Ottoman Empire. State formation. History of the Ottoman Empire Formation of the Ottoman Empire briefly

(1656–1703)

Formation of the Ottoman Empire- the period that began with the collapse of the Sultanate of Konya around 1307 until the fall of Constantinople on May 29, 1453.

The rise of the Ottoman state correlates with the fall of the Byzantine Empire, which brought about a change in power from an exclusive Christian European society to an Islamic influence. The beginning of this period was characterized by Byzantine-Ottoman wars that lasted for a century and a half. At this time, the Ottoman Empire gained control over both Asia Minor and the Balkan Peninsula.

Immediately after the establishment of the Anatolian beyliks, some Turkic principalities allied with the Ottomans against Byzantium.

Over the next century, the Seljuks occupied the territories of their weaker neighbors, and in 1176 the Konian sultan Kılıç-Arslan II utterly defeated the army of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos at the Battle of Miriokefale, after which the Seljuks began to move towards the coasts.

In the first half of the 13th century, the Mongols attacked the Seljuks from the east. After the battle at Kose-dag in 1243, the Kony sultan became a vassal Mongol Khan, and later - the Ilkhans-Hulaguids of Iran. The sons of the last independent sultan, Kay-Khosrov II, began to contest their inheritance with the support of various Turkic and Mongol groups, as a result of which Asia Minor turned into a conglomerate of rival beyliks. One of them was the Ottoman Beylik.

Timur divided the Ottoman state between the sons of Bayezid, internecine wars began. Sultan succeeded in restoring state unity Murad II(1421-1451), and the power of the country is the Sultan Mehmed II ( 1451-1481), nicknamed "The Conqueror". His cherished dream was the capture of Constantinople. The following words are attributed to the Sultan: “There must be one world empire, with one faith and one government. There is no better center for restoring such unity than Constantinople.”

In April 1453, Mehmed II surrounded Constantinople with a huge army of several tens of thousands of soldiers. He was opposed by almost 7 thousand defenders of the city. The Byzantine capital was doomed. Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos refused to surrender the city and for 53 days the courageous defenders of the city fought off assault after assault.

At dawn on May 29, 1453, the Turks launched the last assault. Twice they retreated, leaving dead and wounded. But Mehmed threw fresh forces into battle. At the most difficult moment for the defenders of Constantinople, the Genoese mercenaries left their positions, and the Sultan threw the Janissaries into battle. Constantinople faltered and retreated, and the Turks, breaking into Constantinople, began to plunder. On the evening of May 29, everything calmed down, and only in the basements and houses in some places the Gurkas were still scouring, looking for hidden treasures. Mehmed forbade robberies and pogroms in Constantinople and on the same day proclaimed it his capital, calling it Istanbul (Istanbul). The Christian shrine is the temple of Hagia Sophia - by order of the Sultan, it was turned into a Muslim mosque. The green flag of the Prophet Muhammad flew over the Bosphorus.

16th century Ottoman historian Saad-ed-Din on the capture of Constantinople

... Before the sultan began the siege, the emperor suggested that he take all the cities and their outskirts outside Istanbul [Constantinople], but leave him, the emperor, the city, for which the emperor would pay the sultan an annual tribute. But the sultan, not listening to these proposals, replied that his saber and religion were inseparable and insisted that the emperor surrender the city to him. Having received a refusal, the emperor installed artillery on the towers and walls, soldiers armed with muskets and large reserves of resin.

At the end of the first day before nightfall, the Sultan ordered batteries to be installed in the right places, and as soon as the cannons were installed, he ordered the walls to be shelled, not to mention the continuous hail of arrows and stones that were thrown by throwing machines that, like rain, covered the city. The besieged, in turn, continuously fired from muskets and cannons loaded with stone cannonballs, with which they inflicted heavy losses on the Muslims, who irrigated the earth with their blood ...

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  The very first information about the Ottomans dates back to the beginning of the 14th century. According to Byzantine sources, in 1301 the first military clash took place between the army of Byzantium and the army led by the leader Osman I.

  After this victory, the Ottomans became impossible to ignore. The Byzantine emperor Andronicus II Paleologue, seeking to create a reliable alliance against the growing threat, offered one of the princesses of his house as a wife to Osman’s nominal overlord, the Ilkhanid Ghazan Khan, and then, after the death of Ghazan, to his brother. However, the expected help in men and weapons did not come, and in 1303-1304 Andronicus hired Spanish crusader adventurers from the “Catalan company” to protect their possessions from further Turkish advance. Like most mercenary units, the Catalans acted on their own, calling on Turkic warriors (though not necessarily Ottomans) to join them on the European side of the Dardanelles. Only an alliance between Byzantium and the Serbian kingdom prevented the Turkic-Catalan offensive.

  Osman I, apparently, died in 1323-1324, leaving to his heirs a significant territory in the north-west of Asia Minor.

