We now call the Ottoman Empire. The collapse of the Ottoman Empire - history, interesting facts and consequences

Great Ottoman Empire or the Turkish Empire was founded in 1299 on the lands of northwestern Anatolia by a native of the medieval Oghuz tribe. In 1362 and 1389, Murad I conquered the Balkans, which turned the Ottoman Sultanate into a caliphate and transcontinental empire. And Mehmed the Conqueror occupied Constantinople in 1453, which marked the end of the Byzantine Empire. Here are some Interesting Facts about the history of the Ottoman Empire that can surprise you.

Origin of the Omani Empire

Ottoman Empire(Osmanlı İmparatorluğu) was an imperial power that existed from 1299 to 1923 (634 years!!). This is one of the largest empires that ruled the borders of the Mediterranean Sea. During her reign, she included Anatolia, the Middle East, parts of North Africa, and southeastern Europe.

Ottoman names...

The French translation of the Ottoman name "Bâb-i-âlî" means "high gate". This was due to the ceremony of meeting foreign ambassadors, which was given by the Sultan at the Palace Gate. It has also been interpreted as an indication of the Empire's position as a link between Europe and Asia.

Founding of the Ottoman Empire

The empire was founded by Osman I in Last year 13th century.

4 Ottoman capitals

The capital of the Ottoman Empire was the old Constantinople, now more than 6 centuries old, which was the center of interaction between the Western and Eastern Worlds. But before that, the Ottomans had three more head cities. Initially, it was Sogut, then after 30 years she took this post, the capital of the Ottoman Empire moved from Bursa to Edirne, it was in 1365, and after, in the year of the conquest of Constantinople, the capital moved to it. Ankara, the fifth in a row, became the capital only after the formation of the Republic of Turkey, although by the time the capital was transferred to Edirne, Ankara had already been captured for ten years.

Türkiye

After the First World War, during which most of the Ottoman territory was captured by the Allies, Ottoman elites installed during Turkish war for independence.

On top of the Ottoman

The empire reached its apogee under Suleiman I (Kanuni or Suleiman the Magnificent) in the 16th century, when the Ottomans extended from the Persian Gulf (east) to Hungary (northwest) and from Egypt (south) to the Caucasus (north).

12 wars of the Ottomans with the Russian Empire

Ottomans fought with Russia 12 times V different time with different authorities and different distribution of territories. The Ottoman Empire won only 2 times during the Prut campaign and on the Caucasian front, the status quo was determined 2 times - under Mehmed 4th and Mahmud 2nd, and there were no official winners during the Crimean War. The remaining 7 wars against the Ottomans were won by the Russian Empire.

The stage of the weakening of the Ottomans

In the 17th century, the Ottomans were weakened both internally and externally in costly wars against Persia, the Commonwealth, Russia and Austria-Hungary. It was a time of drafts in a constitutional monarchy in which the sultan already had little energy. During that period, sultans ruled from Ahmed the First. And in the 19th century, around the reign of Mahmud II, the Ottomans were losing their power due to the increase in the strength of European powers.

Formation of Turkey

Mustafa Kemal Pasha, a prominent army officer during the Gallipoli-Palestine campaign, was officially dispatched from Istanbul to take control of the victorious army of the Caucasus and reform it. This army played an important role in the Turkish victory for independence (1918-1923) and the Republic of Turkey was founded on October 29, 1923 from the remnants of the collapsed Ottoman Empire.

Vizier ...

Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, the founder of the Albanian political dynasty in the Ottoman Empire, was appointed to his position as grand vizier by Turhan, the mother of the seven-year-old ruler Mehmed IV.

Military classes of the Ottomans

The vizier, like the sultan, also served as a military commander in the cavalry. In addition, men, having taken up Islamic religious judicial positions, automatically became military men.

Distribution of positions

From the middle of the 15th century until the beginning of the 17th century, the ways in which judicial, military, and political posts were established were fairly clear. Graduates of Muslim colleges called madrasahs were appointed judges in the provinces, imams or teachers in these same madrasas. Speaking of the highest judicial positions, this was the realm of exclusively elite families.

How was the life of the chief?

The head of the cavalry unit had allotments, he was a Muslim by birth, which gave him the right to a feudal inheritance. In other words, he could leave his allotments as an inheritance to his relatives.

Something about viziers

The viziers and governors of the Ottoman Empire were usually former Christian converts.

36 Ottoman sultans

The Ottoman Empire ruled for 634 years. Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent sat on the throne for the longest time - he ruled for 46 years. The shortest reign was for the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed V - about a year, who was also called crazy.

Replacing empires

The Ottoman Empire, with its intelligence and endurance, completely replaced Byzantium as a major power in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Multiple chronology of significant events in the Ottoman Empire

Chronology important events in the Ottoman Empire can be distinguished not only by 16 interesting facts, but also by 16 points with dates in different centuries. For example:

• 1299 - Osman I founded the Ottoman Empire
• 1389 - Ottomans conquer most of Serbia
• 1453 - Mehmed II captures Constantinople to end the Byzantine Empire
• 1517 - The Ottomans conquered Egypt, making it part of the empire
• 1520 - Suleiman the Magnificent becomes ruler of the Ottoman Empire
• 1529 - Siege of Vienna. An unsuccessful attempt, which stopped the rapid expansion of the Ottomans in European lands
• 1533 - Ottomans conquer Iraq
• 1551 - Ottomans conquer Libya
• 1566 - Suleiman dies
• 1569 - Most of Istanbul burned down in a great fire
• 1683 - The Turks were defeated at the Battle of Vienna. This signals the beginning of the decline of the empire
• 1699 - Ottomans relinquish control of Hungary to Austria
• 1718 - Beginning of the era of tulips. What did reconciliation mean in some European countries, familiarization with science, architecture, and so on
• 1821 - Greek War of Independence begins
• 1914 - Ottomans joined the Central Forces in WWI
• 1923 - The Ottoman Empire dissolves and the Turkish Republic becomes a country

2017-02-12

The content of the article

OTTOMAN (OTTOMAN) EMPIRE. This empire was created by the Turkic tribes in Anatolia and existed since the decline of the Byzantine Empire in the 14th century. until the formation of the Turkish Republic in 1922. Its name comes from the name of Sultan Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman dynasty. The influence of the Ottoman Empire in the region began to gradually disappear from the 17th century, it finally collapsed after the defeat in the First World War.

Rise of the Ottomans.

The modern Republic of Turkey traces its origins to one of the Ghazi beyliks. The creator of the future mighty state, Osman (1259–1324/1326), inherited from his father Ertogrul a small border inheritance (uj) of the Seljuk state on the southeastern border of Byzantium, not far from Eskisehir. Osman became the founder of a new dynasty, and the state received his name and went down in history as the Ottoman Empire.

In the last years of Ottoman power, a legend appeared that Ertogrul and his tribe arrived from Central Asia just in time to save the Seljuks in their battle with the Mongols, and their western lands were rewarded. However, modern research does not confirm this legend. Ertogrul was given his inheritance by the Seljuks, to whom he swore allegiance and paid tribute, as well as to the Mongol khans. This continued under Osman and his son until 1335. It is likely that neither Osman nor his father were ghazis until Osman fell under the influence of one of the dervish orders. In the 1280s, Osman managed to capture Bilecik, İnönü and Eskisehir.

At the very beginning of the 14th century. Osman, together with his ghazis, annexed to his inheritance the lands that stretched up to the coasts of the Black and Marmara Seas, as well as most of the territory west of the Sakarya River, up to Kutahya in the south. After the death of Osman, his son Orkhan occupied the fortified Byzantine city of Brusa. Bursa, as the Ottomans called it, became the capital of the Ottoman state and remained so for more than 100 years until Constantinople was taken by them. In almost one decade, Byzantium lost almost all of Asia Minor, and such historical cities as Nicaea and Nicomedia were named Iznik and Izmit. The Ottomans subjugated the beylik of Karesi in Bergama (former Pergamum), and Gazi Orhan became the ruler of the entire northwestern part of Anatolia: from the Aegean Sea and the Dardanelles to the Black Sea and the Bosporus.

conquests in Europe.

The rise of the Ottoman Empire.

Between the capture of Bursa and the victory in Kosovo organizational structures and the management of the Ottoman Empire were quite effective, and already at that time many features of the future huge state loomed. Orhan and Murad were not interested in whether the new arrivals were Muslims, Christians or Jews, whether they were listed as Arabs, Greeks, Serbs, Albanians, Italians, Iranians or Tatars. The state system of government was built on a combination of Arab, Seljuk and Byzantine customs and traditions. In the occupied lands, the Ottomans tried to preserve, as far as possible, local customs, so as not to destroy the established social relations.

In all newly annexed areas, military leaders immediately allocated income from land allotments as a reward to valiant and worthy soldiers. The owners of these kind of fiefs, called timars, were obliged to manage their lands and from time to time participate in campaigns and raids on remote territories. From the feudal lords, called sipahs, who had timars, cavalry was formed. Like the ghazis, the sipahis acted as Ottoman pioneers in the newly conquered territories. Murad I distributed in Europe many such destinies to Turkic clans from Anatolia who did not have property, resettling them in the Balkans and turning them into a feudal military aristocracy.

Another notable event of that time was the creation of a corps of Janissaries in the army, soldiers who were included in the military units close to the Sultan. These soldiers (Turkish yeniceri, lit. new army), called Janissaries by foreigners, later began to be recruited among captured boys from Christian families, in particular in the Balkans. This practice, known as the devshirme system, may have been introduced under Murad I, but did not fully take shape until the 15th century. under Murad II; it continued uninterrupted until the 16th century, with interruptions until the 17th century. Being slaves of the sultans in status, the Janissaries were a disciplined regular army, consisting of well-trained and armed foot soldiers, superior in combat capability to all similar troops in Europe until the advent of the French army of Louis XIV.

The conquests and fall of Bayezid I.

Mehmed II and the capture of Constantinople.

The young sultan received an excellent education at the palace school and as governor of Manisa under his father. He was undoubtedly more educated than all the other monarchs of the then Europe. After the murder of his minor brother, Mehmed II reorganized his court in preparation for the capture of Constantinople. Huge bronze cannons were cast and troops were gathered to storm the city. In 1452, the Ottomans built a huge fort with three majestic fortress castles in the narrow part of the Bosphorus about 10 km north of the Golden Horn harbor of Constantinople. Thus, the Sultan was able to control shipping from the Black Sea and cut off Constantinople from supplies from the Italian trading posts located to the north. This fort, called Rumeli Hisary, together with another Anadolu Hisary fortress built by the great-grandfather of Mehmed II, guaranteed reliable communication between Asia and Europe. The most spectacular move of the Sultan was the ingenious crossing of part of his fleet from the Bosphorus to the Golden Horn through the hills, bypassing the chain stretched at the entrance to the bay. Thus, the cannons from the Sultan's ships could bombard the city from the inner harbor. On May 29, 1453, a breach was made in the wall, and the Ottoman soldiers broke into Constantinople. On the third day, Mehmed II was already praying in Ayasofya and decided to make Istanbul (as the Ottomans called Constantinople) the capital of the empire.

