Core-periphery interactions in the late and post-ottoman periods: Dependency and the uneven development of Thessaloniki: 1870-1936

What are the reasons for the rapid economic growth of regions and their later decline? Why does the development of a certain region create under-development in another region within a national or global sphere? A central paradigm for explaining such phenomena is core-periphery relations, and the case study presented in this paper is the port city of Thessaloniki and its regressive and peripheral status within the regional (Macedonia and the Southern Balkans), national (State of Greece), and international (the capitalist world- system) spheres during two main political periods: (i) the final decades of the Ottoman regime in Macedonia (1870-1912); (ii) the first quarter of a century in which Thessaloniki integrated with Greece (1912-1936).