Internal structure and social structure of the Ottoman Empire. War in Montenegro

Ottoman Empire. State formation

At times, the birth of the state of the Ottoman Turks can be considered, of course, conditionally, the years immediately preceding the death of the Seljuk Sultanate in 1307. This state arose in an atmosphere of extreme separatism that reigned in the Seljuk state of Rum after the defeat that its ruler suffered in the battle with the Mongols in 1243 The cities of Bey Aydin, Germiyan, Karaman, Menteshe, Sarukhan and a number of other areas of the sultanate turned their lands into independent principalities. Among these principalities, the beyliks of Germiyan and Karaman stood out, whose rulers continued to fight, often successfully, against Mongol rule. In 1299, the Mongols even had to recognize the independence of the Germiyan beylik.

In the last decades of the 13th century. In the north-west of Anatolia, another practically independent beylik arose. It went down in history under the name Ottoman, after the leader of a small Turkic tribal group, the main integral part which were the nomads of the Oguz Kayi tribe.

According to Turkish historical tradition, part of the Kayi tribe migrated to Anatolia from Central Asia, where the Kayi leaders served for some time in the service of the rulers of Khorezm. At first, the Kay Turks chose the land in the Karajadag region to the west of present-day Ankara as a place of nomadism. Then some of them moved to the areas of Ahlat, Erzurum and Erzincan, reaching Amasya and Aleppo (Aleppo). Some nomads of the Kayi tribe found refuge on fertile lands in the Çukurova region. It was from these places that a small Kaya unit (400-500 tents) led by Ertogrul, fleeing the Mongol raids, headed to the possessions of the Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I. Ertogrul turned to him for protection. The Sultan granted Ertogrul uj (outlying region of the sultanate) on the lands captured by the Seljuks from the Byzantines on the border with Bithynia. Ertogrul took upon himself the obligation to defend the border of the Seljuk state in the territory of the uj given to him.

The Uj of Ertogrul in the area of ​​Melangia (Turkish: Karacahisar) and Sögüt (northwest of Eskişehir) was small. But the ruler was energetic, and his soldiers willingly participated in raids on neighboring Byzantine lands. Ertogrul’s actions were greatly facilitated by the fact that the population of the border Byzantine regions was extremely dissatisfied with the predatory tax policy of Constantinople. As a result, Ertogrul managed to slightly increase his income at the expense of the border regions of Byzantium. It is difficult, however, to accurately determine the scale of these aggressive operations, as well as the initial size of Uj Ertogrul himself, about whose life and activities there is no reliable information. Turkish chroniclers, even early ones (XIV-XV centuries), set out many legends associated with the initial period of the formation of the Ertogrul beylik. These legends say that Ertogrul lived a long time: he died at the age of 90 in 1281 or, according to another version, in 1288.

Information about the life of Ertogrul’s son, Osman, who gave the name to the future state, is also largely legendary. Osman was born around 1258 in Söğüt. This mountainous, sparsely populated area was convenient for nomads: there were many good summer pastures, and there were also plenty of convenient winter nomads. But, perhaps, the main advantage of Ertogrul’s uj and Osman, who succeeded him, was the proximity to Byzantine lands, which made it possible to enrich themselves through raids. This opportunity attracted representatives of other Turkic tribes who settled in the territories of other beyliks to the detachments of Ertogrul and Osman, since the conquest of territories belonging to non-Muslim states was considered sacred by the adherents of Islam. As a result, when in the second half of the 13th century. The rulers of the Anatolian beyliks fought among themselves in search of new possessions, the warriors of Ertogrul and Osman looked like fighters for the faith, ruining the lands of the Byzantines in search of booty and with the aim of territorial seizures.

After the death of Ertogrul, Osman became the ruler of Uj. Judging by some sources, there were supporters of transferring power to Ertogrul’s brother, Dündar, but he did not dare to speak out against his nephew, because he saw that the majority supported him. A few years later, a potential rival was killed.

Osman directed his efforts to conquer Bithynia. The area of ​​his territorial claims became the regions of Brusa (Turkish Bursa), Belokoma (Bilejik) and Nicomedia (Izmit). One of Osman's first military successes was the capture of Melangia in 1291. He made this small Byzantine town his residence. Since the former population of Melangia partly died and partly fled, hoping to find salvation from the troops of Osman, the latter populated his residence with people from the beylik of Germiyan and other places in Anatolia. At the behest of Osman, the Christian temple was turned into a mosque, in which his name began to be mentioned in khutbas (Friday prayers). According to legends, around this time, Osman, without much difficulty, obtained from the Seljuk Sultan, whose power had become completely illusory, the title of bey, receiving the corresponding regalia in the form of a drum and a horsetail. Soon Osman declared his uj an independent state, and himself an independent ruler. This happened around 1299, when the Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad II fled from his capital, fleeing his rebellious subjects. True, having become practically independent of the Seljuk Sultanate, which nominally existed until 1307, when the last representative of the Rum Seljuk dynasty was strangled by order of the Mongols, Osman recognized the supreme power of the Mongol Hulaguid dynasty and annually sent part of the tribute he collected from his subjects to their capital. The Ottoman beylik freed itself from this form of dependence under Osman's successor, his son Orhan.

At the end of the XIII - beginning of the XIV century. The Ottoman beylik significantly expanded its territory. Its ruler continued to raid Byzantine lands. Actions against the Byzantines were made easier by the fact that his other neighbors did not yet show hostility towards the young state. Beylik Germiyan fought either with the Mongols or with the Byzantines. Beylik Karesi was simply weak. The rulers of the Chandar-oglu (Jandarids) beylik located in the north-west of Anatolia did not bother Osman’s beylik, since they were mainly busy fighting the Mongol governors. Thus, the Ottoman beylik could use all its military forces for conquests in the west.

Having captured the Yenisehir region in 1301 and built a fortified city there, Osman began preparing the capture of Brusa. In the summer of 1302, he defeated the troops of the Byzantine governor Brusa in the battle of Vafey (Turkish Koyunhisar). This was the first major military battle won by the Ottoman Turks. Finally, the Byzantines realized that they were dealing with a dangerous enemy. However, in 1305, Osman’s army was defeated in the Battle of Levka, where Catalan squads in the service of the Byzantine emperor fought against them. Another civil strife began in Byzantium, which facilitated further offensive actions of the Turks. Osman's warriors captured a number of Byzantine cities on the Black Sea coast.

In those years, the Ottoman Turks made their first raids on the European part of Byzantine territory in the Dardanelles region. Osman's troops also captured a number of fortresses and fortified settlements on the way to Brusa. By 1315, Brusa was practically surrounded by fortresses in the hands of the Turks.

Brusa was captured a little later by Osman's son Orhan. born in the year of the death of his grandfather Ertogrul.

Orhan's army consisted mainly of cavalry units. The Turks did not have siege engines. Therefore, the bey did not dare to storm the city, surrounded by a ring of powerful fortifications, and established a blockade of Brusa, cutting off all its connections with the outside world and thereby depriving its defenders of all sources of supply. Turkish troops used similar tactics subsequently. Usually they captured the outskirts of the city, expelled or enslaved the local population. Then these lands were settled by people resettled there by order of the bey.

The city found itself in a hostile ring, and a threat loomed over its inhabitants starvation, after which the Turks easily mastered it.

The siege of Brusa lasted ten years. Finally, in April 1326, when Orhan's army stood at the very walls of Brusa, the city capitulated. This happened on the eve of the death of Osman, who was informed of the capture of Brusa on his deathbed.

Orhan, who inherited power in the beylik, made Bursa (as the Turks began to call it), famous for crafts and trade, a rich and prosperous city, his capital. In 1327, he ordered the minting of the first Ottoman silver coin, the akçe, in Bursa. This indicated that the process of transforming the Ertogrul beylik into an independent state was nearing completion. An important stage on this path was the further conquests of the Ottoman Turks in the north. Four years after the capture of Brusa, Orhan's troops captured Nicaea (Turkish Iznik), and in 1337 Nicomedia.

When the Turks moved towards Nicaea, a battle took place in one of the mountain gorges between the emperor’s troops and the Turkish troops, led by Orhan’s brother, Alaeddin. The Byzantines were defeated, the emperor was wounded. Several assaults on the powerful walls of Nicaea did not bring success to the Turks. Then they resorted to the tried and tested blockade tactics, capturing several advanced fortifications and cutting off the city from the surrounding lands. After these events, Nicaea was forced to surrender. Exhausted by disease and hunger, the garrison could no longer resist the superior enemy forces. The capture of this city opened the way for the Turks to the Asian part of the Byzantine capital.

The blockade of Nicomedia, which received military aid and food by sea, lasted for nine years. To take possession of the city, Orhan had to organize a blockade of the narrow bay of the Sea of ​​Marmara, on the shores of which Nicomedia was located. Cut off from all sources of supply, the city surrendered to the mercy of the victors.

As a result of the capture of Nicaea and Nicomedia, the Turks captured almost all the lands north of the Gulf of Izmit up to the Bosphorus. Izmit (this name was henceforth given to Nicomedia) became a shipyard and harbor for the nascent Ottoman fleet. The Turks' exit to the shores of the Sea of ​​Marmara and the Bosphorus opened the way for them to raid Thrace. Already in 1338, the Turks began to ravage the Thracian lands, and Orhan himself with three dozen ships appeared at the walls of Constantinople, but his detachment was defeated by the Byzantines. Emperor John VI tried to get along with Orhan by marrying his daughter to him. For some time, Orkhan stopped raiding the Byzantine possessions and even provided military assistance to the Byzantines. But Orkhan already considered the lands on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus as his possessions. Having arrived to visit the emperor, he located his headquarters precisely on the Asian coast, and the Byzantine monarch with all his courtiers was forced to arrive there for a feast.

Subsequently, Orhan's relations with Byzantium deteriorated again, and his troops resumed raids on the Thracian lands. Another decade and a half passed, and Orhan's troops began to invade the European possessions of Byzantium. This was facilitated by the fact that in the 40s of the 14th century. Orhan managed, taking advantage of the civil strife in the beylik of Karesi, to annex to his possessions most of the lands of this beylik, which reached the eastern shores of the Dardanelles Strait.

In the middle of the 14th century. The Turks strengthened and began to act not only in the west, but also in the east. Orhan's beilik bordered on the possessions of the Mongol governor in Asia Minor Erten, who by that time had become an almost independent ruler due to the decline of the Ilkhan state. When the governor died and turmoil began in his possessions caused by the struggle for power between his sons-heirs, Orhan attacked the lands of Erten and significantly expanded his beylik at their expense, capturing Ankara in 1354.

In 1354, the Turks easily captured the city of Gallipoli (Turkish: Gelibolu), whose defensive fortifications were destroyed by an earthquake. In 1356, an army under the command of Orhan's son, Suleiman, crossed the Dardanelles. Having captured several cities, including Dzorillos (Turkish Chorlu), Suleiman’s troops began to move towards Adrianople (Turkish Edirne), which was perhaps the main goal of this campaign. However, around 1357, Suleiman died without realizing all his plans.

Turkish military operations in the Balkans soon resumed under the leadership of Orhan's other son, Murad. The Turks managed to take Adrianople after the death of Orhan, when Murad became ruler. This happened, according to various sources, between 1361 and 1363. The capture of this city turned out to be a relatively simple military operation, not accompanied by a blockade or a protracted siege. The Turks defeated the Byzantines on the outskirts of Adrianople, and the city was left virtually undefended. In 1365, Murad moved his residence here from Bursa for some time.

Murad took the title of Sultan and went down in history under the name Murad I. Wanting to rely on the authority of the Abbasid caliph, who was in Cairo, Murad's successor Bayezid I (1389-1402) sent him a letter, asking for recognition of the title of Sultan of Rum. Somewhat later, Sultan Mehmed I (1403-1421) began to send money to Mecca, seeking recognition by the sheriffs of his rights to the title of Sultan in this holy city for Muslims.

Thus, in less than a hundred and fifty years, the small beylik Ertogrul was transformed into a vast and militarily quite strong state.

What was the young Ottoman state like? initial stage your development? Its territory already covered the entire north-west of Asia Minor, extending to the waters of the Black and Marmara seas. Socio-economic institutions began to take shape.

Under Osman, his beylik was still dominated by social relations inherent in tribal life, when the power of the head of the beylik was based on the support of the tribal elite, and aggressive operations were carried out by its military formations. The Muslim clergy played a major role in the formation of Ottoman state institutions. Muslim theologians, ulemas, performed many administrative functions, and the administration of justice was in their hands. Osman established strong ties with the Mevlevi and Bektashi dervish orders, as well as with the Ahi, a religious guild brotherhood that enjoyed great influence in the craft layers of the cities of Asia Minor. Relying on the ulema, the top of the dervish orders and the Ahi, Osman and his successors not only strengthened their power, but also justified their aggressive campaigns with the Muslim slogan of jihad, “the fight for faith.”

Osman, whose tribe led a semi-nomadic life, did not yet possess anything except herds of horses and herds of sheep. But when he began to conquer new territories, a system arose of distributing lands to his associates as a reward for their service. These awards were called timars. Turkish chronicles state Osman's decree regarding the terms of the grants as follows:

“The timar that I give to someone should not be taken away without reason. And if the one to whom I gave timar dies, then let it be given to his son. If the son is small, then still let him tell him that during the war his servants will go on campaigns until he himself becomes fit.” This is the essence of the timar system, which was a type of military-feudal system and over time became the basis of the social structure of the Ottoman state.

The timar system took on a complete form during the first century of the existence of the new state. The supreme right to grant timars was the privilege of the Sultan, but already from the middle of the 15th century. The Timars also complained to a number of high dignitaries. Land plots were given to soldiers and military leaders as conditional holdings. Subject to fulfilling certain military duties, holders of timars, timariots, could pass them on from generation to generation. It is noteworthy that the Timariots, in essence, did not own the lands that were the property of the treasury, but the income from them. Depending on these incomes, properties of this kind were divided into two categories - timars, which brought up to 20 thousand akche per year, and zeamet - from 20 to 100 thousand akche. The real value of these amounts can be imagined in comparison with the following figures: in the middle of the 15th century. the average income from one urban household in the Balkan provinces of the Ottoman state ranged from 100 to 200 akce; In 1460, 1 akce could buy 7 kilograms of flour in Bursa. In the person of the Timariots, the first Turkish sultans sought to create a strong and loyal support for their power - military and socio-political.