  The reign of Orhan I

  Reign of Bayezid I

  Bayazid brutally avenged the murder of his father by exterminating most of the Serbian nobility that was in the Kosovo field. With Stefan Vulkovich, the son and heir of the Serbian prince Lazar, who died in battle, the Sultan entered into an alliance, according to which Serbia became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire. Stefan, in exchange for the preservation of his father's privileges, undertook to pay tribute from the silver mines and provide the Ottomans with Serbian troops at the first request of the Sultan. Stephen's sister and Lazar's daughter, Olivera, was given in marriage to Bayezid.

  While the Ottoman troops were in Europe, the small Anatolian beyliks tried to regain control over the territories taken from them by the Ottomans. But in the winter of 1389-1390, Bayezid transferred troops to Anatolia and conducted a swift campaign, conquering the western beyliks of Aydin, Sarukhan, Germiyan, Menteshe and Hamid. Thus, for the first time the Ottomans came to the shores of the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas, their state took the first steps towards the status of a maritime power. The nascent Ottoman navy devastated the island of Chios, raided the coast of Attica, and attempted to organize a commercial blockade of other islands in the Aegean. However, as seafarers, the Ottomans could not yet be compared with representatives of the Italian republics of Genoa and Venice.

  The uprising of the Janissaries and the appearance of George Castriot Skanderbeg in Albania forced Murad to return to the Turkish throne in 1446. Soon the Turks captured Morea and launched an offensive in Albania. In October 1448, the battle took place on the Kosovo field, in which the 50,000th Ottoman army opposed the crusaders under the command of Hunyadi. A fierce three-day battle ended with the complete victory of Murad and decided the fate of the Balkan peoples - for several centuries they were under the rule of the Turks. In 1449 and 1450, Murad made two campaigns against Albania, which did not bring significant success.

  Reign of Mehmed II: Conquest of Constantinople

  After the death of his father in 1451, Mehmed II killed his only surviving brother and set about strengthening the borders: he extended his father’s contract with the Serbian despot George Brankovich, concluded a three-year agreement with Janos Hunyadi, confirmed the agreement with Venice of 1446, campaigned against Karaman, did not giving the emir the latter to support the contenders for power over the territories in Asia Minor, which not so long ago became part of the Ottoman state.

  In 1451-1452, Mehmed II built the Bogaz-kesen fortress in the narrowest place of the Bosphorus on the European coast. As soon as the construction of the fortress was completed, the Sultan returned to Edirne to oversee the final preparations for the siege, and then marched on Constantinople with 160,000 troops. On April 5, the city was besieged, and on May 29, 1453, it fell. Constantinople became the new capital, marking a new stage in the history of the Ottoman Empire.

  Formation of the Ottoman state.

  Seljukids and the formation of the state of the Great Seljuks.

  The Turks in the era of the Great Migration of Peoples. Early Turkic Khaganates.

  Lecture 4. Turkic world on the way to empire.

  1. The Turks in the era of the Great Migration of Peoples. Early Turkic Khaganates.

  In the second half of the 1st millennium AD. in the Eurasian steppes and mountainous regions Central Asia the predominant position was occupied by the tribes of the Turks. The history of the Turkic peoples is known mainly from the stories of their settled neighbors. The Turks had their own historical literature in Turkestan only in the 16th century. Of all the Turkish states, only the history of the Ottoman Empire can be studied from Turkish sources (in the Old Ottoman language).

  The initial use of the word "Turk" served as a designation for a tribe headed by the Ashina clan, i.e. was an ethnonym. After the formation of the Turkic Khaganate, the word "Turk" became politicized. It came to mean the state at the same time. A broader meaning was given to it by the neighbors of the kaganate - the Byzantines and Arabs. They extended this name to the nomadic peoples of the Eurasian steppes dependent on the Turks and related to them. At present, the name "Turk" is an exclusively linguistic concept, without regard to ethnography or even origin.

  The Ashina clan is the creator of the first Turkic state. It arose in Altai in the VI century. An extensive tribal union of 12 tribes was formed here, which adopted the self-name "Turk". According to ancient legend, this name was the local name of the Altai Mountains.

  The first historical person from the Ashin clan, who headed the union, was the leader of the Turks Bumyn. In 551, after the victory over the Rourans (bordering northern China), Bumyn became the head of a multi-tribal state. It included not only the Turks, but also other nomadic tribes subject to them. The name Türkic Khaganate was fixed for nirm (Turk el, el among the Turks - a tribe and a state in the Middle Ages).

  Bumyn took the Juan title "kagan" (later form - khan). This title among nomadic peoples denoted the supreme ruler, under whose authority were other rulers of a lower rank. This title was equated with the title of the Chinese emperor. This title was worn by the rulers of many peoples - the Huns, Avars, Khazars, Bulgarians.

  The Turkic Khaganate, under the closest successors of Bumyn, expanded its borders from the Pacific Ocean to the Black Sea in a short period. In 576, during the period of the greatest territorial expansion, the Turks reached the borders with Byzantium and Iran.

