|Y| The FULL History of the Ottoman Empire (All Blogs) - 1299 - 1922 Bmine |Y|

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the ottoman empire was one of the world's longest lasting and most dominant empires throughout history known also as the turkish empire the ottoman power was a state that controlled territories spanning across europe asia and africa for over years in their first years due to their impressive abilities to take advantage of their weaker neighbors and due to the massive mistakes made by kingdoms of the balkans and other christian powers including the byzantine empire the ottomans will rise from a small bailic to a regional power and they will use this position as a stepping stone to expand even more the conquering force began around the year when osman the first a muslim leader from the town of sogut anatolia styled himself as supreme leader or sultan following a string of raids led by osman and his ghazi troops against their byzantine opposition the name of the empire ottoman is derived from the name of its first leader and founder osman whose name was actually uthman in arabic left behind a scarce amount of information about his life but gave the world an empire in his name consequently due to the lack of reliable contemporary sources about the muslim leader current historians struggle to determine what tales have been fabricated over the years and which ones are in fact true according to ottoman lore osmond the first was the son of urtigral and grandson of sulaiman shah both of whom were from the k tribe of oghs turks although the latter connection has been debated by ottoman genealogists nonetheless osman the first was the man responsible for creating the first foundations of the -year running empire taking advantage of the disintegration seljuk dynasty in iran and mesopotamia which was vanquished in osman began expanding his territory through anatolia as the chief rival to the byzantine christians by the start of the th century the newly founded ottoman empire began to spread bi-directionally approaching the sea of marmara and along the sikaria river unfortunately for the eager conquerors their siege equipment was insufficient making it momentarily impossible for them to capture some of the bigger byzantine cities and territories such as constantinople it wasn't until that the ottomans were able to capture the city of bursa which would later be styled their new capital in .

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around the time of this victory the first sultan osman the first passed away leaving his son orham as the second sultan of the ottoman empire under orhan's reign the turks were now able to start strengthening their power and authority after seizing bursa where the tome of osman the first still remains as part of his military bolstering orhan went to his brother elaiden for advice aladin suggested that orhan create an army of men who were paid and trained infantrymen this is opposed to the method of the predecessor's armies which were made up of contingents and volunteers who only came together for the campaign or battle at hand orhan enacted this new strategy but quickly became dissatisfied and decided to look to a relative through marriage khandari kara halil for new guidance condarli came up with the idea for what later would be known as the janissaries the body of troops was to be made up of children from christian families in territories that had been conquered by the ottomans which would be converted to islam and trained as elite infantrymen and slaves to the sultan making up the first modern standing army in europe the janissaries were known for their extreme loyalty to the sultan ensured by strict policies and rules applied to them throughout their service such as the outlaw of marriage while the janissary troops weren't considered to have truly been established until the rule of murad the first the introductory steps were made during orhan's time of consolidation also on the mind of the second sultan was expansion this became a heavier focus in with the capture of iznik following a few years later by the seizure of ismet in and then the taking of uskadar in only seven years after the latest of those successes orhan was then able to occupy the principality of karasi around which time he also became an ally to john vi cantacinus the later byzantine emperor through this new union orhan was additionally able to gain permission to raid the region of thrace a goal of the ottomans of course being to capture this area and marry the daughter of kanta gazenas theodora furthermore under the command of suleiman pasha one of orhan's sons the ottomans spread their control to gallipoli in despite kantikazennis's attempts to peacefully remove them in response to byzantine fears the raids throughout gallipoli had also brought in remarkable rewards and treasures to the ottomans which attracted the attention of thousands of turks around anatolia who wished to join the empire's forces orhan refused to give up this new territory that he claimed was gifted to him by allah causing considerable backlash for the now emperor kantikazennis which unintentionally helped lead to his downfall and turmoil within byzantium things within the ottoman world also began to shift in following the death of sultan orhan who was roughly years old at the time his son sulaiman had died a few years prior in a hunting accident and it is believed that the toll of this loss may have led to orhan's sudden demise regardless murad the first another son of orhan was next in line to become the empire's third sultan which he did with a dramatic entrance wasting no time after taking the reigns murad continued the work of conquering thrace by seizing adrian opal and making it the new capital of the ottoman empire even with the confidence shown by this swift action taken at the command of the new ruler the ottomans continued to avoid an attempt at capturing constantinople due to their sustained lack of proper siege equipment and the sturdiness of the city's thick outer walls opting to stay with a better path for success murad kept his focus on easier expansion with more promising results over the next decade the ottomans captured more and more territories throughout the balkans even gaining some of their new control with little resistance after the battle of maritza in which they defeated their christian rivals near tournament on the maritza river even going as far as capturing macedonia murad the first was now readily broadening and strengthening the ottoman power across the balkan region by the eager sultan began to put pressure on bulgaria first convincing emperor ivan shishman to surrender his country as a vassal becoming part of a new policy enacted by murad in europe where the native rulers of existing principalities would remain in their place if they accepted the sovereignty of the sultan accompanied by the provision

