The Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire also known as the Turkish Empire controlled South Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. The Ottoman Empire was ruled by the Turks and at the height of it’s power it controlled 29 provinces. Osman I was the founder of the Ottoman Empire, it was during his rule that the Ottoman Empire began to expand to the Eastern region. Ottoman history from 1566 has been described as “The Decline of Faith and State.” It is known to be the second period of Ottoman history. I am going to argue in this paper that the over-arching reason for the decline and subsequent collapse of the Ottoman Empire was its overextension. More specifically the reasons for the decline and collapse of the Ottoman Empire were due to; a weakened military, economic stagnation, and a shift in the international balance of power through a series of disastrous wars.

Before I go on to explain the second period of Ottoman history there are a few important factors that are relevant to the decline in the Ottoman Empire, which come in the first period of Ottoman history. In the Battle of Vienna (first siege) – 1529, the Ottoman’s invaded Vienna, but were not successful due to harsh weather. After 1529 they were successful in imposing rule on Romania. They became tributary states, but not entirely part of the Empire. Later the Ottoman’s go on to take Baghdad, they control the Mediterranean and Mesopotamia. It was during this period the Ottoman’s still had a great deal of power and territory. At this time Portugal was in major power through trade and therefore was competition for the Ottoman Empire. In fear of competition the Ottoman’s began to block the sea route from Portugal. This created an excessive amount of tension between the Ottoman’s and Portugal, because the Portugal had to find another route. This was the beginning of shift in power.

Instead of attacking the Ottoman’s right away, Portugal decided to hold off due to their need for defense and economic strain. Next came a period of territorial gains, the development of alternant sea routes from Europe to Asia, to the new world. This period severally damaged the Ottoman Empire. This presented a huge influx of silver currency from the Spanish Americans, which made the Ottoman currency less valuable and created inflation. With inflation came economic problems, and where there are economic problems there are bound to be political problems. The inflation presented a series of consequences for the Ottoman Empire. This created an economic decline, which hurt the empire militarily in two very significant ways.This led the Ottoman’s into an even further period of economic decline. The Ottoman’s had lost their technological and military advances. During this period the European armies were constantly upgrading their military weapons and firearms, while the Ottomans let theirs stagnate. This meant that the Ottoman’s would now have a major disadvantage againt their enemies. Meanwhile, Europeans were introduced to a new military system (Roman military system) involving strict dicipline actions, which resulted in their armies being much stronger and more reliable than the Ottoman armies. The Ottoman’s were now at an even larger disadvantage againt their enemies.