  According to the internal structure, the kaganate was a rigid hierarchy of tribes and clans. The championship belonged to the 12-tribal union of the Turks. The second most important was the Tokuz-Oghuz tribal union led by the Uighurs.

  
  
  

  The supreme power belonged to the representatives of the Kagan Ashina clan. The kagan personified in one person the rudders of the leader, the supreme judge, the high priest. The throne was passed on by the seniority of brothers and nephews. Each of the princes of the blood received an inheritance in control. They received the title "Shad" (Middle Persian Shah). This is the so-called specific-ladder system of government.

  The Turkic Khagans, having subjugated the ancient agricultural regions, themselves continued to roam in the steppes. They interfered little in the political, economic and cultural life captured territories. Their local rulers paid tribute to the Turks.

  During 582-603. there was an internecine war, which led to the disintegration of the kaganate into warring parts: the Eastern Turkic khaganate in Mongolia; Western Turkic in Central Asia and Dzungaria. Their history did not last long. Until the end of the 7th century they were under the rule of the Chinese Tang Empire.

  For a short period of time, the second Turkic Khaganate (687 - 745) arose, at the origins of which the Ashina clan again stood, uniting the Eastern Turks. The state of the Western Turks was also restored with the dominant position of the Turgesh tribe. Hence the name of the kaganate - Turgesh.

  After the collapse of the Second Turkic Khaganate, the Uighur Khaganate with its capital in the city of Orubalyk on the river became an important political force in Central Asia. Orkhon. Since 647, the Yaglakar clan was at the head of the state. The Uighurs professed Buddhism and Nestorianism. They were considered irreconcilable enemies of Islam. In 840, the Uighurs were defeated by the Yenisei Kyrgyz.

  An important milestone in the history of the early Turkic states and peoples of Central and Central Asia was the conquest of the Arabs and the processes of Islamization that took place here. At the beginning of the 8th century Arabs conquered the entire Central Asian region. Starting from 713 - 714 years. the Arabs clashed with the Turks in the battles near Samarkand. The Türgesh Khagan refused to voluntarily submit to the caliphate and supported the struggle of the Samarkand people against the Arab presence. As a result, the Arabs in the 30s. 8th century dealt a decisive blow to the Turkic troops, and the Turgesh Khaganate disintegrated.

  With the accession of Central Asia to the Caliphate, fractional internal borders were eliminated, and the different peoples of this region were united by one language (Arabic) and a common religion - Islam. Since that time, Central Asia has become an organic part of the Islamic world.

  2. Seljukids and the formation of the state of the Great Seljuks.

  At the end of the X century. the tribes of the Turks who converted to Islam began to play an active political role in Central Asia. Since that time, Islamized Turkic dynasties - Karakhanids, Ghaznavids and Seljukids - began to rule in the region.

  The Karakhanids came from the top of the Karluk tribe. They were associated with the Ashina clan. After the defeat of the Uyghur Khaganate by the Yenisei Kyrgyz, the supreme authority among the Turkic tribes passed to them. In 840, the Karakhanid state was formed, which initially occupied the territory of Semirechye and Turkestan. In 960, the Karluks converted to Islam en masse. According to sources, 200 thousand tents immediately converted to Islam. The Karakhanid state existed until the beginning of the 13th century. His fall was accelerated by the blows of the Seljuks.

  The Ghaznavids are a Turkic Sunni dynasty that ruled in Central Asia from 977 to 1186. The founder of the state is the Turkic gulam Alp-Tegin. After leaving the service of the Samanids in Khorasan, he headed a semi-independent principality in Ghazna (Afghanistan). The state of the Ghaznavids reached its greatest power under Sultan Mahmud Ghazni (998-1030). He significantly expanded the territory of his state, making successful trips to Central Asia and India. His campaigns played a big role in the spread of Sunni Islam in northern India. He also became famous for his wide philanthropy, providing ample opportunities for famous scientists to work at the court. The famous encyclopedist Abk Raykhan Biruni (973-1048) worked at his court. The great Persian poet Firdousi, author of the epic poem "Shah-name". Mahmud's son Masud (1031 - 1041) underestimated the dangers of the Sedjukids. In 1040 Masud's huge army was defeated by the Seljuks near Merv. As a result, they lost Khorasan and Khorezm. By the middle of the XI century. The Ghaznavids lost all Iranian possessions, and in 1186, after a long struggle for survival, after numerous territorial losses, the Ghaznavid state ceased to exist.

  In the IX - X centuries. Oghuz nomads lived in the Syr Darya and in the Aral Sea region. The head of the Oguz tribal union with the Turkic title "yabgu" headed the union of 24 tribes. The collision of the Oghuz with the culture of Central Asia contributed to their Islamization. Among the Oguz tribes, the Seljuks stood out. They were named after the semi-legendary leader Seljuk ibn Tugak.