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sulliman had established his capital in edern formerly known as adrian opal and extended his power throughout all of thrace and the southeastern reign of europe stretching down to northern greece mehmed centered his control in the city of amasia meanwhile isa and musa fought for control over bursa eventually leading to isa obtaining dominion this rise of power incited a new conflict between isa and mehmed and after multiple defeats isa sought refuge in constantinople as mehmed now took command of bursa not long later another battle between the brothers ensued at karasi now sending isa fleeing to karamon it is said that isa was later killed after being spotted in a public bath by order of mehmed sulliman who had backed issa during the strife with mehmed now went on to successfully capture bursa and later ankara from the previously victorious brother for the next few years an alliance formed and flourished between mehmed and musa the latter being sent across the black sea to serve as sultan to the european part of the empire sulliman touted an alliance with manuel the second paleologos and eventually won over the serbs by the end of the battle of cosmidian in during this battle muso was defeated by sulliman though the tide would shortly turn once again due to apparent temperamental issues sulliman found himself rapidly losing allies and support taking advantage of the defections and abandonment on his brother's side musa found triumph at edern in . sulliman attempted to escape into byzantine protection but was murdered on his way leaving musa and mehmed as co-sultans of the ottoman empire clearly unhappy about the byzantine emperor's loyalty to suliman musa decided to lay siege to constantinople as retaliation emperor manuel in turn requested assistance from mehmed who made multiple attempts to defend him in a blatant breach of the agreement made with musa unable to stay in constantinople for long though mehmed had to return to his own territory in order to deal with a mutiny before looking to the serbian autocrat stefan lazarovich for help now returning to face his brother with new strength mehmed and his army met with musa and his forces at shimerlu resulting in a defeat for musa and his later capture and murder finally freed of the constant looming menace of his brother's attempts to seize his power mehmed chaleby became sultan mehmed the first accepting complete sovereignty over the empire and uniting those who had been divided during the long-running civil war throughout the rest of his reign mehmed focused on consolidating power across both anatolia and the european region he was faced with several challenges along the way including a dispute with mustafa his remaining brother who had finally come out of hiding a theologian and revolutionary by the name of sheikh bed redeem also posed a threat to mehmed's authority sparking a discord that would last four years until the agitator was finally captured and hanged mehmed's tumultuous rule finally came to an end with his death in leaving control of the empire to his son murad ii during the start of marad's time as sultan manuel ii pali logos made a deal with mustafa chaleby to free him from exile he had been forced into before muhammad the first's death the byzantine emperor recognized mustafa as the true heir to what had once been based the first throne but he only found success for a short while before murad finally ended mustafa's campaign with his execution attention was now directed toward punishing the byzantines for this unprovoked hostility in an attempt to do just that murad decided to besiege constantinople but was recalled back to bursa after manuel attempted to utilize murad's year old rebellious brother to fight back against him the boy's revolt was subdued and murad was able to refocus his efforts towards fortifying his dominion by re-establishing his authority over the anatolian vassals and principalities as 

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well as continued effort to expand further into europe conflicts with venice serbia hungary and other non-allies became a regular occurrence near the end of the s in murad faced a christian coalition of crusaders at the battle of varna led by john hunyadi the hungarians and their allies were soundly defeated in what could only be deemed an embarrassing retreat one notable detail of this battle is the fact that vlad dracul the current valejian voivode had sent a small contingent under his eldest son to assist hanyadi and his crusaders despite the fact that murad was holding dracul's two youngest sons as hostages to ensure allegiance from villah not much came of this situation until later but it serves as a clear demonstration of the frequent betrayals that plagued the times before the battle of varna murad had actually abdicated his throne to one of his sons mehmed ii displeased with this immense responsibility as merely a child mehmed urged his father to return and lead their troops against the christian forces that aimed to take advantage of a young new sultan after undertaking the task and trouncing the crusading effort murad went back into retirement until he was required to return in order to quell a janissary revolt it wasn't long before the elder sultan was once again forced to meet the troops of christian europe this time on the battlefield of kosovo still following the lead of john hunyadi a union of hungarian valleji and moldavian and other allied troops attempted to execute a new strike against the ottomans in an effort to avenge their previous defeat at varna caught off guard by murad and his troops who had intercepted the crusaders at the kosovo pole field john hunyadi and his army faced another humiliating loss murad was now able to finish out his reign by addressing the issue of timur's son shah rak and gaining command over the leaders of the churum amassia region in addition to an attempt though unsuccessful at defeating the albanian forces of skanderberg at the castle of kruge by the end of murad had fallen ill and passed away leaving mehmed ii as sultan once again mehmed ii later deemed mehmed the conqueror for the remarkable accomplishments during his reign immediately looked to complete the task of finally capturing constantinople as many of his predecessors had ventured to do in a ploy to curb any distractions mehmed signed peace treaties with both hungary and venice while preparing his navy for the future siege of byzantium's heart in with an army of around troops or more over naval ships and something the previous sultans lacked cannons mehmed began the campaign that would eventually be called the fall of constantinople the siege lasted over days and resulted in a concise victory for the ottomans who now declared constantinople their new capital mehmed also styled himself the caesar of the roman empire a title that was denied to him by the roman catholic church but accepted by the eastern orthodox church the young sultan then captured the final remaining byzantine states and pressed further on into europe in a reign marked by drastic government changes creating a more centralized bureaucracy and appointing only those who could be loyal to him and his agenda to his court as well as continual back and forths between his empire and the european christians one of the most prominent storylines may be the relationship between mehmed ii and vlad iii dracula as previously mentioned two of vlad dracul's sons had been held hostage by murad ii these boys radhu and vlad iii dracula grew up alongside mehmed and each developed starkly different relationships with him while radu would choose to stay within the ottoman empire and serve as a lifelong friend and ally to mehmed vlad became a persistent opponent who fought against his contemporaries will until his final breath while some claim that his long-standing strife with the voivode of the much smaller region and 

