The Rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire
Ryan Neeson
HIS109Y1
Steven McClellan
April 19th, 2013
Introduction
In the 20th Century the Ottoman Empire had become a shadow of its former self. Under developed and underpowered compared to European powers, the centuries of decline were now finally affected them. Referred to as the “Sick Man of Europe” in the 18th Century it was finally coming to realization that the great empire that wanted to conquer the world was about to fall. While you can look at their defeat in World War I as the reason for its collapse, there were internal struggles within the Empire that made its political and cultural identity out of date in the ever changing world of the 20th Century. While the powers in Europe were no strangers to colonization, which they had done in the “New World” and Africa, they began to expand into a region they had not been involved in since the crusades . Originally the Ottoman Empire ruled over most of the Middle East including Egypt, Arabia and parts of Persia. While they were not always popular rulers, they were a calming presence in the region that brought some level of stability. The region they controlled was very multicultural, and even though the state religion was Islam, many other religions such as Roman Catholicism and Greek Orthodox were present . Many Europeans were granted special accommodations within the Ottoman Empire which angered actual Turks and made ready for change. The actual collapse of Ottoman Society came well before 1918 as the Young Turks movement in 1908 called for the abdication of the Ottoman Sultan and for a new government to be created . In 1914 when World War I started they tried to pick which side they were allies with carefully as they wer...
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...fects the world today. The modern state of Turkey now exists in the old Ottoman stronghold of Anatolia, still using the same flag and honoring the Empire that came before it. It is clear however that the largest consequence for Europe following the fall of the Ottoman Empire was increased influence in the Middle East that had not been introduced to the Industrial Revolution unlike much of Europe. While the Europeans hoped they could enter this new region and begin to change it, the culture of the area proved too difficult to effectively make any permanent change possible. The fall of the Ottoman Empire had many long term consequences for Europe, but the most long lasting change has been the creation of modern day Turkey, which has been a long lasting ally of the European Union and not the constant threat to Europe that the Ottoman Empire had been for so many years.
The failure of defensive development in Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, and Persia had a large and long-lasting effect on the Muslim world. The original goal of the reforms was to end European intervention, revive the weakening empires, and to be on equal standing with Europe. Yet, all three empires over-utilized the wealth and knowledge of Europe, leading to their ultimate demise. The empires wished to impose reforms in the military, economics, education, and law which the region had not experienced previously. This resulted in backlash, violence, and division within the empires eventually leading to bankruptcy, ironically, to those which they wished to separate themselves.
The Ottoman Empire was a large empire that lasted for several hundred years. They were primarily Sunni Muslims and they were led by the Sultan. Over time, they had a long decline, mostly because they hadn’t progressed with the times. France and Britain were getting very involved with their affairs in Egypt. By the late 1800’s most of the Ottoman Empire was gone. During World War One (WWI), in 1916, the Arabs helped Great Britain to defeat the Ottoman Empire. In 1918 the Ottomans surrendered and their empire was dissolved. When mandates were established it caused nationalist ro revolt. General Mustafa
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.
The efforts made in modernizing and creating reforms during the nineteenth century were defensive in both regions. The Ottoman
Islam has been a dominant force throughout Turkish history. During the Ottoman Empire, Islam ruled every part of the theocratic state, but after the demise of the empire, Turkey's rulers led the country away from political Islam. The modern Turkish state has a strictly secular government, and Islam has been relegated to the personal sphere. Although Turkey has experienced a rise in fundamentalism in the past twenty years, the separation of church and state has remained relatively intact. Even with this increase of fundamentalist Islam, the wide majority of Muslims in Turkey are moderate and tolerant. They have adapted to modern life and value Islam for its moral and spiritual messages. Islam is a guide for right living and ethical conduct rather than a political system. Turkey constantly struggles to balance Islamic life with a secular government. Although the government wants to maintain a strict separation between religion and politics, it cannot ignore the power and influence that Islam has in the lives of the Turkish people.
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 emergence of the Young Turk movement, the decline of the Ottoman Empire, and its defeat in World War I, saw many changes in Asia Minor. The internal conflict with the Armenians during the war, and the flight of hundreds of thousands of Greeks, led to a dramatic change in the population of the emerging Republic of Turkey. The moving of the Turkish capital to Ankara in 1923 led to a shift from the previous capital, Constantinople.
There is a point of time in certain a country’s history where they become dominant and more powerful than ever before. During this elongated process a country becomes an empire. The British and the Ottomans were states that succeeded in this process, but becoming an empire such as theirs required vast amounts of political and social maneuvering to expand their boundaries, called imperialism. Imperialism is, “a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force”. By becoming a modern nation enjoying economic prosperity and political stability, the British and the Ottomans created an imperialistic impact over the globe with distinctive motivations and approaches especially during the transition period of gaining ample amount power and influence globally.
Following World War I, the Ottoman Empire lost virtually all of its power. Under the Treaty of Sèvres, various nations were granted spheres of influence over the empire. The empire lost financial control, and military restrictions were implemented. Armenia, and various other independent states were established as a result of the treaty.
The Turkish government had a reason to get rid of the Armenians. In the Ottoman Empire, Armenians were second class citizens that lived in harmony with the Turks before the forces of nationalism came into the picture. Even though the Armenians had to face higher taxes and second class citizenship, they were treated and accepted pretty well. When nationalism took over, things began to change. The Ottoman Empire began to fall and the Armenians were considered to be the only major Christian minority since all the other minorities had gained their independence already. The Ottoman Empire became known as the "sick man of Europe". An empire that was once strong and an independent power, was now starting to collapse. The Turks had an envision of spreading new-Pan Turkic empire to Central Asia and the only thing that came in the way of doing so was the Armenians. Because of this, Turks wanted to get rid of the Armenians. Sultan Hamid II ruled the Ottoman Empire and because of him, the empire was saved and did not fall. Despite saving the Ottoman Empire, Hamid ordered th...
Today, there are virtually no multinational states remaining and one would be hard-pressed to find a government that has remained in place since the pre-World War I era. In that sense, it is highly unlikely that the Ottoman Empire could have survived the tumultuous 20th Century. Nevertheless, it may have had a chance. If not for European intervention, Ottoman reforms may have succeeded. However, even with those reforms, they had to compete with the rise of nationalism, which would have been difficult.
Turkey’s involvement in the World War 1 provided cover for extreme elements of the very nationalistic Young Turks regime to carry ...
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.
...olutionist reforms proved permanent, and gave Turkey domestic peace and a measure of prosperity even in his lifetime. But Kemalism has also left Turkey with a divided identity - Europeanised but not quite European, alienated from the Islamic world but still a Muslim country.