Introduction to Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire, a Muslim Turkish empire that covered a vast area of the Middle East, southeastern Europe, and North Africa. It was founded in the 14th century and existed until the last sultan was deposed in 1922. What was left of its domain became the Republic of Turkey in 1923. The Ottoman Empire, which came to be known also as the Turkish Empire, or Turkey for short, exerted profound influence over European and Middle Eastern affairs for some 500 years. Its collapse in the 19th and 20th centuries caused a succession of wars over control of its former possessions.
The Period of Expansion
The group of Turks that became known as Ottomans, after their tribal chief Osman, settled in northwest Asia Minor, near the boundary of the Byzantine Empire, in the 13th century. (For the earlier history of the region, Soon the Ottomans began pushing the Byzantines back toward Europe. They were joined by many ghazis (Muslim warriors especially dedicated to fighting infidels, or nonbelievers) from other Turkish groups. The Ottomans extended their rule to the Sea of Marmara by defeating the Byzantines at Nicaea (Iznik) in 1301.
Ottoman Empire: The Beginnings The Ottoman Empire started as a small state around Bursa in Anatolia (now Turkey). By the end of the 15th century, the empire had expanded into eastern Europe.During the 15th century, elite military units made up of soldiers called Janissaries were created. The Ottomans crossed into Europe and continued their conquests. Efforts by the Serbians and Bulgars to stop the Turks failed, Tamerlane, a Tatar chieftain, led an invasion of Asia Minor and defeated the Ottomans at Angora (Ankara) in 1402, but soon withdrew. In 1453 the Ottoman sultan Mohammed II captured Constantinople (Istanbul)—bringing the Byzantine Empire to an end—and made it his capital. At his death in 1481 the Ottoman Empire included most of the Balkan Peninsula, most of Anatolia (Asia Minor), and the Crimea.
Under Selim I (ruled 1512–20) and his son Suleiman the Magnificent (1520–66), the Ottomans took Syria, Palestine, and Egypt from the Mamelukes and Mesopotamia from the Persians. They also conquered much of North Africa. In Europe they held territory extending into northwestern Hungary. An attack in 1529 on Vienna, capital of the Austrian Hapsburg domain, was repulsed. The Turkish fleet, however, gained control of the Mediterranean.
The Period of Decline
Ottoman expansion did not end with Suleiman, but corruption weakened the empire. Court intrigue began to influence imperial policy. In 1622 the Janissaries dethroned Osman II, who had tried to discipline them, and killed him. The laws of the empire, based on Muslim writings, were administered together with religion by the ulema (a bureaucracy also known as the Muslim Institution), which could dictate to the sultan himself. The ulema opposed any reform that would reduce its power and sometimes joined with the Janissaries against the sultan.
Ottoman Empire: During the 17th century. At this time, the Ottoman Empire was the world's largest empire. It had its capital in Istanbul and covered parts of Eastern Europe, the middle East, and North Africa.In spite of growing corruption in government, the empire gained more territory in the late 16th and 17th centuries. Although the navy had been defeated by a Christian fleet in the Battle of Lepanto (1571), the army was still formidable. The Turks conquered the coast of Arabia and part of what is now Ukraine. However, in a war with Austria and its allies in the late 17th century, the Turks again failed in an attempt to take Vienna. The conflict was settled in 1699 by the Treaty of Karlowitz, which restored Turkish-held areas in central Europe to Austria and Poland.
In the 18th century Austria advanced steadily into the Balkans, while Russia pressed toward the Black Sea. The Russo-Turkish wars of 1769–74 and 1787–92 were a series of defeats for the Turks, who lost much of the Ukraine and had to grant Russia free passage from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, the North African provinces had assumed virtual independence.
Constantinople gained a large foreign population through capitulations—agreements granting special privileges to merchants from other countries. These privileges gradually were expanded, and foreigners usurped some of the powers of the sultanate. As a result, Turkish nationalists regarded foreigners with suspicion.
Collapse of the Empire
By 1800 the Ottoman government was utterly corrupt, and the empire was no longer a first-rate power. Selim III (ruled 1789–1807) planned widespread reforms, but he was deposed and killed at the instigation of the Janissaries and the ulema.
The major European powers began to take an interest in what they called the Eastern Question—the fate of the Ottoman Empire. They recognized that a collapse of the Ottoman Empire would lead to bitter conflicts over its territories At the Congress of Vienna, 1814–15, Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia agreed that Turkey must be p reserved.
Sultan Mahmud II (1808–39) had the entire Janissary corps slaughtered in 1826. He then initiated an era of reform, aided by Prussia. Meanwhile, the Balkans were breaking out in rebellion to gain independence. Serbia, Greece, Romania, and Bulgaria all shook off Turkish rule by 1880.
France began a conquest of Algeria in 1830. In 1831 Mohammed Ali, governor of Egypt, seized control of Palestine and Syria and sent an army into Anatolia. He was forced by the European powers to withdraw in 1840.
Meanwhile, Russia continued its advance into Ottoman lands. There were four Russo-Turkish wars during the century—including the Crimean War, in which Britain and others aided Turkey. Despite its support of Turkey during the Crimean War, Britain occupied Egypt in 1882.
Abdul Hamid II adopted a constitution in 1876. Two years later he suspended it and assumed absolute powers, backed by secret police. In 1889 students formed a secret society opposed to the sultan's despotic rule This action was the origin of the Young Turks movement, which was soon joined by many young army officers Under the leadership of Enver Pasha and Mustafa Kemal (later known as Kemal Atatürk), the movement became so strong that in 1908 Abdul Hamid reinstated the constitution. In 1909 he was replaced by a figurehead sultan.
Libya was annexed by Italy after a war in 1911–12. As a result of the Balkan Wars, 1912–13, the Ottoman Empire lost its remaining territory in Europe, except for a small area around Constantinople. In 1914 Turkey entered World War I in support of Germany. The Allied victory cost Turkey much of its territory. Mustafa Kemal formed a provisional goverment in 1920; in 1922 the sultanate was abolished.
Meanwhile, in the 1890's, thousands of Armenians within the empire were slaughtered by the Turks because of their agitation for independence During World War I, the Turks. fearing treachery from the Armenians, made an effort to rid the empire of them through murder and deportation. By the end of the war, some 1.2 million Armenians had been killed.
Ottoman Empire: The Decline The Ottoman Empire declined in the 1700's and 1800's and collapsed during World War I (1914–1918). Turkey was formed in 1923 from the remaining territory.