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military shows a weakness in mehmed it instead gives us a profound look at his personality and mindset before ultimately pulling back from his attempts to overpower and defeat vlad dracula mehmed is recorded to have said that he could not take land away from a man who does such marvelous things and surely a man who had accomplished this is worthy of greater things these statements from the sultan himself display not only a level of respect for his adversary but also his confidence in the ottoman empire as a whole during his rule mehmed was willing to walk away from a conflict that he saw no near success in because he was head of essentially two empires having more or less absorbed the byzantine empire and knew that his power could not truly be stifled so easily this tone of tolerance extended past mehmed himself and can be seen again during the reign of his son bayezid ii who claimed the throne after his father's death in . the start of bayezid ii's term as sultan is slightly stained by a conflict with his brother chem once his position was secured beyond began to make some changes to his father's policy and put a strong emphasis on domestic politics throughout both the east and west establishing a more well-ordered system though not remembered entirely for the conflicts he engaged in bayezid did put notable effort into conquering new venetian territories and balkan lands nonetheless the most remarkable decision under bayezid ii to round out the th century may have been his reaction to the expulsion of both muslims and jews from spain in bayezid condemned ferdinand of aragon and isabella the first sending the ottoman navy over to safely relocate the banished muslims and jews to his own territories he told every leader under his authority that they were to welcome all of the refugees and would be punished by death if they were to treat the jews any differently than their muslim counterparts this extraordinary act led to an increase of new skills enhancements and ideas being brought into the empire which resulted in heightened success for the welcoming sultan by the end of the s bayezid ii remained on the ottoman throne as a well-respected and prosperous leader earning the epithet of the just bazid may be one of the more underrated rulers of the empire today he just like those throughout the rest of the century accomplished noteworthy feats that helped to continue the propulsion of the ottoman empire and its power into the many many years to come at the onset of the th century in the ottoman realm bayezid ii was already locked in an intense naval war with the venetians that would last until tackling the new century with a desire for further consolidation the ottomans under the command of admiral kamal rice found triumph by the end of this turkish venetian war ultimately forcing the venetians to once again come to a peace agreement with the turks while this victory served well for the continued fortifying of ottoman power in europe over in anatolia the environment was becoming increasingly unstable by the year of supporters of the savaphid dynasty began to rebel against the growing dominance of the ottoman empire though they were forced to back down after the defeat of their leader shakulu meanwhile bitter dissension over the succession of the throne developed between baizid's sons salim and ahmed as both candidates attempted to rally support from different territories and leaders the sultan's advisors and janissary corps began to show a preference towards saleem concurrent with baizid's increasing concern about the possibility of ahmed seeking aid from shah ismail in persia finally in sultan baized ii made his decision by abdicating to salim who would later have his brother put to death to avoid any further conflict bazid passed away only a month after his retirement swiftly upon ascension to the throne sultan saleem the first eradicated any potential threats to his position by having his brothers and nephews executed allowing himself to focus solely on any external dangers one of these hazards came in the form of the shah ismail and his kazilbash turkmen adherents over in anatolia briskly putting an end to a revolt brought by the kazubash salim then turned to ismail himself subsequently overpowering the shah's forces at the battle of chalderan in while the safafid troops consisted of simple cavalrymen saleem's army which was upwards of one hundred thousand men was able to rely on muskets and cannons by the end of the clash the ottomans moved on to seize tabriz which had been the savaphic capital then continued toward the mamluk dynasty of egypt emerging victorious from both the battle of marge de pig in and the battle of radinia in against the mamluk forces the ottomans in doing so were able to bring egypt hijaz and all of the levant into their empire thus by selim the first death in not only had the cultural and geographical nucleus of the empire shifted but it is believed that his reign brought forth an expansion of roughly percent following the passing of his father salim's only son suliman the first became the next and later widely revered sultan of the ottoman empire known in the west as the magnificent and by the ottomans themselves as the lawgiver birthed a time of immense military

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legal and cultural change within the empire while the chief sharia law or sacred law was not something that could be changed by the sultan suleiman was able to do some notable restructuring of the canon or system of criminal land tenure and taxation legislation this new final revision became known as the ottoman laws and would remain intact for the next three centuries to come sulliman also made adjustments to laws that affected varying religions within the empire taking a similar approach of tolerance to the one of the late bazid ii including but not limited to the formal condemning of blood libels issued against the jewish population simultaneously as these legislative and cultural shifts transpired within the empire outside of the sovereign borders build out continued almost immediately taking aim at the christian powers in both europe and the mediterranean suleiman the first led his forces to a victory at belgrade in followed by the long-awaited seizure of rhodes in four years later engaged with the hungarian troops the ottomans not only vanquished their opponent but also executed king louis ii of hungary himself when sulliman came across the slain body of the hungarian monarch he remarked may allah be merciful to him and punish those who misled his inexperience i came indeed in arms against him but it was not my wish that he should be thus cut off before he scarcely tasted the sweets of life and royalty this unexpected void in hungary's authority sparked a new conflict for the throne between the habsburg archduke of austria and the transylvania voivode amidst prevalent opposition to the prospect of habsburg control the ottoman sultan chose to accept enosh as the new vassal king of hungary as an added venture to undermine any subsequent habsburg meddling sulliman led another campaign in this time aimed at vienna unfortunately for the turks an outbreak of troubles plagued their offensive and forced the sultan to call off the feudal advances largely undeterred by the ottomans tried yet again to assail vienna but made very minimal progress after being stopped by the defending forces at the siege of guns thus giving sullivan's belief that vienna was not a prize to be won so easily a peace agreement was finally reached in constantinople between archduke ferdinand the first of austria and the ottoman sultan the following year the terms of the truce were decided upon by both sides however it did not take long for the integrity of the agreement to deteriorate when enosh passed away in any remaining peace between the ottomans and austrians seemed to shatter altogether throughout a series of campaigns and annexations in through hungary was eventually split into three individual hungaries on one side sat the habsburg hungary which was adjacent to the ottoman vassal state of transylvania and neighboring the indefinitely garrisoned ottoman hungary the succeeding years marked a vigorous on and off war within the region forcing a long bout of peace negotiations in all the while as the discord between the christian and muslim sides played out in one continent the ottomans were also facing hostility over in the middle east back in sulliman launched the first of the three repetitive campaigns against the persian opposition the ottomans would continue to push back against the shah and his forces participating in a prolonged chess game of territory exchange until the final incursion ended with a peace treaty in securing various important gains for the ottoman side during this time the ottoman naval might began to flourish under admiral care aldine taking on european allied forces near 

