Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire An Islamic state founded in 1299, which at its peak in the sixteenth century covered the entire region between today's Hungary in the north, western Iran in the east, Saudi Arabia in the south, and Algiers in the west. Thereafter, it experienced a gradual territorial decline, largely owing to over-expansion. The Empire became increasingly difficult to defend as Western (European) arms and wealth became superior. In addition, the ruling elite became increasingly corrupt, and from the seventeenth century the intellectual and diplomatic prowess of the Sultans declined. These problems became more pronounced in the nineteenth century, when the growth of nationalism created increasing resistance to its rule in the Balkans. It lost effective control over Bosnia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, and East Roumelia in 1878. It also lost authority over Tunisia (1881) and Egypt (1882). Indeed, towards the end of the century it was artificially propped up by the European powers in order to prevent Russian control of the strategically crucial Dardanelles.

Despite attempts to Westernize the administration and the army, which led to the introduction of a Constitution in 1876, Sultan Abdülhamit II (r. 1876–1909) resisted as much as possible any limitation to his autocratic rule. This triggered revolts by the Young Turks in 1908 and 1909, which led to the abdication of Abdülhamit II and the reintroduction of constitutional rule by Muhammad V. The revolts and the subsequent reforms came much too late, and in fact weakened the state further. In 1908, Bulgaria and East Roumelia were lost, and Crete had become Greek. It lost control of Libya to Italy, and after the two Balkan Wars it had lost most of its European possessions by 1914. Despite this unique recent track record of losing wars, it participated in World War I on the side of the Central Powers, whereupon it also lost its Arab empire. Its severe punishment at the Treaty of Sèvres, which determined the partition of the Turkish heartland of Anatolia, the creation of a separate state of Armenia, and the loss of further territory to Greece, aroused intense Turkish nationalism. This was translated into a liberation movement under Kemal (Atatürk), whose conquests were consolidated in the Treaty of Lausanne. He then destroyed the twin pillars of the Ottoman Empire by abolishing the Sultan, and the unity between the state and the Muslim religion. On 29 October 1923, the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed in its stead.