Trade and
markets are an important part of commodity history. We have seen many examples
of Latin American commodities making their way throughout the world, affecting both
producers and consumers in different ways. For me, the biggest contribution of
commodity history is market strategy. The books read in class have given us
examples of different trade strategies, whether it is government, corporation
or middlemen involvement. With this in mind, I chose a book relating to changes
in markets, but with a fun and interesting history behind it.
I thought I
would branch out, as I know very little about Latin America, and take a look at
early modern Europe; specifically the Netherlands. I am sure everyone is aware
of the Netherlands extreme fondness for tulips. In fact, the tulip bulb craze
has gone down in history as one of the most senseless obsessions to affect a
population. However, the Dutch should not be judged too harshly in their
over-eagerness to obtain rare bulbs. Instead their history gives us a preview of
how economies work with commodities and also introduces us to new market
strategies.
Of course some
of you are not as fond about economics as I am, but Mike Dash does an excellent
job bringing in other aspects of history into his book. TulipoMania: The Story of the World’s Most Coveted Flower & the
Extraordinary Passions it Aroused framed a surprising story of not only the
tulip craze in the Netherlands, but explains their origins in Asia long before
Europeans knew of their existence. Found in the fortress of the Tien Shan
Mountains, Dash illustrates just how resilient these flowers were. Growing in
an area Dash described as “one of the least hospitable environments on earth,”[1] it
is no wonder Europeans living in harsh areas were drawn to the hardy flower.
Europeans were
not the only people who had a fondness of tulips. Dash gives a riveting account
of nomadic Turks who, in the tenth and eleventh centuries A.D., considered the
flower to be an important symbol of life and fertility.[2] For
them, tulips represented the end of another harsh winter in the valleys of Tien
Shan. By 1050, the bulbs were already venerated in Persia, leading poets and story
tellers to invent legends to explain their beauty. According to Dash, one such tale
gives clarity on why red tulips are understood to be a Persian favorite for a
token of undying love (no spoilers – you’ll have to read the book to appreciate
the legend).
Dash moves from
nomadic Turks to those whose knowledge about horticulture rivaled any other:
The Ottoman Empire. Although blood-thirsty and menacing conquerors of huge
areas in Asia and Europe, these Turks “were also cultivated men…[who] elevated
the tulip to a position of eminence it had never enjoyed before.”[3] Here
readers see religion play an important role. Tulips were considered to be the
holiest of flowers, regarded as the flower of Allah and often depicted in
Ottoman illustrations of the Garden of Eden. While the Ottoman Turks swept
westward from Asia to Europe, their dedication for these flowers eventually
carried over to their European conquests.
Story upon story
unfolds as Dash continues to expound the history of the tulip trade. He goes
into great detail of conquering Ottoman Turks who crushed Christian resistance
in the Balkans and mercilessly annihilated Persians to the east. Known as the
Tulip King, Ottoman Sultan Bayezid finally met his match in a Mongol soldier
thought to be even more blood-thirsty than Genghis Khan.[4] His
capture in 1402 and eventual death stalled tulip trade in the west. In 1453,
however, the Ottomans regrouped and came back with a vengeance, conquering
Constantinople and finally dispelled the last Byzantine emperor.[5] Here
things changed rapidly. Readers see the beginnings of cultivation, breeding new
tulips in an effort to increase variety. Dash gives us a very thorough history
of the cultivation and the eventual introduction to the Dutch market.
I have gone through
a very brief overview of the origins of the tulip and their effect on other
cultures; however I need to talk about their impact in the Netherlands. After all,
the Dutch were greatly affected by these unique flowers. I know I have given
quite a lot of the back story away (although my summarized version is nothing compared
to Dash’s description of the empires affected before the Netherlands). I just
assume most of you do not know about the tulip’s origin and I thought it
pertinent to at least include a summarized background. Now I want to look at
the tulip in how it reinvented the market. For the first time, readers will see
a new commodities market take form. Before the autumn of 1635, bulb trading
could only be done in the spring when traders had them in hand. A new strategy
formed where traders purchased the bulb several months in advance – something that
today is known as a futures market. This is significant because here is the
first example of an exchange for buying and selling a commodity for future distribution.
This appealed to almost everyone, as tradesmen guilds had strict financing rules
that limited their access to investments. This gave them a loophole. Dash explores
the advantages and disadvantages to futures markets, specifically as the first
futures market to make an appearance.
TulipoMania is a well written adventure story about
how one small flower influenced different cultures in enormous, life-changing
ways. From religious fervor in the Ottoman Empire to Dutchmen losing all common
sense, tulips rooted themselves in history forever. As with the first half of
the book, Dash’s expertise and diligence in his depictions of Dutch auctions in
taverns (where trading bulbs paired nicely with a mug of beer) and his focus on
each class and their aspirations during the bulb bubble comes to life. He ends
his book, not with the bubble burst (which hurtled the country into a depression),
but with the greatest tulip manic history has ever known: Ahmed III, an Ottoman
Turk obsessed with tulips. Like the Dutch, the tulip was admired not just by
the sultan, but among all class systems. For centuries, this little flower inspired
great nations, revealing just how far crazes can affect a society.
Pages:
220 (273 total – notes & index) - very easy read
Paperback:
$9.55 on Amazon (in Stock)
Kindle:
$7.99
There are a few copies in the Fairfax regional libraries: 6 available
See my blog entry - Vote for the tulip
ReplyDelete