Owning such a well-located city, Mehmed II controlled the position in the empire. In 1456, his attempt to take Belgrade ended unsuccessfully. Nevertheless, Serbia and Bosnia soon became provinces of the empire, and before his death, the Sultan managed to annex Herzegovina and Albania to his state. Mehmed II captured all of Greece, including the Peloponnese, with the exception of a few Venetian ports, and the largest islands in the Aegean. In Asia Minor, he finally managed to overcome the resistance of the rulers of Karaman, seize Cilicia, annex Trebizond (Trabzon) on the Black Sea coast to the empire and establish suzerainty over the Crimea. The Sultan recognized the authority of the Greek Orthodox Church and worked closely with the newly elected patriarch. Previously, for two centuries, the population of Constantinople was constantly declining; Mehmed II moved many people from various parts of the country to the new capital and restored traditionally strong crafts and trade in it.

The heyday of the empire under Suleiman I.

The power of the Ottoman Empire reached its peak in the middle of the 16th century. The reign of Suleiman I the Magnificent (1520-1566) is considered the Golden Age of the Ottoman Empire. Suleiman I (previous Suleiman, son of Bayezid I, never ruled all of its territory) surrounded himself with many capable dignitaries. Most of them were recruited according to the devshirme system or captured during army campaigns and pirate raids, and by 1566, when Suleiman I died, these "new Turks", or "new Ottomans", already firmly held power over the entire empire in their hands. They formed the backbone of the administrative authorities, while the highest Muslim institutions were headed by the indigenous Turks. Theologians and jurists were recruited from among them, whose duties included interpreting laws and performing judicial functions.

Suleiman I, being the only son of a monarch, never faced any claims to the throne. He was an educated person who loved music, poetry, nature, and philosophical discussions. And yet the military forced him to adhere to a militant policy. In 1521 the Ottoman army crossed the Danube and captured Belgrade. This victory, which Mehmed II could not achieve at one time, opened the way for the Ottomans to the plains of Hungary and to the basin of the upper Danube. In 1526 Suleiman took Budapest and occupied all of Hungary. In 1529, the sultan began the siege of Vienna, but was unable to capture the city before the onset of winter. Nevertheless, a vast territory from Istanbul to Vienna and from the Black Sea to the Adriatic Sea formed the European part of the Ottoman Empire, and Suleiman during his reign carried out seven military campaigns on the western borders of the state.

Suleiman led fighting and in the east. The borders of his empire with Persia were not defined, and the vassal rulers in the border regions changed their masters, depending on which side the power was on and with whom it was more profitable to conclude an alliance. In 1534, Suleiman took Tabriz, and then Baghdad, including Iraq in the Ottoman Empire; in 1548 he regained Tabriz. The Sultan spent the entire 1549 in pursuit of the Persian Shah Tahmasp I, trying to fight him. While Suleiman was in Europe in 1553, Persian troops invaded Asia Minor and captured Erzurum. Having expelled the Persians and devoted most of 1554 to the conquest of the lands east of the Euphrates, Suleiman, according to the official peace treaty concluded with the shah, received a port in the Persian Gulf at his disposal. The squadrons of the naval forces of the Ottoman Empire operated in the waters of the Arabian Peninsula, in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez.

From the very beginning of his reign, Suleiman paid great attention to strengthening the maritime power of the state in order to maintain the superiority of the Ottomans in the Mediterranean. In 1522 his second campaign was directed against Fr. Rhodes, lying 19 km from the southwestern coast of Asia Minor. After the capture of the island and the eviction of the Joannites who owned it to Malta, the Aegean Sea and the entire coast of Asia Minor became Ottoman possessions. Soon french king Francis I turned to the Sultan for military assistance in the Mediterranean and with a request to oppose Hungary in order to stop the advance of the troops of Emperor Charles V, advancing on Francis in Italy. The most famous of Suleiman's naval commanders, Khairaddin Barbarossa, supreme ruler of Algeria and North Africa, devastated the coasts of Spain and Italy. Nevertheless, Suleiman's admirals failed to capture Malta in 1565.

Suleiman died in 1566 in Szigetvar during a campaign in Hungary. The body of the last of the great Ottoman sultans was transferred to Istanbul and buried in a mausoleum in the courtyard of the mosque.

Suleiman had several sons, but his beloved son died at the age of 21, two others were executed on charges of conspiracy, and the only remaining son, Selim II, turned out to be a drunkard. The conspiracy that destroyed Suleiman's family can be partly attributed to the jealousy of his wife, Roxelana, a former slave girl of either Russian or Polish origin. Another mistake of Suleiman was the elevation in 1523 of his beloved slave Ibrahim, who was appointed chief minister (grand vizier), although there were many other competent courtiers among the applicants. And although Ibrahim was a capable minister, his appointment violated the long-established system of palace relations and aroused the envy of other dignitaries.

Mid 16th century was the heyday of literature and architecture. More than a dozen mosques were erected in Istanbul under the guidance and designs of the architect Sinan, the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, dedicated to Selim II, became a masterpiece.

Under the new Sultan Selim II, the Ottomans began to lose their positions at sea. In 1571, the united Christian fleet met the Turkish in the battle of Lepanto and defeated it. During the winter of 1571-1572, the shipyards in Gelibolu and Istanbul worked tirelessly, and by the spring of 1572, thanks to the construction of new warships, the European naval victory was nullified. In 1573, the Venetians were defeated, and the island of Cyprus was annexed to the empire. Despite this, the defeat at Lepanto was an omen of the coming decline of Ottoman power in the Mediterranean.

Decline of the empire.

After Selim II, most of the Ottoman sultans were weak rulers. Murad III, Selim's son, reigned from 1574 to 1595. His tenure on the throne was accompanied by turmoil caused by palace slaves led by Grand Vizier Mehmed Sokolki and two harem factions: one led by the Sultan's mother Nur Banu, a Jewish convert to Islam, and another beloved Safi's wife. The latter was the daughter of the Venetian governor of Corfu, who was captured by pirates and presented to Suleiman, who immediately gave her to his grandson Murad. However, the empire still had enough strength to move east to the Caspian Sea, as well as to maintain its position in the Caucasus and Europe.

After the death of Murad III, 20 of his sons remained. Of these, Mehmed III ascended the throne, strangling 19 of his brothers. His son Ahmed I, who succeeded him in 1603, tried to reform the system of government and get rid of corruption. He departed from the cruel tradition and did not kill his brother Mustafa. And although this, of course, was a manifestation of humanism, but since that time all the brothers of the sultans and their closest relatives from the Ottoman dynasty began to be kept in confinement in a special part of the palace, where they spent their lives until the death of the ruling monarch. Then the eldest of them was proclaimed his successor. Thus, after Ahmed I, few of those who reigned in the 17th-18th centuries. Sultans had sufficient intellectual development or political experience to manage such a vast empire. As a result, the unity of the state and itself central authority began to weaken rapidly.

Mustafa I, brother of Ahmed I, was mentally ill and ruled for only one year. Osman II, the son of Ahmed I, was proclaimed the new sultan in 1618. Being an enlightened monarch, Osman II tried to transform state structures, but was killed by his opponents in 1622. For some time, the throne again went to Mustafa I, but already in 1623 Osman's brother Murad ascended the throne IV, who ruled the country until 1640. His reign was dynamic and reminiscent of the reign of Selim I. Having reached the age of majority in 1623, Murad spent the next eight years in relentless attempts to restore and reform the Ottoman Empire. In an effort to improve state structures, he executed 10,000 officials. Murad personally led his armies during the eastern campaigns, banned the consumption of coffee, tobacco and alcoholic beverages, but he himself showed a weakness for alcohol, which led the young ruler to death at the age of only 28 years.

Murad's successor, his mentally ill brother Ibrahim, managed to largely ruin the state he inherited before he was deposed in 1648. The conspirators put Ibrahim's six-year-old son Mehmed IV on the throne and actually led the country until 1656, when the Sultan's mother achieved the appointment of Grand Vizier with unlimited powers talented Mehmed Köprülü. He held this position until 1661, when his son Fazıl Ahmed Koprulu became vizier.

The Ottoman Empire nevertheless managed to overcome the period of chaos, extortion and crisis of state power. Europe was divided by religious wars and Thirty Years' War, while Poland and Russia experienced troubled period. This made it possible for both Köprül, after the purge of the administration, during which 30,000 officials were executed, to capture the island of Crete in 1669, and in 1676 Podolia and other regions of Ukraine. After the death of Ahmed Koprulu, his place was taken by a mediocre and corrupt palace favorite. In 1683, the Ottomans laid siege to Vienna, but were defeated by the Poles and their allies, led by Jan Sobieski.

Leaving the Balkans.

The defeat at Vienna was the beginning of the retreat of the Turks in the Balkans. First, Budapest fell, and after the loss of Mohacs, all of Hungary fell under the rule of Vienna. In 1688 the Ottomans had to leave Belgrade, in 1689 Vidin in Bulgaria and Nish in Serbia. Thereafter Suleiman II (r. 1687–1691) appointed Mustafa Köprülü, Ahmed's brother, as grand vizier. The Ottomans managed to retake Nis and Belgrade, but they were utterly defeated by Prince Eugene of Savoy in 1697 near Senta, in the far north of Serbia.

Mustafa II (r. 1695–1703) attempted to regain lost positions by appointing Hussein Köprülä as Grand Vizier. In 1699, the Karlovitsky Peace Treaty was signed, according to which the Peloponnese and Dalmatia peninsulas retreated to Venice, Austria received Hungary and Transylvania, Poland - Podolia, and Russia retained Azov. The Treaty of Karlovtsy was the first in a series of concessions that the Ottomans were forced to make as they left Europe.

During the 18th century The Ottoman Empire lost most of its power in the Mediterranean. In the 17th century The main opponents of the Ottoman Empire were Austria and Venice, and in the 18th century. – Austria and Russia.

In 1718, Austria, according to the Pozharevatsky (Passarovitsky) treaty, received a number of territories. Nevertheless, the Ottoman Empire, despite the defeats in the wars that it waged in the 1730s, according to the treaty signed in 1739 in Belgrade, regained this city, mainly due to the weakness of the Habsburgs and the intrigues of French diplomats.

Surrenders.

As a result of behind-the-scenes maneuvers of French diplomacy in Belgrade, in 1740 an agreement was concluded between France and the Ottoman Empire. Called "Surrenders", this document was for a long time the basis for the special privileges received by all states in the territory of the empire. The formal beginning of the agreements was laid as early as 1251, when the Mamluk sultans in Cairo recognized Saint Louis IX, King of France. Mehmed II, Bayezid II and Selim I confirmed this agreement and used it as a model in relations with Venice and other Italian city-states, Hungary, Austria and most other European countries. One of the most important was the agreement of 1536 between Suleiman I and the French king Francis I. In accordance with the agreement of 1740, the French received the right to move freely and trade on the territory of the Ottoman Empire under the full protection of the Sultan, their goods were not taxed, with the exception of import and export duties, French envoys and consuls acquired judicial power over compatriots who could not be arrested in the absence of a representative of the consulate. The French were given the right to erect and freely use their churches; the same privileges were reserved within the Ottoman Empire and for other Catholics. In addition, the French could take under their protection the Portuguese, Sicilians and citizens of other states who did not have ambassadors at the Sultan's court.

Further decline and attempts at reform.