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the coasts of greece with great success the range of the turks naval influence could be felt as far as the indian ocean where they came in direct competition with the portuguese ascendancy in addition sulliman's reign also expanded the scope of the ottoman impact to north africa and the mughal empire rounding out a long and prosperous period of development and consolidation though not without the occasional shortcoming sulliman spent his final months at the siege of sigetvar which resulted in a taxing victory for the ottomans losing tens of thousands of men in the process as well as their sultan with his brothers having died or been executed previously salim ii became the new leader of the ottoman empire in the first of many who would fall into the same pattern salim's dominance and true authority was often undercut by the sway of mehmed sakholu his grand vizier and the women of his harem most notably his wife thoroughly uninterested in a life saturated in politics the new sultan chose to leave much of the governing duties in the hands of the grand vizier nonetheless salim's reign was marked by the exchange of war for peace in regions previously contested by his father the first treaty was signed in creating a new wave of non-aggression with austria mirroring the last ceasefire between the ottomans and cevaphids while a rebellion in yemen crept up shortly after it was quickly subdued the only main conflicts faced during the period of salim's rule played out after the capture of venetian territory of cyprus in the same year that a peace treaty with russia under the rule of ivan the terrible was reached in constantinople subsequently due to the aforementioned antagonism in europe the battle of lepanto ensued in which gifted only temporary victory to venice until the following year by the ottomans had secured both cyprus and tunisia before the passing of sultan salim ii leaving the empire in the hands of murad iii in drastic contrast with his father murad ruled over a period of both conflict and decline of coherence within the empire seizing fez from the portuguese in and then broadening his authority in the persian region the sultan eventually launched a new surge of combat with austria that would last into the following century during this time a notable alliance was formed between the ottoman vassals with the austrians despite the clear breach of terms with the turkish sovereignty the period of until also marked a relaunch of hostilities with the safafit dynasty meanwhile the state of affairs within the ottoman borders fared no better the constant conflicts demanded higher taxes prompting inflation and a rapid dwindling of the overall permanence inside the empire even causing a slump in the reliability of the janissary troops as only the second sultan following salim ii to never lead his troops into battle and to have his power undermined by the women of his harem murad's most impressive accomplishment may have been securing a diplomatic relationship with queen elizabeth the first of england arguing that the islamic and protestant worlds had more in common than either did to roman catholicism the sultan was able to form a trade agreement with the english monarch in 

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granting priority to england's merchants within ottoman territory these foreign relations outlived the sultan himself being passed from the hands of murad iii to mehmed iii as the final sultan of the th century mehmed iii took on the growing alliance between his european vassals and austrian enemy initially facing a loss though quickly bouncing back to defeat the habsburg and transylvanian forces at the battle of koreshtech in the end of the s brought only slightly improved luck as a peace agreement was reached between the ottoman empire and one of the vassal leaders mihai the brave who had found prior success in fighting off the turkish troops sultan mehmed iii continued to hold the ottoman throne into the th century and would reign for another three years to come the ottoman empire in the hands of sultan mehmed iii began the th century having made peace with notable challengers such as michael the brave who now ruled over moldavia and transylvania uniting them under one flag however conflict still persisted elsewhere barely into the sixteen hundreds the ottomans captured the fortress of nagi kanitsa having to defend their new hold on the following year at the siege of nagia konitsa against the habsburg and allied forces while continuing to participate in the -year war against the habsburg monarchy the turks were also constrained to engage with repeated revolts that surfaced at the start of the century adding a third front to the ottoman's current situation in the fall of war broke out once again with the savapha dynasty of persia making the death of sultan mehmed iii that december even heavier a loss for the empire at only years old ahmed the first was next to take the title of sultan following his father's death likely due to his age sultan ahmed made an unprecedented decision in favor of sparing the life of his brother mustafa opposing the expected act of fratricide demonstrated by his predecessors as a way of avoiding future dissension over the throne the young sultan chose to keep mustafa alive an act which prevented a potential end to the dynasty given that ahmed had not yet fathered any children to secede him nonetheless getting right to work ahmed focused his attention on the raging ottoman safafid war sending an army from constantinople in june of to confront their antagonistic foe having arrived later than they should have the turks failed to prevent the safavids from capturing yerevan and advancing forward some arguably poor decisions on the ottoman side ensued all but throwing away a year of precious time and opportunity by the war continued to wage on and prompted the turks under the command of mehmed pasha to form a temporary allegiance with steven box kai prince of transylvania who had requested assistance from the ottoman empire still as a consequence of ongoing struggles from multiple angles including more revolts in anatolia sultan ahmed was forced to concede to the treaty of sithfatorak in with austria recognizing the habsburg emperor as his equal and taking an axe to ottoman expansion in europe pressed even further to extend favorable commercial privileges to the netherlands france and venice the young sultan caused a significant blow to the empire's forced once again to come to an agreement with a bitter rival near the end of the ottomans and safavid signed the treaty of nasa pasha surrendering all territory gained in the war back to the persians resetting the map to that of after the peace treaty of amasia the same year also marked a renewal of non-violence with france venice and england as well as a novel trade treaty that was signed with the dutch republic while scrambling to create a wave of harmony ahmed's attempts to calm the atmosphere within his sovereign borders through new regulations religious donations and architecture were mostly overshadowed after a rain plagued with turmoil sultan ahmed fell ill and passed away in november of leaving the unsteady empire under the watchful eye of mustafa the first in an unusual occurrence the death of the prior sultan left the throne open to multiple candidates all of which resided at 

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the sultan's palace due to ahmed's son's age at the time a court faction in favor of giving the title to mustafa overruled the opposition and enthroned the new sultan as the first brother to become sultan ahead of their predecessor's sons mustafa had minimal luck in restabilizing the empire often described as having severe mental abnormalities mustafa was influenced by his mother haleem sultan who obtained notable direct power in his place nonetheless after only a short rule the sultan was ousted by another court faction who chose to instead replace him with his nephew osman ii claiming the role in aged only at the time osman ii was aware of the desperate need to repair the current state of affairs within the empire the young sultan first signed the treaty of sarav with the safavids before personally leading an incursion into poland which had previously interfered with ottoman vassal states during the moldavian magnet wars though another treaty was necessitated by the ottoman's loss at the battle of chotin in osman was undeterred from his goal to mend the empire's prestige blaming the debased janissary corps for what he deemed inadequacy during the previous ventures the sultan decided to close their coffee shops and slash their pay as punishment osman was unable to follow through on a plan to overhaul his current forces and create a more reliable army before the outraged janissaries rebelled sultan osman ii was dethroned imprisoned and subsequently strangled to death marking the first sultan assassination performed by the janissaries taking advantage of his nephew's downfall mustafa the first regained his throne in immediately cracking down on all those who were involved in osman's execution unable to maintain any level of control in the face of growing tensions between the janissaries and sapafi cavalrymen as well as a revolt by the governor general of urzu rum to avenge osmond mustafa's mother ultimately supported a move to oust her son on the condition that he not be killed in the process ahmed the first eleven-year-old son murad iv now ascended the throne in september of though his first years as ruler were mostly dominated by his mother and grand viziers sultan's reign became a beacon of hope for the restoration of the empire's inner amity and foreign conflict with tenacious ferocity murad was known for his heavy-handed brutality and tendency to only loosely follow the overarching sharia law with the safavids now invading more territory to the southeast the ottomans focused this ruthless grit back onto the war with the persians able to seize azerbaijan tabriz and hamadan even baghdad in the turks then signed the treaty of zahab the following year the siege of baghdad also brought a notable meeting between sultan murad and two ambassadors from the magal empire exchanging gifts and supplies before sending a handful of ottoman troops to accompany the magals on their own expedition to sarat ironically having banned alcohol tobacco and coffee sultan murad iv eventually succumbed to his own alcohol addiction in seceding his brother ibrahim the first took the throne and quickly moved to make peace with the safavids and austria in stark contrast by sultan ibrahim had already sparked a war with venice over the island of crete being a fan of extravagance the new sultan's rule brought with it an increase in taxes causing disapproval and resentment within the region while the grand vizier kara mustafa pasha had helped to correct economic deficiencies within the empire before his execution in not enough had been done and the burden caused by ibrahim's expensive intrigues remained after a previous failed attempt to depose the monarch in favor of one of his own sons a janissary rebellion led to the capture of the ultimate assassination 

