish Merino sheep fleece started as used by Tunisians. With technical knowledge and high quality raw materials, production has been regulated and the profit obtained has increased. Unlike government purchases that offer a safer market, it was aimed to reduce production costs and sell cheaper in order to get ahead in international competition in sales to the public and for this purpose, machines were imported from France in 1841. In 1843, the steam engine, which was previously imported from England, started to be used and inorganic energy was introduced at the factory. After this date, using the profits of the factory; carding, spinning, teasel raising-polishing machines were imported from England, France, Belgium and Saxony, and even knitting machines were purchased as a substitute for hand knitting. As a result, despite the competition and the shortage of raw materials, the Imperial Fez Factory went beyond meeting the demand of the state and gained a large share in the civilian market, achieving the volume of producing hundreds of thousands of fez by realizing its own mechanization with its profits, and succeeding in its establishment and development.