In historically comparative short term The rulers of the new state became the owners of great material assets. Even under Orhan, it happened that the ruler of the beylik did not have the means to ensure the next aggressive raid. The Turkish medieval chronicler Hussein cites, for example, a story about how Orhan sold a captive Byzantine dignitary to the Archon of Nicomedia in order to use the money obtained in this way to equip an army and send it against the same city. But already under Murad I the picture changed dramatically. The Sultan could maintain an army, build palaces and mosques, and spend a lot of money on celebrations and receptions for ambassadors. The reason for this change was simple - since the reign of Murad I, it became law to transfer a fifth of military booty, including prisoners, to the treasury. Military campaigns in the Balkans became the first source of income for the Ottoman state. Tributes from the conquered peoples and military booty constantly replenished his treasury, and the labor of the population of the conquered regions gradually began to enrich the nobility of the Ottoman state - dignitaries and military leaders, the clergy and beys.

Under the first sultans, the management system of the Ottoman state began to take shape. If under Orhan military affairs were decided in a close circle of his close associates from among the military leaders, then under his successors viziers - ministers began to participate in their discussions. If Orkhan managed his possessions with the help of his closest relatives or ulemas, then Murad I from among the viziers began to single out a person who was entrusted with the management of all affairs - civil and military. Thus arose the institution of the Grand Vizier, who remained for centuries the central figure of the Ottoman administration. The general affairs of the state under the successors of Murad I, as the highest advisory body, were in charge of the Sultan's Council, consisting of the Grand Vizier, the heads of the military, financial and judicial departments, and representatives of the highest Muslim clergy.

During the reign of Murad I, the Ottoman financial department received its initial design. At the same time, the division of the treasury into the personal treasury of the Sultan and the state treasury, which had been maintained for centuries, arose. An administrative division also appeared. The Ottoman state was divided into sanjaks. The word “sanjak” means “banner” in translation, as if recalling the fact that the rulers of the sanjaks, the sanjak beys, personified civil and military power locally. As for the judicial system, it was entirely under the jurisdiction of the ulema.

The state, which developed and expanded as a result of wars of conquest, took special care to create a strong army. Already under Orhan, the first important steps were taken in this direction. An infantry army was created - the Yaya. During the period of participation in campaigns, infantrymen received a salary, and in peacetime they lived by cultivating their lands, being exempt from taxes. Under Orhan, the first regular cavalry units, the mucellem, were created. Under Murad I, the army was strengthened by peasant infantry militia. Militias, azaps, were recruited only for the duration of the war and during the period of hostilities they also received a salary. It was the Azaps who made up the bulk of the infantry army at the initial stage of development of the Ottoman state. Under Murad I, the Janissary Corps began to form (from “yeni cheri” - “new army”), which later became the striking force of the Turkish infantry and a kind of personal guard of the Turkish sultans. It was staffed by the forced recruitment of boys from Christian families. They were converted to Islam and trained in a special military school. The Janissaries were subordinate to the Sultan himself, received salaries from the treasury and from the very beginning became a privileged part of the Turkish army; the commander of the Janissary corps was one of the highest dignitaries of the state. Somewhat later than the Janissary infantry, sipahi cavalry units were formed, which also reported directly to the Sultan and were paid. All these military formations ensured the sustainable successes of the Turkish army during a period when the sultans were increasingly expanding their conquest operations.

Thus, by the middle of the 14th century. The initial core of the state was formed, which was destined to become one of the largest empires of the Middle Ages, a powerful military power that in a short time subjugated many peoples of Europe and Asia.

7 964

Having become the ruler of the mountainous region, Osman in 1289 received the title of bey from the Seljuk Sultan. Having come to power, Osman immediately set out to conquer Byzantine lands and made the first Byzantine town of Melangia his residence.

Osman was born in a small mountain town of the Seljuk Sultanate. Osman's father, Ertogrul, received lands adjacent to the Byzantine ones from Sultan Ala ad-Din. The Turkic tribe to which Osman belonged considered the seizure of neighboring territories a sacred matter.

After the escape of the deposed Seljuk Sultan in 1299, Osman created an independent state based on his own beylik. In the first years of the 14th century. the founder of the Ottoman Empire managed to significantly expand the territory of the new state and moved his headquarters to the fortified city of Episehir. Immediately after this, the Ottoman army began to raid Byzantine cities located on the Black Sea coast and the Byzantine regions in the Dardanelles Strait region.

The Ottoman dynasty was continued by Osman's son Orhan, who began his military career with the successful capture of Bursa, a powerful fortress in Asia Minor. Orhan declared the prosperous fortified city the capital of the state and ordered the minting of the first coin of the Ottoman Empire, the silver akçe, to begin. In 1337, the Turks won several brilliant victories and occupied territories up to the Bosphorus, making the conquered Ismit the main shipyard of the state. At the same time, Orhan annexed the neighboring Turkish lands, and by 1354, under his rule were the northwestern part of Asia Minor to the eastern shores of the Dardanelles, part of its European coast, including the city of Galliopolis, and Ankara, recaptured from the Mongols.

Orhan's son Murad I became the third ruler of the Ottoman Empire, adding territories near Ankara to its possessions and setting off on a military campaign to Europe.

Murad was the first Sultan of the Ottoman dynasty and a true champion of Islam. The first schools in Turkish history began to be built in the cities of the country.

After the first victories in Europe (the conquest of Thrace and Plovdiv), a stream of Turkic settlers poured onto the European coast.

The sultans sealed their firman decrees with their own imperial monogram - tughra. The complex oriental design included the sultan's name, his father's name, title, motto and the epithet "always victorious".

New conquests

Murad paid great attention to improving and strengthening the army. For the first time in history, a professional army was created. In 1336, the ruler formed a corps of Janissaries, which later turned into the Sultan’s personal guard. In addition to the Janissaries, a mounted army of the Sipahis was created, and as a result of these fundamental changes, the Turkish army became not only numerous, but also unusually disciplined and powerful.

In 1371, on the Maritsa River, the Turks defeated the united army of the southern European states and captured Bulgaria and part of Serbia.

The next brilliant victory was won by the Turks in 1389, when the Janissaries first took up firearms. That year, the historical battle of Kossovo took place, when, having defeated the crusaders, the Ottoman Turks annexed a significant part of the Balkans to their lands.

Murad's son Bayazid continued his father's policies in everything, but unlike him, he was distinguished by cruelty and indulged in debauchery. Bayazid completed the defeat of Serbia and turned it into a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, becoming the absolute master of the Balkans.

For the rapid movements of the army and energetic actions, Sultan Bayazid received the nickname Ilderim (Lightning). During the lightning campaign in 1389–1390. he subjugated Anatolia, after which the Turks captured almost the entire territory of Asia Minor.

Bayazid had to fight simultaneously on two fronts - with the Byzantines and the crusaders. On September 25, 1396, the Turkish army defeated a huge army of crusaders, taking all Bulgarian lands into submission. According to contemporaries, more than 100,000 people fought on the side of the Turks. Many noble European crusaders were captured and later ransomed for huge sums of money. Caravans of pack animals with gifts from Emperor Charles VI of France reached the capital of the Ottoman Sultan: gold and silver coins, silk fabrics, carpets from Arras with paintings from the life of Alexander the Great woven on them, hunting falcons from Norway and much more. True, Bayazid did not make further campaigns in Europe, distracted by the eastern danger from the Mongols.

After the unsuccessful siege of Constantinople in 1400, the Turks had to fight Timur's Tatar army. On July 25, 1402, one of the greatest battles of the Middle Ages took place, during which the army of the Turks (about 150,000 people) and the army of the Tatars (about 200,000 people) met near Ankara. Timur's army, in addition to well-trained warriors, was armed with more than 30 war elephants - quite a powerful weapon during the offensive. The Janissaries, showing extraordinary courage and strength, were nevertheless defeated, and Bayazid was captured. Timur's army plundered the entire Ottoman Empire, exterminated or captured thousands of people, and burned the most beautiful cities and towns.

Muhammad I ruled the empire from 1413 to 1421. Throughout his reign, Muhammad was on good terms with Byzantium, turning his main attention to the situation in Asia Minor and making the first trip to Venice in the history of the Turks, which ended in failure.

Murad II, the son of Muhammad I, ascended the throne in 1421. He was a fair and energetic ruler who devoted much time to the development of the arts and urban planning. Murad, coping with internal strife, made a successful campaign, capturing the Byzantine city of Thessalonica. The battles of the Turks against the Serbian, Hungarian and Albanian armies were no less successful. In 1448, after Murad's victory over the united army of the crusaders, the fate of all the peoples of the Balkans was sealed - Turkish rule hung over them for several centuries.

Before the start of the historical battle in 1448 between the united European army and the Turks, a letter with a truce agreement was carried through the ranks of the Ottoman army on the tip of a spear, which was violated once again. Thus, the Ottomans showed that they were not interested in peace treaties - only battles and only an offensive.

From 1444 to 1446, the empire was ruled by the Turkish Sultan Muhammad II, son of Murad II.

The reign of this sultan for 30 years turned the power into a world empire. Having started his reign with the already traditional execution of relatives who potentially claimed the throne, the ambitious young man showed his strength. Muhammad, nicknamed the Conqueror, became a tough and even cruel ruler, but at the same time had an excellent education and spoke four languages. The Sultan invited scientists and poets from Greece and Italy to his court, and allocated a lot of funds for the construction of new buildings and the development of art. The Sultan set his main task to the conquest of Constantinople, and at the same time treated its implementation very carefully. Opposite the Byzantine capital, in March 1452, the Rumelihisar fortress was founded, in which the latest cannons were installed and a strong garrison was stationed.

As a result, Constantinople found itself cut off from the Black Sea region, with which it was connected by trade. In the spring of 1453, a huge Turkish land army and a powerful fleet approached the Byzantine capital. The first assault on the city was unsuccessful, but the Sultan ordered not to retreat and organize preparations for a new assault. After dragging some of the ships into the bay of Constantinople along a specially constructed deck over iron barrier chains, the city found itself surrounded by Turkish troops. Battles raged daily, but the Greek defenders of the city showed examples of courage and perseverance.

The siege was not a strong point for the Ottoman army, and the Turks won only due to the careful encirclement of the city, a numerical superiority of forces by approximately 3.5 times and due to the presence of siege weapons, cannons and a powerful mortar with cannonballs weighing 30 kg. Before the main assault on Constantinople, Muhammad invited the residents to surrender, promising to spare them, but they, to his great amazement, refused.

The general assault was launched on May 29, 1453, and selected Janissaries, supported by artillery, burst into the gates of Constantinople. For 3 days the Turks plundered the city and killed Christians, and the Church of Hagia Sophia was subsequently turned into a mosque. Türkiye became a real world power, proclaiming the ancient city as its capital.

In subsequent years, Muhammad made conquered Serbia his province, conquered Moldova, Bosnia, and a little later Albania and captured all of Greece. At the same time, the Turkish Sultan conquered vast territories in Asia Minor and became the ruler of the entire Asia Minor Peninsula. But he did not stop there either: in 1475 the Turks captured many Crimean cities and the city of Tana at the mouth of the Don on the Sea of ​​Azov. The Crimean Khan officially recognized the power of the Ottoman Empire. Following this, the territories of Safavid Iran were conquered, and in 1516 Syria, Egypt and the Hejaz with Medina and Mecca came under the rule of the Sultan.

At the beginning of the 16th century. The empire's conquests were directed to the east, south and west. In the east, Selim I the Terrible defeated the Safavids and annexed the eastern part of Anatolia and Azerbaijan to his state. In the south, the Ottomans suppressed the warlike Mamluks and took control of trade routes along the Red Sea coast to the Indian Ocean, and in North Africa they reached Morocco. In the west, Suleiman the Magnificent in the 1520s. captured Belgrade, Rhodes, and Hungarian lands.

At the peak of power

The Ottoman Empire entered the stage of its greatest prosperity at the very end of the 15th century. under Sultan Selim I and his successor Suleiman the Magnificent, who achieved a significant expansion of territories and established reliable centralized governance of the country. The reign of Suleiman went down in history as the “golden age” of the Ottoman Empire.

Starting from the first years of the 16th century, the Turkish empire became the most powerful power in the Old World. Contemporaries who visited the lands of the empire enthusiastically described the wealth and luxury of this country in their notes and memoirs.

Suleiman the Magnificent
Sultan Suleiman is the legendary ruler of the Ottoman Empire. During his reign (1520–1566), the huge power became even larger, the cities more beautiful, the palaces more luxurious. Suleiman (Fig. 9) also went down in history under the nickname Lawgiver.

Having become a sultan at the age of 25, Suleiman significantly expanded the borders of the state, capturing Rhodes in 1522, Mesopotamia in 1534, and Hungary in 1541.

The ruler of the Ottoman Empire was traditionally called Sultan, a title of Arabic origin. It is considered correct to use such terms as “shah”, “padishah”, “khan”, “Caesar”, which came from different peoples under the rule of the Turks.

Suleiman contributed to the cultural prosperity of the country; under him, beautiful mosques and luxurious palaces were built in many cities of the empire. The famous emperor was a good poet, leaving his works under the pseudonym Muhibbi (In Love with God). During the reign of Suleiman, the wonderful Turkish poet Fuzuli lived and worked in Baghdad, who wrote the poem “Leila and Mejun”. The nickname Sultan Among Poets was given to Mahmud Abd al-Baki, who served at the court of Suleiman, who reflected in his poems the life of the high society of the state.

The Sultan entered into a legal marriage with the legendary Roksolana, nicknamed Laughing, one of the slaves of Slavic origin in the harem. Such an act was, at that time and according to Sharia, an exceptional phenomenon. Roksolana gave birth to an heir to the Sultan, the future Emperor Suleiman II, and devoted a lot of time to philanthropy. The Sultan's wife also had great influence over him in diplomatic affairs, especially in relations with Western countries.

In order to leave his memory in stone, Suleiman invited the famous architect Sinan to create mosques in Istanbul. Those close to the emperor also erected large religious buildings with the help of the famous architect, as a result of which the capital was noticeably transformed.

Harems
Harems with several wives and concubines, permitted by Islam, could only be afforded by wealthy people. The Sultan's harems became an integral part of the empire, its calling card.

In addition to sultans, viziers, beys, and emirs had harems. The vast majority of the empire's population had one wife, as was customary throughout the Christian world. Islam officially allowed a Muslim to have four wives and several slaves.

The Sultan's harem, which gave rise to many legends and traditions, was in fact a complex organization with strict internal orders. This system was controlled by the Sultan’s mother, “Valide Sultan”. Her main assistants were eunuchs and slaves. It is clear that the life and power of the Sultan’s ruler directly depended on the fate of her high-ranking son.

The harem housed girls captured during wars or purchased at slave markets. Regardless of their nationality and religion, before entering the harem, all girls became Muslims and studied traditional Islamic arts - embroidery, singing, conversation skills, music, dancing, and literature.