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of sultan ibrahim the first handing the throne over to his six-year-old son mehmed iv sultan mehmed iv the second longest reigning ruler of the empire ushered in a period of short-lived improvement bringing about heightened expansions in europe the ottomans managed successful campaigns against the adversaries such as venice transylvania poland and even russia nevertheless at the battle of vienna in against the polish lithuanian troops and their allies the ottomans suffered a devastating defeat which marked merely the beginning of the great turkish war against the holy league only a few years later sultan mehmed and his men faced another crushing blow at the second battle of mohawk undergoing both a loss to their opponents and a mutiny from within as a consequence it was decided in november of that sultan mehmed iv would be ousted and replaced by his brother sulliman ii with the mutiny that raised suleiman ii to the throne still carrying on the ottomans made a hasty attempt to fight back against the holy league despite losing support of the crimean vassals who now had to defend themselves against a russian invasion even so the turks were able to gain temporary victory as they recaptured belgrade and niche in despite a request for support being denied in by the magal emperor aaron zeb the ottomans put a stop to the austrian invasion of serbia as well as a revolt coming from macedonia and bulgaria sullivan's luck remained even after his own passing in june of until the death of his grand vizier cup ruling fazil mustafa pasha at the battle of slan kamen against the austrians in before his death the grand vizier had helped to establish tax reforms and contribute to the improved treatment of christians under ottoman dominion having taken the title of sultan and responsibility of facing their opponents at the battle of slaan kamen ahmed ii was immediately met with major losses of territory caused by austrians and venetians over the next few years the new sultan was never able to show complete independence of his command and was heavily reliant on his advisors throughout his time dealing with the holy league and newfound disturbances in the provinces of levant after a short and rather mediocre reign sultan ahmed ii's death in at the age of led to mustafa ii son of mehmed iv being perched to round out the th century as sultan as the great turkish war continued sultan mustafa ii led the empire to both victory and defeat ending with the signing of two peace treaties in and first came the treaty of karla vitz drastically cutting the ottoman influence in the balkans and handing predominant power in the region over to austria the following summer the treaty of constantinople was signed between the ottoman turks and russia confirming russia's capture of azov and ending the th century hostilities between the powers with these compromises established sultan mustafa ii would remain on the throne for another three years to come the th century was different for the ottomans if previously we discussed the expansion of this important empire between to the ottomans experienced a lot of political turmoil and internal crisis which led to instability and lost wars from now on the ottomans will focus far less on conquests and more on protecting their borders the s in the ottoman empire marked a time of reform adaptation and often on war with european powers most notably russia the empire that had previously been focused heavily on outward expansion was now faced with resolving internal issues and defending its possessions from new expansionist powers new allies new enemies and new challenges 

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faced the ottoman sultans over the next century going to mustafa ii held the ottoman throne to kick off the th century sultan mustafa signed the treaty of constantinople on july ending the russia-turkish war of throughout against russian tsar peter the great this treaty gave azov to russia but promised years of peace between the empires sultan mustafa was unable to enjoy the harmony for long though due to the edern event in the event was a result of angered janissary core who disproved of sultan mustafa's choice to return to edin not constantinople after signing the treaty of karlawitz and constantinople with the holy league mustafa also left most political and administrative power to phase allah effendi who the janissaries found to be corrupt and overbearing when the ottomans decided to intervene in the civil war in georgia a unit of janissary corps was supposed to be sent to georgia to give the empire a military presence in addition to the janissaries existing displeasure they were also now intended to join this conflict having not been paid for their proper salaries few units began to protest in constantinople and were quickly joined by civilians and other soldiers the protests turned to riots and after phase allah affendi had the rebels group of representatives arrested the rioters turned their sights toward edern but the janissaries were unsatisfied and as the sultan's own soldiers now joined the protesters arriving in etern mustafa was deposed on august nd and faisala efendi was assassinated ahmed iii the brother of mustafa ii now seized the ottoman throne and was faced with the challenge of subduing the rebellious troops constantinople remained in a state of unsettled indignation until the appointment of a new grand vizier ali pasha once sultan ahmed could focus more on foreign affairs he began to improve ottoman relations with both england and france as well as forming a new alliance with charles xii of sweden after the swedish king's loss to peter the great of russia at the battle of poltava in charles sought refuge in the ottoman court and proceeded to convince sultan ahmed to declare war on russia in despite the constantinople treaty which should have meant years of peace the ottoman grand vizier mehmed pasha led his troops to a decisive victory surrounding peter the great's men at the pratt river and forcing the russians to not only agree to giving up azov but they were also required to destroy the fortress of taganrog and any other azovian forts and refrain from interfering in any polish or cossack affairs once the russians were no longer a direct adversary for the time being ahmed turned his attention to the venetians declaring war on venice in december of . the ottomans used coordinated naval and army effort to seize moria the following year word of the turks victory made its way to austria and the austrian emperor charles vi chose to intervene kicking off the austro-turkish war of through prince eugene's austria's habsburg general led his troops to drastic success against the ottomans although the war itself began to disrupt dutch and british mediterranean trade in great britain and holland urged the ottomans venetians and austrians into signing the treaty of pasa rovitz ending the conflict and confirming the ottomans gain of moria unfortunately for sultan ahmed the agreement also forced him to hand over belgrade little vallahia and benott to austria which threw a wrench in his empire's westward expansion a few years later in june of the russia ottoman treaty was concluded which was intended to partition their shared neighbor of safavid iran but the ottomans were essentially chased out of the region by potentially fueled by this failure in addition to anger toward the sultan's excessive 

