Ottoman Empire

OTTOMAN EMPIRE
OTTOMAN EMPIRE
Begun in the 1300s
Centered in Turkey
Longest lasting Muslim empire after
the Mongol rule in Asia
Largest Muslim empire since the
original Caliphate in the 600s

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OTTOMAN EMPIRE
Model was different from other Muslim
empires
Centralized system more similar to
French and Spanish monarchies
Different from newer European
empires
Land-based empire, not naval
Reveals problems that large land-
based empires faced
OTTOMANS BEGIN
Started very small
3 major factors for growth
Osman (first ruler) and descendants very shrewd
Control of the Dardanelles Strait
• Gallipoli
• Strategic link between Europe and Asia
• Door to the Black Sea
New army
• Traditional Turkish cavalry
• New modern technology (gunpowder, etc.)

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OTTOMANS GROWING
First concentrate on Southeast Europe
Extension of Crusades hostilities– Christian
nations
Greece, Serbia 1389
Civil War, 1402
Reunified a generation later
Conquer 1100-year old Byzantine Empire
Take Constantinople (1453), renamed
Istanbul
Height of Ottoman power
MUSLIM EMPIRES CLASH
Clash with Safavid Empire (1514)
Selim I, “The Inexorable”
Persia-Iran
Became a repeated battle over time
Battlefield always Iraq
Conquered Mamluk Empire (1516-1517)
Egypt and Syria
Gained the Red Sea ports
Islamic city-states in Northern Africa voluntarily
join Ottomans (Tunisia, Algeria)
Increased sea ports helped the land empire, but
did not save it

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SULEIMAN THE
MAGNIFICENT
Greatest Ottoman conqueror over
Christian Europe
Belgrade, 1521
Isle of Rhodes, 1522
Laid siege to Vienna, Austria 1529
• Only the early onset of winter saved
the city from falling
Began two-century war with Venice
Venice left with a tribute payment
Venice successfully halted further
Ottoman expansion west
OTTOMAN PROBLEMS
Ottomans, like the Chinese, did not understand
the threat navies posed
Allowed other nations to handle their trade
Preferred this... [continues]

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