Ottoman Empire

Ottoman started out as a small colony on the edges of the Byzatines. Before the Ottomans, there was the big Timurid empire, which relied on the military to consolidate power but also the military allowed them to expand the Muslim empire to be very big. However, this military is what brought their death - when they could no longer pay for their expensive military, their power collapsed. The Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires rose up from the remains of the Timurid.

It was big though - look at this:



Rise

The early Ottoman empire was spit up by into the eastern (Anatolia) and western (Romonolia), separated by Constantinople (purple region).



As a great holy city, Constantinople was sacked a century earlier by the whole of Europe by the crusaders. Constantinople belonged to the once glorious Byzantine empire and was also considered the only city in Europe in the Middle Ages, so it was kind of a big deal.

Despite that, the 4th sultan made conquering Constantinople look easy. Constantinople was taken by the Ottomans in 1453, & this date is so significant that it is often considered the end of the Middle Ages. Isosophia (the church in Constantinople) was converted to a Mosque and is still standing today. Unofficially, this city was known as "the city," which translated in Greek to "Istanbul" and is what the Ottomans called the city, although this name did not become its not official name till 1920.

In the 1450s, Mehmet II pushed out in all directions, getting rid of the Byzantines. The Ottomans conquered the Europeans by putting them against each other while the Ottomans conquered peacefully. Trade between Ottoman and Venice brought Muslim scholars' old Greek and Roman work to Europe. Without this, the @Renaissance ever would have happened. In 1517, Ottoman conquered Egypt and Syria. Europeans go :grimace: because now, no one could go east or west without going through the Ottomans. 1500s the Portuguese sailed below Africa. Shipping wars between the two begin. The Pope calls for a crusade when Ottoman took the holy lands but no one did anything.

The Ottomans experienced a golden age under Suleiman the Great's reign from 1520-1566. With a strong military, he expanded the empire in pretty much every direction. He sorted out trade deals with the Portuguese which got rid of military tensions and got $ from Indian ocean trade (@DBQ). This money allowed him to go all out, building mosques, investing in art, and expanding the empire. It looked so easy for him that the Europeans thought the game is rigged.

As one of the "gunpowder empires" (alongside the Mughals, Safavids, and Russia), the Ottomans were able to expand so much using gunpowder. During this time period, the 3 Muslim empires were the most advanced in both technology and sciences, more advanced than the Europeans. Even then, the Ottomans were considered the largest and the greatest of the Muslim empires.

Here's the empire at its peak:



Stagnation

It is after Suleiman's death that other nations started calling the Ottomans "the sick man of Europe."

Ottomans kept trying to push westward but lost in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 against Spain, Italy, Genoa, and the Pope, the only time where Europeans collaborated during the Renaissance period. This marked the end of Ottoman expansion and would ensure the Ottomans would never take more Europe. But it's not yet decline yet, they were very stable for 2 and a half centuries. People like to overstate its decline during this period. Century Productions like to say the empire is "chilling" in the 1500s-1700s.

The 18th century saw Russian and Austria pushing down on Ottoman territory, but Ottomans were still generally doing well.

Decline

1800s is when France rolled through Egypt, & Egypt became semi-independent. Then, European powers helped Greece win independence. After a war with Russia, Ottomans lost the Balkans. After 1870s is when the once great nation really went into decline.

Ottoman allied with axis powers in WWI and lost. Britain and France carved up the a large hunks of Ottoman empire. Then, Turkey was founded in the place of the Ottoman empire, marking its end.

This story of the Ottoman empire shows how the rise and decline of nations and empires generally happens:



Summary

The Ottoman empire invaded Constantinople (the only European city) in 1453, renamed it Istanbul, and declared it capital. The Byzatine Empire fell. The Ottoman Turks took all their land, then going on to experience a golden age under Suleiman the Magnificent's 1520-1566 reign with advances in arts and the military. It tried to expand, and could not go west of Vienna in 1683, and after that, it was nothing but decline. It fell in 1922 after a fatal loss in WWI.