  The history of the rise of the Seljuks is connected with the names of two famous leaders, whom tradition considers the grandsons of the Seljuks - Chaghril-bek and Togrul-bek. Togrul-bek utterly defeated the Ghaznavids and became the master of Khorasan. Then he made trips to Iraq, overthrew the Buwayhid dynasty. For this, he received the title of "Sultan and King of the East and West" from the Caliph of Baghdad. The policy of conquest was continued by his son Alp Arslan (1063 - 1072). In 1071 he won a famous victory over the Byzantines at Manzikert. This victory opened the way for the Seljuks to Asia Minor. By the end of the XI century. the Seljuks captured Syria, Palestine, and in the east - the possessions of the Karakhanids.

  As a result of the military campaigns of the Seljuks, a huge state was created, stretching from the Amu Darya and the borders of India to the Mediterranean. The reign of the sultans of the XI - XII centuries. It is customary to call the dynasty of the Great Seljukids.

  The Seljuk Empire reached its peak during the reign of Sultan Malik Shah I (1072-1092). During his reign, the folding of state structures, begun under Togrul-bek, was completed. Unlike his predecessors, who bore Turkic names, Malik Shah took a name composed of Arab. Malik and Persian. Shah (both words mean king). Isfahan became the capital of the state. His vizier was Nizam al-Mulk (1064 - 1092), the author of the Persian-language treatise "Siyasat-name" ("The Book of Government"). In it, the Abbasid caliphate was declared the model of government. To realize this ideal, a new system of training officials and Sunni theologians was introduced.

  During the reign of Malik Shah, the Seljuk state was relatively centralized. The Sultan, as the head of state, was the supreme owner of all the land of the empire. His power was inherited by his son. The second figure in the state is the vizier, who led the central administrative apparatus and departments - sofas. The provincial administration was clearly divided into military and civil.

  A permanent army of Mamluk slaves was formed. They were brought from Central Asia, converted to Islam and trained in military affairs. Becoming professional soldiers, they received freedom and sometimes had a successful career.

  Under the Seljukids, the system of iqta, which arose even under the Abbasids, became widespread. The Seljuk sultans allowed iqta to be inherited. As a result, large land holdings appeared that were not controlled by the central government.

  In the state of the Seljuks, some elements of management, dating back to tribal principles, were preserved. one). The empire was considered as family property, so the management functions could belong to several brothers at the same time. 2). The Institute of Atabeks (literally - father-guardian) or mentors and educators of young princes. Atabeks had a huge influence on the young princes, sometimes even ruled for them.

  In 1092, Nizam al-Mulk was killed, and Malik Shah died a month later. His death marked the beginning of the collapse of the Seljuk Empire. The sons of Malik Shah fought for power for a number of years. AT early XII in. The Seljuk Sultanate finally split into several independent and semi-dependent possessions: Khorasan (East Seljuk), Iraqi (West Seljuk) and Rum sultanates.

  The Khorasan and Iraqi sultanates existed until the end of the 12th century. The Rum Sultanate was destroyed by the Mongols. During the XI - XIII centuries. there was a process of Turkization of Asia Minor. From the 11th to the 12th centuries from 200 to 300 thousand Seljuks moved here. The development of the Byzantine world by the Turks took various forms. Firstly, the displacement of the Greeks from their lands, which led to the depopulation of the territories of the former Byzantine provinces. Secondly, the Islamization of the Greeks. The Mongol conquests led to a new wave of Turkization. Turkic tribes poured into Asia Minor, especially Anatolia, from East Turkestan, Central Asia and Iran.

  3. Formation of the Ottoman state.

  In the second half of the XIII - the first half of the XIV century. on the territory of Western and Central Anatolia (the Byzantine name for Asia Minor, which means “east” in Greek), about 20 Turkic beyliks or emirates arose.

  The strongest of the emerging emirates was the Ottoman state in Bithynia (northwest of Asia Minor). This name was given to the state by the name of Osman, the ancestor of the emir who ruled there. Around 1300, the Ottoman beylik freed itself from subjugation to the Seljuks. Its ruler Bey Osman (1288 - 1324) began to pursue an independent policy.

  During the reign of Osman's son Orhan (1324-1359), the Ottoman Turks conquered almost all the Muslim emirates in Asia Minor. They set about conquering the Byzantine possessions in Asia Minor. Initially, the capital of the Ottoman state was the city of Brusa. By the middle of the XIV century. The Ottomans went to the Black Sea straits, but could not capture them. They transferred their aggressive activity to the Balkans, which belonged to Byzantium.

  The Ottomans faced in the Balkans not with a powerful state, but with a weak Byzantium and several warring states of the Balkans. The Turkish Sultan Murad I (1362 - 1389) captured Thrace, where he moved the capital, choosing the city of Adrianople for it. Byzantium recognized its vassal dependence on the Sultan.