The end of the Seven Years' War in 1763 marked the beginning of new attacks against the Ottoman Empire. Despite the fact that the French king Louis XV sent Baron de Totta to Istanbul to modernize the Sultan's army, the Ottomans were defeated by Russia in the Danube provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia and were forced to sign the Kyuchuk-Kainarji peace treaty in 1774. Crimea gained independence, and Azov went to Russia, which recognized the border with the Ottoman Empire along the Bug River. The Sultan promised to provide protection for the Christians living in his empire, and allowed the presence in the capital of the Russian ambassador, who received the right to represent the interests of his Christian subjects. Starting from 1774 and up to the First World War, the Russian tsars referred to the Kyuchuk-Kaynardzhi agreement, justifying their role in the affairs of the Ottoman Empire. In 1779, Russia received rights to the Crimea, and in 1792 the Russian border was moved to the Dniester in accordance with the Iasi peace treaty.

Time dictated change. Ahmed III (r. 1703–1730) brought in architects who built him palaces and mosques in the style of Versailles and opened a printing press in Istanbul. The closest relatives of the Sultan were no longer kept in strict imprisonment, some of them began to study the scientific and political heritage Western Europe. However, Ahmed III was killed by the conservatives, and Mahmud I took his place, during which the Caucasus was lost, passed to Persia, and the retreat in the Balkans continued. One of the prominent sultans was Abdul-Hamid I. During his reign (1774-1789), reforms were made, French teachers and technical specialists. France hoped to save the Ottoman Empire and keep Russia out of the Black Sea straits and the Mediterranean.

Selim III

(reigned 1789–1807). Selim III, who became sultan in 1789, formed a 12-member cabinet of ministers in the style of European governments, replenished the treasury and created a new military corps. They created new educational establishments, designed to educate civil servants in the spirit of the ideas of the Enlightenment. Printed publications were again allowed, and the works of Western authors began to be translated into Turkish.

In the early years French Revolution The Ottoman Empire was left alone with its problems by the European powers. Napoleon considered Selim as an ally, believing that after the defeat of the Mamluks, the sultan would be able to strengthen his power in Egypt. Nevertheless, Selim III declared war on France and sent his fleet and army to defend the province. Saved the Turks from defeat only the British fleet, located off Alexandria and off the coast of the Levant. This step of the Ottoman Empire involved it in the military and diplomatic affairs of Europe.

Meanwhile, in Egypt, after the departure of the French, Muhammad Ali, a native of the Macedonian city of Kavala, who served in the Turkish army, came to power. In 1805 he became governor of the province, which opened a new chapter in the history of Egypt.

After the conclusion of the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, relations with France were restored, and Selim III managed to keep the peace until 1806, when Russia invaded its Danubian provinces. England helped her ally Russia by sending her fleet through the Dardanelles, but Selim managed to speed up the restoration of defensive structures, and the British were forced to sail into the Aegean Sea. The French victories in Central Europe strengthened the position of the Ottoman Empire, but a rebellion began in the capital against Selim III. In 1807, during the absence of Bayraktar, the commander-in-chief of the imperial army, the sultan was deposed, and his cousin Mustafa IV took the throne. After the return of Bayraktar in 1808, Mustafa IV was executed, but before that, the rebels strangled Selim III, who was imprisoned. Mahmud II remained the only male representative of the ruling dynasty.

Mahmoud II

(reigned 1808–1839). Under him, in 1809, the Ottoman Empire and Great Britain concluded the famous Dardanelles Peace, which opened the Turkish market for British goods on the condition that Great Britain recognized the closed status of the Black Sea straits for military ships in peacetime for the Turks. Earlier, the Ottoman Empire agreed to join the continental blockade created by Napoleon, so the agreement was perceived as a violation of previous obligations. Russia began hostilities on the Danube and captured a number of cities in Bulgaria and Wallachia. Under the Treaty of Bucharest in 1812, significant territories were ceded to Russia, and she refused to support the rebels in Serbia. At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the Ottoman Empire was recognized as a European power.

National Revolutions in the Ottoman Empire.

During the French Revolution, the country faced two new problems. One of them has been ripening for a long time: as the center weakened, the separated provinces eluded the power of the sultans. In Epirus, Ali Pasha Yaninsky, who ruled the province as sovereign and maintained diplomatic relations with Napoleon and other European monarchs, revolted. Similar actions also took place in Vidin, Sidon (modern Saida, Lebanon), Baghdad and other provinces, which undermined the power of the Sultan and reduced tax revenues to the imperial treasury. The strongest of the local rulers (pashas) eventually became Muhammad Ali in Egypt.

Another intractable problem for the country was the growth of the national liberation movement, especially among the Christian population of the Balkans. At the height of the French Revolution, Selim III in 1804 faced an uprising raised by the Serbs, led by Karageorgiy (George Petrovich). The Congress of Vienna (1814–1815) recognized Serbia as a semi-autonomous province within the Ottoman Empire, led by Miloš Obrenović, a rival of Karađorđe.

Almost immediately after the defeat of the French Revolution and the fall of Napoleon, Mahmud II faced the Greek national liberation revolution. Mahmud II had a chance to win, especially after he managed to convince the nominal vassal in Egypt, Muhammad Ali, to send his army and navy to support Istanbul. However, the Pasha's armed forces were defeated after the intervention of Great Britain, France and Russia. As a result of the breakthrough of Russian troops in the Caucasus and their offensive against Istanbul, Mahmud II had to sign the Treaty of Adrianople in 1829, which recognized the independence of the Kingdom of Greece. A few years later, the army of Muhammad Ali, under the command of his son Ibrahim Pasha, captured Syria and found itself dangerously close to the Bosphorus in Asia Minor. Mahmud II was rescued only by the Russian amphibious assault, which landed on the Asian coast of the Bosphorus as a warning to Muhammad Ali. After that, Mahmud never managed to get rid of Russian influence until he signed the humiliating Unkiyar-Iskelesi Treaty in 1833, which gave the Russian Tsar the right to "protect" the Sultan, as well as to close and open at his own discretion Black Sea Straits for the passage of foreign warships.

Ottoman Empire after the Congress of Vienna.

Period after Congress of Vienna, probably proved to be the most destructive for the Ottoman Empire. Greece seceded; Egypt under Muhammad Ali, which, moreover, by capturing Syria and South Arabia, became virtually independent; Serbia, Wallachia and Moldavia became semi-autonomous territories. During the Napoleonic Wars, Europe significantly strengthened its military and industrial power. The weakening of the Ottoman state is attributed to a certain extent to the massacre of the Janissaries organized by Mahmud II in 1826.

By signing the Treaty of Unkiyar-Isklelesiy, Mahmud II hoped to buy time to transform the empire. His reforms were so tangible that travelers visiting Turkey in the late 1830s noted that more changes had taken place in the country in the last 20 years than in the previous two centuries. Instead of the Janissaries, Mahmud created a new army, trained and equipped according to the European model. Prussian officers were hired to train officers in the new military art. Fezzes and frock coats became the official attire of civil officials. Mahmoud tried to introduce into all areas of government latest methods developed in the young European states. It was possible to reorganize the financial system, streamline the activities of the judiciary, and improve the road network. Additional educational institutions were created, in particular, military and medical colleges. Newspapers began to be published in Istanbul and Izmir.

In the last year of his life, Mahmud again entered the war with his Egyptian vassal. Mahmud's army was defeated in northern Syria, and his fleet in Alexandria went over to the side of Muhammad Ali.

Abdul Mejid

(reigned 1839–1861). The eldest son and successor of Mahmud II, Abdul-Majid, was only 16 years old. Without an army and navy, he was helpless in the face of the superior forces of Muhammad Ali. He was saved by the diplomatic and military assistance of Russia, Great Britain, Austria and Prussia. France initially supported Egypt, but the concerted action of the European powers made it possible to find a way out of the deadlock: the pasha received the hereditary right to rule Egypt under the nominal suzerainty of the Ottoman sultans. This provision was legitimized by the London Treaty of 1840 and confirmed by Abdul-Mejid in 1841. In the same year, the London Convention of the European Powers was concluded, according to which military ships were not to pass through the Dardanelles and the Bosporus in peacetime for the Ottoman Empire, and the powers that signed it took to the obligation to assist the Sultan in maintaining sovereignty over the Black Sea straits.

Tanzimat.

During the struggle with his strong vassal, Abdul-Mejid in 1839 promulgated the khatt-i sherif (“sacred decree”), announcing the beginning of reforms in the empire, with which the chief minister Reshid Pasha spoke to the highest state dignitaries and invited ambassadors. The document abolished the death penalty without trial, guaranteed justice for all citizens regardless of their racial or religious affiliation, established a judicial council to adopt a new criminal code, abolished the farming system, changed the methods of recruiting the army and limited the length of military service.

It became apparent that the empire was no longer capable of defending itself in the event of a military attack by any of the great European powers. Reshid Pasha, who previously served as ambassador to Paris and London, understood that certain steps must be taken to show the European states that the Ottoman Empire was capable of self-reformation and manageable, i.e. deserves to be preserved independent state. Hutt-i sheriff seemed to be the answer to the doubts of the Europeans. However, in 1841 Reshid was removed from office. In the next few years, his reforms were suspended, and only after his return to power in 1845 did they begin to be put into practice again with the support of the British ambassador, Stratford Canning. This period in the history of the Ottoman Empire, known as the tanzimat ("ordering"), included the reorganization of the system of government and the transformation of society in accordance with the ancient Muslim and Ottoman principles of tolerance. At the same time, education developed, the network of schools expanded, sons from famous families began to study in Europe. Many Ottomans began to lead a Western way of life. The number of published newspapers, books and magazines increased, and the younger generation professed new European ideals.

At the same time, foreign trade grew rapidly, but the influx of European industrial products had a negative impact on the finances and economy of the Ottoman Empire. Imports of British factory-made textiles disrupted artisanal textile production and siphoned gold and silver out of the state. Another blow to the economy was the signing in 1838 of the Balto-Liman Trade Convention, according to which import duties on goods imported into the empire were frozen at the level of 5%. This meant that foreign merchants could operate in the empire on an equal footing with local merchants. As a result, most of the trade in the country was in the hands of foreigners, who, in accordance with the "Surrenders", were released from the control of officials.

Crimean War.

The London Convention of 1841 abolished the special privileges that the Russian Emperor Nicholas I received under the secret annex to the Unkiyar-Iskelesi Treaty of 1833. Referring to the Kyuchuk-Kainarji Treaty of 1774, Nicholas I launched an offensive in the Balkans and demanded a special status and rights for Russian monks in holy places in Jerusalem and Palestine. After the refusal of Sultan Abdulmejid to satisfy these demands, the Crimean War began. Great Britain, France and Sardinia came to the aid of the Ottoman Empire. Istanbul became a forward base for the preparation of hostilities in the Crimea, and the influx of European sailors, army officers and civil officials left an indelible mark on Ottoman society. The Paris Treaty of 1856, which ended this war, declared the Black Sea a neutral zone. The European powers again recognized Turkish sovereignty over the Black Sea Straits, and the Ottoman Empire was admitted to the "Union of European States". Romania gained independence.

Bankruptcy of the Ottoman Empire.

After Crimean War Sultans began to borrow money from Western bankers. Back in 1854, having practically no external debt, the Ottoman government very quickly became bankrupt, and already in 1875 Sultan Abdulaziz owed almost one billion dollars in foreign currency to European bondholders.

In 1875 the Grand Vizier declared that the country was no longer able to pay the interest on its debts. Noisy protests and pressure from the European powers forced the Ottoman authorities to raise taxes in the provinces. Unrest began in Bosnia, Herzegovina, Macedonia and Bulgaria. The government sent troops to "appease" the rebels, during which unprecedented cruelty was shown that amazed the Europeans. In response, Russia sent volunteers to help the Balkan Slavs. At this time, a secret revolutionary society of the "New Ottomans" appeared in the country, advocating constitutional reforms in their homeland.

