The Ottoman Empire Essay Examples

The Ottoman Empire, which began as a small Turkish state in Asia Minor during the downfall of the Seljuk Turks, started to emerge as one of the most powerful empires of the world. During the reign of powerful kings, such as Osman I, Orkhan, Beyazid I and Murad I, the Ottoman Empire began to expand at the cost of the great Byzantine Empire, Serbia and Bulgaria. Bursa and Adrianople became the capitals of the Ottoman Empire after their downfall in 1326 and 1361 respectively. The most famous and important victories of the Ottoman Empire, which include the Kosovo Field in 1389 and Nikopol in 1396 brought a major part of the Balkan Peninsula under the control of the Ottoman rule. The capture of Constantinople enhanced the popularity of the Ottoman Empire and awakened the entire European continent. Soon, the Ottoman Turks started capturing other states under the reign of Muhammad II from 1451 to 1481 and finally ended all the local dynasties of Turkey.
Within a century, the Ottomans transformed from a common nomadic community to the successors of the most ancient surviving empires of the European continent. The success of the Ottomans was partly due to the disunity of their opponents and partly due to the excellent organization of their military forces. The Ottoman army had a mixture of Christians and Muslims, of which a majority were volunteers. The expansion of the Ottoman Empire reached its peak during the sixteenth century under the reign of Salim I and Sulayman I, also known as Sulayman the Magnificent. Salim I defeated the Mamluks of Syria and Egypt, and captured the city of Cairo in the year 1517. Some of the major victories during this period include the defeat of Hungary in 1526 and the capture of Buda in 1541. The Asian borders of the Ottoman Empire entered deep into the kingdoms of Persia and Arabia. The Ottoman Empire was famous for its literature and art. The judicial system reorganized by emperor Sulayman became famous throughout the European continent.
With the death of emperor Sulayman and the transfer of power to the Janissaries began to have an adverse influence on the Ottoman Empire. The corrupt politics of the Janissaries led to the defeat of Lepanto in 1571 by Europe. Although Murad IV partly restored the prestige of the Ottoman Empire during his reign in the seventeenth century through the victory of Persia in the year 1638, it did not last long. During the eighteenth century, the Ottomans had to lose Egypt to Napoleon’s army. The Greek War of Independence, the Russo-Turkish Wars and the partial independence of Serbia marked the beginning of the downfall of the Ottoman Empire. A series of treaties signed between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries led to the loss of economic independence of the Ottoman Empire. Although Turkey won during the Crimean War, it exhausted economically. In the year 1856, the Congress of Paris recognized the independence and the integrity of the Ottoman Empire; however, confirmed the dependency of the empire rather than protecting its right as a power of the European continent.
The Bosnia and Herzegovina Rebellion of 1875 and the Russo-Turkish War of 1877 led to the defeat of Turkey. Political and civil reforms of the eighteenth and nineteenth century led to the emergence of a liberal party in Turkey. Sultan Abd al-Majid closed down the Turkish parliament that opened in 1877. However, the Armenian massacres, which took place in the nineteenth century, established Turkey against the public opinion of the world. The Young Turk movement of 1908 was an attempt to forcefully restore the constitution framed during 1876. In 1909, the Turkish parliament deposed the sultan and the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913 led to the defeat of Turkey and its territory to Europe. During the First World War, the rise of Arabia against Turkey and the capture of Baghdad and Jerusalem by the British forces led to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Finally, the Ottoman Empire came to an end by the end of the First World War and the Treaty of Sevres confirmed the dissolution of the empire.

References

Finkel, Caroline. Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire 1300-1923. Hachette UK, Caroline Finkel.
Hanioglu, M. Sukru. A Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire. Princeton University Press, 2010.
Shaw, Stanford J., and Ezel Kural Shaw. History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey: Volume 2, Reform, Revolution, and Republic: The Rise of Modern Turkey 1808-1975. Cambridge University Press, 1977.