  The decisive battle that determined the historical fate of the peoples of the Balkans took place in 1389 on the Kosovo field. Sultan Bayazid I Lightning (1389 - 1402) defeated the Serbs, and then captured the Bulgarian kingdom, Wallachia and Macedonia. Having captured Thessaloniki, he went to the approaches to Constantinople. In 1394, he blocked the Byzantine capital from land, which lasted for a long 7 years.

  European countries tried to stop the Turkish conquest. In 1396, led by the Hungarian king Sigismund, the crusading knightly army gave Bayezid's Turkish army a general battle. As a result, near Nikopol on the Danube, the brilliant knights from Hungary, the Czech Republic, Germany, France and Poland suffered a crushing defeat.

  Constantinople was temporarily saved not by the West, but by the East. The troops of the Central Asian ruler Timur were advancing on the state of Bayezid. On July 20 (28), 1402, at Angora (modern Ankara), in Asia Minor, the armies of two famous commanders Timur and Bayazid met. The outcome of the battle was decided by the betrayal of the Asia Minor beys and tactical miscalculations by Bayezid. His army suffered a crushing defeat, and the Sultan was captured. Unable to bear the humiliation, Bayazid died.

  After a long struggle for the power of the sons of Bayezid, Murad II (1421 - 1451) came to power. He made an attempt to capture Constantinople, which in 1422 rebuffed his troops. Murad lifted the siege, but the Byzantine emperor recognized himself as a tributary of the Sultan.

  Twice unsuccessfully Western European monarchs tried to defend the Balkans and Constantinople. In 1444, the combined troops under the command of the King of Poland and Hungary, Vladislav III Jagiellon, were defeated by Murad's army. In 1448, the same fate awaited the Hungarian commander Janos Hunyadi on the Kosovo field.

  Constantinople was taken after a long preparation by the young Sultan Mehmed II (1451 - 1481), who received the nickname "Fatih" - "The Conqueror" for numerous conquests. May 29, 1453 Constantinople fell. The last symbol of the Byzantine Empire was Trebizond, whose basileus David the Great Komnenos (1458 - 1461) belonged to the descendants of the ancient imperial family of Komnenos. After the conquest of Trebizond, all the sultans, starting with Mehmed, included in their titles the name Kaiser-i Rum, i.e. "Emperor of Romagna"

  After the capture of Constantinople, the Ottoman state turned into a world power, which for a long time played the most important geopolitical role in the East and West of Eurasia.

  The Ottomans completely subjugated the peoples of the Balkan Peninsula to their power, in fact ousted European merchants and former leaders of Genoa and Venice from the trade routes in the Mediterranean. Genoa lost its largest colony in the Crimea (1475). Since that time, the Crimean Khanate has become a vassal of the Ottoman Empire.

  By the beginning of the XVI century. the Turks captured all of eastern Anatolia and began to control the most important international trade routes. During the reign of Selim I (1512 - 1520), the Ottoman Empire gained access to the Arab East, capturing northern Mesopotamia with large cities like Mosul, Mardin.

  The Ottomans contributed to the destruction of the hegemony of the Arab world in the Middle East. In 1516 - 1520. under the leadership of Selim I, they crushed the Mamluk state of Egypt. As a result, Syria and Hijaz with Mecca and Medina were annexed to the Ottoman state. In 1516, Selim I assumed the title of padishah-i-islam ("Sultan of Islam") and began to fulfill the caliph's prerogatives, such as organizing the hajj. In 1517, Egypt became part of the Ottoman state.

  After the victory over Mamluk Egypt, the only enemy in the East for the Ottomans was the power of the Safavids. During the 16th century Ottoman rulers sought to isolate the Safavid state by capturing the eastern coast of the Black Sea and part of the territories of the Caucasus (Eastern Armenia, Azerbaijan, Shirvan, Dagestan). In 1592, the Ottomans closed the Black Sea to all foreign ships.

  From the beginning of the XVI century. The Ottoman Empire became involved in European politics. Its main rivals were the Portuguese and the Spaniards. On the other hand, an alliance was formed between the Ottoman Empire and the Protestant countries, as well as with France, which fought against the Habsburgs.

  The Ottoman threat pursued Europe both from the sea and from land: in the Mediterranean Sea and from the territory of the Balkans. After even crushing victories, when the Ottoman fleet was destroyed by the Holy League at the Battle of Lepanto (1571), the Turks captured Tunisia. As a result of these campaigns, the Grand Vizier Mehmed Sokolu said to the Venetian ambassador: “You cut off our beard at Lepanto, but we cut off your hand in Tunisia; the beard will grow, the arm will never.

  Until the middle of the XVI century. the Turks were really dangerous to the neighbors of their Balkan territories: Hungary, the Czech Republic, Austria. They besieged Vienna three times, but could not overcome it. Their undoubted success was the control of Hungary. Later Ottoman wars in Western Europe were local in nature and did not change the political map of this region.