In 1876, Abdul-Aziz, who succeeded his brother Abdul-Mejid in 1861, was deposed for incompetence by Midhat Pasha and Avni Pasha, leaders of the liberal organization of the constitutionalists. On the throne they put Murad V, the eldest son of Abdul-Mejid, who turned out to be mentally ill and was removed just a few months later, and Abdul-Hamid II, another son of Abdul-Mejid, was placed on the throne.

Abdul Hamid II

(reigned 1876–1909). Abdul-Hamid II visited Europe, and many pinned great hopes on him for a liberal constitutional regime. However, at the time of his accession to the throne, Turkish influence in the Balkans was in danger despite the fact that the Ottoman forces managed to defeat the Bosnian and Serbian rebels. This development of events forced Russia to come out with the threat of open intervention, which was sharply opposed by Austria-Hungary and Great Britain. In December 1876, a conference of ambassadors was convened in Istanbul, at which Abdul-Hamid II announced the introduction of the constitution of the Ottoman Empire, which provided for the creation of an elected parliament, a government responsible to it, and other attributes of European constitutional monarchies. However, the brutal suppression of the uprising in Bulgaria nevertheless led in 1877 to a war with Russia. In this regard, Abdul-Hamid II suspended the operation of the Constitution for the period of the war. This situation continued until the Young Turk Revolution of 1908.

Meanwhile, at the front, the military situation was developing in favor of Russia, whose troops were already encamped under the walls of Istanbul. Great Britain managed to prevent the capture of the city by sending a fleet to the Sea of ​​Marmara and presenting an ultimatum to St. Petersburg demanding to stop hostilities. Initially, Russia imposed on the sultan the extremely disadvantageous Treaty of San Stefano, according to which most of the European possessions of the Ottoman Empire became part of a new autonomous entity - Bulgaria. Austria-Hungary and Great Britain opposed the terms of the treaty. All this prompted the German Chancellor Bismarck to convene in 1878 Berlin Congress, on which the size of Bulgaria was reduced, but the complete independence of Serbia, Montenegro and Romania was recognized. Cyprus went to Great Britain, and Bosnia and Herzegovina to Austria-Hungary. Russia received the fortresses of Ardahan, Kars and Batum (Batumi) in the Caucasus; to regulate navigation on the Danube, a commission was created from representatives of the Danube states, and the Black Sea and the Black Sea straits again received the status provided for by the Treaty of Paris of 1856. The Sultan promised to equally fairly govern all his subjects, and the European powers considered that the Berlin Congress had forever resolved the difficult Eastern problem.

During the 32-year reign of Abdul-Hamid II, the Constitution actually did not come into effect. One of the most important unresolved issues was the bankruptcy of the state. In 1881, under foreign control, the Office of the Ottoman Public Debt was created, which was made responsible for the payments on European bonds. Within a few years, confidence in the financial stability of the Ottoman Empire was restored, which contributed to the participation of foreign capital in the construction of such large projects as the Anatolian Railway, which connected Istanbul with Baghdad.

Young Turk Revolution.

During these years, national uprisings took place in Crete and Macedonia. In Crete, bloody clashes took place in 1896 and 1897, which led to the empire's war with Greece in 1897. After 30 days of fighting, the European powers intervened to save Athens from capture by the Ottoman army. Public opinion in Macedonia leaned towards either independence or union with Bulgaria.

It became obvious that the future of the state was connected with the Young Turks. The ideas of national upsurge were propagated by some journalists, the most talented of whom was Namik Kemal. Abdul-Hamid tried to suppress this movement with arrests, exiles and executions. At the same time, secret Turkish societies flourished in military headquarters around the country and in places as far away as Paris, Geneva, and Cairo. The most effective organization turned out to be the secret committee "Unity and Progress", which was created by the "Young Turks".

In 1908, the troops stationed in Macedonia rebelled and demanded the implementation of the Constitution of 1876. Abdul-Hamid was forced to agree to this, unable to use force. Elections to parliament followed, and the formation of a government from the ministers responsible to this legislative body. In April 1909, a counter-revolutionary rebellion broke out in Istanbul, which, however, was quickly suppressed by armed units that arrived in time from Macedonia. Abdul-Hamid was deposed and sent into exile, where he died in 1918. His brother Mehmed V was proclaimed Sultan.

Balkan wars.

The Young Turk government soon faced internal strife and new territorial losses in Europe. In 1908, as a result of the revolution that took place in the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria proclaimed its independence, and Austria-Hungary seized Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Young Turks were powerless to prevent these events, and in 1911 they found themselves embroiled in a conflict with Italy, which had invaded the territory of modern Libya. The war ended in 1912 when the provinces of Tripoli and Cyrenaica became an Italian colony. In early 1912, Crete allied itself with Greece, and later that year, Greece, Serbia, Montenegro, and Bulgaria launched the First Balkan War against the Ottoman Empire.

Within a few weeks, the Ottomans lost all their possessions in Europe, with the exception of Istanbul, Edirne and Ioannina in Greece and Scutari (modern Shkodra) in Albania. The great European powers, anxiously watching how the balance of power in the Balkans was being destroyed, demanded a cessation of hostilities and a conference. The Young Turks refused to surrender the cities, and in February 1913 the fighting resumed. In a few weeks, the Ottoman Empire completely lost its European possessions, with the exception of the Istanbul zone and the straits. The Young Turks were forced to agree to a truce and formally give up the already lost lands. However, the winners immediately began internecine war. The Ottomans entered into a clash with Bulgaria in order to return Edirne and the European regions adjacent to Istanbul. The Second Balkan War ended in August 1913 with the signing of the Treaty of Bucharest, but a year later the First Balkan War broke out. World War.

World War I and the end of the Ottoman Empire.

Developments after 1908 weakened the Young Turk government and isolated it politically. It tried to correct this situation by offering alliances to the stronger European powers. On August 2, 1914, shortly after the start of the war in Europe, the Ottoman Empire entered into a secret alliance with Germany. On the Turkish side, the pro-German Enver Pasha, a leading member of the Young Turk triumvirate and Minister of War, participated in the negotiations. A few days later, two German cruisers "Goeben" and "Breslau" took refuge in the straits. The Ottoman Empire acquired these warships, sailed them into the Black Sea in October and fired at Russian ports, thus declaring war on the Entente.

In the winter of 1914–1915, the Ottoman army suffered huge losses when Russian troops entered Armenia. Fearing that local residents would come out on their side, the government authorized the massacre of the Armenian population in eastern Anatolia, which many researchers later called the Armenian genocide. Thousands of Armenians were deported to Syria. In 1916 the end came Ottoman rule in Arabia: the uprising was raised by the sheriff of Mecca, Hussein ibn Ali, supported by the Entente. As a result of these events, the Ottoman government finally collapsed, although Turkish troops, with German support, achieved a number of important victories: in 1915 they managed to repulse the Entente attack on the Dardanelles, and in 1916 capture the British corps in Iraq and stop the advance of the Russians in the east. During the war, the Capitulation regime was canceled and customs tariffs were raised to protect domestic trade. The Turks took over the business of the evicted national minorities, which helped create the nucleus of a new Turkish commercial and industrial class. In 1918, when the Germans were withdrawn to defend the Hindenburg Line, the Ottoman Empire began to suffer defeat. On October 30, 1918, Turkish and British representatives concluded a truce, according to which the Entente received the right to "occupy any strategic points" of the empire and control the Black Sea straits.

The collapse of the empire.

The fate of most of the provinces of the Ottoman state was determined in the secret treaties of the Entente during the war. The Sultanate agreed to the separation of regions with a predominantly non-Turkish population. Istanbul was occupied by forces that had their own areas of responsibility. Russia was promised the Black Sea straits, including Istanbul, but October Revolution led to the annulment of these agreements. In 1918, Mehmed V died, and his brother Mehmed VI took the throne, although he retained the government in Istanbul, he actually became dependent on the Allied occupying forces. Problems were growing in the interior of the country, far from the places of deployment of the Entente troops and government institutions subordinate to the Sultan. Detachments of the Ottoman army, wandering around the vast outskirts of the empire, refused to lay down their arms. British, French and Italian military contingents occupied various parts of Turkey. With the support of the Entente fleet in May 1919, Greek armed formations landed in Izmir and began to advance deep into Asia Minor in order to protect the Greeks in Western Anatolia. Finally, in August 1920, the Treaty of Sevres was signed. Not a single area of ​​the Ottoman Empire remained free from foreign supervision. An international commission was created to control the Black Sea Straits and Istanbul. After riots broke out in early 1920 as a result of the growth of national sentiment, British troops entered Istanbul.

Mustafa Kemal and the Lausanne Peace Treaty.

In the spring of 1920, Mustafa Kemal, the most successful Ottoman commander of the war period, convened a Grand National Assembly in Ankara. He arrived from Istanbul in Anatolia on May 19, 1919 (the date on which the Turkish national liberation struggle began), where he united patriotic forces around him, striving to preserve Turkish statehood and the independence of the Turkish nation. From 1920 to 1922 Kemal and his supporters defeated the enemy armies in the east, south and west and made peace with Russia, France and Italy. At the end of August 1922, the Greek army retreated in disorder to Izmir and the coastal regions. Then the detachments of Kemal went to the Black Sea Straits, where the British troops were located. After the British Parliament refused to support the proposal to start hostilities, British Prime Minister Lloyd George resigned, and the war was averted by the signing of a truce in the Turkish city of Mudanya. The British government invited the Sultan and Kemal to send their representatives to a peace conference, which opened in Lausanne (Switzerland) on November 21, 1922. However, the Grand National Assembly in Ankara abolished the Sultanate, and Mehmed VI, the last Ottoman monarch, left Istanbul on a British warship on November 17.

On July 24, 1923, the Treaty of Lausanne was signed, which recognized the complete independence of Turkey. The Office of the Ottoman Public Debt and Capitulations were abolished, and foreign control over the country was abolished. At the same time, Türkiye agreed to demilitarize the Black Sea straits. The province of Mosul, with its oil fields, went to Iraq. It was planned to carry out an exchange of population with Greece, from which the Greeks living in Istanbul and the West Thracian Turks were excluded. On October 6, 1923, British troops left Istanbul, and on October 29, 1923, Turkey was proclaimed a republic, and Mustafa Kemal was elected its first president.



The Ottoman Empire arose in 1299 in the northwest of Asia Minor and lasted 624 years, having managed to conquer many peoples and become one of the greatest powers in the history of mankind.

From the spot to the quarry

The position of the Turks at the end of the 13th century looked unpromising, if only because of the presence of Byzantium and Persia in the neighborhood. Plus the sultans of Konya (the capital of Lycaonia - regions in Asia Minor), depending on which, albeit formally, the Turks were.

However, all this did not prevent Osman (1288-1326) from expanding and strengthening his young state. By the way, by the name of their first sultan, the Turks began to be called the Ottomans.
Osman was actively engaged in the development of internal culture and carefully treated someone else's. Therefore, many Greek cities located in Asia Minor preferred to voluntarily recognize his supremacy. Thus, they "killed two birds with one stone": they both received protection and preserved their traditions.
Osman's son Orkhan I (1326-1359) brilliantly continued his father's work. Declaring that he was going to unite all the faithful under his rule, the Sultan set off to conquer not the countries of the East, which would be logical, but the western lands. And Byzantium was the first to stand in his way.

