Mapping the Crime: An Analysis of a Crime Network during the Crimean War

The objective of this PURE project is to visualize a criminal network during the Crimean War. This research sheds light on the joint efforts of the Ottoman Empire and the emerging Italian nation as they worked together to combat a sprawling criminal organization that emerged during the Crimean War (1853-56) and extended its network from Istanbul to Turin and beyond the Mediterranean. Against the backdrop of political turmoil due to the Crimean War and Risorgimento, a group of wartime profiteers, including soldiers, artisans and career-lawyers, used the opportunity to engage in forgery. The diplomatic networks Ottoman officials established across the Mediterranean route and seaports and the informal agencies they communicated with, resulted in an elaborate information channel extending beyond imperial borders, which forms another phase of network analysis in this study. By mapping how people interacted with each other and their surroundings, this study aims to bring the historical data and computational science together to provide an alternative reading of the historical patterns, social dynamics, influential actors, and trans-imperial connections.
Methodology:
*In the first step of the project, the historical data will be provided to the students and will be discussed in the early meetings.                                                                                                  *In the second step, the historical data will be visualized in the spatial and temporal context by using digital tools.
Objectives:
* Identifying and visualizing connections between historical entities such as people, places, or events.
*Identifying central nodes or influential actors in historical contexts.
*Analyzing the relation between the historical networks and significant events such as wars.
* Combining historical inquiry with computational tools to analyze large datasets.