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indulgence and overly lavish lifestyle in a time of economic struggle a janissary mutiny broke out again led by patrona sultan ahmed iii was subsequently deposed and replaced on the throne by his nephew mahmud the first one of the many sultans to do so mahmud was forced to first calm the boiling tensions in his empire after his uncle's overthrow after roughly a year sultan mahmud was able to end the rebellion with the execution of halil and a large portion of his supporters during his reign mahmud became stuck in an on and off war with persia which brought about no real conclusion whilst also being faced with more discord in europe beginning in the new russia turkish war began after russia decided to sign the treaty of ganja with iran creating an alliance against the offensive ottomans the russians now turn toward crimea which they continuously sieged burning palaces and fortifications as they pushed deeper into the peninsula they finally reached azov where they captured the ottomans fortress there although russian goals were aggressive all sides of the conflict were essentially subdued by a plague outbreak throughout to still austria attempted to join the war against the turks during but they faced repeated defeats at the hands of the ottomans and eventually lost belgrade after an incursion in the late summer of all three empires made negotiation efforts part way through the war but no progress was made diplomatically russia continued to drive deeper into ottoman territory through despite the fact that the austrians seem to have had enough the same year the treaty of belgrade was signed ending the austro-turkish war and giving the ottomans the kingdom of serbia part of bennet as well as handing over altenia over to the ottoman vassal of velahia russia was eventually forced to sign the treaty of nish roughly a month later which ended their war with the turks while allowing them to keep control of azov six years after peace was made with his european opponents sultan mohammed died of natural causes and was succeeded by osman iii osman son of mustafa ii spent years in captivity after his father's deposition and seemed to have developed some behavioral issues as a consequence potentially due to his unusual mind osmond was not responsible for many significant changes or events in the empire's history one of the peculiar modifications made during his reign was the banning of all music and musicians from his palace nonetheless a more important action taken by sultan osmond iii was the declaration of the furman in that preserved the division of responsibilities for various holy land sites between christians jews and muslims that same year on october th osman passed away leaving the ottoman throne open to mustafa iii mustafa iii was determined to create more solidity within the empire he focused initially on issues with coinage aqueducts and other internal affairs as well as spending a decent amount of time traveling to ensure that his laws were being enforced throughout his territory externally mustafa was determined to maintain peace with europe despite pressure from frederick the great of prussia to become more involved in european affairs the ottomans put great effort into remaining peaceful until war with russia became inevitable once again russia's overbearing attitude toward poland and crimea became too much for the ottomans and another russia turkish conflict erupted in . the war was an embarrassing defeat for the ottoman empire which was forced to give up territory reparations and allow the russians to be protectors of orthodox christianity in the ottoman vassal states in . 

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although a treaty was signed in july sultan mustafa iii had actually died of a heart attack in january of which meant that the war was resolved under the reign of abdul hamid the first one of sultan abdul hamid's priorities was to reform the janissary corps and all of the ottoman armed forces which he did he is also credited with the establishment of the imperial naval engineering school hamid further concentrated significant efforts on strengthening his grip over syria egypt and iraq while russia was not one of sultan hamid's preferred focuses he eventually was pushed back into war with the recurrent adversary in after russia consistently abused their power as orthodox christianity's protector the turks were able to stand their ground fairly well at the start but with austria backing russia hamid's troops began to struggle said to have been morally defeated by the ongoing war sultan abdul hamid died in april of . salim iii took over the ottoman throne and the continuing war with russia shortly into his reign sultan saleem agreed to end yet again the russia-turkish war despite having to accept the ultimate success of the russians once the foreign conflict was settled salim set up a committee of reformers and series of reforms relating to taxation land tenure and provincial governorships in addition to continuing the military reforms of his predecessor salim also opened ottoman embassies throughout the european capitals in order to create better relations with the west to round out the century the ottoman empire was faced with an unexpected plot twist as napoleon invaded egypt sultan saleem was forced to declare war on france and unexpectedly form an alliance with great britain and russia this new conflict would continue into the next century marking yet another era of increasing change for the ottoman empire the th century in the ottoman empire pushed the turks into a position of desperate defensiveness and required the centuries-old conquering power to make alliances with unexpected nations in order to prevent collapse without a doubt the s marked a rapid decline for the ottoman empire and through challenge after challenge at each sultan who would take the throne over the next years going into the new century salim iii was still the sultan of the empire recently napoleon and his french troops had taken power in egypt and styled themselves as the liberators of egypt from the ottoman empire although constant revolts and discord back home in france forced napoleon to make a subtle retreat before causing too much damage to the ottomans by the french officially pulled out of the territory allowing salim a sigh of relief although the ottoman sultan actually had a strong respect for napoleon himself in france began attempting to win over salim's support whilst russia wanted to keep the ottomans leaning to their side napoleon himself even wrote to sultan saleem referring to him as most high and invincible prince the great emperor of the muslims and imploring him to explain why he would let the russians influence his decision the frenchman also noted that he himself recognized the title of emperor for saleem so the sultan should do the same for him in return he lastly notes that the russians have men at korfu pointing out that those troops surely were there to oppose the turks and not the french salim truly wished to grant napoleon the favor but was too intimidated by the military might of the russian british alliance that faced the french the ottomans ultimately agreed to maintain a defensive alliance with russia until . at which point war broke out between the empires once again the russians were outraged by saleem's decision to depose his vassal states russophile governors in moldavia and wallahia meanwhile within the empire salim was faced with rebellion from his janissary and yamak troops due to his new reformist policies the sultan was eventually ousted from the throne and put into prison in . iv was assigned as saleem successor an attempt was made by reformist supporters to reinstate saleem as sultan but mustafa ordered his assassination before anything could be done the new sultan's endeavors to undo his predecessor's reforms were cut short by saleem the third's brother mahmud ii whose supporters quickly deposed mustafa in july of and crowned mohammed in his place sultan mohammed ii wished to continue the westernization reforms of his brother but was first faced with more pressing matters the war with russia was only ended in with the treaty of bucharest and the ottomans were forced to give bessarabia or eastern part of moldova over to the russians after facing demoralizing losses the serbian fight for autonomy shook the balkans in and the greeks were moving in the same direction themselves in greeks in the moria revolted against ottoman sovereignty triggering the start of their war for independence also a romanian uprising existed at the same time sultan mahmud initially called on the governor of egypt for help and the ottomans were temporarily able to regain control until an alliance of britain france and russia rooted the ottoman egyptian coalition at the bay of navarino in october of . mahmud reacted by declaring war on russia as the dispute with greece continued another russo-turkish war waged on from through and the following year the ottoman empire was forced to acknowledge greek independence in the governor of egypt muhammad ali pasha confronted sultan mahmud about a promise that had been made to him earlier in which mahmud agreed to make ali the governor of syria and tarsus mahmud refused to follow through and ali reacted by sending troops under the command of his son ibrahim pasha to seize damascus aleppo and cogna and then march towards constantinople sultan mahmud who had stunningly sacked the entire janissary corps back in now had to seek aid from foreign powers he first appealed to the british who declined due to france's support 