  4. Internal structure and social structure of the Ottoman Empire.

  The main socio-political and economic institutions of the Ottoman Empire were formed in the second half of the 15th century, under Mehmed II (1451-1481) and Bayezid II (1481-1512). The reign of Suleiman I Kanuni ("Legislator"), or Suleiman the Magnificent (1520 - 1566), as he was called in Europe, is considered the "golden age" of the Ottoman Empire. By this time, it had reached the apogee of its military power and the maximum size of the territory.

  Usually, during his lifetime, the sultan appointed his successor, who could be the son of any of the sultan's wives. Such direct inheritance from father to son continued in the Ottoman Empire until 1617, when it became possible to transfer supreme power by seniority. This order of succession was a constant threat to the lives of family members. The deadly dynastic struggle continued until the beginning of the 19th century. So, Mehmed III (1595 - 1603), having come to power, executed 19 of his brothers and ordered 7 pregnant wives of Ottoman princes to be drowned in the Bosphorus.

  In the XVI century. in the Sultan's family, it was customary, according to the Seljuk custom, to send sons who had reached 12 years of age to distant provinces. Here they organized administration according to the capital model. Mehmed III initiated another practice. He kept his sons in isolation in a special room in the palace. These conditions were not conducive to the preparation of the rulers of a vast empire.

  The harem played a prominent role in the Sultan's court. The sultana-mother reigned in it. She discussed state affairs with the Grand Vizier and the Chief Mufti.

  The grand vizier was appointed by the sultan. He conducted administrative, financial and military affairs on behalf of the Sultan. The office of the Grand Vizier was called Bab-i Ali ("Great Gate"), in French La Sublime Porte ("Brilliant Gate"). Russian diplomats have "Brilliant Porta".

  Sheikh-ul-Islam is the highest Muslim cleric to whom the Sultan entrusted his spiritual authority. He had the right to issue a "fatwa", i.e. a special conclusion on the compliance of the government act with the Koran and Sharia. The Imperial Council, Divan-i Humayun, functioned as an advisory body.

  The Ottoman Empire had an administrative division into eyalets (provinces), which were headed by governors - beylerbeys (from 1590 - Vali). Beyelbey had the title of vizier and the title of pasha, so the eyalets were often called pashaliks. The governor was appointed from Istanbul and submitted to the great vizier. In each province there were Janissary corps, the commanders of which (yeah) were also appointed from Stanbul.

  Smaller administrative units were called "sanjaks" headed by military leaders - sanjakbeys. Under Murad III, the empire consisted of 21 eyyalets and about 2,500 sanjaks. Sanjaks were divided into counties (kaza), counties - into volosts (nakhiye).

  The basis of social political structure The Ottoman Empire consisted of self-governing communities (taifa) that developed in all spheres of professional activity, in the city and in the countryside. The sheikh was at the head of the community. Cities had neither self-government nor municipal structure. They were part of the government system. The actual head of the city was a qadi, to whom the sheikhs of trade and craft corporations were subordinate. The Qadi regulated and set the production and sales standards for all goods.

  All subjects of the Sultan were divided into two categories: the military (askeri) - professional soldiers, Muslim clergy, government officials; and taxable (raya) - peasants, artisans, merchants of all faiths. The first category was exempt from taxation. The second category - they paid taxes, according to the Arab-Muslim tradition.

  In all parts of the empire there was no serfdom. Peasants could freely change their place of residence if they did not have arrears. The status of elite groups of society was supported exclusively by tradition and was not enshrined in law.

  In the Ottoman Empire XV - XVI centuries. there was no dominant nationality. The Ottoman state and society had a cosmopolitan character. The Turks, as an ethnic community, were a minority and did not stand out in any way from other peoples of the empire. The Turkish language as a means of interethnic communication has not yet developed. Arabic was the language of Scripture, science and legal proceedings. Slavic served as the spoken language of the court and the Janissary army. Greek was spoken by the people of Stanbul and the inhabitants of the former Byzantine cities.

  The ruling elite, the army, the administration were multinational. Most of the viziers and other administrators came from Greeks, Slavs or Albanians. The backbone of the Ottoman army consisted of Slavic-speaking Muslims. Thus, the unity of the Ottoman society as an integral system was supported exclusively by Islam.

  Millets are religious and political autonomies of the heterodox population. By the 16th century there were three millets: rum (Orthodox); Yahudi (Jews); Ermeni (Armenian-Gregorians, etc.). All millets recognized the supreme power of the Sultan, paid a poll tax. At the same time, they enjoyed complete freedom of worship and independence in solving their communal affairs. Millet-bashi was at the head of the millet. He was approved by the sultan and was a member of the imperial council.

  However, in fact, non-Muslim subjects of the Sultan were not entitled to full rights. They paid more taxes, were not accepted for military service and did not hold administrative positions, and their evidence was not taken into account in court.

  The timar system developed under conditions of a special form of land tenure, according to which all land and water resources were considered the property of the “Ummah”, i.e., all Muslims. There was very little private property or "mulk". The main type of land ownership was the state.

  Civil servants, the military received timars - inalienable land holdings, initially with the right to be inherited. It was not the land itself that complained, but the right to a part of the income from it.