By this time, the empire was in decline, which the Turkish Sultan took advantage of. Like a cold-blooded butcher, he "chopped off" area after area from the Byzantine "body". Soon the entire northwestern part of Asia Minor came under the rule of the Turks. They also established themselves on the European coast of the Aegean and Marmara Seas, as well as the Dardanelles. And the territory of Byzantium was reduced to Constantinople and its environs.
Subsequent sultans continued the expansion of Eastern Europe, where they successfully fought against Serbia and Macedonia. And Bayazet (1389-1402) was "marked" by the defeat of the Christian army, which was led by King Sigismund of Hungary in the Crusade against the Turks.

From defeat to triumph

Under the same Bayazet, one of the most severe defeats of the Ottoman army happened. The Sultan personally opposed Timur's army and in the Battle of Ankara (1402) he was defeated, and he himself was taken prisoner, where he died.
The heirs by hook or by crook tried to ascend the throne. The state was on the verge of collapse due to internal unrest. Only under Murad II (1421-1451) did the situation stabilize, and the Turks were able to regain control of the lost Greek cities and conquer part of Albania. The Sultan dreamed of finally cracking down on Byzantium, but did not have time. His son, Mehmed II (1451-1481), was destined to become the killer of the Orthodox empire.

On May 29, 1453, the hour of X came for Byzantium. The Turks besieged Constantinople for two months. Such a short time was enough to break the inhabitants of the city. Instead of everyone taking up arms, the townspeople simply prayed to God for help, not leaving churches for days. The last Emperor Constantine Palaiologos asked for help from the Pope, but he demanded in return the unification of churches. Konstantin refused.

Perhaps the city would have held out even if not for the betrayal. One of the officials agreed to the bribe and opened the gate. He did not take into account one important fact - the Turkish Sultan, in addition to the female harem, also had a male one. That's where the comely son of a traitor got.
The city fell. The civilized world has stopped. Now all the states of both Europe and Asia have realized that the time has come for a new superpower - the Ottoman Empire.

European campaigns and confrontations with Russia

The Turks did not think to stop there. After the death of Byzantium, no one blocked their way to rich and unfaithful Europe, even conditionally.
Soon, Serbia was annexed to the empire (except for Belgrade, but the Turks would capture it in the 16th century), the Duchy of Athens (and, accordingly, most of all of Greece), the island of Lesbos, Wallachia, and Bosnia.

IN Eastern Europe the territorial appetites of the Turks intersected with the interests of Venice. The ruler of the latter quickly enlisted the support of Naples, the Pope and Karaman (Khanate in Asia Minor). The confrontation lasted 16 years and ended with the complete victory of the Ottomans. After that, no one prevented them from "getting" the remaining Greek cities and islands, as well as annexing Albania and Herzegovina. The Turks were so carried away by expanding their borders that they successfully attacked even Crimean Khanate.
Panic broke out in Europe. Pope Sixtus IV began to make plans for the evacuation of Rome, and at the same time hastened to announce a Crusade against the Ottoman Empire. Only Hungary responded to the call. In 1481, Mehmed II died, and the era of great conquests ended temporarily.
In the 16th century, when internal unrest in the empire subsided, the Turks again directed their weapons at their neighbors. First there was a war with Persia. Although the Turks won it, the territorial acquisitions were insignificant.
After success in North African Tripoli and Algiers, Sultan Suleiman invaded Austria and Hungary in 1527 and laid siege to Vienna two years later. It was not possible to take it - bad weather and mass diseases prevented it.
As for relations with Russia, for the first time the interests of states clashed in Crimea.

The first war took place in 1568 and ended in 1570 with the victory of Russia. Empires fought each other for 350 years (1568 - 1918) - one war fell on average for a quarter of a century.
During this time, there were 12 wars (including the Azov, Prut campaign, Crimean and Caucasian fronts during the First World War). And in most cases, the victory remained with Russia.

Dawn and sunset of the Janissaries

Talking about the Ottoman Empire, one cannot fail to mention its regular troops - the Janissaries.
In 1365, on the personal order of Sultan Murad I, the Janissary infantry was formed. It was completed by Christians (Bulgarians, Greeks, Serbs, and so on) at the age of eight to sixteen years. Thus, devshirme worked - a blood tax - which was imposed on the unbelieving peoples of the empire. It is interesting that at first the life of the Janissaries was quite difficult. They lived in monasteries-barracks, they were forbidden to start a family and any household.
But gradually the Janissaries from the elite branch of the military began to turn into a highly paid burden for the state. In addition, these troops were less and less likely to take part in hostilities.

The beginning of decomposition was laid in 1683, when, along with Christian children, Muslims began to be taken as Janissaries. Wealthy Turks sent their children there, thereby solving the issue of their successful future - they could make a good career. It was the Muslim Janissaries who began to start families and engage in crafts, as well as trade. Gradually, they turned into a greedy, impudent political force that interfered in state affairs and participated in the overthrow of objectionable sultans.
The agony continued until 1826, when Sultan Mahmud II abolished the Janissaries.

The death of the Ottoman Empire

Frequent troubles, inflated ambitions, cruelty and constant participation in any wars could not but affect the fate of the Ottoman Empire. The 20th century turned out to be especially critical, in which Turkey was increasingly torn apart by internal contradictions and the separatist mood of the population. Because of this, the country fell behind the West in technical terms, so it began to lose the once conquered territories.

The fateful decision for the empire was its participation in the First World War. The allies defeated the Turkish troops and staged a division of its territory. On October 29, 1923, a new state appeared - the Republic of Turkey. Mustafa Kemal became its first president (later, he changed his surname to Atatürk - "father of the Turks"). Thus ended the history of the once great Ottoman Empire.