While in a harem long time, its inhabitants passed through several levels and titles. At first they were called jariye (newcomers), then quite soon they were renamed shagirt (students), over time they became gedikli (companions) and usta (masters).

There have been isolated cases in history when the Sultan recognized a concubine as his legal wife. This happened more often when the concubine gave birth to the ruler’s long-awaited son-heir. A striking example is Suleiman the Magnificent, who married Roksolana.

Only girls who had reached the level of craftswomen could gain the attention of the Sultan. From among them, the ruler chose his permanent mistresses, favorites and concubines. Many representatives of the harem, who became the Sultan's mistresses, were awarded their own housing, jewelry and even slaves.

Legal marriage was not provided for by Sharia, but the Sultan chose four wives who were in a privileged position from all the inhabitants of the harem. Of these, the main one became the one who gave birth to the Sultan’s son.

After the death of the Sultan, all his wives and concubines were sent to the Old Palace, located outside the city. The new ruler of the state could allow retired beauties to marry or join him in his harem.

History of the Ottoman Empire

History of the Ottoman Empire dates back more than one hundred years. The Ottoman Empire existed from 1299 to 1923.

Rise of an Empire

Expansion and fall of the Ottoman Empire (1300–1923)

Osman (reigned 1288–1326), son and heir of Ertogrul, in the fight against the powerless Byzantium annexed region after region to his possessions, but, despite his growing power, recognized his dependence on Lycaonia. In 1299, after the death of Alaeddin, he accepted the title "Sultan" and refused to recognize the power of his heirs. After his name, the Turks began to be called Ottoman Turks or Ottomans. Their power over Asia Minor spread and strengthened, and the sultans of Konya were unable to prevent this.

From that time on, they developed and rapidly increased, at least quantitatively, their own literature, although it was very little independent. They take care of maintaining trade, agriculture and industry in the conquered areas and create a well-organized army. A powerful state is developing, military, but not hostile to culture; in theory it is absolutist, but in reality the commanders to whom the Sultan gave different areas to control often turned out to be independent and reluctant to recognize the supreme power of the Sultan. Often the Greek cities of Asia Minor voluntarily placed themselves under the protection of the powerful Osman.

Osman's son and heir Orhan I (1326–59) continued his father's policies. He considered it his calling to unite all the faithful under his rule, although in reality his conquests were directed more to the west, to countries inhabited by Greeks, than to the east, to countries inhabited by Muslims. He very skillfully took advantage of internal discord in Byzantium. More than once the disputing parties turned to him as an arbitrator. In 1330 he conquered Nicaea, the most important of the Byzantine fortresses on Asian soil. Following this, Nicomedia and the entire northwestern part of Asia Minor to the Black, Marmara and Aegean Seas fell into the power of the Turks.

Finally, in 1356, a Turkish army under the command of Suleiman, son of Orhan, landed on the European shore of the Dardanelles and captured Gallipoli and its environs.

Bâb-ı Âlî, Haute Porte

In Orhan’s activities in the internal management of the state, his constant adviser was his elder brother Aladdin, who (the only example in the history of Turkey) voluntarily renounced his rights to the throne and accepted the post of grand vizier, established especially for him, but preserved even after him. To facilitate trade, coinage was regulated. Orhan minted a silver coin - akche in his own name and with a verse from the Koran. He built himself a luxurious palace in the newly conquered Bursa (1326), whose high gates gave the Ottoman government the name “High Porte” ( literal translation Ottoman Bab-ı Âlî - “high gate”), often transferred to the Ottoman state itself.

In 1328, Orhan gave his domains new, largely centralized administration. They were divided into 3 provinces (pashalik), which were divided into districts, sanjaks. Civil administration was connected to the military and subordinated to it. Orhan laid the foundation for the Janissary army, which was recruited from Christian children (at first 1000 people; later this number increased significantly). Despite a significant amount of tolerance towards Christians, whose religion was not persecuted (even though taxes were taken from Christians), Christians converted to Islam in droves.

Conquests in Europe before the capture of Constantinople (1306–1453)

• 1352 - capture of the Dardanelles.
• 1354 - capture of Gallipoli.
• From 1358 to Kosovo field

After the capture of Gallipoli, the Turks fortified themselves on the European coast of the Aegean Sea, the Dardanelles and the Sea of ​​Marmara. Suleiman died in 1358, and Orhan was succeeded by his second son, Murad (1359-1389), who, although he did not forget about Asia Minor and conquered Angora in it, moved the center of gravity of his activities to Europe. Having conquered Thrace, he moved his capital to Adrianople in 1365. Byzantine Empire was reduced to one to Constantinople with its immediate surroundings, but continued to resist conquest for almost another hundred years.

The conquest of Thrace brought the Turks into close contact with Serbia and Bulgaria. Both states went through a period of feudal fragmentation and could not consolidate. In a few years, they both lost a significant part of their territory, obliged themselves with tribute and became dependent on the Sultan. However, there were periods when these states managed, taking advantage of the moment, to partially restore their positions.

Upon the accession of successive sultans, starting with Bayazet, it became customary to kill close relatives to avoid family rivalry over the throne; This custom was observed, although not always, but often. When the relatives of the new Sultan did not pose the slightest danger due to their mental development or for other reasons, they were left alive, but their harem was made up of slaves made infertile through surgery.

The Ottomans clashed with the Serbian rulers and won victories at Chernomen (1371) and Savra (1385).

Battle of Kosovo Field

In 1389, the Serbian prince Lazar began a new war with the Ottomans. On Kosovo Field on June 28, 1389, his army of 80,000 people. clashed with Murad's army of 300,000 people. The Serbian army was destroyed, the prince was killed; Murad also fell in the battle. Formally, Serbia still retained its independence, but it paid tribute and pledged to supply auxiliary troops.

Murad Murad

One of the Serbs who took part in the battle (that is, from Prince Lazar's side) was the Serbian prince Miloš Obilic. He understood that the Serbs had little chance of winning this great battle, and decided to sacrifice his life. He came up with a cunning operation.

During the battle, Milos snuck into Murad's tent, pretending to be a defector. He approached Murad as if to convey some secret and stabbed him. Murad was dying, but managed to call for help. Consequently, Milos was killed by the Sultan's guards. (Miloš Obilic kills Sultan Murad) From this moment on, the Serbian and Turkish versions of what happened began to differ. According to the Serbian version, having learned about the murder of their ruler, the Turkish army succumbed to panic and began to scatter, and only the taking of control of the troops by Murad's son Bayezid I saved the Turkish army from defeat. According to the Turkish version, the murder of the Sultan only angered the Turkish soldiers. However, the most realistic option is the version that the main part of the army learned about the death of the Sultan after the battle.

Early 15th century

Murad's son Bayazet (1389-1402) married Lazar's daughter and thereby acquired the formal right to intervene in the resolution of dynastic issues in Serbia (when Stefan, Lazar's son, died without heirs). In 1393, Bayazet took Tarnovo (he strangled the Bulgarian king Shishman, whose son saved himself from death by accepting Islam), conquered all of Bulgaria, obliged Wallachia with tribute, conquered Macedonia and Thessaly and penetrated into Greece. In Asia Minor, his possessions expanded far to the east beyond the Kyzyl-Irmak (Galis).

In 1396, near Nicopolis, he defeated a Christian army gathered for a crusade by the king Sigismund of Hungary.

The invasion of Timur at the head of the Turkic hordes into the Asian possessions of Bayazet forced him to lift the siege of Constantinople and personally rush towards Timur with significant forces. IN Battle of Ankara in 1402 he was completely defeated and captured, where a year later (1403) he died. A significant Serbian auxiliary detachment (40,000 people) also died in this battle.

The captivity and then death of Bayazet threatened the state with disintegration into parts. In Adrianople, Bayazet's son Suleiman (1402-1410) proclaimed himself sultan, seizing power over the Turkish possessions on the Balkan Peninsula, in Brousse - Isa, in the eastern part of Asia Minor - Mehmed I. Timur received ambassadors from all three applicants and promised his support to all three, obviously wanting to weaken the Ottomans, but he did not find it possible to continue its conquest and went to the East.

Mehmed soon won, killed Isa (1403) and reigned over all of Asia Minor. In 1413, after the death of Suleiman (1410) and the defeat and death of his brother Musa, who succeeded him, Mehmed restored his power over the Balkan Peninsula. His reign was relatively peaceful. He tried to maintain peaceful relations with his Christian neighbors, Byzantium, Serbia, Wallachia and Hungary, and concluded treaties with them. Contemporaries characterize him as a fair, meek, peace-loving and educated ruler. More than once, however, he had to deal with internal uprisings, which he dealt with very energetically.

The reign of his son, Murad II (1421-1451), began with similar uprisings. The brothers of the latter, in order to avoid death, managed to flee to Constantinople in advance, where they met with a friendly reception. Murad immediately moved to Constantinople, but managed to gather only a 20,000-strong army and was therefore defeated. However, with the help of bribes, he managed to capture and strangle his brothers soon after. The siege of Constantinople had to be lifted, and Murad turned his attention to the northern part of the Balkan Peninsula, and later to the south. In the north, a thunderstorm gathered against him from the Transylvanian governor Matthias Hunyadi, who won victories over him at Hermannstadt (1442) and Nis (1443), but due to the significant superiority of the Ottoman forces, he was completely defeated on the Kosovo field. Murad took possession of Thessalonica (previously conquered three times by the Turks and again lost to them), Corinth, Patras and a large part of Albania.

His strong opponent was the Albanian hostage Iskander Beg (or Skanderbeg), who was brought up at the Ottoman court and was Murad’s favorite, who converted to Islam and contributed to its spread in Albania. Then he wanted to make a new attack on Constantinople, which was not dangerous for him militarily, but was very valuable due to its geographical position. Death prevented him from carrying out this plan, carried out by his son Mehmed II (1451-81).

Capture of Constantinople

Mehmed II enters Constantinople with his army

The pretext for the war was that Konstantin Paleolog, the Byzantine emperor, did not want to hand over to Mehmed his relative Orkhan (son of Suleiman, grandson of Bayazet), whom he was saving for inciting unrest, as a possible contender for the Ottoman throne. The Byzantine emperor had only a small strip of land along the shores of the Bosphorus; the number of his troops did not exceed 6,000, and the nature of the administration of the empire made it even weaker. There were already quite a few Turks living in the city itself; The Byzantine government, starting in 1396, had to allow the construction of Muslim mosques next to Orthodox churches. Only the extremely convenient geographical position of Constantinople and strong fortifications made it possible to resist.

Mehmed II sent an army of 150,000 people against the city. and a fleet of 420 small sailing ships blocking the entrance to the Golden Horn. The armament of the Greeks and their military art were somewhat higher than the Turkish, but the Ottomans also managed to arm themselves quite well. Murad II also established several factories for casting cannons and making gunpowder, which were run by Hungarian and other Christian engineers who converted to Islam for the benefits of renegadeism. Many of the Turkish guns made a lot of noise, but did no real harm to the enemy; some of them exploded and killed a significant number of Turkish soldiers. Mehmed began preliminary siege work in the fall of 1452, and in April 1453 he began a proper siege. The Byzantine government turned to Christian powers for help; the pope hastened to respond with a promise to preach a crusade against the Turks, if only Byzantium agreed to unite the churches; the Byzantine government indignantly rejected this proposal. Of the other powers, Genoa alone sent a small squadron with 6,000 men. under the command of Giustiniani. The squadron bravely broke through the Turkish blockade and landed troops on the shores of Constantinople, which doubled the forces of the besieged. The siege continued for two months. A significant part of the population lost their heads and, instead of joining the ranks of the fighters, prayed in churches; the army, both Greek and Genoese, resisted extremely courageously. At its head was the emperor Konstantin Paleolog, who fought with the courage of despair and died in the skirmish. On May 29, the Ottomans opened the city.

Conquests

The era of power of the Ottoman Empire lasted more than 150 years. In 1459, all of Serbia was conquered (except Belgrade, taken in 1521) and turned into an Ottoman pashalyk. Conquered in 1460 Duchy of Athens and after him almost all of Greece, with the exception of some coastal cities, which remained in the power of Venice. In 1462, the islands of Lesbos and Wallachia were conquered, and in 1463, Bosnia.

The conquest of Greece brought the Turks into conflict with Venice, which entered into a coalition with Naples, the Pope and Karaman (an independent Muslim khanate in Asia Minor, ruled by Khan Uzun Hassan).

The war lasted 16 years in the Morea, the Archipelago and Asia Minor simultaneously (1463-79) and ended in victory for the Ottoman state. According to the Peace of Constantinople of 1479, Venice ceded to the Ottomans several cities in the Morea, the island of Lemnos and other islands of the Archipelago (Negropont was captured by the Turks back in 1470); Karaman Khanate recognized the power of the Sultan. After the death of Skanderbeg (1467), the Turks captured Albania, then Herzegovina. In 1475, they waged war with the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray and forced him to recognize himself as dependent on the Sultan. This victory was of great military significance for the Turks, since the Crimean Tatars supplied them with auxiliary troops, at times numbering 100 thousand people; but later it became fatal for the Turks, as it pitted them against Russia and Poland. In 1476, the Ottomans devastated Moldavia and made it a vassal state.

This ended the period of conquest for some time. The Ottomans owned all Balkan Peninsula to the Danube and Sava, almost all the islands of the Archipelago and Asia Minor to Trebizond and almost to the Euphrates, beyond the Danube Wallachia and Moldavia were also very dependent on them. Everywhere was ruled either directly by Ottoman officials or by local rulers who were approved by the Porte and were completely subordinate to it.

Reign of Bayazet II

None of the previous sultans did as much to expand the borders of the Ottoman Empire as Mehmed II, who remained in history with the nickname “Conqueror”. He was succeeded by his son Bayazet II (1481-1512) in the midst of unrest. The younger brother Cem, relying on the great vizier Mogamet-Karamaniya and taking advantage of Bayazet's absence in Constantinople at the time of his father's death, proclaimed himself sultan.

Bayazet gathered the remaining loyal troops; The hostile armies met at Angora. Victory remained with the elder brother; Cem fled to Rhodes, from there to Europe and after long wanderings found himself in the hands of Pope Alexander VI, who offered Bayazet to poison his brother for 300,000 ducats. Bayazet accepted the offer, paid the money, and Cem was poisoned (1495). Bayazet's reign was marked by several more uprisings of his sons, which ended (except for the last one) successfully for the father; Bayazet took the rebels and executed them. However, Turkish historians characterize Bayazet as a peace-loving and meek man, a patron of art and literature.