  Timars differed in terms of income. Once every 30-40 years, a census of all land holders was carried out in the empire. This census compiled a cadastre (defter) for each sanjak. Defter and kanun-name rigidly fixed tax rates, above which it was forbidden to take payments from peasants.

  In the XVI century. the distribution of timars acquired a strictly centralized order. On the basis of the distribution of timars, the sipahi warriors were kept. From the end of the XV century. this army began to be forced out by warriors of a slave state (kapykulu), who were kept at public expense. Warriors - slaves were recruited in the Slavic regions at the age of 9-14 years. They were converted to Islam and specially prepared for military and civil service. Such infantry in the Ottoman army was called the Janissaries (from Turkish Yeni Cheri - “new army”). They lived according to the charter of the Bektashi dervish order. Over time, they became a closed military corporation - the guards of the Sultan.

  Literature

  Vasiliev L.S. History of the Religions of the East: 7th ed. correct and additional - M., 2004.

  Gasparyan Yu.A., Oreshkova S.F., Petrosyan Yu.A. Essays on the history of Turkey. - M., 1983.

  Eremeev D.E. At the Crossroads of Asia and Europe: Essays on Turkey and the Turks. – M.: Nauka, 1980.

  Konovalova I.G. Medieval East: textbook. manual for universities / RAS, GUGN, Scientific and Educational Center for History. – M.: AST: Astrel, 2008.

  Pamuk E. Istanbul is a city of memories. - M .: Publishing house of Olga Morozova, 2006.

  Smirnov V.E. Mamluk institutions as an element of the military-administrative and political structure of Ottoman Egypt//Odysseus. - M., 2004.

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  Portal "Ottoman Empire"
  

  Formation of the Ottoman Empire(January 17, 1299 - May 29, 1453) - the period that began with the weakening of the Konya Sultanate at the very beginning of the 14th century and ended with the fall of Constantinople on May 29, 1453.

  The rise of the Ottomans correlates with the fall of the Byzantine Empire, which brought about a change in power from an exclusive Christian European society to an Islamic influence. The beginning of this period was characterized by the Byzantine-Ottoman Wars, which lasted for a century and a half. During this period, the Ottoman Empire gained control of both Anatolia and the Balkans.

  Immediately after the establishment of the Anatolian beyliks, some Turkic principalities allied with the Ottomans against Byzantium. This period also saw the Sultanate of Rum defeated by the Mongols in the 14th century and was followed by the Rise of the Ottoman Empire - a period called "Pax Ottomana", economic and social stability achieved in the conquered areas of the Ottoman Empire by some historians.

  Anatolia before the Ottomans

  Over the next century, the Seljuks occupied the territories of their weaker neighbors, and in 1176 the Konian sultan Kılıç-Arslan II utterly defeated the army of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos at the Battle of Miriokefal, after which the Seljuks began to move towards the coasts.

  In the first half of the 13th century, the Mongols attacked the Seljuks from the east. After the battle of Köse-Dag in 1243, the Konian sultan became a vassal of the Mongol Khan, and later of the Ilkhans-Hulaguids of Iran. The sons of the last independent sultan, Kay-Khosrow II, began to contest their inheritance with the support of various Turkic and Mongol groups, as a result of which Asia Minor turned into a conglomerate of rival beyliks. One of them was the Ottoman beylik

  Reign of Osman I

  The very first information about the Ottomans dates back to the beginning of the 14th century. According to Byzantine sources, in 1301 the first military clash took place between the army of Byzantium and the army led by the leader Osman I.

  After this victory, the Ottomans became impossible to ignore. Byzantine emperor Andronicus II Palaiologos, seeking to create a reliable alliance against the growing threat, offered one of the princesses of his house as a wife to Osman's nominal overlord, the Ilkhanid Ghazan Khan, and then, after the death of Ghazan, to his brother. However, the expected help in men and weapons never came, and in 1303-1304 Andronicus hired Spanish crusader adventurers from the "Catalan company" to protect his possessions from further Turkish advances. Like most mercenary units, the Catalans acted on their own, calling on Turkic warriors (though not necessarily Ottomans) to join them on the European side of the Dardanelles. Only an alliance between Byzantium and the Serbian kingdom prevented the Turkic-Catalan offensive.

  Osman I, apparently, died in 1323-1324, leaving to his heirs a significant territory in the north-west of Asia Minor.

  The reign of Orhan I

  In 1350, another Venetian-Genoese war began, the subject of which was control of the lucrative trade in the Black Sea. Orhan I took the side of Genoa, supplying both its fleet and the trading colony in Galata with food, and in 1352 he concluded an agreement with his allies. Also, his troops helped the Genoese when Galata was attacked by the Venetian and Byzantine troops.