Ottoman Empire (Ottoman Porta, Ottoman Empire - other common names) - one of the great empires of human civilization.
The Ottoman Empire was established in 1299. The Turkic tribes, led by their leader Osman I, united into one whole strong state, and Osman himself became the first sultan of the created empire.
In the XVI-XVII centuries, during the period of its highest power and prosperity, the Ottoman Empire occupied a vast space. It stretched from Vienna and the outskirts of the Commonwealth in the north to modern Yemen in the south, from modern Algeria in the west to the coast of the Caspian Sea in the east.
The population of the Ottoman Empire in its largest borders was 35 and a half million people, it was a huge superpower, with the military power and ambitions of which the most powerful states of Europe were forced to be considered - Sweden, England, Austria-Hungary, the Commonwealth, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Russian the state (later the Russian Empire), the Papal States, France, and influential countries in the rest of the planet.
The capital of the Ottoman Empire was repeatedly transferred from city to city.
From the moment of its foundation (1299) until 1329, the city of Sögut was the capital of the Ottoman Empire.
From 1329 to 1365 the city of Bursa was the capital of the Ottoman Porte.
In the period from 1365 to 1453 the city of Edirne was the capital of the state.
From 1453 until the collapse of the empire (1922), the capital of the empire was the city of Istanbul (Constantinople).
All four cities were and are on the territory of modern Turkey.
During the years of its existence, the empire annexed the territories of modern Turkey, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia, Slovenia, Hungary, part of the Commonwealth, Romania, Bulgaria, part of Ukraine, Abkhazia, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Lebanon, the territory of modern Israel, Sudan, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan, Albania, Palestine, Cyprus, part of Persia (modern Iran), southern regions of Russia (Crimea, Rostov region , Krasnodar region, Republic of Adygea, Karachay-Cherkess Autonomous Region, Republic of Dagestan).
The Ottoman Empire lasted 623 years!
In administrative terms, the entire empire during the period of its highest prosperity was divided into vilayets: Abyssinia, Abkhazia, Akhishka, Adana, Aleppo, Algeria, Anatolia, Ar-Raqqa, Baghdad, Basra, Bosnia, Buda, Van, Wallachia, Gori, Ganja, Demirkapi, Dmanisi, Gyor, Diyarbakir, Egypt, Zabid, Yemen, Kafa, Kakheti, Kanizha, Karaman, Kars, Cyprus, Lazistan, Lori, Marash, Moldova, Mosul, Nakhichevan, Rumelia, Montenegro, Sana'a, Samtskhe, Soget, Silistria, Sivas, Syria, Temeshvar, Tabriz, Trabzon, Tripoli, Tripolitania, Tiflis, Tunisia, Sharazor, Shirvan, Aegean Islands, Eger, Egel-Khasa, Erzurum.
The history of the Ottoman Empire began with a struggle with the once strong Byzantine Empire. The future first sultan of the empire, Osman I (r. 1299 - 1326), began to annex region after region to his possessions. In fact, there was a unification of modern Turkish lands into a single state. In 1299, Osman called himself the title of Sultan. This year is considered the year of foundation of a mighty empire.
His son Orhan I (r. 1326-1359) continued his father's policy. In 1330, his army conquered the Byzantine fortress of Nicaea. Then this ruler, in the course of continuous wars, established complete control over the coasts of the Marmara and Aegean Seas, annexing Greece and Cyprus.
Under Orhan I, a regular Janissary army was created.
The conquests of Orhan I were continued by his son Murad (r. 1359-1389).
Murad fixed his eyes on Southern Europe. In 1365, Thrace (part of the territory of modern Romania) was conquered. Then Serbia was conquered (1371).
In 1389, during the battle with the Serbs on the Kosovo field, Murad was stabbed to death by the Serbian prince Milos Obilich, who made his way into his tent. The Janissaries almost lost the battle upon learning of the death of their sultan, but his son Bayezid I led the army on the attack and thereby saved the Turks from defeat.
In the future, Bayezid I becomes the new sultan of the empire (r. 1389 - 1402). This sultan conquers all of Bulgaria, Wallachia (the historical region of Romania), Macedonia (modern Macedonia and Northern Greece) and Thessaly (modern Central Greece).
In 1396, Bayezid I defeated a huge army near Nikopol (Zaporozhye region of modern Ukraine). Polish king Sigismund.
However, not everything was so calm in the Ottoman Port. Persia began to claim its Asian possessions and the Persian Shah Timur invaded the territory of modern Azerbaijan. Moreover, Timur moved with his army towards Ankara and Istanbul. A battle broke out near Ankara, in which the army of Bayezid I was completely destroyed, and the Sultan himself was captured by the Persian Shah. A year later, Bayazid dies in captivity.
A real threat loomed over the Ottoman Empire to be conquered by Persia. In the empire, three sultans proclaim themselves at once. In Adrianople, Suleiman proclaims himself sultan (r. 1402-1410), in Broussa - Issa (r. 1402-1403), and in the eastern part of the empire bordering Persia - Mehmed (r. 1402-1421).
Seeing this, Timur decided to take advantage of this situation and set all three sultans one against the other. He accepted everyone in turn and promised his support to everyone. In 1403 Mehmed kills Issa. Suleiman died unexpectedly in 1410. Mehmed becomes the sole sultan of the Ottoman Empire. In his remaining years of reign, there were no aggressive campaigns; moreover, he concluded peace treaties with neighboring states - Byzantium, Hungary, Serbia and Wallachia.
However, internal uprisings began to flare up more than once in the empire itself. The next Turkish sultan, Murad II (r. 1421-1451), decided to bring order to the territory of the empire. He destroyed his brothers and stormed Constantinople - the main stronghold of unrest in the empire. On the Kosovo field, Murad also won a victory, defeating the Transylvanian army of the governor Matthias Hunyadi. Under Murad, Greece was completely conquered. However, then Byzantium again establishes control over it.
His son - Mehmed II (r. 1451 - 1481) - managed to finally take Constantinople - the last stronghold of the weakened Byzantine Empire. The last Byzantine emperor, Constantine Palaiologos, failed to defend the main city of Byzantium with the help of the Greeks and Genoese.
Mehmed II put an end to the existence of the Byzantine Empire - it completely became part of the Ottoman Porte, and Constantinople conquered by him becomes the new capital of the empire.
With the conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed II and the destruction of the Byzantine Empire, a century and a half of the real heyday of the Ottoman Porte begins.
For all 150 years of subsequent rule, the Ottoman Empire wages continuous wars to expand its borders and capture more and more new territories. After the capture of Greece for more than 16 years, the Ottomans waged war with the Republic of Venice and in 1479 Venice became Ottoman. In 1467, Albania was completely captured. In the same year, Bosnia and Herzegovina was captured.
In 1475, the Ottomans start a war with the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray. As a result of the war, the Crimean Khanate becomes dependent on the Sultan and begins to pay him yasak.
(that is, tribute).
In 1476, the Moldavian kingdom was devastated, which also becomes a vassal state. The Moldavian prince also now pays yasak to the Turkish sultan.
In 1480, the Ottoman fleet attacks the southern cities of the Papal States (modern Italy). Pope Sixtus IV announces a crusade against Islam.
Mehmed II can rightly be proud of all these conquests, it was the sultan who restored the power of the Ottoman Empire and brought order within the empire. The people gave him the nickname "Conqueror".
His son - Bayazed III (r. 1481 - 1512) ruled the empire in a short period of intra-palace unrest. His brother Jem made an attempt at a conspiracy, several vilayets revolted and troops were gathered against the Sultan. Bayazed III marches with his army towards his brother's army and wins, Jem flees to the Greek island of Rhodes, and from there to the Papal States.
Pope Alexander VI for the huge reward received from the Sultan and gives him his brother. Subsequently, Jem was executed.
Under Bayazed III, the Ottoman Empire began trade relations with the Russian state - Russian merchants arrived in Constantinople.
In 1505, the Venetian Republic is completely defeated and is deprived of all possessions in the Mediterranean.
Bayazed begins in 1505 a long war with Persia.
In 1512, his youngest son Selim plotted against Bayazed. His army defeated the Janissaries, and Bayazed himself was poisoned. Selim becomes the next sultan of the Ottoman Empire, however, he did not rule it for long (reign period - 1512 - 1520).
Selim's main success was the defeat of Persia. The victory for the Ottomans was not easy. As a result, Persia lost the territory of modern Iraq, which was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire.
Then begins the era of the most powerful sultan of the Ottoman Empire - Suleiman the Great (r. 1520 -1566). Suleiman the Great was the son of Selim. Suleiman is the longest of all the sultans who ruled the Ottoman Empire. Under Suleiman, the empire reached its greatest extent.
In 1521, the Ottomans take Belgrade.
In the next five years, the Ottomans take possession of the first African territories - Algeria and Tunisia.
In 1526, the Ottoman Empire made an attempt to conquer the Austrian Empire. At the same time, the Turks invaded Hungary. Budapest was taken, Hungary became part of the Ottoman Empire.
Suleiman's army besieges Vienna, but the siege ends with the defeat of the Turks - Vienna was not taken, the Ottomans leave with nothing. They failed to conquer the Austrian Empire in the future, it was one of the few states of Central Europe that withstood the power of the Ottoman Porte.
Suleiman understood that it was impossible to be at enmity with all states, he was a skilled diplomat. Thus, an alliance was concluded with France (1535).
If under Mehmed II the empire revived again and the largest amount of territory was conquered, then under Sultan Suleiman the Great, the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe empire became the largest.
Selim II (r. 1566 - 1574) - son of Suleiman the Great. After the death of his father, he becomes a sultan. During his reign, the Ottoman Empire again entered the war with the Venetian Republic. The war lasted three years (1570 - 1573). As a result, Cyprus was taken from the Venetians and incorporated into the Ottoman Empire.
Murad III (r. 1574 - 1595) - Selim's son.
At the same time, almost all of Persia was conquered by the sultan, and a strong competitor in the Middle East was eliminated. The structure of the Ottoman port included the entire Caucasus and the entire territory of modern Iran.
His son - Mehmed III (r. 1595 - 1603) - became the most bloodthirsty sultan in the struggle for the sultan's throne. He executed his 19 brothers in a struggle for power in the empire.
Beginning with Ahmed I (r. 1603 - 1617) - the Ottoman Empire began to gradually lose its conquests and decrease in size. The golden age of the empire was over. Under this sultan, the Ottomans suffered a final defeat from the Austrian Empire, as a result of which the payment of yasak by Hungary was stopped. The new war with Persia (1603 - 1612) inflicted a number of very serious defeats on the Turks, as a result of which the Ottoman Empire lost the territories of modern Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Under this Sultan, the decline of the empire began.
After Ahmed, the Ottoman Empire was ruled for only one year by his brother Mustafa I (r. 1617 - 1618). Mustafa was insane and after a short reign was overthrown by the highest Ottoman clergy, headed by the supreme mufti.
Osman II (r. 1618 - 1622), the son of Ahmed I, ascended the sultan's throne. His reign was also short - only four years. Mustafa undertook an unsuccessful campaign against the Zaporizhzhya Sich, which ended in a complete defeat from the Zaporizhian Cossacks. As a result, a conspiracy was committed by the Janissaries, as a result of which this Sultan was killed.
Then the previously deposed Mustafa I (reigned 1622 - 1623) again becomes the sultan. And again, like last time, Mustafa managed to hold out on the Sultan's throne for only a year. He was again deposed from the throne, and died a few years later.
The next sultan - Murad IV (reigned 1623-1640) - was younger brother Osman II. It was one of the most cruel sultans of the empire, who became famous for his numerous executions. Under him, about 25,000 people were executed, there was not a day in which at least one execution was not performed. Under Murad, Persia was again conquered, but lost the Crimea - the Crimean Khan did not pay yasak to the Turkish Sultan anymore.
The Ottomans also could not do anything to stop the predatory raids of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks on the Black Sea coast.
His brother Ibrahim (r. 1640 - 1648) lost almost all the conquests of his predecessor in a relatively short period of his reign. In the end, this sultan suffered the fate of Osman II - the Janissaries plotted and killed him.
His seven-year-old son Mehmed IV (r. 1648 - 1687) was elevated to the throne. However, the young sultan did not have actual power in the first years of his reign, until he came of age - the viziers and pashas, ​​who were also appointed by the Janissaries, ruled the state for him.
In 1654, the Ottoman fleet inflicts a serious defeat on the Republic of Venice and regains control of the Dardanelles.
In 1656, the Ottoman Empire again starts a war with the Habsburg Empire - Austrian Empire. Austria loses part of its Hungarian lands and is forced to conclude an unfavorable peace with the Ottomans.
In 1669, the Ottoman Empire starts a war with the Commonwealth on the territory of Ukraine. As a result of a short-term war, the Commonwealth loses Podolia (the territory of modern Khmelnitsky and Vinnitsa regions). Podolia was annexed to the Ottoman Empire.
In 1687, the Ottomans were again defeated by the Austrians;
CONSPIRACY. Mehmed IV was deposed from the throne by the clergy and his brother, Suleiman II (r. 1687 - 1691) takes the throne. This was a ruler who constantly drank and was not at all interested in state affairs.
In power, he did not last long and another of his brothers, Ahmed II (reigned 1691-1695), takes the throne. However, the new sultan also could not do much to strengthen the state, while the Austrians inflicted one defeat after another on the sultan.
Under the next sultan, Mustafa II (reigned 1695-1703), Belgrade was lost, and the war with the Russian state that ended, which lasted 13 years, greatly undermined the military power of the Ottoman Porte. Moreover, part of Moldova, Hungary and Romania was lost. The territorial losses of the Ottoman Empire began to grow.
Mustafa's heir, Ahmed III (reigned 1703-1730), turned out to be a bold and independent sultan in his decisions. During the years of his reign, for some time, political asylum was acquired by the overthrown in Sweden and who suffered a crushing defeat from the troops of Peter Charles XII.
At the same time Ahmed started a war against the Russian Empire. He has achieved significant success. Russian troops led by Peter the Great were defeated in Northern Bukovina and were surrounded. However, the Sultan understood that a further war with Russia was quite dangerous and that it was necessary to get out of it. Peter was asked to give Karl to be torn apart by the coast of the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov. That is how it was done. The coast of the Sea of ​​Azov and the adjacent territories, together with the fortress of Azov (the territory of the modern Rostov region of Russia and the Donetsk region of Ukraine), was transferred to the Ottoman Empire, and Charles XII was transferred to the Russians.
Under Ahmet, the Ottoman Empire restored some of its former conquests. The territory of the Republic of Venice was reconquered (1714).
In 1722, Ahmed made a careless decision - to re-start the war with Persia. The Ottomans suffered several defeats, the Persians invaded Ottoman territory, and an uprising began in Constantinople itself, as a result of which Ahmed was overthrown from the throne.
His nephew, Mahmud I (reigned 1730 - 1754), entered the Sultan's throne.
Under this Sultan, a protracted war was waged with Persia and the Austrian Empire. No new territorial acquisitions were made, with the exception of the reconquered Serbia with Belgrade.
Mahmud held on to power for a relatively long time and was the first sultan after Suleiman the Great to die of natural causes.
Then his brother Osman III came to power (reigned 1754 - 1757). During these years, there were no significant events in the history of the Ottoman Empire. Osman also died of natural causes.
Mustafa III, who ascended the throne after Osman III (r. 1757 - 1774), decided to recreate the military power of the Ottoman Empire. In 1768 Mustafa declares war on the Russian Empire. The war lasts six years and ends with the Kyuchuk-Kainarji peace of 1774. As a result of the war, the Ottoman Empire loses the Crimea and loses control over the northern Black Sea region.
Abdul-Hamid I (r. 1774-1789) ascends the Sultan's throne just before the end of the war with the Russian Empire. It is this Sultan who stops the war. There is already no order in the empire itself, fermentation and discontent begin. The Sultan, through several punitive operations, pacifies Greece and Cyprus, calm is restored there. However, in 1787 begins new war against Russia and Austria-Hungary. The war lasts four years and ends already under the new sultan in two ways - Crimea is finally lost and the war with Russia ends in defeat, and with Austria-Hungary - the outcome of the war is favorable. Returned Serbia and part of Hungary.
Both wars were already over under Sultan Selim III (r. 1789 - 1807). Selim attempted profound reforms of his empire. Selim III decided to liquidate
Janissary army and introduce a draft army. Under his reign, the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte captured and took Egypt and Syria from the Ottomans. On the side of the Ottomans was Great Britain, which destroyed Napoleon's group in Egypt. However, both countries were lost to the Ottomans forever.
The reign of this sultan was also complicated by the uprisings of the Janissaries in Belgrade, to suppress which it was necessary to divert a large number of troops loyal to the sultan. At the same time, while the Sultan is fighting the rebels in Serbia, a conspiracy is being prepared against him in Constantinople. The power of Selim was eliminated, the Sultan was arrested and imprisoned.
Mustafa IV (reigned 1807-1808) was placed on the throne. However, a new uprising led to the fact that the old sultan - Selim III - was killed in prison, and Mustafa himself fled.
Mahmud II (r. 1808 - 1839) - the next Turkish sultan, who attempted to revive the power of the empire. It was an evil, cruel and vengeful ruler. He ended the war with Russia in 1812 by signing the Peace of Bucharest, which was beneficial to him - Russia had no time for the Ottoman Empire that year - after all, Napoleon was advancing towards Moscow with his army. True, Bessarabia was lost, which went under the terms of peace to the Russian Empire. However, all the achievements of this ruler ended there - the empire suffered new territorial losses. After the end of the war with Napoleonic France, the Russian Empire in 1827 provided military assistance to Greece. The Ottoman fleet was completely defeated and Greece was lost.
Two years later, the Ottoman Empire forever loses Serbia, Moldavia, Wallachia, the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. Under this sultan, the empire suffered the largest territorial losses in its history.
The period of his reign was marked by mass riots of Muslims throughout the empire. But Mahmud also reciprocated - a rare day of his reign was not complete without executions.
Abdulmejid is the next sultan, the son of Mahmud II (r. 1839 - 1861), who ascended the Ottoman throne. He was not particularly decisive, like his father, but was a more cultured and polite ruler. The new sultan concentrated his forces on carrying out domestic reforms. However, during his reign, the Crimean War (1853-1856) took place. The Ottoman Empire received a symbolic victory as a result of this war - the Russian fortresses on the sea coast were torn down, and the fleet was removed from the Crimea. However, the Ottoman Empire did not receive any territorial acquisitions after the war.
Abdul-Majid's successor, Abdul-Aziz (reigned 1861-1876), was distinguished by hypocrisy and inconstancy. He was also a bloodthirsty tyrant, but he managed to build a new powerful Turkish fleet, which became the reason for a new subsequent war with the Russian Empire, which began in 1877.
In May 1876, Abdulaziz was overthrown from the Sultan's throne as a result of a palace coup.
Murad V became the new sultan (reigned in 1876). Murad held out on the Sultan's throne for a record short time - only three months. The practice of overthrowing such weak rulers was common and already worked out for several centuries - the supreme clergy, led by the mufti, carried out a conspiracy and overthrew the weak ruler.
Murad's brother, Abdul-Hamid II (reigned 1876 - 1908) comes to the throne. The new ruler unleashes another war with the Russian Empire, this time the main goal of the Sultan was to return the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus to the empire.
The war lasted a year and pretty frayed nerves Russian emperor and his army. First, Abkhazia was captured, then the Ottomans moved deep into the Caucasus towards Ossetia and Chechnya. However, the tactical advantage was on the side of the Russian troops - in the end, the Ottomans are defeated
The Sultan manages to suppress an armed uprising in Bulgaria (1876). At the same time, the war with Serbia and Montenegro began.
This sultan, for the first time in the history of the empire, published a new Constitution and made an attempt to establish a mixed form of government - he tried to introduce a parliament. However, parliament was dissolved a few days later.
The end of the Ottoman Empire was close - in almost all its parts there were uprisings and rebellions, which the Sultan could hardly cope with.
In 1878, the empire finally lost Serbia and Romania.
In 1897, Greece declares war on the Ottoman Porte, but the attempt to free itself from the Turkish yoke fails. The Ottomans occupy most of the country and Greece is forced to ask for peace.
In 1908, an armed uprising took place in Istanbul, as a result of which Abdul-Hamid II was overthrown from the throne. The monarchy in the country lost its former power and began to wear a decorative character.
The triumvirate of Enver, Talaat and Jemal came to power. These people were no longer sultans, but they did not last long in power - there was an uprising in Istanbul and the last, 36th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed VI (reigned 1908 - 1922) was placed on the throne
The Ottoman Empire is forced to engage in three Balkan wars, which ended before the start of the First World War. As a result of these wars, the Port loses Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Macedonia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia.
After these wars, due to the inconsistent actions of the Kaiser's Germany, the Ottoman Empire was actually drawn into the First World War.
On October 30, 1914, the Ottoman Empire enters the war on the side of Kaiser Germany.
After the First World War, Porta loses its last conquests, except for Greece - Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.
And in 1919, Greece itself achieves independence.
Nothing remained of the once former and powerful Ottoman Empire, only the metropolis within the borders of modern Turkey.
The issue of the complete fall of the Ottoman Porte became a matter of several years, and perhaps even months.
In 1919, after liberation from the Turkish yoke, Greece made an attempt to take revenge on Porte for centuries of suffering - the Greek army invaded the territory of modern Turkey and captured the city of Izmir. However, even without the Greeks, the fate of the empire was sealed. A revolution has begun in the country. The leader of the rebels - General Mustafa Kemal Ataturk - gathered the remnants of the army and expelled the Greeks from Turkish territory.
In September 1922, the Port was completely cleared of foreign troops. The last sultan, Mehmed VI, was deposed from the throne. He was given the opportunity to leave the country forever, which he did.
On September 23, 1923, the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed within its present borders. Ataturk becomes the first president of Turkey.
The era of the Ottoman Empire has sunk into oblivion.