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of the egyptians mahmud then turned to russia who agreed to an alliance still the egyptians routed the ottoman forces at nizip in june around the same time that sultan mahmud began the tanzamat reform era which brought about a more modernized and european inspired turkey before he was able to see the results of these changes though mahmud ii died of tuberculosis in the summer of abdul masid the first replaced mahmud as the new sultan and continued the increasing reforms within the empire the year after the new young sultan took the throne the oriental crisis of occurred during the ongoing egyptian ottoman war and the entirety of the ottoman naval forces defected to muhammad ali and the egyptian cause france was ready to back the egyptians but britain russia austria and prussia came to the ottoman sultan's aid the european powers then established the convention of london in july of promising the egyptians territory in sudan egypt under the condition that those lands remain a part of the ottoman empire though mostly as a formality muhammad ali was hesitant to accept the deal and turned to the french for support against it but his once allies now switched sides in october of that year triggering a military response against the egyptians from the ottomans and europeans finally muhammad ali agreed to his opponent's terms in november giving up syria adana crete the hijaz and the holy land in addition to handing the ottoman naval forces back over to sultan abdul masid in the ottoman empire entered the crimean war yet another conflict with russia one of the main factors leading to the discord was further disputes surrounding the russians role as protectors of orthodox christianity in ottoman vassal states britain and france quickly backed the turks fearing the growing power of the russians meanwhile austria aligned once again with russia eventually though austria threatened to switch sides and back the ottoman cause forcing russia to accept peace terms resulting in the treaty of paris on march just before the conclusion of the war sultan abdul masid issued the hati humayan which established that all classes and ethnicities would be treated equally in all matters within the empire in the ottoman sultan was pressured by the european powers into recognizing lebanese autonomy and died shortly after from tuberculosis abdul aziz became the next sultan of the ottoman empire after the death of his brother sultan abdul aziz continued the reforms and westernization of abdul masid taking significant advice from france on the establishment of a council of state and public education system the empire's first civil code was also promulgated during his reign as tensions and rebellions rose in the balkans the ottomans once again became unsatisfied with russia this time due to its support of the revolts from the balkan states the russo-turkish war of to broke out with russia leading a coalition of romanian bulgarian serbian and montenegrin troops the conflict proved disastrous for the ottoman empire ending in a decisive victory for russia and its allies the formal declaration of independence from romania serbia and montenegro the establishment of the principality of bulgaria austria-hungary's occupation of bosnia and herzegovina and britain's seizure of cyprus all confirmed by the congress of berlin in furthermore just before the main portion of the war had erupted sultan abdul aziz had actually been dethroned by his own 

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ministers due to a plethora of frustrations within the empire this meant that sultan abdul hamid ii would be responsible for handling the resolution of the balkan unrest initially murad the fifth had taken the throne in abdul aziz's place but he was deposed after days due to accusations that he was mentally ill and unfit for the job one of sultan abdul hamid's initial actions was to promulgate the first ottoman constitution in although it only lasted for two years before the sultan suspended it in . over the next few years france extended their reach into tunisia and britain came to power in egypt in prompting the ottomans to look toward germany for friendship around which time the greco-turkish war was sparked in by the disagreement between the ottomans and greeks as to whether crete should remain under the ottoman empire or unite with greece germany austria-hungary france italy russia and britain all backed the ottomans and wished to maintain peace in crete the war was short-lived and a defeat for greece which was forced to pay heavy reparations and allow crete to remain an autonomous state under ottoman sovereignty though sultan abdul hamid ii and his forces were undeniably victorious against the greeks and crete the issue would continue into the next century additionally unrest in the balkans was far from over as the s came to a close problems with armenia and its neighbors began in the s and only grew with time as the ottoman empire was pushed more and more in the direction of urgent defense over its dwindling power and territory a fall from grace that would only get worse in the years to come the th century for the ottoman empire was marked or more accurately scarred by one thing collapse turkey's conquering power from the past years would finally come to a humiliating end with the whole world watching the sick man of europe would be unable to overcome the devastation brought by the balkans wars and events to follow the first domino to fall was actually prior to the balkan wars and is known as the young turk revolution the young turks alongside other reformist groups making up the committee of union and progress was a movement established by groups of young university students in favor of once again establishing a constitutional monarchy like the one that the sultan abdul hamid ii had established in and abolished two years later as the ottomans were pushed more and more into a defensive stance against the rest of europe's powers many of the young turks and other unionist reform supporters became further concerned with preserving their state when the anglo-russian convention of occurred the ottoman reformists felt that there was a potential for the diplomacy to extend into a partition of ottoman-controlled macedonia finally in july of the revolution broke out led by unionists such as major ahmed niyazi ayub sabri and ismail enver and began to put heavy pressure on the sultan to end his absolute rule and reinstate the constitution given the amount of support within the ottoman military and the weak state of abdul hamid's rule the revolution ended on july th with the sultan capitulating and restoring a constitutional monarchy the ottoman government now underwent a significant change and a general election took place in november of . the committee of union and progress or cup had great success and as did many other former movements established new political parties such as the freedom and accord party or the ottoman socialist party the new system was messy and many of the incoming politicians were working class people with no experience running a government meanwhile sultan abdul hamid ii had been able to maintain his title under the terms that his position was basically only symbolic matters were complicated in though 