Indeed, there was a certain halt in the Ottoman conquests, but more due to failures than to the peacefulness of the government. The Bosnian and Serbian pashas repeatedly raided Dalmatia, Styria, Carinthia and Carniola and subjected them to cruel devastation; Several attempts were made to take Belgrade, but without success. The death of Matthew Corvinus (1490) caused anarchy in Hungary and seemed to favor Ottoman designs against that state.

The long war, waged with some interruptions, ended, however, not particularly favorably for the Turks. According to the peace concluded in 1503, Hungary defended all its possessions and although it had to recognize the Ottoman Empire’s right to tribute from Moldavia and Wallachia, it did not renounce the sovereign rights to these two states (more in theory than in reality). In Greece, Navarino (Pylos), Modon and Coron (1503) were conquered.

The first relations of the Ottoman state with Russia date back to the time of Bayazet II: in 1495, ambassadors of Grand Duke Ivan III appeared in Constantinople to ensure unhindered trade in the Ottoman Empire for Russian merchants. Other European powers also entered into friendly relations with Bayazet, especially Naples, Venice, Florence, Milan and the Pope, seeking his friendship; Bayazet skillfully balanced between everyone.

At the same time, the Ottoman Empire waged war with Venice over the Mediterranean, and defeated it in 1505.

His main attention was directed to the East. He started a war with Persia, but did not have time to end it; in 1510, his youngest son Selim rebelled against him at the head of the Janissaries, defeated him and overthrew him from the throne. Soon Bayazet died, most likely from poison; Selim's other relatives were also exterminated.

Reign of Selim I

The war in Asia continued under Selim I (1512–20). In addition to the usual desire of the Ottomans for conquest, this war also had a religious reason: the Turks were Sunnis, Selim, as an extreme zealot of Sunnism, passionately hated the Shia Persians, and on his orders, up to 40,000 Shiites living on Ottoman territory were destroyed. The war was fought with varying success, but the final victory, although far from complete, was on the side of the Turks. In the peace of 1515, Persia ceded to the Ottoman Empire the regions of Diyarbakir and Mosul, which lie along the upper reaches of the Tigris.

The Egyptian Sultan of Kansu-Gavri sent an embassy to Selim with a peace offer. Selim ordered to kill all members of the embassy. Kansu stepped forward to meet him; the battle took place in the Dolbec Valley. Thanks to his artillery, Selim achieved a complete victory; The Mamelukes fled, Kansu died during the escape. Damascus opened the gates to the winner; after him, all of Syria submitted to the Sultan, and Mecca and Medina came under his protection (1516). The new Egyptian Sultan Tuman Bey, after several defeats, had to cede Cairo to the Turkish vanguard; but at night he entered the city and destroyed the Turks. Selim, not being able to take Cairo without a stubborn fight, invited its inhabitants to surrender with the promise of their favors; the inhabitants surrendered - and Selim carried out a terrible massacre in the city. Tuman Bey was also beheaded when, during the retreat, he was defeated and captured (1517).

Selim reproached him for not wanting to obey him, the Commander of the Faithful, and developed a theory, bold in the mouth of a Muslim, according to which he, as the ruler of Constantinople, is the heir of the Eastern Roman Empire and, therefore, has the right to all the lands ever included in its composition.

Realizing the impossibility of ruling Egypt solely through his pashas, ​​who would inevitably eventually become independent, Selim retained next to them 24 Mameluke leaders, who were considered subordinate to the pasha, but enjoyed a certain independence and could complain about the pasha to Constantinople. Selim was one of the most cruel Ottoman sultans; besides his father and brothers, besides countless captives, he executed seven of his great viziers during the eight years of his reign. At the same time, he patronized literature and himself left a significant number of Turkish and Arabic poems. In the memory of the Turks he remained with the nickname Yavuz (unyielding, stern).

Reign of Suleiman I

Tughra Suleiman the Magnificent (1520)

Selim's son Suleiman I (1520-66), nicknamed the Magnificent or Great by Christian historians, was the direct opposite of his father. He was not cruel and understood the political value of mercy and formal justice; He began his reign by releasing several hundred Egyptian captives from noble families who were kept in chains by Selim. European silk merchants, robbed in Ottoman territory at the beginning of his reign, received generous monetary rewards from him. More than his predecessors, he loved the splendor with which his palace in Constantinople amazed Europeans. Although he did not renounce conquests, he did not like war, only on rare occasions personally becoming the head of an army. He especially highly valued the art of diplomacy, which brought him important victories. Immediately after ascending the throne, he began peace negotiations with Venice and concluded an agreement with it in 1521, recognizing the Venetians' right to trade in Turkish territory and promising them protection of their safety; Both sides pledged to hand over fugitive criminals to each other. Since then, although Venice did not keep a permanent envoy in Constantinople, embassies were sent from Venice to Constantinople and back more or less regularly. In 1521, Ottoman troops took Belgrade. In 1522, Suleiman landed a large army on Rhodes. Six month siege The main stronghold of the Knights of St. John ended with its capitulation, after which the Turks began to conquer Tripoli and Algeria in North Africa.

Battle of Mohacs (1526)

In 1527, Ottoman troops under the command of Suleiman I invaded Austria and Hungary. At first, the Turks achieved very significant successes: in the eastern part of Hungary they managed to create a puppet state that became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, they captured Buda, and ravaged vast territories in Austria. In 1529, the Sultan moved his army to Vienna, intending to capture the Austrian capital, but he failed. Started on September 27 siege of Vienna, the Turks outnumbered the besieged by at least 7 times. But the weather was against the Turks - on the way to Vienna, due to bad weather, they lost many guns and pack animals, and illnesses began in their camp. But the Austrians did not waste time - they strengthened the city walls in advance, and Archduke Ferdinand I of Austria brought German and Spanish mercenaries to the city (his older brother Charles V of Habsburg was both the Holy Roman Emperor and the King of Spain). Then the Turks relied on blowing up the walls of Vienna, but the besieged constantly made forays and destroyed all Turkish trenches and underground passages. Due to the approaching winter, disease and mass desertion, the Turks had to leave just 17 days after the start of the siege, on October 14.

Union with France

The closest neighbor of the Ottoman state and its most dangerous enemy was Austria, and entering into a serious struggle with it without enlisting anyone’s support was risky. France was the natural ally of the Ottomans in this struggle. The first relations between the Ottoman Empire and France began in 1483; Since then, both states have exchanged embassies several times, but this has not led to practical results.

In 1517, King Francis I of France proposed to the German Emperor and Ferdinand the Catholic an alliance against the Turks with the aim of expelling them from Europe and dividing their possessions, but this alliance did not take place: the interests of these European powers were too opposed to each other. On the contrary, France and the Ottoman Empire did not come into contact with each other anywhere and they had no immediate reasons for hostility. Therefore France, which once took such an ardent part in crusades, decided to take a bold step: a real military alliance with a Muslim power against a Christian power. The final impetus was given by the unfortunate Battle of Pavia for the French, during which the king was captured. Regent Louise of Savoy sent an embassy to Constantinople in February 1525, but it was beaten by the Turks in Bosnia in spite of [source not specified 466 days] the Sultan's wishes. Not embarrassed by this event, Francis I sent an envoy from captivity to the Sultan with a proposal for an alliance; the Sultan was supposed to attack Hungary, and Francis promised war with Spain. At the same time, Charles V made similar proposals to the Ottoman Sultan, but the Sultan preferred an alliance with France.

Soon after, Francis sent a request to Constantinople to allow the restoration of at least one Catholic church in Jerusalem, but received a decisive refusal from the Sultan in the name of the principles of Islam, along with a promise of all protection for Christians and protection of their safety (1528).

Military successes

According to the truce of 1547, the entire southern part of Hungary up to and including Ofen became an Ottoman province, divided into 12 sanjaks; the northern one came into the hands of Austria, but with the obligation to pay the Sultan 50,000 ducats of tribute annually (in the German text of the treaty, the tribute was called an honorary gift - Ehrengeschenk). The supreme rights of the Ottoman Empire over Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania were confirmed by the peace of 1569. This peace could only take place because Austria spent huge sums of money bribing Turkish commissioners. The Ottoman war with Venice ended in 1540 with the transfer to the power of the Ottoman Empire of the last possessions of Venice in Greece and the Aegean Sea. In the new war with Persia, the Ottomans occupied Baghdad in 1536, and Georgia in 1553. With this they reached the apogee of their political power. The Ottoman fleet sailed freely throughout the Mediterranean Sea to Gibraltar and Indian Ocean often plundered the Portuguese colonies.

In 1535 or 1536, a new treaty “on peace, friendship and trade” was concluded between the Ottoman Empire and France; France now had a permanent envoy in Constantinople and a consul in Alexandria. Subjects of the Sultan in France and subjects of the king in the territory of the Ottoman state were guaranteed the right to travel freely throughout the country, buy, sell and exchange goods under the protection of local authorities at the beginning of equality. Litigations between the French in the Ottoman Empire were to be dealt with by French consuls or envoys; in case of litigation between a Turk and a Frenchman, the French were provided with protection by their consul. During the time of Suleiman, some changes took place in the order of internal administration. Previously, the Sultan was almost always personally present in the divan (ministerial council): Suleiman rarely appeared in it, thus providing more space for his viziers. Previously, the positions of vizier (minister) and grand vizier, and also governor of the pashalyk were usually given to people more or less experienced in administration or military affairs; under Suleiman, the harem began to play a noticeable role in these appointments, as well as cash gifts given by applicants for high positions. This was caused by the government's need for money, but soon became, as it were, a rule of law and was main reason the decline of the Porte. Government extravagance has reached unprecedented proportions; True, government revenues also increased significantly due to the successful collection of tribute, but despite this, the Sultan often had to resort to damaging coins.

Reign of Selim II

The son and heir of Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim II (1566-74), ascended the throne without having to beat his brothers, since his father took care of this, wanting to ensure the throne for him to please his beloved last wife. Selim reigned prosperously and left his son a state that not only did not decrease territorially, but even increased; for this, in many respects, he owed the mind and energy of the vizier Mehmed Sokoll. Sokollu completed the conquest of Arabia, which had previously been only loosely dependent on the Porte.

Battle of Lepanto (1571)

He demanded the cession of the island of Cyprus from Venice, which led to a war between the Ottoman Empire and Venice (1570-1573); the Ottomans suffered a heavy naval defeat at Lepanto (1571), but despite this, at the end of the war they captured Cyprus and were able to hold it; in addition, they obliged Venice to pay 300 thousand ducats of war indemnity and pay tribute for the possession of the island of Zante in the amount of 1,500 ducats. In 1574, the Ottomans took possession of Tunisia, which had previously belonged to the Spaniards; Algeria and Tripoli had previously recognized their dependence on the Ottomans. Sokollu conceived two great things: connecting the Don and Volga with a canal, which, in his opinion, was supposed to strengthen the power of the Ottoman Empire in Crimea and again subordinate it to Khanate of Astrakhan, already conquered by Moscow, - and digging Isthmus of Suez. However, this was beyond the power of the Ottoman government.

Under Selim II took place Ottoman expedition to Aceh, which led to the establishment of long-term ties between the Ottoman Empire and this remote Malay Sultanate.

Reign of Murad III and Mehmed III

During the reign of Murad III (1574-1595), the Ottoman Empire emerged victorious from a stubborn war with Persia, capturing all of Western Iran and the Caucasus. Murad's son Mehmed III (1595-1603) executed 19 brothers upon his accession to the throne. However, he was not a cruel ruler, and even went down in history under the nickname Fair. Under him, the state was largely controlled by his mother through 12 grand viziers, often replacing each other.

Increased deterioration of coins and increased taxes more than once led to uprisings in various parts states. Mehmed's reign was filled with war with Austria, which began under Murad in 1593 and ended only in 1606, already under Ahmed I (1603-17). It ended with the Peace of Sitvatorok in 1606, marking a turn in the mutual relations between the Ottoman Empire and Europe. No new tribute was imposed on Austria; on the contrary, she freed herself from the previous tribute for Hungary by paying a one-time indemnity of 200,000 florins. In Transylvania, Stefan Bocskai, hostile to Austria, and his male offspring were recognized as the ruler. Moldova, repeatedly trying to get out from vassalage, managed to defend during border conflicts with Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Habsburgs. From this time on, the territory of the Ottoman state was no longer expanded except for a short period. The war with Persia of 1603-12 had sad consequences for the Ottoman Empire, in which the Turks suffered several serious defeats and had to cede the Eastern Georgian lands, Eastern Armenia, Shirvan, Karabakh, Azerbaijan with Tabriz and some other areas.

Decline of the Empire (1614–1757)

The last years of the reign of Ahmed I were filled with rebellions that continued under his heirs. His brother Mustafa I (1617-1618), a protege and favorite of the Janissaries, to whom he made gifts of millions from state funds, after three months of control, was overthrown by the mufti's fatwa as insane, and Ahmed's son Osman II (1618-1622) ascended the throne. After the unsuccessful campaign of the Janissaries against the Cossacks, he made an attempt to destroy this violent army, which every year became less and less useful for military purposes and more and more dangerous for the state order - and for this he was killed by the Janissaries. Mustafa I was re-enthroned and again dethroned a few months later, and a few years later he died, probably from poisoning.

Osman's younger brother, Murad IV (1623-1640), seemed intent on restoring the former greatness of the Ottoman Empire. He was a cruel and greedy tyrant, reminiscent of Selim, but at the same time a capable administrator and an energetic warrior. According to estimates, the accuracy of which cannot be verified, up to 25,000 people were executed under him. Often he executed rich people solely in order to confiscate their property. He again conquered Tabriz and Baghdad in the war with the Persians (1623-1639); he also managed to defeat the Venetians and conclude a profitable peace with them. He pacified the dangerous Druze uprising (1623-1637); but the uprising of the Crimean Tatars almost completely freed them from Ottoman power. The devastation of the Black Sea coast carried out by the Cossacks remained unpunished for them.

In internal administration, Murad sought to introduce some order and some economy in finances; however, all his attempts turned out to be impracticable.

Under his brother and heir Ibrahim (1640-1648), under whom the harem was again in charge of state affairs, all the acquisitions of his predecessor were lost. The Sultan himself was overthrown and strangled by the Janissaries, who elevated his seven-year-old son Mehmed IV (1648-1687) to the throne. The true rulers of the state during the first time of the latter’s reign were the Janissaries; all government positions were filled by their proteges, management was in complete disarray, finances reached an extreme decline. Despite this, the Ottoman fleet managed to inflict a serious naval defeat on Venice and break the blockade of the Dardanelles, which had been held with varying success since 1654.

