Long-term tensions arose in Europe beginning with the slow and steady decline of the Ottoman Empire. This lead to a serious diplomatic problem in Europe known as the Eastern Question, in which the major European powers (Great Britain, France and Russia) struggled for control of former Ottoman territories, particularly in the Balkan areas (Gray, 1904, p. 99). As a major power, the Ottoman Empire has played an important role in maintaining the balance of powers in Europe. Larrabee and Lesser (2003) discuss how Turkey was never regarded as an equal member of the Concert of Europe due to the fact that the European powers were rooted in Christianity, and the Ottoman Empire was not; however, the Ottoman Empire was essential to the balance of powers …show more content…
For the most part the Turks allowed for Christians to maintain a certain level of autonomy, of which competing Christian denominations (Catholics and Orthodox) fought for influence. All this tension came into play in 1852 in the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, where French Catholic monks killed several Orthodox monks (Royle, 2010, p. 19). Nicholas I, having reasons to want to protect the Orthodox Church within the Ottoman Empire, blamed the Turks for this disaster. Napoleon III of France at this time was looking to declare himself emperor, but need the support of the Catholic Church; he attempted to gain control of the situation by enforcing the 1740 agreement between the Ottoman Empire and France, in which France had been given “sovereign authority” over the holy land in Turkish territory (Royle, 2010, p. 19). On February 9th, 1852, the Ottoman Empire agreed to honor its claims with France, but Nicholas I forced the Ottomans to recognize the Kuchuk Kainarji Treaty, which allowed Russia protections over Christians in Turkish territory as well (Royle, 2010, p. 19). Next, Nicholas I ordered Prince Menshikov (an aggressive diplomat) to Constantinople in order to regain Russian influence over Christian ties (Puryear, 1931, p. 229). The Ottoman Sultan rejected Russian demands, and was soon supported by the British and the French, who sent naval fleets in support of the
After World War II, Europe emerged as a continent torn between two very different political ideologies, Communism and Democracy. As the two major superpowers, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States, struggled to defend their respective governmental policies, the European Continent was caught in an intrinsic struggle to preserve the autonomy which had taken so long to achieve. During the Cold War, Eastern European nations struggled to achieve autonomy with the help of the West's dedication to break the Soviet sphere of influence. After the disintegration of the USSR, the struggle for autonomy among nations shifted from an intense, inward, nationalistic struggle to break away from a superpower to a commitment of international unity and cooperation as nations began to take moral and political responsibility for their actions.
The Pope has agreed to help defend the Byzantine Empire! After being appealed to by Emperor Alexius I Comnenus, in 1095, Pope Urban II assembled the Council of Clermont. In order to help the Byzantine Empire and ensure his power over the church he has decided to call for a military expedition to get back the Holy Land.
Between 1301 to 1922, in the region north of present day Syria, was known as the Ottoman empire. It was rooted in the belief that Islam as an ideology should be in power. One territory held by the Ottoman empire was their homeland of Turkey. In 1907, the Sultan Abdul Hamid II, wanted for the most part to have people who were educated outside of the country limited in what they could do, and if not then they were expunged, as he thought that they were the cause of his land’s plight and decline. This resulted in him becoming very unpopular with his people, thus having many secret societies created practically under his nose. The most important being The Young Turks.
In the 16th century, the Mesopotamia had served as an intermediate for trade between Europe, Africa, and Asia. It was also an important supplier on food goods on foreign trade, especially silk and cotton. Other than the Ottoman Empire who had control over it, they also had there competitive rivals, the Persian Safavids who also had control over it. The Persians Muslim faith clashed with the Ottoman’s devotion to Sunnism. Both groups had fought economically for the control over the western trade routes to the East. The Ottomans had captured Europe’s largest city, Constantinople, in May 1453. After it was captured, the Ottoman’s had renamed it Istanbul, as it became the city capital of The Ottoman Empire.
The Ottoman Empire was one of the longest running empires in history, spanning 624 years. The women of the Ottoman empire were often limited to the household of their husband’s and held back by Ottoman lawmakers and authorities. The point of view of outsiders was varied, but there were both positive and negative views.
