Ottoman Relations With West Asia In The Late 19th Century

Spices, teas, artwork, and silk traveled west towards Europe. Gunpowder reached the Arabs, and eventually the Europeans via trade on the Silk Road

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

So the Europeans have to trade with Asian countries to get spices. The 2 continents are connected by the Ottoman Empire (in the Middle East) lied between them. Of course this empire would tax whatever trade is going through their land. After a while, the Europeans can’t afford to keep the Ottoman Empire happy with the tax, so they decided to explore a sea-route to get to these Asian countries.

Furthermore the Europeans saw the Ottoman Empire as a threat and feared a new Muslim surge toward Europe. Additionally, the loss of the last European outposts in the Holy Land also eliminated the only European trading posts in the Eastern Mediterranean. All European trade with Asia had to then pass through Muslim merchants, who made it very expensive, only adding to European’s enmity to the new owners of what was renamed Istanbul. All of this impelled Europeans to go exploring new ways to get to China and India to resume the sought after trade for luxury

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

During the period of 1450 to 1700, Europe flourished economically, leaving a growing population craving access to lush Asian goods. However, with the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Ottoman Empire assumed control over the coveted trade routes, creating obstacles for European merchants who neither had goods to offer or shared a common religion with such folk. These hurdles, along with the religious zeal of Christian missionaries and curiosity of European mariners led Western Europe to look elsewhere, specifically the Atlantic, for new trade routes. Although the hypothetical “Northwest Passage” was never found, Atlantic trade, more commonly known as the Columbian Exchange, boomed. With its primary commerce in slaves, silver, and spices, this

In 1453, trade between Europeans and Asians was suddenly stopped by the Ottomans which separated the two groups. European trade with Asians was very profitable, and to stop trade between them completely would be a devastating blow to the Europeans, like how in present day, if China suddenly put an end to their trade with the US, the US would be crippled. This end to trade by the Ottomans caused more and more Europeans to look for alternate trade routes to Asia, mainly by sea.

Trade was the first motive for European exploration. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the Italians and Muslims had control of the Mediterranean. Because of this, countries such as Portugal lacked access to Asian trade routes, since they lacked the resources to break through “the Italian dominated trade of the Mediterranean” (Arnold 4) Such countries were forced to explore and expand in order to find new routes around the world to reach Asia, causing them to search for goods and trade beyond their borders, acquiring land and resources along the way, which in turn expanded European trade and economy. Another factor was Europe's search for new trade. European merchants discovered that they could no longer sell their merchandise in Asia and Africa, as many of their products were deemed inferior to their African and Asian counterparts. They attempted to sell “crude woollen cloth in Asian markets accustomed to fine silks and calicoes” (Arnold 3) The Europeans needed a new market, motivating them to send explorers such as

The colonization of Muslim territories began with the rise of European empires, the conquest of India, the scramble for Africa, and its last phase included the division of the Arab territories of the Ottoman Empire after World War I. An economic system began to take shape in the later 17th century but fully matured in the 19th century, once the European powers had established economic and political predominance around the world through the establishment of colonies and the exercise of aggressive imperialistic strategies. One method was through trading companies that were given the right to arm and use military force to protect their economic interest as if they were governmental agencies, even thought they were private, joint-stock companies. The core markets (Europeans) control the means of production and distribution of goods, and they also control the labor pools that produce the goods, while the periphery (Middle Easterners) supplies the core with raw materials and labor at prices determined by the core. As economic practices of the Europeans merged into Middle Eastern society, so did their culture and political practices. Muslim populations that had previously identified themselves as distinct, based on their cultural, ethnic, and/or religious heritage, were forced to unify under a single national identity by the Europeans. Certain Muslim populations were denied their political, economic, social, and human rights. Europeans imperialist policies promoted ethnic rivalry

The Ottoman Empire is located in Anatolia in Asia. Ottoman Empire is also called the Turkish Empire. The Ottoman Empire is based on two administration the city administration and the military. Allah is know as the religion of the Empire. The people of the Ottoman Empire described their leader Osman as a strong powerful leader.

The main motivation of European exploration was economic motives. People were beginning to become more interested in traveling by sea to reach Asia and Africa and all their riches(Duiker,494). The spice trade was what linked Europe to Asia, and the gold trade linked Europe to Africa. Furthermore, in the 15th and 16th centuries, as the economy and purchasing power of Europe developed and increased, the spice demand grew at a steady rate(Arnold,12). Therefore, spices were one of the few things that made overseas trade possible. Europe did not have very much gold to begin with, so ultimately the gold mines that they did possess were emptied. After 1400, Europe started trading with the areas that produced gold, increasing their amount of gold. Gold was very important to Europe, because not only was it used for decorations, but also their currency. In 1500, Portugal was controlling the flow of gold to Europe, making Portugal much wealthier(Buckler,500). Eventually, slaves were included in the gold

The Ottoman Empire had many rules and laws that kept the empire running smoothly. One of the rules that I found the most intriguing and was most important was the Land Code of 1858. The intent of this law was to encourage the land owners to register their land. This was more of a benefit for the government than the land owners because when they register the land that means they have to pay taxes on that land. This law was made to establish more control over the land in the area, to have more organization. They organized land ownership into five different categories: milk, waqf, mirimaruk, and mawat. Each of these categories had different owners and those owners decided which category the land went into. Although this law had good intentions,

The Ottoman empire; one of the greatest empires in history. The Empire, at its height, ruled most of the land around the Mediterranean. It contributed much to culture, science, religion, war, politics, and the world. Its monumental fall will be known throughout history. How can the swift decline of the Ottoman power be explained? Perhaps the best way to understand how important this event was, there needs to be a brief explanation of the history behind this epic collapse; showing the rise before the fall and the drastic change.

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.

The rise of the Ottoman Empire started in Turkey and spread through most of the Middle East. Their military practice and successful transition to the use of gun powder made them one of the most successful ruling bodies in the Middle East. The Ottoman Empire which ruled until modern times had great influence on the Middle Eastern world. Their political and economic abilities astonished the western world. Their religious views and fears were instilled into any non-Muslim and helped the western world to find new trade. The rise of Christianity in the western world provided new ways to preserve the dead and ended the need for frankensence, the main export of the Ottoman Empire. This