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire, officially the Great Ottoman State (osm. دولت عالیه عثمانیه‎ - Devlet-i Âliyye-i Osmâniyye) is a multinational state ruled by the Ottoman sultans that existed from 1299 to 1923. In Europe, the Ottoman Empire was often called the Ottoman Empire, the High (brilliant) Port, or simply the Port. During its heyday in the XVI-XVII centuries, the state included Asia Minor (Anatolia), the Middle East, North Africa, the Balkan Peninsula and the lands of Europe adjacent to it from the north.

Anatolia, in which the main part of modern Turkey is located, was the territory of Byzantium before the arrival of the Seljuk Turks in the 11th century. The Ottoman Empire completed the conquest of Byzantium with the capture of Constantinople in 1453. At the height of its power, in the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566), the empire stretched from the gates of Vienna to the Persian Gulf, from the Crimea to Morocco.

After the end of the First World War, the Ottoman Empire collapses: the Third French Republic receives Syria, the British Empire - Iraq and Palestine; the remaining territories made up modern Turkey.

Story

Anatolia (Asia Minor), where Turkey is located, was the cradle of many civilizations in ancient times. By the time the ancestors of the modern Turks arrived, the Byzantine Empire existed here - a Greek Orthodox state with its capital in Constantinople (Istanbul). Arab caliphs who fought with the Byzantines invited to military service Turkic tribes, who were allocated border and empty lands for settlement.

In 1071, the state of the Seljuk Turks arose with its capital in Konya, which gradually expanded its borders to almost the entire territory of Asia Minor. Destroyed by the Mongols.

In 1326, a Turkish sultanate was founded on the lands conquered from the Byzantines, with its capital in the city of Bursa. Janissaries became the mainstay of the power of the Turkish sultans.

In 1362, the Turks, having conquered lands in Europe, moved the capital to the city of Adrianople (Edirne). The European possessions of the Turkish Sultanate were called Rumelia.

Armenia was included in the Ottoman Empire in the 1450s.

In 1453 the Turks took Constantinople and made it the capital of the empire. Under Selim the Terrible, Türkiye conquered Syria, Arabia and Egypt. The Turkish sultan deposed the last caliph in Cairo and became caliph himself. By defeating Venice (1505) and Egypt (1517), the Ottomans gained control of the Eastern Mediterranean. In 1526, the Battle of Mohacs took place, during which the Turks defeated the Czech-Hungarian army and occupied Hungary, and in 1529 approached the walls of Vienna. At the height of its power, in the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566), the empire stretched from the gates of Vienna to the Persian Gulf, from the Crimea to Morocco. In 1678 the Turks seized territories west of the Dnieper.

In the 19th century, the Ottomans began a stormy conquest in Africa south of Egypt, as a result of which they finally managed to finally appropriate the Nubian lands, Eastern Sudan (those territories that now make up the Republic of Sudan), Khabesh - coastal lands in the territory of modern Eritrea and Djibouti, and also the northern part of modern Somalia.

Device and control

Public relations

The capture of Constantinople made the Ottoman state a powerful power. It was no longer a horde of 50,000 men and women; it was a state capable of fielding an army of 250,000 men, while at the same time maintaining strong garrisons in various parts of a vast territory.

Such an increase in the number of Turks is explained by the ease with which they assimilated other nationalities, the Turkic tribes of Anatolia, Greeks, Slavs; from among the latter, all those who agreed to sacrifice religion for the sake of acquiring a privileged position became Turks - and there were many of them. The Balkan peoples had to pay tax not only in money (jizya), but also in children (devshirme), from which, after converting to Islam, they raised Janissaries and kapy-kulu - the personal slaves of the Sultan (unconfirmed information). Parents themselves often voluntarily gave their children to Turkish officials, since at court slaves sometimes reached very high position. The origin of Christian parents did not interfere with a career at all. So, the Grand Vizier under Mehmet II was Mahmud Pasha, the son of an Orthodox Serb and a Greek. Under Suleiman Kanuni, the former Serb slave Mehmed Sokollu Pasha (Sokolovich or Sokolich) was also the grand vizier.

The change in the physical features of the Turks was accelerated by the fact that the harem of the Turks for the most part consisted of captives of European or Caucasian origin. Politically and culturally, the conquerors of Constantinople were also far from Osman's horde; they were a large state with a complex administration and a complex nature of life. The Turks themselves constituted in it a privileged, predominantly military, also bureaucratic class, but by no means a closed caste. Administrators and judges were appointed exclusively from them; they were the army.

The Ottomans never introduced military service for conquered Christian peoples, although they sometimes took auxiliary detachments from vassal peoples. Many Turks received in the form of awards or otherwise acquired significant land holdings (chifliks) and were large landowners who managed their estates with the help of serf labor of the subject Christian population. Small landowners-peasants appeared next to them, partly Turks, but mostly Greeks, Serbs or Bulgarians who converted to Islam. The position of the conquered Christian peoples under the rule of the Ottomans (except, of course, slaves) was not particularly difficult at first.

The Ottomans consciously preserved the local self-government of the subservient "raya"; they did not even think about religious persecution, since Islam forbade restricting the freedom of religion of any people. Immediately after the capture of Constantinople, Mehmed proposed to the Greek clergy to elect a new patriarch (the former was killed during the siege) and immediately approved the chosen one. Janissary guards were assigned to protect him, which immediately gave him the character of a Turkish official. The patriarch, together with the cathedral, received the significance of supreme governance over the Orthodox (Greeks, Serbs, Bulgarians, Russians, etc.) and the court in disputes between them. They could impose punishments on the Orthodox, up to and including the death penalty, and the Ottoman authorities usually carried them out without objection. The disadvantage of this policy was that over time, all the highest positions in the Orthodox millet were received by the Greeks, who often developed and planted the language and culture of their fellow tribesmen throughout the millet, at the expense of other nationalities. The Turks did the same with other peoples. By this, they easily reconciled them for the first time with their power, but the church became a force that subsequently contributed a lot to the liberation of these peoples.

Along with serfdom, real slavery also existed: slaves were used mainly as domestic servants, slaves - as concubines in a harem. Trade in slaves was carried out on a fairly large scale in Constantinople and in other cities. Civil administration was at a very low level; officials and judges looked at their positions as a way to enrich themselves; the most brutal bribery flourished. The sultans tried to fight this evil; so, Bayazet I hanged 80 judges convicted of bribery in one day, but in the absence of properly organized control from society or at least the government, with the downtrodden population, deprived of the opportunity to protest, such measures did not lead to the desired results. Mehmed II transferred the spiritual administration to the supreme authority of the mufti, or sheikh-ul-Islam, the spiritual head of all the faithful, appointed by the sultan. The fatwas (decrees) given by him had the character of the current law. Often, despite all the prudence in their appointment, the sheikh-ul-Islams turned out to be strong opponents of this or that sultan; sometimes with their help coup d'état was carried out. Sheikh-ul-Islam was also at the head of the court.