While taking the class of Early Modern European History there was two states that really stuck out and peaked my interest the most. They were the Ottoman Empire and Early Modern Europe. If you compare and contrast both the Ottoman Empire and Early Modern Europe during the 16th Century through the 18th Century, you will see that there are a number of similarities as well as differences when you look at the expansion of the states. You will also see many of these contrasts as well when you look in terms of each states military and commerce. Although the Ottoman Empire existed before the 16th century and continued to exist past the 18th century and in great decline until the early 20th century, when looking at the state as a whole the time period of 1500’s through the 1700’s is a period of growth and strength. It is perhaps even known as a golden era for the state, when taking in to comparison the Early Modern Europeans where the same time period marks a change in how society thought and how people were treated.
Throughout the next decades, the Armenian Question became a complicated subject between Ottoman government and European Powers and it
The Ottoman Empire were Muslims and included Hungary, Syria, Egypt, Bulgaria, and Albania, and they marched on land. The Ottoman Empire is said to have first appeared somewhere around the 1300’s, and can be related to the decline of the Byzantine Empire. They began conquering Christian lands and by the late 1600’s all Christians were afraid of the “terrible Turk”. It is no wonder that many other people were afraid of the Ottoman Empire since they seem to be really rather powerful and they conquered a lot of land. It was in the 1330’s when the Morroccan Abu Abdallah Ibn Battuta passed through Constantinople and became impressed with the Ottomans who seemed to be gaining power rather quickly, he noticed that they had close to 100 forts and
The once great Ottoman Empire led the world from the fifteenth century until the early twentieth
The Tanzimat: Reform in the Ottoman Empire. During its prime, the Ottoman Empire was one of the largest and most powerful empires in the entire world. Unfortunately for the Ottomans, various problems arose, and eventually the empire started to decline. This resulted in a period of reform, known as the Tanzimat.
The massacre and profanation of churches were attributed to the Turkish troops in Gasko, where they were as consul James Zohrab concluded, not guilty of such offenses. It is important to note that these reports came four years after the Crimean war, in which Russia lost to the alliance of Britain, France, Sardinia and the Ottoman Empire. The Russian empire tried to influence the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina to weaken the alliance. Consul Holmes mentioned in his report how people in Mostar (Bosnia) “look for Russia to inspiration to what they shall say, or how they shall
The Main Strengths and Weaknesses of the Major Powers of 20th Century At the beginning of the 20th century the five main powers in Europe
...forces (then still under the Sultan) were nearly able to defeat the Greek rebels until the British, French, and Russians united to help the Greeks. Without the Treaty of Balta Liman and the concessions forced out of the Ottoman Empire, they may have been able to develop a modern economy, rather than being indebted to Europe. That would have allowed them to pay for a modern military that could resist European aggression. If not for Western powers short-circuting the defensive developmental plans of the Ottoman Empire. However, it is unrealistic to assume that Europe would have allowed the Ottomans to develop into a modern power--across the world, the major European powers acted to prevent all other countries from becoming their equals. If they had not intervened when they did, they almost certainly would have at some other point in order to assure their dominance.
The Ottoman Empire reached the peak of its power in the 1500s. While other empires were experiencing their downfalls, the Ottoman Empire’s power seemed to be increasing. In fact, this empire can be ranked as the strongest power due to its tactical internal organization of power, minorities, and religion, due to its physical expansion which provided more resources, more advancements, and more people to support the empire, and due to its large military strength that provided security, reduced rebellion, and challenged the other powers.
Much like that of the Byzantines before them, the Ottoman Empire served as a link between Europe and Asia, and greatly benefited from the profits of the exchange that was perennially flowing over these geographic boundaries; this era came to be known as the Golden Age of the Ottoman Empire. Although there can be many identifications and definitions for the means by which the Ottoman Empire was able to exert such a powerful degree of influence, military right, and cultural dynamism. It will be the purpose of this analysis to discuss and analyze the means by which a continual process of centralization can ultimately be understood as one defining force, that allowed the Ottoman Empire to thrive throughout this period of the “Golden Age.”