Russo-Turkish War 1686–1700

Battle of Vienna (1683)

In 1656, the post of grand vizier was seized by an energetic man, Mehmet Köprülü, who managed to strengthen the discipline of the army and inflict several defeats on the enemies. Austria was supposed to conclude a peace in Vasvara that was not particularly beneficial for it in 1664; in 1669 the Turks conquered Crete, and in 1672, by peace in Buchach, they received Podolia and even part of Ukraine from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This peace caused the indignation of the people and the Sejm, and the war began again. Russia also took part in it; but on the side of the Ottomans stood a significant part of the Cossacks, led by Doroshenko. During the war, the Grand Vizier Ahmet Pasha Köprülü died after ruling the country for 15 years (1661–76). The war, which had been going on with varying degrees of success, ended Bakhchisarai truce, concluded in 1681 for 20 years, at the beginning of the status quo; Western Ukraine, which was a real desert after the war, and Podolia remained in the hands of the Turks. The Ottomans easily agreed to peace, since they had a war with Austria on their agenda, which was undertaken by Ahmet Pasha's successor, Kara-Mustafa Köprülü. The Ottomans managed to penetrate Vienna and besiege it (from July 24 to September 12, 1683), but the siege had to be lifted when the Polish king Jan Sobieski entered into an alliance with Austria, rushed to the aid of Vienna and won near it brilliant victory over the Ottoman army. In Belgrade, Kara-Mustafa was met by envoys from the Sultan, who had orders to deliver him to Constantinople the head of an incapable commander, which was done. In 1684, Venice, and later Russia, also joined the coalition of Austria and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Ottoman Empire.

During the war, in which the Ottomans had to defend rather than attack on their own territory, in 1687 the Grand Vizier Suleiman Pasha was defeated at Mohács. The defeat of the Ottoman forces irritated the Janissaries, who remained in Constantinople, rioting and plundering. Under the threat of an uprising, Mehmed IV sent them the head of Suleiman, but this did not save him: the Janissaries overthrew him with the help of a fatwa from the mufti and forcibly elevated his brother, Suleiman II (1687-91), a man devoted to drunkenness and completely incapable of governing, to the throne. The war continued under him and under his brothers, Ahmed II (1691–95) and Mustafa II (1695–1703). The Venetians took possession of the Morea; the Austrians took Belgrade (soon again falling to the Ottomans) and all the significant fortresses of Hungary, Slavonia, and Transylvania; The Poles occupied a significant part of Moldova.

In 1699 the war was over Treaty of Karlowitz, which was the first under which the Ottoman Empire received neither tribute nor temporary indemnity. Its value significantly exceeded the value World of Sitvatorok. It became clear to everyone that the military power of the Ottomans was not at all great and that internal turmoil was shaking their state more and more.

In the empire itself, the Peace of Karlowitz aroused awareness among the more educated part of the population of the need for some reforms. Köprülü, a family that gave the state during the 2nd half of the 17th and early 18th centuries, already had this consciousness. 5 great viziers who belonged to the most remarkable statesmen of the Ottoman Empire. Already in 1690 he led. vizier Köprülü Mustafa issued the Nizami-ı Cedid (Ottoman: Nizam-ı Cedid - “New Order”), which established the maximum standards for poll taxes levied on Christians; but this law did not have practical application. After the Peace of Karlowitz, Christians in Serbia and Banat were forgiven a year's taxes; The highest government in Constantinople began from time to time to take care of protecting Christians from extortions and other oppression. Insufficient to reconcile Christians with Turkish oppression, these measures irritated the Janissaries and Turks.

Participation in the Northern War

Ambassadors at Topkapi Palace

Mustafa's brother and heir, Ahmed III (1703-1730), elevated to the throne by the Janissary uprising, showed unexpected courage and independence. He arrested and hastily executed many officers of the Janissary army and removed and exiled the Grand Vizier (Sadr-Azam) Ahmed Pasha, whom they had installed. The new Grand Vizier Damad Hassan Pasha pacified uprisings in different parts of the state, patronized foreign merchants, and founded schools. He was soon overthrown as a result of intrigue emanating from the harem, and viziers began to change with amazing speed; some remained in power for no more than two weeks.

The Ottoman Empire did not even take advantage of the difficulties experienced by Russia during Northern War. Only in 1709 did she accept Charles XII, who had fled from Poltava, and, under the influence of his convictions, began a war with Russia. By this time, in the Ottoman ruling circles there already existed a party that dreamed not of war with Russia, but of an alliance with it against Austria; At the head of this party was the leader. vizier Numan Keprilu, and his fall, which was the work of Charles XII, served as a signal for war.

The position of Peter I, surrounded on the Prut by an army of 200,000 Turks and Tatars, was extremely dangerous. Peter's death was inevitable, but the Grand Vizier Baltaji-Mehmed succumbed to bribery and released Peter for the comparatively unimportant concession of Azov (1711). The war party overthrew Baltaci-Mehmed and exiled him to Lemnos, but Russia diplomatically achieved the removal of Charles XII from the Ottoman Empire, for which it had to resort to force.

In 1714-18 the Ottomans waged war with Venice and in 1716-18 with Austria. By Peace of Passarowitz(1718) The Ottoman Empire received back the Morea, but gave Austria Belgrade with a significant part of Serbia, Banat, and part of Wallachia. In 1722, taking advantage of the end of the dynasty and the subsequent unrest in Persia, the Ottomans began religious war against the Shiites, with which they hoped to reward themselves for their losses in Europe. Several defeats in this war and the Persian invasion of Ottoman territory caused a new uprising in Constantinople: Ahmed was deposed, and his nephew, the son of Mustafa II, Mahmud I, was elevated to the throne.

Reign of Mahmud I

Under Mahmud I (1730-54), who was an exception among the Ottoman sultans with his gentleness and humanity (he did not kill the deposed sultan and his sons and generally avoided executions), the war with Persia continued, without definite results. The war with Austria ended with the Peace of Belgrade (1739), according to which the Turks received Serbia with Belgrade and Orsova. Russia acted more successfully against the Ottomans, but the conclusion of peace by the Austrians forced the Russians to make concessions; Of its conquests, Russia retained only Azov, but with the obligation to demolish the fortifications.

During the reign of Mahmud, the first Turkish printing house was founded by Ibrahim Basmaji. The Mufti, after some hesitation, gave a fatwa, with which, in the name of the interests of enlightenment, he blessed the undertaking, and the Sultan Gatti Sherif authorized it. Only the printing of the Koran and holy books was prohibited. In the first period of the printing house’s existence, 15 works were printed there (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 closed, a new one arose only in 1784.

Mahmud I, who died of natural causes, was succeeded by his brother Osman III (1754-57), whose reign was peaceful and who died in the same way as his brother.

Attempts at reform (1757–1839)

Osman was succeeded by Mustafa III (1757–74), son of Ahmed III. Upon his accession to the throne, he firmly expressed his intention to change the policy of the Ottoman Empire and restore the shine of its weapons. He conceived quite extensive reforms (by the way, digging channels through Isthmus of Suez and through Asia Minor), openly did not sympathize with slavery and set free a significant number of slaves.

General discontent, which had not previously been news in the Ottoman Empire, was especially strengthened by two incidents: by someone unknown, a caravan of the faithful returning from Mecca was robbed and destroyed, and a Turkish admiral's ship was captured by a detachment of sea robbers of Greek nationality. All this testified to the extreme weakness of state power.

To regulate finances, Mustafa III began by saving in his own palace, but at the same time he allowed the coins to be damaged. Under the patronage of Mustafa, the first public library, several schools and hospitals were opened in Constantinople. He very willingly concluded a treaty with Prussia in 1761, which granted Prussian merchant ships 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.

Attempts at reform did not go any further. In 1768, the Sultan had to declare war on Russia, which lasted 6 years and ended Peace of Kuchuk-Kainardzhiy 1774. Peace was already concluded under Mustafa's brother and heir, Abdul Hamid I (1774-1789).

Reign of Abdul Hamid I

The Empire at this time was almost everywhere in a state of ferment. The Greeks, excited by Orlov, were worried, but, left by the Russians without help, they were quickly and easily pacified and cruelly punished. Ahmed Pasha of Baghdad declared himself independent; Taher, supported by Arab nomads, took the title of Sheikh of Galilee and Acre; Egypt under the rule of Muhammad Ali did not even think of paying tribute; Northern Albania, which was ruled by Mahmud, Pasha of Scutari, was in a state of complete rebellion; Ali, Pasha of Yanin, clearly sought to establish an independent kingdom.

The entire reign of Adbul Hamid was occupied with pacifying these uprisings, which could not be achieved due to the lack of money and disciplined troops from the Ottoman government. This has been joined by a new war with Russia and Austria(1787-91), again unsuccessful for the Ottomans. It's over Peace of Jassy with Russia (1792), according to which Russia finally acquired Crimea and the space between the Bug and the Dniester, and the Treaty of Sistov with Austria (1791). The latter was relatively favorable for the Ottoman Empire, since its main enemy, Joseph II, died, and Leopold II directed all his attention to France. Austria returned to the Ottomans most of the acquisitions it made during this war. Peace was already concluded under Abdul Hamid's nephew, Selim III (1789-1807). In addition to territorial losses, the war brought one significant change to the life of the Ottoman state: before it began (1785), the empire entered into its first public debt, first internal, guaranteed by some state revenues.

Reign of Selim III

Sultan Selim III was the first to recognize the deep crisis of the Ottoman Empire and began to reform the military and government organization of the country. By energetic measures the government cleared the Aegean Sea of ​​pirates; it patronized trade and public education. His main attention was paid to the army. The Janissaries proved themselves almost completely useless in war, while at the same time keeping the country in a state of anarchy during periods of peace. The Sultan intended to replace their formations with a European-style army, but since it was obvious that it was impossible to immediately replace the entire old system, the reformers paid some attention to improving the position of traditional formations. Among the Sultan's other reforms were measures to strengthen the combat capability of the artillery and navy. The government was concerned with translating the best foreign works on tactics and fortification into Ottoman; invited French officers to teaching positions at the artillery and naval schools; under the first of them, it founded a library of foreign works on military sciences. Workshops for casting guns have been improved; military ships of a new type were ordered from France. These were all preliminary measures.

Sultan Selim III

The Sultan clearly wanted to move on to reorganizing the internal structure of the army; he set it for her new uniform and began to introduce stricter discipline. He hasn’t touched the Janissaries yet. But then, firstly, the uprising of the Viddin Pasha, Pasvan-Oglu (1797), who clearly neglected the orders coming from the government, stood in his way, and secondly - Egyptian expedition Napoleon.

Kuchuk-Hussein moved against Pasvan-Oglu and waged a real war with him, which did not have a definite result. The government finally entered into negotiations with the rebellious governor and recognized his lifelong rights to rule the Viddinsky pashalyk, in fact on the basis of almost complete independence.

In 1798, General Bonaparte made his famous attack on Egypt, then on Syria. Great Britain took the side of the Ottoman Empire, destroying the French fleet in Battle of Aboukir. The expedition did not have any serious results for the Ottomans. Egypt remained formally in the power of the Ottoman Empire, in fact - in the power of the Mamluks.

The war with the French had barely ended (1801) when the uprising of the Janissaries began in Belgrade, dissatisfied with the reforms in the army. Their oppression sparked a popular movement in Serbia (1804) under the leadership of Karageorge. The government initially supported the movement, but it soon took the form of a real popular uprising, and the Ottoman Empire was forced to take military action (see below). Battle of Ivankovac). The matter was complicated by the war started by Russia (1806-1812). Reforms had to be postponed again: the Grand Vizier and other senior officials and military personnel were at the theater of military operations.

Coup attempt

Only the kaymakam (assistant to the grand vizier) and deputy ministers remained in Constantinople. Sheikh-ul-Islam took advantage of this moment to plot against the Sultan. The ulema and janissaries took part in the conspiracy, among whom rumors were spread about the Sultan’s intention to distribute them among the regiments of the standing army. The Kaimaks also joined the conspiracy. On the appointed day, a detachment of Janissaries unexpectedly attacked the garrison of the standing army stationed in Constantinople and carried out a massacre among them. Another part of the Janissaries surrounded Selim's palace and demanded that he execute people they hated. Selim had the courage to refuse. He was arrested and taken into custody. Abdul Hamid's son, Mustafa IV (1807-1808), was proclaimed Sultan. The massacre in the city continued for two days. Sheikh-ul-Islam and Kaymakam ruled on behalf of the powerless Mustafa. But Selim had his followers.

During the coup of Kabakçı Mustafa (Turkish: Kabakçı Mustafa isyanı), Mustafa Bayraktar(Alemdar Mustafa Pasha - Pasha of the Bulgarian city of Ruschuk) and his followers began negotiations regarding the return of Sultan Selim III to the throne. Finally, with an army of sixteen thousand, Mustafa Bayraktar went to Istanbul, having previously sent there Haji Ali Aga, who killed Kabakci Mustafa (July 19, 1808). Mustafa Bayraktar with his army, having destroyed quite a a large number of rebels, arrived in the Sublime Porte. Sultan Mustafa IV, having learned that Mustafa Bayraktar wanted to return the throne to Sultan Selim III, ordered the killing of Selim and the Shah-Zadeh's brother Mahmud. The Sultan was killed immediately, and Shah-Zade Mahmud, with the help of his slaves and servants, was freed. Mustafa Bayraktar, having removed Mustafa IV from the throne, declared Mahmud II sultan. The latter made him sadrasam - grand vizier.

Reign of Mahmud II

Not inferior to Selim in energy and in understanding the need for reforms, Mahmud was much tougher than Selim: angry, vindictive, he was more guided by personal passions, which were tempered by political foresight, than by a real desire for the good of the country. The ground for innovation was already somewhat prepared, the ability not to think about the means also favored Mahmud, and therefore his activities still left more traces than the activities of Selim. He appointed Bayraktar as his grand vizier, who ordered the beating of the participants in the conspiracy against Selim and other political opponents. The life of Mustafa himself was temporarily spared.

As the first reform, Bayraktar outlined the reorganization of the Janissary corps, but he had the imprudence to send part of his army to the theater of war; he only had 7,000 soldiers left. 6,000 Janissaries made a surprise attack on them and moved towards the palace in order to free Mustafa IV. Bayraktar, who locked himself in the palace with a small detachment, threw out Mustafa’s corpse, and then blew up part of the palace into the air and buried himself in the ruins. A few hours later, an army of three thousand, loyal to the government, led by Ramiz Pasha, arrived, defeated the Janissaries and destroyed a significant part of them.