State structure

The Ottoman Empire over the course of six centuries developed a rather complex state structure. During the reign of Osman (1288-1326), a powerful military state was formed, absolutist, in fact, although the generals, to whom the Sultan gave different areas to control, often turned out to be independent and reluctantly recognized supreme power Sultan. This period is marked by the creation of the Ottoman system government controlled, which remained virtually unchanged for four centuries.

Army

Despite the undoubted courage of the Ottoman soldiers, the military art and organization of the army were not so high in comparison with the military art of the Europeans, only a significant numerical superiority made it possible for the Ottomans to win their resounding victories; so, in the second battle on the Kosovo field, the size of the Hunyadi army is determined at 30,000 people, while the Ottoman army reached 150,000; and yet the battle lasted 3 days and at least 30,000 Turks remained at the battlefield. In the naval battle with the Genoese near Constantinople, even a significant preponderance of forces did not help the Turks. As long as conquests were possible, forcing the people to exert all their strength, the Ottoman Empire could maintain its existence; but it did not have sufficient internal forces for cultural development, and with the cessation of the conquests, political disintegration and internal decay were to begin.

During the 1880s, the Ottoman government worked actively to rearm the army; mainly German instructors worked on the organization of the army.

You should also take into account the huge irregular detachments in the composition of the Ottoman hordes, from which there was little sense, but they still existed. And in clashes with the Janissaries, the Austrian troops had an extremely difficult time, especially in close combat, which most Europeans avoided ("fear of the bayonet"). Suvorov-Rymniksky and Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky found justice for the Janissaries, who raised the art of bayonet fighting to an unprecedented height, using battalion squares covered by regimental artillery and rangers. Before them, hand-to-hand combat with the Janissaries was avoided (preferring firing from rifles) and even blocked the front with slingshots.

Army reform under Mahmud

In the midst of these uprisings, Mahmud decided on a bold reform of the army of the Janissaries. The corps of the Janissaries was replenished with annual sets of 1000 Christian children annually (in addition, service in the army of the Janissaries was inherited, because the Janissaries had families), but at the same time it was reduced due to constant wars and rebellions. Under Suleiman, there were 40,000 Janissaries, under Mehmed III - 116,000. During the reign of Mehmed IV, an attempt was made to limit the number of Janissaries to 55 thousand, but it failed due to their rebellion, and by the end of the reign their number rose to 200 thousand. Under Mahmud II, it was probably even greater (salaries were issued for more than 400,000 people), but it is absolutely impossible to determine it precisely because of the complete lack of discipline of the Janissaries.

The number of orts or ods (detachments) was 229, of which 77 were in Constantinople; but the aghas (officers) themselves did not know the true composition of their odes and tried to exaggerate it, since in accordance with it they received a salary for the Janissaries, partly remaining in their pockets. Sometimes, for whole years, salaries, especially in the provinces, were not paid at all, and then even this incentive to collect statistical data disappeared. When a rumor about the reform project was spread, the leaders of the Janissaries at the meeting decided to demand from the Sultan the execution of its authors; but the sultan, who foresaw this, moved a standing army against them, distributed weapons to the population of the capital, and declared a religious war against the Janissaries.

There was a battle in the streets of Constantinople and in the barracks; supporters of the government broke into homes and exterminated the Janissaries with their wives and children; taken by surprise, the Janissaries almost did not resist. At least 10,000, and according to more reliable information - up to 20,000 Janissaries were exterminated; corpses are thrown into the Bosphorus. The rest fled across the country and joined the robber gangs. In the provinces, arrests and executions of officers were carried out on a large scale, while a mass of Janissaries surrendered and were dispersed into regiments.

Following the Janissaries, on the basis of the fatwa, the mufti was partly executed, partly expelled Bektashi dervishes, who always served as faithful companions of the Janissaries.

With the formation of new troops in the Ottoman Empire (tour. Sekban-ı Cedit), and as a result of numerous Janissary revolts, the Janissary corps was liquidated. Sultan Mahmud II decided to liquidate the Janissary corps by supplying the population with weapons. The people mercilessly killed members of the Janissary corps. The Janissaries tried to hide in their headquarters, which, on the orders of Mahmud II, were set on fire along with the Janissaries. Thus, on June 16, 1826, the corps (odzhak) of the Janissaries was destroyed. This event was called Vaka-i Hayriye (tur. Vaka-i Hayriye) or the Event that performs a good deed (Hayırlı Olay, tur. Hayırlı Olay).

Cities of the Ottoman Empire. Crafts and trade

On the territory of the Ottoman Empire there were large cities with developed handicraft production. Cotton and woolen fabrics, silks, satin and velvet, carpets, blades and different weapons, perfumery and ivory products were famous far beyond its borders. Istanbul, Izmir, numbered tens of thousands of artisans. They united in workshops that resembled workshops medieval Europe. The methods of labor, the size of production, and the distribution of orders were strictly regulated. Each workshop was headed by a foreman sheikh. In some cities, the first manufactories appeared in the 18th century.

Craftsmen worked both for the customers of the feudal lords and for the market, selling their products to merchants. Trade grew, which was concentrated mainly in the hands of the merchants of the trading cities. Products of handicraftsmen, some types of raw materials and foodstuffs were exported from the Ottoman Empire. Luxury goods and weapons were imported from Europe and East Asia. In addition, a rather brisk transit trade between Europe and East Asia. However, the feudal order that dominated the Ottoman Empire hindered the development of crafts and trade, and the formation of a capitalist way of life, which even today, it should be noted, causes serious problems in the world economy.

Due to the dominance of subsistence farming in the Turkish countryside, economic ties between the city and the countryside were insignificant. The level of technology among artisans and manufactories was low. All production was based on manual labor. Trade also experienced serious difficulties. There were internal customs that imposed numerous taxes on goods. Each province had its own measures of length and weight. The government systematically issued devalued coins. All this hindered the further development of crafts and trade. Already in the 17th and especially the 18th century there were clear signs of the decline of the craft.

culture

The deep socio-economic crisis in the 18th-19th centuries had a detrimental effect on the development of national culture in the Ottoman Empire. Science, literature, art fell into decay. The gulf between the alien culture of the ruling classes and the working masses became even more insurmountable. Due to the departure from the basic values ​​of Islam at the Sultan's court, in the palaces of the feudal lords, imitation of Western European royal courts was observed. The first Turkish printing houses, established in the 18th century, printed mainly theological treatises. Books and official documents used a language that consisted almost entirely of Arabic and Persian words. Education and the school were in the hands of the clergy. There were very few smart people. In these difficult conditions, the masses of the people preserved and developed their national culture mainly in the form of folklore and other types of folk art.

Religion

The Ottoman Caliphate was a state that spread Islam around the world, defended and protected Islam from the influence of sects. The Ottoman Caliphate led an active Islamization of the Balkan Peninsula. Official law school Caliphate was the Hanafi madhhab and the Hanafi creed - maturidism. Sufi brotherhoods, such as Nakshbandi, Mevlevi, Bektashi and others, were also active on the territory of the Ottoman Caliphate. Moreover, caliphs were often students (murids) of a spiritual mentor (murshid), for example, the founder of the Ottoman Caliphate, Osmanu Gazi, was a student of Murshid Sheikh Edebali.

Science and art

Sultan Selim I patronized literature and himself left a significant number of Turkish and Arabic poems. Many works were written under him.

During the reign of Mahmud, Ibrahim Basmaji founded the first Turkish printing house. The Mufti gave a fatwa, with which, in the name of the interests of enlightenment, he blessed the undertaking, and the Sultan allowed it as a Gatti-Sheriff. It was only forbidden to print the Koran and holy books (an unconfirmed fact). In the first period of the existence of the printing house, 15 works were printed in it (Arabic and Persian dictionaries, several books on the history of the Ottoman state and general geography, military art, political economy, etc.). After the death of Ibrahim Basmaji, the printing house was closed, a new one appeared only in 1784. In the 18th century, under the patronage of Mustafa, the first public library, several schools and hospitals were opened in Constantinople.

Economy

To settle finances, Mustafa III began by saving money in his own palace. He very willingly entered into an agreement with Prussia in 1761, by which he provided Prussian merchant ships with free navigation in Ottoman waters; Prussian subjects in the Ottoman Empire were subject to the jurisdiction of their consuls. Russia and Austria offered Mustafa 100,000 ducats for the abolition of the rights given to Prussia, but to no avail: Mustafa wanted to bring his state as close as possible to European civilization.

After the Crimean War, the sultans began to borrow money from Western bankers. Back in 1854, with virtually no external debt, the Ottoman government very quickly became bankrupt, and already in 1875, Sultan Abdulaziz owed almost one billion dollars in foreign currency to European bondholders. This was a serious mistake of the sultans, and if the loan was carried out at interest, then this operation also contradicted the norms of Islam prohibiting usury.

In 1880, after 5 years since declaring bankruptcy, the Ottoman Empire not only did not start paying its debts in full, but was preparing for a further reduction in payments. At the end of 1881, a conference of representatives of the creditors of the empire met in Constantinople, which had to agree to a further reduction in payments (1% on fixed capital instead of 5 +% depreciation) under the condition that control over some incomes be transferred to the commission of creditors. This commission, called the Conseil d'administration de la dette publique Ottoman, consisted of 5 members appointed for a 5-year term: the Foreign bondholders syndicate in London, the chamber of commerce in Rome and the syndicates of Ottoman creditors in Vienna, Paris and Berlin. Moreover, one of the directors of the Ottoman Bank had the right to attend. She sat in Constantinople from 1882 and in reality was, as it were, a department of the Ministry of Finance, for she was directly in charge of certain state revenues, but enjoyed independence from the entire ministry and from the government in general. In 1883, a tobacco monopoly was introduced to increase revenue.

Economic growth

In 1889, slaves were declared free, whose owners could not prove that they legally owned them; in 1890, effective measures were taken to stop the slave trade, which had been banned as far back as 1858. Since that time, slavery can be considered almost disappeared from the European part of the empire, but in Asia Minor it remained to a weak extent until the announcement of the Turkish Republic.

In 1889, an arbitration hearing took place in Berlin between the Porte and Baron Hirsch, the owner of railways in the Ottoman Empire. The arbitrator was Prof. Gneist. The decision was largely in favor of the Porte; thanks to him, the Porta acquired the right to use some railways and got the opportunity to build further ones, which was carried out in Asia Minor.

The two decades that have passed since the war of 1876-1878 were a period of some economic upsurge of the country and, at the same time, some improvement in its international position. During this time, her relations with her most bitter enemies improved. In 1883 Prince Nicholas of Montenegro visited Constantinople; in 1892 the Bulgarian minister Stambulov was in Constantinople; friendly relations with Bulgaria were consolidated in 1898 by a visit to Constantinople by the Bulgarian prince and princess. In 1893, the Sultan received a valuable album as a gift from Emperor Alexander III. In 1894, the Serbian king was in Constantinople. Even more important was the visit of the Sultan by the German Emperor and Empress.

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