Exploring the Effects of the West on The Ottoman Empire Essay examples

The Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughals were all gunpowder empires. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast the differences between all of these empires mentioned. Each fall into five different categories.

While taking the class of Early Modern European History there was two states that really stuck out and peaked my interest the most. They were the Ottoman Empire and Early Modern Europe. If you compare and contrast both the Ottoman Empire and Early Modern Europe during the 16th Century through the 18th Century, you will see that there are a number of similarities as well as differences when you look at the expansion of the states. You will also see many of these contrasts as well when you look in terms of each states military and commerce. Although the Ottoman Empire existed before the 16th century and continued to exist past the 18th century and in great decline until the early 20th century, when looking at the state as a whole the time

However, the plan did not go according to plan for the Ottomans, because once many Europeans started investing in the Middle East and its commerce, access to credit became much easier, which rather helped lead to the decline of the empire. When the Ottoman empire was experiencing financial problems, these Europeans would step in and aid the Ottomans through methods such as loans. However, when the Ottomans could not pay back the loans, events such as the British occupying Egypt would result. Hence, the issue was the loss of economic sovereignty in the Ottoman

the use of European technology, economic and trade and marketing skills they succeed in Imperializing

Between the 16th and 18th century a power shift began to occur between Christian Europe and the Turkish Empire. Turkey, being one of the most successful, thriving and longest lasting empires of the world, began to deteriorate in the shadow of the rising European powers. The late 18th century saw Europe ascending as a leading world power. This paper will argue two of the major reasons that contributed to the shift of power from the dominant Turkish Empire to Europe. Firstly, after the death of Sultan Suleiman in 1566, the Turks failed to advance militarily while the Christian empires, who had already advanced far ahead, underwent significant military advancement. Secondly, the policy of a Sultan being chosen for quality and character was replaced with a new policy of inheritance, which contributed to the rise of unskilled and incompetent Sultans running the empire, further contributing to the decline of the Turkish Empire.

The Ottomans were by far the greatest of the Muslim empires. It was the greatest in size and power, and it lasted the longest out of the three Muslim empires. Altogether, the Ottoman empire had the greatest influence and made the most contributions to world history. The Ottomans had a great influence on religion.

The slow collapse of empires allowed for the unintentional transfer of colonial powers which allowed for the preservation of the European imperialistic system. The slow disintegration of the Ottoman Empire demonstrates the unintended transfer of colonial states which ultimately preserved imperialism during World War One. The Ottoman empire faced large economic and political strain with the Italian invasion of Northern Africa in 1911 and the internal threat of the Balkan Wars in 1912-13. This ultimately created pressure on the Ottoman empire and the decline of imperial conquests. As large tracts of internal territories began to disappear Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria declared war on the Ottoman empire in 1917 which ultimately led

I found the primary source From Decline and Fall of Byzantium to the Ottoman Turks by Doukas after the conquest of Constantinople to be interesting. It was interesting because it is uncommon in history to receive a person’s complete view and interpretation of an event that lived during that time. Doukas began his account by mentioning the choice Sultan Mehmed had given the emperor of Constantinople. Mehmed had given the emperor the option to quit the city and leave unharmed with his people or to resist and lose his life as well as the people of Constantinople. The emperor stated that they could live together peacefully, but Sultan Mehmed rejected his offer. Why exactly did Sultan Mehmed refuse to live in peace with the Romans? Also, was the emperor being serious when he responded to Mehmed?

European expansion during the 16th and 17th century was considered an “assault” on the non-European world because of the number of negative effects that European presence caused. The first major effect was the African slave trade, which had a negative impact on the indigenous people. The need for laborers increase and since the Native Americans fell susceptible to disease; the Europeans went to Africa for their workers. According to the first presentation, Europe’s Assault on the World, “The most tragic and reprehensible impact of European expansion was the revival of slavery, which had all but disappeared from Europe by the year 1000.” (Slide 17). Another negative effect that European expansion caused was the spread of only one culture. According to the third presentation, Europe’s Assault on the World, “From the earliest stages of prehistory the cultural trends had always been toward differentiation.” (Slide 2). However, Europeans felt they were superior to everyone else and would disturb other cultures they encountered. Religion was one area where they felt they knew everything and possessed the correct one. Christianity, the Europeans thought was the one true religion. According to the reading, “Their religion was always present as a cultural fact and this gave Europeans the assurance that they were superior to the peoples they came in contact with for the first time.” This would often result in violent exchanges between the two groups. The arrogance of the Europeans and their religion was one

With Russian annexation of territories, the Ottomans would see the Empire dismembered by the Entente powers. The inability to protect the integrity of the empire forced the Ottomans to look for a European alliance. While Britain and France were looked at, both had no interest in an alliance. This would lead to the Ottomans and Germans to sign a treaty on the 2nd of August. (Class Notes)

The Byzantine empire had its start in 330 AD with Constantine moving the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire/Byzantine Empire to Constantinople, present day Istanbul. This created a capital in which nearly no one could fully siege control over for centuries. This all changed on April 5,1453 when Sultan Mehmed II, ruler of the Ottoman Empire, determined that he would defeat the Byzantine Empire and take Constantinople, took action and marched to the city. After a 54 day siege, on Tuesday, May 29,1453, Sultan Mehmed II and the Muslim Turks breached the walls of the city and brought the last Roman empire crumbling to its knees. The reasons why the Ottoman Empire was able to bring down what once was the greatest empire in the world was due to a proper financial backing and assistance from allies, greater number of troops, better technological advancements, the type of leader Sultan Mehmed II was, and strategy.

Ottoman Turkey never developed extensive industry, though the lands it controlled had extensive natural resources. There were no universities or technical schools that could teach either the basic skills or the theoretical knowledge needed for an industrial revolution and a modern economy. Banks could not develop because of the Muslim prohibition on interest. Turkish guns and ships and railroads had to be purchased from France, Germany and Britain, who vied with each other for the lucrative trade. The Ottoman Empire did not produce much that could pay for these purchases and eventually went bankrupt, forcing its rulers to conclude disadvantageous terms with its European creditors.

The fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries were important years for the Habsburg and Ottoman empires in which empires attempted to grow and conquer lands in both the Europe and lands overseas, primarily with the discoveries of the Americas. Even though the Ottomans were strong militarily and conquered the lands a lot of Europe, the Spanish was able to control majority of the maritime, which helped with the globalization route.

The Ottoman Turks emerged on the periphery of the Byzantine Empire and the Saljuk Turks. Under a Turkish Muslim warrior named Osman, raids were conducted in western Anatolia on Byzantine settlements and a vast number of Turks were united under his banner. Those Turks who flocked to Osman's banner and followed him into the history books came to be called the Ottomans. The word Ottoman, fits these Turks well as it roughly translates from Turkish as "those associated with Oman."

Today, there are virtually no multinational states remaining and one would be hard-pressed to find a government that has remained in place since the pre-World War I era. In that sense, it is highly unlikely that the Ottoman Empire could have survived the tumultuous 20th Century. Nevertheless, it may have had a chance. If not for European intervention, Ottoman reforms may have succeeded. However, even with those reforms, they had to compete with the rise of nationalism, which would have been difficult.