Mahmud decided to postpone the reform until after the war with Russia, which ended in 1812. Peace of Bucharest. Congress of Vienna made some changes to the position of the Ottoman Empire or, more correctly, defined more precisely and confirmed in theory and on geographical maps what had already taken place in reality. Dalmatia and Illyria were assigned to Austria, Bessarabia to Russia; seven Ionian Islands received self-government under an English protectorate; English ships received the right of free passage through the Dardanelles.

Even in the territory remaining with the empire, the government did not feel confident. An uprising began in Serbia in 1817, ending only after Serbia was recognized by Peace of Adrianople 1829 as a separate vassal state, with its own prince at its head. An uprising began in 1820 Ali Pasha of Yaninsky. As a result of the treason of his own sons, he was defeated, captured and executed; but a significant part of his army formed cadres of Greek rebels. In 1821, an uprising that developed into war of independence, started in Greece. After the intervention of Russia, France and England and unfortunate for the Ottoman Empire Navarino (sea) battle(1827), in which the Turkish and Egyptian fleets were lost, the Ottomans lost Greece.

Military losses

Getting rid of the Janissaries and Dervishes (1826) did not save the Turks from defeat both in the war with the Serbs and in the war with the Greeks. These two wars, and in connection with them, were followed by the war with Russia (1828–29), which ended Treaty of Adrianople 1829 The Ottoman Empire lost Serbia, Moldavia, Wallachia, Greece, and the eastern coast of the Black Sea.

Following this, Muhammad Ali, Khedive of Egypt (1831-1833 and 1839), broke away from the Ottoman Empire. In the fight against the latter, the empire suffered blows that put its very existence at stake; but she was saved twice (1833 and 1839) by the unexpected intercession of Russia, caused by fear European war, which would probably have been caused by the collapse of the Ottoman state. However, this intercession also brought real benefits to Russia: around the world in Gunkyar Skelessi (1833), the Ottoman Empire granted Russian ships passage through the Dardanelles, closing it to England. At the same time, the French decided to take Algeria from the Ottomans (since 1830), which had previously, however, been only nominally dependent on the empire.

Civil reforms

Mahmud II begins modernization in 1839

The wars did not stop Mahmud's reform plans; private reforms in the army continued throughout his reign. He also cared about raising the level of education among the people; under him (1831), the first newspaper in the Ottoman Empire that had an official character (“Moniteur ottoman”) began to be published in French. At the end of 1831, the first official newspaper in Turkish, Takvim-i Vekayi, began to be published.

Like Peter the Great, perhaps even consciously imitating him, Mahmud sought to introduce European morals among the people; he himself wore a European costume and encouraged his officials to do the same, prohibited the wearing of a turban, organized festivities in Constantinople and other cities with fireworks, with European music and generally according to the European model. He did not live to see the most important reforms of the civil system conceived by him; they were already the work of his heir. But even the little he did went against the religious feelings of the Muslim population. He began to mint coins with his image, which is directly prohibited in the Koran (the news that previous sultans also removed portraits of themselves is subject to great doubt).

Throughout his reign, Muslim riots caused by religious feelings incessantly occurred in different parts of the state, especially in Constantinople; the government dealt with them extremely cruelly: sometimes 4,000 corpses were thrown into the Bosphorus in a few days. At the same time, Mahmud did not hesitate to execute even the ulema and dervishes, who were generally his bitter enemies.

During the reign of Mahmud there were especially many fires in Constantinople, some of them caused by arson; the people explained them as God's punishment for the sins of the Sultan.

Results of the board

The extermination of the Janissaries, which at first damaged the Ottoman Empire, depriving it of a bad, but still not useless army, after several years turned out to be extremely beneficial: the Ottoman army rose to the level of European armies, which was clearly proven in the Crimean campaign and even more so in the war of 1877-1878 and in the Greek war of 1897. Territorial reduction, especially the loss of Greece, also turned out to be more beneficial than harmful for the empire.

The Ottomans never allowed military service Christian; regions with a solid Christian population (Greece and Serbia), without increasing the Turkish army, at the same time required significant military garrisons from it, which could not be put into action in a moment of need. This applies especially to Greece, which, due to its extended maritime border, did not even represent strategic benefits for the Ottoman Empire, which was stronger on land than at sea. The loss of territories reduced the state revenues of the empire, but during the reign of Mahmud, trade between the Ottoman Empire and European states somewhat revived, and the country's productivity increased somewhat (bread, tobacco, grapes, rose oil, etc.).

Thus, despite all external defeats, despite even the terrible Battle of Nisib, in which Muhammad Ali destroyed a significant Ottoman army and was followed by the loss of an entire fleet, Mahmud left Abdülmecid a state strengthened rather than weakened. It was also strengthened by the fact that from now on the interest of the European powers was more closely connected with the preservation of the Ottoman state. The importance of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles has increased enormously; The European powers felt that the capture of Constantinople by one of them would deal an irreparable blow to the others, and therefore they considered the preservation of the weak Ottoman Empire more profitable for themselves.

In general, the empire was still decaying, and Nicholas I rightly called it a sick person; but the death of the Ottoman state was delayed indefinitely. Beginning with the Crimean War, the empire began to intensively make foreign loans, and this gained it the influential support of its numerous creditors, that is, mainly the financiers of England. On the other hand, internal reforms that could raise the state and save it from destruction became increasingly important in the 19th century. It's getting more and more difficult. Russia was afraid of these reforms, since they could strengthen the Ottoman Empire, and through its influence at the court of the Sultan tried to make them impossible; Thus, in 1876-1877, she destroyed Midhad Pasha, who was capable of carrying out serious reforms that were not inferior in importance to the reforms of Sultan Mahmud.

Reign of Abdul-Mejid (1839-1861)

Mahmud was succeeded by his 16-year-old son Abdul-Mejid, who was not distinguished by his energy and inflexibility, but was a much more cultured and gentle person in character.

Despite everything Mahmud did, the Battle of Nizib could have completely destroyed the Ottoman Empire if Russia, England, Austria and Prussia had not entered into an alliance to protect the integrity of the Porte (1840); They drew up a treaty, by virtue of which the Egyptian viceroy retained Egypt on a hereditary basis, but undertook to immediately cleanse Syria, and in case of refusal he had to lose all his possessions. This alliance caused indignation in France, which supported Muhammad Ali, and Thiers even made preparations for war; however, Louis-Philippe did not dare to take it. Despite the inequality of power, Muhammad Ali was ready to resist; but the English squadron bombarded Beirut, burned the Egyptian fleet and landed a corps of 9,000 people in Syria, which, with the help of the Maronites, inflicted several defeats on the Egyptians. Muhammad Ali conceded; The Ottoman Empire was saved, and Abdulmecid, supported by Khozrev Pasha, Reshid Pasha and other associates of his father, began reforms.

Gulhanei Hutt Sheriff

At the end of 1839, Abdul-Mecid published the famous Gulhane Hatti Sheriff (Gulhane - “home of roses”, the name of the square where the Hatti Sheriff was declared). This was a manifesto that defined the principles that the government intended to follow:

• providing all subjects with perfect security regarding their life, honor and property;
• the correct way to distribute and collect taxes;
• an equally correct way of recruiting soldiers.

It was considered necessary to change the distribution of taxes in the sense of their equalization and abandon the system of farming them out, determine the costs of land and naval forces; publicity was established legal proceedings. All these benefits applied to all subjects of the Sultan without distinction of religion. The Sultan himself took an oath of allegiance to the Hatti Sheriff. All that remained was to actually fulfill the promise.

Gumayun

After the Crimean War, the Sultan published a new Gatti Sherif Gumayun (1856), which confirmed and developed in more detail the principles of the first; especially insisted on the equality of all subjects, without distinction of religion or nationality. After this Gatti Sheriff, the old law on the death penalty for converting from Islam to another religion was abolished. However, most of these decisions remained only on paper.

The highest government was partly unable to cope with the willfulness of lower officials, and partly itself did not want to resort to some of the measures promised in the Gatti Sheriffs, such as, for example, the appointment of Christians to various positions. Once it made an attempt to recruit soldiers from Christians, but this caused discontent among both Muslims and Christians, especially since the government did not dare to abandon religious principles when producing officers (1847); this measure was soon cancelled. The massacres of Maronites in Syria (1845 and others) confirmed that religious tolerance was still alien to the Ottoman Empire.

During the reign of Abdul-Mejid, roads were improved, many bridges were built, several telegraph lines were installed, and postal services were organized along European lines.

The events of 1848 did not resonate at all in the Ottoman Empire; only Hungarian revolution prompted the Ottoman government to make an attempt to restore its dominance on the Danube, but the defeat of the Hungarians dispelled its hopes. When Kossuth and his comrades escaped on Turkish territory, Austria and Russia turned to Sultan Abdulmecid demanding their extradition. The Sultan replied that religion forbade him to violate the duty of hospitality.

Crimean War

1853 -1856 were the time of a new Eastern War, which ended in 1856 with the Peace of Paris. On Paris Congress a representative of the Ottoman Empire was admitted on the basis of equality, and thereby the empire was recognized as a member of the European concern. However, this recognition was more formal than actual. First of all, the Ottoman Empire, whose participation in the war was very large and which proved an increase in its combat capability compared with the first quarter of the 19th or the end of the 18th century, actually received very little from the war; the destruction of Russian fortresses on the northern coast of the Black Sea was of negligible significance for her, and Russia’s loss of the right to maintain a navy on the Black Sea could not last long and was canceled already in 1871. Further, consular jurisdiction was preserved and proved that Europe was still watching on the Ottoman Empire as a barbaric state. After the war, European powers began to establish their own postal institutions on the territory of the empire, independent of the Ottoman ones.

The war not only did not increase the power of the Ottoman Empire over the vassal states, but weakened it; the Danube principalities united in 1861 into one state, Romania, and in Serbia, the Turkish-friendly Obrenovichi were overthrown and replaced by those friendly to Russia Karageorgievici; Somewhat later, Europe forced the empire to remove its garrisons from Serbia (1867). During the Eastern Campaign, the Ottoman Empire made a loan in England of 7 million pounds; in 1858,1860 and 1861 I had to make new loans. At the same time, the government issued a significant amount of paper money, the value of which quickly fell sharply. In connection with other events, this caused the trade crisis of 1861, which had a severe impact on the population.

Abdul Aziz (1861–76) and Murad V (1876)

Abdul Aziz was a hypocritical, voluptuous and bloodthirsty tyrant, more reminiscent of the sultans of the 17th and 18th centuries than of his brother; but he understood the impossibility under these conditions of stopping on the path of reform. In the Gatti Sherif published by him upon his accession to the throne, he solemnly promised to continue the policies of his predecessors. Indeed, he released political criminals imprisoned in the previous reign from prison and retained his brother's ministers. Moreover, he stated that he was abandoning the harem and would be content with one wife. The promises were not fulfilled: a few days later, as a result of palace intrigue, the Grand Vizier Mehmed Kibrısli Pasha was overthrown and replaced by Aali Pasha, who in turn was overthrown a few months later and then again took the same post in 1867.

In general, grand viziers and other officials were replaced with extreme speed due to the intrigues of the harem, which was very soon re-established. Some measures in the spirit of Tanzimat were nevertheless taken. The most important of them is the publication (which, however, does not exactly correspond to reality) of the Ottoman state budget (1864). During the ministry of Aali Pasha (1867-1871), one of the most intelligent and dexterous Ottoman diplomats of the 19th century, partial secularization of waqfs was carried out, and Europeans were granted the right to own real estate within the Ottoman Empire (1867), reorganized state council(1868), a new law on public education was issued, formally introduced metric system of weights and measures, which, however, did not take root in life (1869). The same ministry organized censorship (1867), the creation of which was caused by the quantitative growth of periodical and non-periodical press in Constantinople and other cities, in Ottoman and foreign languages.

Censorship under Aali Pasha was characterized by extreme pettiness and severity; she not only forbade writing about what seemed inconvenient to the Ottoman government, but directly ordered the printing of praises of the wisdom of the Sultan and the government; in general, she made the entire press more or less official. Its general character remained the same after Aali Pasha, and only under Midhad Pasha in 1876-1877 was it somewhat softer.

War in Montenegro

In 1862, Montenegro, seeking complete independence from the Ottoman Empire, supporting the rebels of Herzegovina and counting on Russian support, began a war with the empire. Russia did not support it, and since a significant preponderance of forces was on the side of the Ottomans, the latter fairly quickly won a decisive victory: Omer Pasha’s troops penetrated all the way to the capital, but did not take it, since the Montenegrins began to ask for peace, to which the Ottoman Empire agreed .

Revolt in Crete

In 1866, the Greek uprising began in Crete. This uprising aroused warm sympathy in Greece, which began hastily preparing for war. European powers came to the aid of the Ottoman Empire and resolutely forbade Greece to intercede on behalf of the Cretans. An army of forty thousand was sent to Crete. Despite the extraordinary courage of the Cretans, who waged a guerrilla war in the mountains of their island, they could not hold out for long, and after three years of struggle the uprising was pacified; the rebels were punished by executions and confiscation of property.

After the death of Aali Pasha, the great viziers began to change again with extreme speed. In addition to the harem intrigues, there was another reason for this: two parties fought at the Sultan’s court - English and Russian, acting on the instructions of the ambassadors of England and Russia. The Russian ambassador to Constantinople in 1864-1877 was Count Nikolay Ignatiev, who had undoubted relations with the dissatisfied in the empire, promising them Russian intercession. At the same time, he had great influence on the Sultan, convincing him of Russia’s friendship and promising him assistance in the change of order planned by the Sultan succession to the throne not to the eldest in the clan, as was the case before, but from father to son, since the Sultan really wanted to transfer the throne to his son Yusuf Izedin.

Coup d'etat

In 1875, an uprising broke out in Herzegovina, Bosnia and Bulgaria, dealing a decisive blow to Ottoman finances. It was announced that from now on the Ottoman Empire would pay only one half of interest in money for its foreign debts, and the other half in coupons payable no earlier than in 5 years. The need for more serious reforms was recognized by many senior officials of the empire, led by Midhad Pasha; however, under the capricious and despotic Abdul-Aziz, their implementation was completely impossible. In view of this, the Grand Vizier Mehmed Rushdi Pasha conspired with the ministers Midhad Pasha, Hussein Avni Pasha and others and Sheikh-ul-Islam to overthrow the Sultan. Sheikh-ul-Islam gave the following fatwa: “If the Commander of the Faithful proves his madness, if he does not have the political knowledge necessary to govern the state, if he makes personal expenses that the state cannot bear, if his stay on the throne threatens with disastrous consequences, then should he be deposed or not? The law says yes."

