Ottoman Empire
From Greatness to “Sickness”
With the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the Ottoman Turks secured their role as a major power in Europe for the next several centuries. Christian Europeans spoke with terror at the prospect of more Turk conquests in Europe. They feared being ruled by non­
Christian “infidels”.
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Mohammed II (the Conqueror): 1451­1481
By the time the Ottoman Turks lay siege to Constantinople in 1453, the city was largely depopulated and very poor ­ a mere shell of its former glory. During the siege, the Byzantine emperor, Constantine, was killed, and most of his forces escaped on ships to Western Europe. The Turks pillaged the city for three days. Mohammed tried to repopulate the city with Turks, with few takers. He was able to attract Christian Greeks to Constantinople
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For their day, the Turks had a great deal of religious toleration. They did not necessarily force their conquered people to convert to Islam. Instead they made conversion economically and politically advantageous. A non­Muslim could not hold office and had to pay special fees or taxes, especially to conduct business. Still, most of Christian Europe feared the spread of Islam.
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Mohammed continued his European conquests. From 1456 to 1463, he sought war with and took over Serbia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Albania. In 1463, he began a war with Venice and gained control of all Venice’s Albanian possessions. During the siege of the Island of Rhodes, Mohammed died. Nov 1­10:11 AM
Bayazid II 1481­1512
A man of intellectual tastes, but the least significant of the first ten sultans. He was raised to the throne with the support of the Janissaries. Janissaries were members of an elite infantry group formed in the 14th century. They were initially formed from Christian youths and prisoners, who were taken away from their families and became part of the Ottomans’ first standing army. They were trained under a very strict regimen, welcomed to convert to Islam (which most did), expected to remain celibate, and were given prestige and privileges such as exemption from taxation. Bayazid continued the war between the Venetians and the Turks.
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Selim I (the Grim): 1512­1520
Youngest son of Bayazid who came to power after a civil war with his two older brothers. He focused his military attention on consolidating power in Asia Minor and Asia.
Suleiman I (the Magnificent) 1520 ­ 1566
Only son of Selim. He was proud, ambitious. He left the running to the government to his viziers while he focused on conquest.
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Conquests include:
a.
Capture of Belgrade, Rhodes, areas of Hungary
b.
1529 First Siege of Vienna ( part of the HRE ruled by Charles V)
c.
Wars with Venice led to the formation of the Holy League ( Venetians, the pope, and Charles V)
d.
Siege of Malta
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Selim II (the Sot): 1566 ­ 1574
Third son of Suleiman. Succeeded to the throne after Suleiman had his eldest son, Mustafa, strangled and a civil war with second son, Bayezid. Intelligent, but a drinker (hence the nickname). He accepted many Jews into the Ottoman Empire who had been forced to leave Spain during the Inquisition.
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Renewed battles with Venice and Austria
Suffered a huge naval defeat to the Holy League in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Despite the losses, the Turks continued to raid the Mediterranean coast for the rest of the century.
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Murad III: 1574­1595
1581 Established peace between the Turks and Spain, ending much of the warfare in the Mediterranean.
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A.
Murad continued wars with Austria, Hungary, Transylvania, and the Persians.
His reign marks the beginning of the decline of the Ottoman Empire, traditionally set at 1585. The decline was due in large part to a long series of inept sultans who abandoned control of government to viziers, corruption throughout the bureaucracy, the influence of the harem, and military disorganization in the Janissary corps. The janissaries became more of an imperial guard trying to influence the imperial choices through intimidation. Janissaries began to marry and spent less time training. Their prestige diminished. The Ottoman Turks would see fewer conquests in Europe, and each conquest that they did achieve became more difficult and costly. To counter the rising costs, the empire increased taxes
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Murad IV: 1623­1640
He was 14 when he succeeded to the throne. The empire was in revolt and at the mercy of the Janissaries who would just as likely pillage and loot imperial towns as they would attack foreign countries.
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Mohammed IV: 1648­ 1687
He was only 10 at his succession to the throne, which was met with another period of anarchy. He lost the Dardanelles to Venice in 1656.
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Murad had to retake Baghdad and brutally suppress the revolts. He reduced the number of Janissaries.
He started the Long War with Venice (1645­1664) wanting control of Crete.
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He ruled through his Grand Viziers who were generally responsible for restoring order and pressing foreign wars (Venice and Austria). Later in his reign the Turks went to war with Poland and Russia over control of the Ukraine and the Black Sea.
In 1683 the Turks conducted another Siege of Vienna, led by Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa. Vienna gained support from Venice and Poland and repelled the attack. The Turks retreated, losing significant lands in Eastern Europe.
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1699 Treaty of Karlowitz
A. Concluded many of the Ottoman Empire’s wars.
Austria received Hungary, Transylvania, Croatia, and Slavonia
Venice got Morea, and Dalmatia
Poland received the region of Podolia
Russia received Azov, on the Black Sea.
Suleiman II: 1687 ­ 1691
Suleiman came to power after Turkish defeats caused a panic in Constantinople, and Mohammed IV was deposed. While Suleiman held the title of Sultan, the Ottoman Empire was ruled entirely by grand viziers.
Wars continued with Austria and Russia
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18th Century Ottoman Empire
A.
The 18th century saw the Ottoman Empire trying to defend its borders against the new empire builders in the area: Russia and Hapsburg Austria. Nov 1­10:14 AM
Russia, under Peter the Great and Catherine the Great pushed for control of the Balkans. They justified Russian control of the area due to the many Slavic people who populated the Balkans. Russia pushed a Pan­Slavic movement in which all Slavs would be united outside of the shackles of the infidel Muslims. Of course the Russians, as the largest group of Slavs, would take the lead. The Russians were also driven to conquest by their desire for a warm­water port. They sought complete control of the Black Sea and Istanbul. Such control would give Russia access to the world through the Mediterranean
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A.
Austria wanted to expel the Turks from Europe and eliminate the threat of attack from which they had almost continually suffered since the 15th century.
By the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire became known as “The Sick Man of Europe”
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