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when the sultan stirred up the ottoman counter coup with his promises to restore the ottoman caliphate and sharia legal system if his autocratic power was restored despite the fair amount of support the counter coup was quickly quelled after a short stint of control in istanbul from sultan abdul hamid supporters the young turk government was restored and the sultan was ultimately deposed and replaced by mehmed v in a purely symbolic role as stability within the empire continued conflict in the balkans suddenly skyrocketed the christians of macedonia including serbs bulgarians lochs and greeks in addition to the albanians were heavily dissatisfied with the neglect they felt that they had received from the new ottoman government which was overly focused on centralized control in the first balkan war broke out with a declaration of war on turkey by montenegro on october th the contestants of the conflict consisted of the balkan league on one side made up of serbia bulgaria montenegro and greece against the weakened ottoman empire while russia was not directly involved in the discord they did give their favor to the balkan league which aimed to seize macedonia from the ottomans with their strong army the struggle was really only such for the ottomans as the balkan coalition utterly routed their opponent on every front all while the balkan conflict carried on the ottomans were actually also locked into the italo-turkish war that started in after italy demanded that the turks give them territories in north africa the ottomans refused but italy took the territories by force rather easily stripping the ottomans of some of their only remaining african possessions italy gained today's libya and the dodecanese islands the collapsing ottoman empire stood no chance against the allied balkan powers and by december rd both sides were ready for an armistice a brief revival of the conflict came after the coup in january of raiding the sublime port and the government buildings and empowering the triumvirate of the three patches a peace treaty was finally signed in london four months later and officially stripped the ottomans of almost every european territory they had left including albania which would become independent and macedonia which would be split between the balkan nations although the turks were not extensively involved in the second balkan war which came as a consequence of disorder between romania serbia greece and bulgaria about the borders of their new macedonian possessions they did use the opportunity to retake adrian opal in a violation of their previous armistice with bulgaria in general elections now confirmed the cups authority and the ottoman imperial government was established in january of that year although going into the first world war the three pashas would remain the de facto rulers of the new military regime in the empire on october the ottoman empire officially entered world war one after signing the turko german 

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alliance back in august of the same year the friendly relations between germany and turkey played a significant role in the empire's entry into the war in addition to turkish opportunism and dislike of the triple on taunt nations germany had previously sent a military mission to turkey in which the ottoman army and navy were organized under the leadership of lemon von sanders and greatly solidified the alliance between the involved authorities the germans also hoped that the ottoman decision to join the side of the triple alliance would encourage balkan states such as bulgaria to support their cause as well meanwhile the turkish ambassador in paris rafat pasha warned enverpasha the minister of war not to join either side as he believed that both alliances had the potential to shatter what little strength the empire had left enverpasha on the other hand was unfazed and insisted that the early victories of germany proved that they would be on the winning side of the war the earliest military action taken by the ottomans during the first world war was an attack on russian's black sea coast that triggered a quick response and declaration of war from russia great britain and france from there the ottoman empire mostly fought within the middle eastern and balkan theaters and achieved significant victories near the start of the war such as that at the battle of gallipoli as the turks were busy fighting on the world stage they also faced revolts and the growing uprising from the local arab territories the decline of the empire was put on fast forward and they were now facing offensive attacks from every possible angle although enverpasha maintained a stance of triumph nonetheless insisting that the ottomans must remain in the war to assist their allies going as far as claiming to have contributed to the russian collapse and revolution in still when bulgaria was forced into an armistice after a successful offensive by the allies at the macedonian front the ottomans were put in an impossible position without the bulgarian's assistance subsequently after multiple visits to their partners the ottoman's grand vizier talat pasha concluded that he and his ministry must resign in order to gain milder terms from the triple on taunt if the war starting administration was no longer in control ahmed is it pasha took the role of the grand vizier and quickly entered peace negotiations with the british who were eager to come to terms with the ottomans and exclude the french and americans from any benefits it may bring about the armistice of mudros was then signed on october th ending turkish involvement in the war unfortunately for the ottoman empire the armistice not only failed to bring true peace but it also marked the final leg of decline with enverpasha's 

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administration himself included no longer in power the government was an unstable mess violence began to break out as law and order broke down and the western allies began to march into constantinople under the claim that they needed to restore harmony throughout anatolia given that the armistice of mudros had allowed for the allied powers to invade if a need to restore order was present there was not much that the feeble ottoman authority could do to stop them the occupation of constantinople lasted until the treaty of several was signed on august which gave the european allies control over turkey's finances a limit on their military numbers and a significant amount of territory loss for the ottomans the ottoman empire which was soon to be abolished had to relinquish all right to north africa and arab asia and the empire was partitioned between greece armenia france italy and britain to complicate matters though the treaty was never ratified due to an increasing nationalist movement throughout turkey leading to the turkish war of independence and the creation of the grand national assembly which fought on one side of the war against the sultan and the western allies with the additionally unstable russia backing the turkish nationalists in hopes of developing a new communist ally and keeping the rest of europe distracted from their own chaos the revolutionaries were able to conclude a series of peace talks ending in the treaty of cars the armistice of medania and the ultimate destruction of the ottoman sultanate and the empire in its entirety the final sultan mehmed vi left for exile on november th officially ending the collapse of one of the world's largest and long-lived empires in history under mustafa kamal turkey managed to regain territories in anatolia and become independent the new turkish government earned international recognition through the following treaty of lausanne in the summer of officially replacing the ottoman empire with the republic of turkey the history of the ottoman empire is vast and more than interesting starting even before the sultanate itself with the arrival of the turkish tribes of anatolia the battle of manzakurt the creation of various sultanates and then the start of the ottoman dynasty this empire that existed for years dominated its neighbors won battles and wars expanded quickly and became a predator in this part of the world achieving great success but as history has always shown us since the beginning of time that every action has a reaction every day becomes night and every empire has its downfall as other empires before them the ottomans did write their final page of history this is a otoman empire story

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