On the night of May 30, 1876, Hussein Avni Pasha, putting a revolver to the chest of Murad, the heir to the throne (son of Abdulmecid), forced him to accept the crown. At the same time, a detachment of infantry entered the palace of Abdul-Aziz, and it was announced to him that he had ceased to reign. Murad V ascended the throne. A few days later it was announced that Abdul-Aziz had cut his veins with scissors and died. Murad V, who was not quite normal before, under the influence of the murder of his uncle, the subsequent murder of several ministers in the house of Midhad Pasha by the Circassian Hassan Bey, who was avenging the Sultan, and other events, finally went crazy and became just as inconvenient for his progressive ministers. In August 1876, he was also deposed with the help of a fatwa from the mufti and his brother Abdul-Hamid was elevated to the throne.

Abdul Hamid II

Already at the end of the reign of Abdul Aziz, uprising in Herzegovina and Bosnia, caused by the extremely difficult situation of the population of these regions, partly obliged to serve corvee in the fields of large Muslim landowners, partly personally free, but completely powerless, oppressed by exorbitant taxes and at the same time constantly fueled in their hatred of the Turks by the close proximity of free Montenegrins.

In the spring of 1875, some communities turned to the Sultan with a request to reduce the tax on sheep and the tax paid by Christians in return for military service, and to organize a police force from Christians. They didn't even get an answer. Then their residents took up arms. The movement quickly spread throughout Herzegovina and spread to Bosnia; Niksic was besieged by rebels. Detachments of volunteers moved from Montenegro and Serbia to help the rebels. The movement aroused great interest abroad, especially in Russia and Austria; the latter turned to the Porte demanding religious equality, lower taxes, revision of real estate laws, etc. The Sultan immediately promised to fulfill all this (February 1876), but the rebels did not agree to lay down their weapons until the Ottoman troops were withdrawn from Herzegovina. The ferment spread to Bulgaria, where the Ottomans, in response, carried out a terrible massacre (see Bulgaria), which caused indignation throughout Europe (Gladstone’s brochure about atrocities in Bulgaria), entire villages were massacred, up to infants inclusive. The Bulgarian uprising was drowned in blood, but the Herzegovinian and Bosnian uprising continued in 1876 and finally caused the intervention of Serbia and Montenegro (1876-1877; see. Serbo-Montenegrin-Turkish War).

On May 6, 1876, in Thessaloniki, the French and German consuls were killed by a fanatical crowd, which included some officials. Of the participants or accomplices of the crime, Selim Bey, the chief of police in Thessaloniki, was sentenced to 15 years in the fortress, one colonel to 3 years; but these punishments, carried out far from being in full, did not satisfy anyone, and the public opinion of Europe was greatly excited against a country where such crimes could be committed.

In December 1876, at the initiative of England, a conference of the great powers was convened in Constantinople to resolve the difficulties caused by the uprising, but it did not achieve its goal. The Grand Vizier at this time (from December 13, 1876) was Midhad Pasha, a liberal and Anglophile, the head of the Young Turk party. Considering it necessary to make the Ottoman Empire a European country and wanting to present it as such to the authorized representatives of the European powers, he drafted a constitution in a few days and forced Sultan Abdul Hamid to sign and publish it (December 23, 1876).

Ottoman Parliament, 1877

The constitution was drawn up on the model of European ones, especially the Belgian one. It guaranteed individual rights and established a parliamentary regime; Parliament was to consist of two chambers, from which the Chamber of Deputies was elected by a universal closed vote of all Ottoman subjects, without distinction of religion or nationality. The first elections were held during the administration of Midhad; its candidates were almost universally chosen. The opening of the first parliamentary session took place only on March 7, 1877, and even earlier, on March 5, Midhad was overthrown and arrested as a result of palace intrigues. Parliament was opened with a speech from the throne, but was dissolved a few days later. New elections were held, the new session turned out to be just as short, and then, without the formal repeal of the constitution, even without the formal dissolution of parliament, it no longer met.

Main article: Russian-Turkish War 1877-1878

In April 1877, the war with Russia began, in February 1878 it ended Peace of San Stefano, then (June 13 - July 13, 1878) by the amended Berlin Treaty. The Ottoman Empire lost all rights to Serbia and Romania; Bosnia and Herzegovina was given to Austria to restore order in it (de facto - for complete possession); Bulgaria formed a special vassal principality, Eastern Rumelia - an autonomous province, which soon (1885) united with Bulgaria. Serbia, Montenegro and Greece received territorial increments. In Asia, Russia received Kars, Ardagan, Batum. The Ottoman Empire had to pay Russia an indemnity of 800 million francs.

Riots in Crete and in areas inhabited by Armenians

Nevertheless, the internal conditions of life remained approximately the same, and this was reflected in the riots that constantly arose in one place or another in the Ottoman Empire. In 1889, an uprising began in Crete. The rebels demanded a reorganization of the police so that it would consist of more than just Muslims and would protect more than just Muslims, a new organization of courts, etc. The Sultan rejected these demands and decided to act with weapons. The uprising was suppressed.

In 1887 in Geneva, in 1890 in Tiflis, the political parties Hunchak and Dashnaktsutyun were organized by Armenians. In August 1894, unrest began in Sasun by the Dashnak organization and under the leadership of Ambartsum Boyadzhiyan, a member of this party. These events are explained by the powerless position of the Armenians, especially by the robberies of the Kurds, who made up part of the troops in Asia Minor. The Turks and Kurds responded with terrible massacres, reminiscent of the Bulgarian horrors, where rivers flowed with blood for months; entire villages were slaughtered [source not specified 1127 days] ; many Armenians were taken prisoner. All these facts were confirmed by European (mainly English) newspaper correspondence, which very often spoke from positions of Christian solidarity and caused an explosion of indignation in England. To the representation made on this matter by the British ambassador, Porta responded with a categorical denial of the validity of the “facts” and a statement that it was a matter of the usual pacification of a riot. However, the ambassadors of England, France and Russia in May 1895 presented the Sultan with demands for reforms in areas inhabited by Armenians, based on the resolutions Berlin Treaty; they demanded that the officials administering these lands be at least half Christian and that their appointment depend on a special commission in which Christians would also be represented; [ style!] The Porte replied that it saw no need for reforms for individual territories, but that it had in mind general reforms for the entire state.

On August 14, 1896, members of the Dashnaktsutyun party in Istanbul itself attacked the Ottoman Bank, killed the guards and entered into a shootout with the arriving army units. On the same day, as a result of negotiations between the Russian ambassador Maksimov and the Sultan, the Dashnaks left the city and headed to Marseille, on the yacht of the general director of the Ottoman Bank, Edgard Vincent. The European ambassadors made a presentation to the Sultan on this matter. This time the Sultan considered it necessary to respond with a promise of reform, which was not fulfilled; Only new administration of vilayets, sanjaks and nakhiyas was introduced (see. Government of the Ottoman Empire), which changed the essence of the matter very little.

In 1896, new unrest began in Crete and immediately took on a more dangerous character. The session of the National Assembly opened, but it did not enjoy the slightest authority among the population. Nobody counted on European help. The uprising flared up; Rebel detachments in Crete harassed the Turkish troops, repeatedly causing them heavy losses. The movement found a lively echo in Greece, from which in February 1897 a military detachment under the command of Colonel Vassos set off for the island of Crete. Then the European squadron, consisting of German, Italian, Russian and English warships, under the command of the Italian admiral Canevaro, assumed a threatening position. On February 21, 1897, she began to bombard the rebel military camp near the city of Kanei and forced them to disperse. A few days later, however, the rebels and the Greeks managed to take the city of Kadano and capture 3,000 Turks.

At the beginning of March, there was a riot in Crete by Turkish gendarmes, dissatisfied with not receiving their salaries for many months. This revolt could have been very useful for the rebels, but the European landing disarmed them. On March 25, the rebels attacked Canea, but came under fire from European ships and had to retreat with heavy losses. In early April 1897, Greece moved its troops into Ottoman territory, hoping to penetrate as far as Macedonia, where minor riots were occurring at the same time. Within one month, the Greeks were completely defeated and Ottoman troops occupied all of Thessaly. The Greeks were forced to ask for peace, which was concluded in September 1897 under pressure from the powers. There were no territorial changes, other than a small strategic adjustment of the border between Greece and the Ottoman Empire in favor of the latter; but Greece had to pay a war indemnity of 4 million Turkish pounds.

In the fall of 1897, the uprising on the island of Crete also ceased, after the Sultan once again promised self-government to the island of Crete. Indeed, at the insistence of the powers, Prince George of Greece was appointed governor-general of the island, the island received self-government and retained only vassal relations with the Ottoman Empire. At the beginning of the 20th century. In Crete, a noticeable desire was revealed for the complete separation of the island from the empire and for annexation to Greece. At the same time (1901) fermentation continued in Macedonia. In the fall of 1901, Macedonian revolutionaries captured an American woman and demanded a ransom for her; this causes great inconvenience to the Ottoman government, which is powerless to protect the safety of foreigners on its territory. In the same year, the movement of the Young Turk party, headed by Midhad Pasha, appeared with comparatively greater force; she began intensively publishing brochures and leaflets in the Ottoman language in Geneva and Paris for distribution in the Ottoman Empire; in Istanbul itself, many people belonging to the bureaucratic and officer class were arrested and sentenced to various punishments on charges of participating in Young Turk agitation. Even the Sultan’s son-in-law, married to his daughter, went abroad with his two sons, openly joined the Young Turk party and did not want to return to his homeland, despite the Sultan’s persistent invitation. In 1901, the Porte attempted to destroy European postal institutions, but this attempt was unsuccessful. In 1901, France demanded that the Ottoman Empire satisfy the claims of some of its capitalists and creditors; the latter refused, then the French fleet occupied Mytilene and the Ottomans hastened to satisfy all demands.

Departure of Mehmed VI, last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, 1922

• In the 19th century, separatist sentiments intensified on the outskirts of the empire. The Ottoman Empire began to gradually lose its territories, succumbing to the technological superiority of the West.
• In 1908, the Young Turks overthrew Abdul Hamid II, after which the monarchy in the Ottoman Empire began to be decorative (see article Young Turk Revolution). The triumvirate of Enver, Talaat and Djemal was established (January 1913).
• In 1912, Italy captured Tripolitania and Cyrenaica (now Libya) from the empire.
• IN First Balkan War 1912-1913 the empire loses the vast majority of its European possessions: Albania, Macedonia, northern Greece. During 1913, she managed to recapture a small part of the lands from Bulgaria during Inter-Allied (Second Balkan) War.
• Weak, the Ottoman Empire tried to rely on help from Germany, but this only dragged it into First World War which ended in defeat Quadruple Alliance.
• October 30, 1914 - The Ottoman Empire officially announced its entry into the First World War, the day before actually entering it by shelling the Black Sea ports of Russia.
• In 1915, the Genocide of Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks.
• During 1917-1918, the Allies occupied the Middle Eastern possessions of the Ottoman Empire. After World War I, Syria and Lebanon came under the control of France, Palestine, Jordan and Iraq came under the control of Great Britain; in the west of the Arabian Peninsula with the support of the British ( Lawrence of Arabia) independent states were formed: Hijaz, Najd, Asir and Yemen. Subsequently, Hijaz and Asir became part of Saudi Arabia.
• On October 30, 1918 it was concluded Truce of Mudros followed by Treaty of Sèvres(August 10, 1920), which did not come into force because it was not ratified by all signatories (ratified only by Greece). According to this agreement, the Ottoman Empire was to be dismembered, and one of the largest cities in Asia Minor, Izmir (Smyrna), was promised to Greece. The Greek army took it on May 15, 1919, after which it began war for independence. Turkish military statesmen led by Pasha Mustafa Kemal They refused to recognize the peace treaty and, with the armed forces remaining under their command, expelled the Greeks from the country. By September 18, 1922, Türkiye was liberated, which was recorded in Treaty of Lausanne 1923, which recognized the new borders of Turkey.
• On October 29, 1923, the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed, and Mustafa Kemal, who later took the name Ataturk (father of the Turks), became its first president.
• March 3, 1924 - Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Caliphate was abolished.

Ottoman Empire (Ottoman Porte, Ottoman Empire - other commonly used names) is one of the great empires of human civilization.
The Ottoman Empire was created in 1299. The Turkic tribes, under the leadership of their leader Osman I, united into one strong state, and Osman himself became the first sultan of the created empire.
In the 16th-17th centuries, during the period of its greatest power and prosperity, the Ottoman Empire occupied a huge area. It extended from Vienna and the outskirts of the Polish-Lithuanian 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 within its largest borders amounted to 35 and a half million people, it was a huge superpower, the military power and ambitions of which had to be reckoned with by the most powerful states in Europe - Sweden, England, Austria-Hungary, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Russian state (later the Russian Empire), the Papal States, France, and influential countries of the rest of the planet.
The capital of the Ottoman Empire was repeatedly moved from city to city.
From its founding (1299) until 1329, the capital of the Ottoman Empire was the city of Söğüt.
From 1329 to 1365, the capital of the Ottoman Porte was the city of Bursa.
From 1365 to 1453, the capital of the state was the city of Edirne.
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 located on the territory of modern Turkey.
Over 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 Polish-Lithuanian 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 Territory, Republic of Adygea, Karachay-Cherkess Autonomous Region, Republic of Dagestan).
The Ottoman Empire lasted 623 years!
Administratively, the entire empire at its peak 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, Samtskhe, Soget, Silistria, Sivas, Syria, Temesvar, Tabriz, Trabzon, Tripoli, Tripolitania, Tiflis, Tunisia, Sharazor, Shirvan, Aegean Islands, Eger, Egel Hasa, Erzurum.
The history of the Ottoman Empire began with the struggle against the once strong Byzantine Empire. The future first sultan of the empire, Osman I (reigned 1299 - 1326), began to annex region after region to his possessions. In fact, the modern Turkish lands were being united into a single state. In 1299, Osman called himself the title of Sultan. This year is considered the year of the founding of a mighty empire.
His son Orhan I (r. 1326 – 1359) continued his father's policies. In 1330, his army conquered the Byzantine fortress of Nicaea. Then, during continuous wars, this ruler established complete control over the coasts of the Marmara and Aegean Seas, annexing Greece and Cyprus.
Under Orhan I, a regular army of Janissaries was created.
The conquests of Orhan I were continued by his son Murad (reigned 1359 – 1389).
Murad set his sights 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 Obilic who sneaked into his tent. The Janissaries almost lost the battle after learning of the death of their sultan, but his son Bayezid I led the army into the attack and thereby saved the Turks from defeat.
Subsequently, Bayezid I becomes the new sultan of the empire (reigned 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, Bayazid I defeated the huge army of the Polish king Sigismund near Nikopol (Zaporozhye region of modern Ukraine).
However, not all was calm in the Ottoman Porte. Persia began to lay claim to 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 took place near Ankara, in which the army of Bayazid I was completely destroyed, and the Sultan himself was captured by the Persian Shah. A year later, Bayazid dies in captivity.
The Ottoman Empire faced a real threat of being conquered by Persia. In the empire, three people proclaim themselves sultans at once. In Adrianople, Suleiman (reigned 1402 - 1410) proclaims himself sultan, in Brousse - Issa (reigned 1402 - 1403), and in the eastern part of the empire bordering Persia - Mehmed (reigned 1402 - 1421).
Seeing this, Timur decided to take advantage of this situation and set all three sultans against each other. He received everyone in turn and promised his support to everyone. In 1403, Mehmed kills Issa. In 1410, Suleiman unexpectedly dies. Mehmed becomes the only Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. In the remaining years of his reign, there were no aggressive campaigns; moreover, he concluded peace treaties with neighboring states - Byzantium, Hungary, Serbia and Wallachia.
However, internal uprisings began to break out more than once in the empire itself. The next Turkish Sultan - Murad II (reigned 1421 - 1451) - decided to restore order in 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 governor Matthias Hunyadi. Under Murad, Greece was completely conquered. However, then Byzantium again established control over it.
His son - Mehmed II (reigned 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, became new capital empires.
With the conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed II and the destruction of the Byzantine Empire, a century and a half of the true heyday of the Ottoman Porte began.
Throughout the 150 years of subsequent rule, the Ottoman Empire waged continuous wars to expand its borders and captured more and more new territories. After the capture of Greece, the Ottomans waged war with the Venetian Republic for more than 16 years 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 began 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 became a vassal state. The Moldavian prince also now pays tribute to the Turkish Sultan.
In 1480, the Ottoman fleet attacks the southern cities of the Papal States (modern Italy). Pope Sixtus IV declares a crusade against Islam.
Mehmed II can rightfully be proud of all these conquests; he 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 (reigned 1481 – 1512) ruled the empire during a short period of intra-palace unrest. His brother Cem attempted a conspiracy, several vilayets rebelled and troops were gathered against the Sultan. Bayazed III advances with his army towards his brother’s army and wins, Cem 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, gives him his brother. Cem was subsequently executed.
Under Bayazed III, the Ottoman Empire began trade relations with the Russian state - Russian merchants arrived in Constantinople.
In 1505, the Venetian Republic was completely defeated and lost all its possessions in the Mediterranean.
Bayazed begins a long war with Persia in 1505.
In 1512, his youngest son Selim conspired 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 was very difficult for the Ottomans. 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 (reigned 1520 -1566). Suleiman the Great was the son of Selim. Suleiman ruled the Ottoman Empire for the longest time of all the sultans. Under Suleiman, the empire reached its greatest borders.
In 1521, the Ottomans take Belgrade.
In the next five years, the Ottomans captured their 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 in the defeat of the Turks - Vienna was not taken, the Ottomans left with nothing. They never managed to conquer the Austrian Empire in the future; it was one of the few states Central Europe, which 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 was reborn and conquered greatest number territory, then under Sultan Suleiman the Great the area of ​​the empire became the largest.
Selim II (reigned 1566 – 1574) – son of Suleiman the Great. After his father's death he becomes Sultan. During his reign, the Ottoman Empire again entered into 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 (reigned 1574 – 1595) – son of Selim.
Under this sultan, almost all of Persia was conquered, and a strong competitor in the Middle East was eliminated. The Ottoman port included the entire Caucasus and the entire territory of modern Iran.
His son - Mehmed III (reigned 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 (reigned 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 (reigned 1617 – 1618). Mustafa was insane and after a short reign was overthrown by the highest Ottoman clergy led by the Grand Mufti.
Osman II (reigned 1618 – 1622), son of Ahmed I, ascended the sultan’s throne. His reign was also short - only four years. Mustafa undertook an unsuccessful campaign against the Zaporozhye Sich, which ended in complete defeat from the Zaporozhye 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 sultan. And again, like the last time, Mustafa managed to hold out on the Sultan’s throne for only a year. He was again dethroned and died a few years later.
The next sultan, Murad IV (reigned 1623-1640), was the younger brother of Osman II. He 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 on which at least one execution was not carried out. Under Murad, Persia was reconquered, but Crimea was lost - the Crimean Khan no longer paid yasak to the Turkish Sultan.
The Ottomans also could not do anything to stop the predatory raids of the Zaporozhye Cossacks on the Black Sea coast.
His brother Ibrahim (r. 1640 – 1648) lost almost all of his predecessor's gains in the 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 (reigned 1648 – 1687) was elevated to the throne. However, the child sultan did not have actual power in the first years of his reign until he reached adulthood - the state was ruled for him by viziers and pashas, ​​who were also appointed by the Janissaries.
In 1654, the Ottoman fleet inflicted a serious defeat on the Venetian Republic and regained control of the Dardanelles.
In 1656, the Ottoman Empire again begins a war with the Habsburg Empire - the 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 begins a war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on the territory of Ukraine. As a result of a short-term war, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth loses Podolia (the territory of modern Khmelnitsky and Vinnytsia regions). Podolia was annexed to the Ottoman Empire.
In 1687, the Ottomans were again defeated by the Austrians, and they fought against the Sultan.
CONSPIRACY. Mehmed IV was dethroned by the clergy and his brother, Suleiman II (reigned 1687 - 1691), ascended the throne. This was a ruler who was constantly drunk and completely uninterested in state affairs.
He did not last long in power and another of his brothers, Ahmed II (reigned 1691-1695), ascended the throne. However, the new Sultan also could not do much to strengthen the state, while the Sultan the Austrians inflicted one defeat after another on the Turks.
Under the next sultan, Mustafa II (reigned 1695-1703), Belgrade was lost, and the resulting war with the Russian state, which lasted 13 years, greatly undermined the military power of the Ottoman Porte. Moreover, parts of Moldova, Hungary and Romania were lost. The territorial losses of the Ottoman Empire began to grow.
Mustafa's heir - Ahmed III (reigned 1703 - 1730) - turned out to be a brave and independent sultan in his decisions. During his reign, for some time, Charles XII, who was overthrown in Sweden and suffered a crushing defeat from the troops of Peter, acquired political asylum.
At the same time, Ahmed began a war against the Russian Empire. He managed to achieve significant success. Russian troops led by Peter the Great were defeated in Northern Bukovina and were surrounded. However, the Sultan understood that further war with Russia was quite dangerous and it was necessary to get out of it. Peter was offered for the coast Sea of ​​Azov give Karl to be torn to pieces. And so it was done. The coast of the Azov Sea and surrounding areas, together with the Azov fortress (the territory of the modern Rostov region of Russia and the Donetsk region of Ukraine) were transferred to the Ottoman Empire, and Charles XII was handed over to the Russians.
Under Ahmet, the Ottoman Empire regained some of its former conquests. The territory of the Venetian Republic was reconquered (1714).
In 1722, Ahmed made a careless decision to start a war with Persia again. 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), ascended 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 and Belgrade.
Mahmud remained in power for a relatively long time and turned out to be the first sultan after Suleiman the Great to die a natural death.
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 (reigned 1757 - 1774), who ascended the throne after Osman III, decided to recreate the military power of the Ottoman Empire. In 1768, Mustafa declared war on the Russian Empire. The war lasts six years and ends with the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi Peace of 1774. As a result of the war, the Ottoman Empire loses Crimea and loses control over the northern Black Sea region.
Abdülhamid I (r. 1774-1789) accedes to the Sultan's throne just before the end of the war with Russian Empire. It is this Sultan who ends the war. There is no longer order in the empire itself, fermentation and discontent begin. The Sultan, through several punitive operations, pacifies Greece and Cyprus, and calm is restored there. However, in 1787 it begins new war against Russia and Austria-Hungary. The war lasts four years and ends under the new Sultan in two ways - Crimea is completely lost and the war with Russia ends in defeat, and with Austria-Hungary the outcome of the war is favorable. Serbia and part of Hungary were returned.
Both wars were ended under Sultan Selim III (reigned 1789 – 1807). Selim attempted profound reforms of his empire. Selim III decided to liquidate
Janissary army and introduce a conscript army. During his reign, the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte captured and took Egypt and Syria from the Ottomans. Great Britain took the side of the Ottomans and 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 Janissary uprisings 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. Selim's power 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 (reigned 1808 – 1839) was the next Turkish sultan to attempt to revive the power of the empire. He was an evil, cruel and vengeful ruler. He ended the war with Russia in 1812 by signing the Treaty of Bucharest, which was beneficial for himself - Russia had no time for the Ottoman Empire that year - after all, Napoleon and his army were in full swing towards Moscow. True, Bessarabia was lost, which went under peace terms 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 provided military assistance to Greece in 1827. The Ottoman fleet was completely defeated and Greece was lost.
Two years later, the Ottoman Empire forever lost Serbia, Moldova, Wallachia, and the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. Under this sultan, the empire suffered the greatest 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.
Abdulmecid is the next sultan, the son of Mahmud II (reigned 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 efforts on carrying out domestic reforms. However, during his reign, the Crimean War took place (1853 - 1856). As a result of this war, the Ottoman Empire received a symbolic victory - Russian fortresses on the sea coast were razed, and the fleet was removed from Crimea. However, the Ottoman Empire did not receive any territorial acquisitions after the war.
Abdul-Mecid'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, Abdul Aziz was overthrown from the Sultan's throne as a result of a palace coup.
Murad V became the new sultan (reigned 1876). Murad lasted on the Sultan's throne for a record short time - only three months. The practice of overthrowing such weak rulers was common and had already been worked out over 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), ascends the throne. The new ruler unleashes another war with the Russian Empire, this time the Sultan’s main goal was to return the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus to the empire.
The war lasted a year and pretty much frayed the nerves of the 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 were defeated
The Sultan manages to suppress an armed uprising in Bulgaria (1876). At the same time, war began with Serbia and Montenegro.
This sultan, for the first time in the history of the empire, published a new Constitution and made an attempt to establish mixed form government - he tried to introduce parliament. However, a few days later the parliament was dissolved.
The end of the Ottoman Empire was close - in almost all its parts there were uprisings and rebellions, which the Sultan had difficulty coping with.
In 1878, the empire finally lost Serbia and Romania.
In 1897, Greece declared war on the Ottoman Porte, but the attempt to free itself from the Turkish yoke failed. The Ottomans occupy most of the country and Greece is forced to sue 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 be decorative.
The triumvirate of Enver, Talaat and Dzhemal came to power. These people were no longer sultans, but they did not last long in power - an uprising took place in Istanbul and the last, 36th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed VI (reigned 1908 - 1922), was placed on the throne.
The Ottoman Empire was forced into three Balkan Wars, which ended before the outbreak of the First World War. As a result of these wars, the Porte loses Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Macedonia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Croatia, and 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 entered the war on the side of the Kaiser's Germany.
After the First World War, the Porte lost its last conquests, except for Greece - Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.
And in 1919, Greece itself achieved independence.
There is nothing left of the once former and powerful Ottoman Empire, only the metropolis within the borders of modern Turkey.
The question of the complete fall of the Ottoman Porte became a matter of several years, and maybe even months.
In 1919, Greece, after liberation from the Turkish yoke, attempted to take revenge on the 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 began 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 Porte was completely cleared of foreign troops. The last sultan, Mehmed VI, was overthrown 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 modern borders. Ataturk becomes the first president of Turkey.
The era of the Ottoman Empire has sunk into oblivion.

The Great Ottoman Empire or Turkish Empire was founded in 1299 in the lands of northwestern Anatolia by a descendant of the medieval Oghuz tribe. In 1362 and 1389, Murad I conquered the Balkans, which transformed 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 may 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 rule, she included Anatolia, the Middle East, parts of North Africa and Southeastern Europe.

Ottoman names...

The French translation of the Ottoman name is "Bâb-i-âlî" - "high gate". This was connected with the ceremony of welcoming foreign ambassadors, which was given by the Sultan at the Palace Gate. It was also interpreted as indicating the Empire's position as a link between Europe and Asia.

Founding of the Ottoman Empire

The empire was founded by Osman I in the last year of the 13th century.

4 Ottoman capitals

The capital of the Ottoman Empire was old Constantinople, now for over 6 centuries, which was the center of interaction between the Western and Eastern Worlds. But before that, the Ottomans had three more main cities. Initially, it was Söğüt, then 30 years later it took this post, from Bursa the capital of the Ottoman Empire moved to Edirne, this was in 1365, and then, 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 Turkish Republic, although by the time the capital was moved to Edirne, Ankara had already been captured for ten years.

Türkiye

After World War I, in which much of Ottoman territory was captured by the Allies, Ottoman elites established themselves during the Turkish War of Independence.

On top of the Ottoman

The empire reached its zenith under Suleiman I (Qanuni 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

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

Stage of weakening of the Ottomans

In the 17th century, the Ottomans were weakened both internally and externally in costly wars against Persia, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russia and Austria-Hungary. It was a time of drafts in the constitutional monarchy, in which the Sultan already had little energy. During that period, sultans ruled starting 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 distinguished army officer during the Gallipoli-Palestine campaign, was officially sent from Istanbul to take control of the victorious Caucasian army and reorganize it. This army played an important role in the Turkish victory for independence (1918-1923), and the Turkish Republic 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 who took on Islamic religious and judicial positions automatically became military men.

Distribution of positions

From the mid-15th century to the early 17th century, the means of establishing judicial, military and political posts were fairly clear. Graduates of Muslim colleges called madrassas were appointed judges in the provinces, imams or teachers in these same madrassas. Speaking of the highest judicial positions, this was exclusively the domain of elite families.

How was life for the main one?

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

Something about viziers

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

36 Ottoman sultans

The Ottoman Empire ruled for 634 years. The famous Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent sat on the throne the longest - he reigned for 46 years. The shortest reign was that of 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 - The Ottomans conquered most of Serbia
• 1453 - Mehmed II captured 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. The attempt was unsuccessful, 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 empire's decline
• 1699 - The Ottomans relinquished control of Hungary to Austria
• 1718 - The era of tulips begins. What did reconciliation mean in some European countries, introduction to science, architecture, and so on?
• 1821 – Beginning of the Greek War of Independence
• 1914 - The Ottomans joined the "Central Forces" side in World War I
• 1923 - The Ottoman Empire dissolves and the Turkish Republic becomes a country