  Reign of Bayezid I

  Bayazid brutally avenged the murder of his father by exterminating most of the Serbian nobility that was in the Kosovo field. With Stefan Vulković, the son and heir of the Serbian prince Lazar, who died in battle, the Sultan entered into an alliance, according to which Serbia became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire. Stefan, in exchange for the preservation of his father's privileges, undertook to pay tribute from the silver mines and provide the Ottomans with Serbian troops at the first request of the Sultan. Stephen's sister and Lazar's daughter, Olivera, was given in marriage to Bayezid.

  While the Ottoman troops were in Europe, the small Anatolian beyliks tried to regain control over the territories taken from them by the Ottomans. But in the winter of 1389-1390, Bayezid transferred troops to Anatolia and conducted a swift campaign, conquering the western beyliks of Aydin, Sarukhan, Germiyan, Menteshe and Hamid. Thus, for the first time the Ottomans came to the shores of the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas, their state took the first steps towards the status of a maritime power. The nascent Ottoman navy devastated the island of Chios, raided the coast of Attica and tried to organize a commercial blockade of other islands in the Aegean. However, as seafarers, the Ottomans could not yet be compared with representatives of the Italian republics of Genoa and Venice.

  The uprising of the Janissaries and the appearance of George Kastriot Skanderbeg in Albania forced Murad to return to the Turkish throne in 1446. Soon the Turks captured Morea and launched an offensive in Albania. In October 1448, the Battle of Kosovo took place, in which a 50,000-strong Ottoman army opposed the crusaders under the command of Hunyadi. A fierce three-day battle ended with the complete victory of Murad and decided the fate of the Balkan peoples - for several centuries they were under the rule of the Turks. In 1449 and 1450, Murad made two campaigns against Albania, which did not bring significant success.

  Reign of Mehmed II: Conquest of Constantinople

  After the death of his father in 1451, Mehmed II killed his only surviving brother and set about strengthening the borders: he extended his father’s contract with the Serbian despot George Brankovich, concluded a three-year agreement with Janos Hunyadi, confirmed the agreement with Venice of 1446, campaigned against Karaman, did not giving the emir the latter to support the contenders for power over the territories in Asia Minor, which not so long ago became part of the Ottoman state.

  In 1451-1452, Mehmed II built the Bogaz-kesen fortress in the narrowest place of the Bosphorus on the European coast. As soon as the construction of the fortress was completed, the Sultan returned to Edirne to oversee the final preparations for the siege, and then marched on Constantinople with 160,000 troops. On April 5, the city was besieged, and on May 29, 1453, it fell. Constantinople became the new capital, marking a new stage in the history of the Ottoman Empire.

  Sources

  • Caroline Finkel History of the Ottoman Empire. Vision of Osman" - Moscow: "AST Publishing House", 2010. ISBN 978-5-17-043651-4

  View this template Emblem of the Ottoman Empire Education (1299–1402) European · with Russia · with Serbia · with Byzantium · Croatian-Ottoman Wars · with Austria · with Persia · with Greece (1821-1832 · · 1919-1922) · with Hungary · with Poland · with Venice · in the Middle East · World War I · War of Independence 1919–1922 ( chronology I asked Stela what his name was and how long ago she created it. Oh, I haven't even thought of a name yet! And he showed up right now! Do you really like him? the girl chirped cheerfully, and I felt that she was pleased to see me again. - This is for you! she suddenly said. He will live with you. The little dragon stretched out its spiky muzzle funny, apparently deciding to see if I had something interesting ... And suddenly licked me right on the nose! Stella squealed with delight and was obviously very pleased with her work. “Well, okay,” I agreed, “as long as I'm here, he can be with me. "Won't you take him with you?" Stella was surprised. And then I realized that she, apparently, does not know at all that we are “different”, and that we no longer live in the same world. Most likely, the grandmother, in order to feel sorry for her, did not tell the girl the whole truth, and she sincerely thought that this was exactly the same world in which she had lived before, with the only difference being that now she could still create her world herself .. . I knew for sure that I didn't want to be the one to tell this trusting little girl what her life is really like today. She was satisfied and happy in this "her" fantastic reality, and I mentally swore to myself that I would never and never be the one who would destroy this fairy-tale world of hers. I just couldn’t understand how my grandmother explained the sudden disappearance of her entire family and, in general, everything in which she now lived? .. “You see,” I said with a slight hesitation, smiling, “where I live, dragons are not very popular .... So no one will see him! - the little girl chirped cheerfully. It was like a mountain off my shoulders! .. I hated to lie or get out, and especially in front of such a clean little man as Stella was. It turned out that she perfectly understood everything and somehow managed to combine the joy of creation and sadness from the loss of her relatives. “I finally found a friend here!” the little girl declared triumphantly. - Oh, well? .. Will you ever introduce me to him? I was surprised. She nodded her fluffy red head amusingly and slyly narrowed her eyes. - Do you want it right now? - I felt that she was literally "fidgeting" in place, unable to contain her impatience any longer. "Are you sure he wants to come?" I got worried. Not because I was afraid of someone or embarrassed, I just didn’t have the habit of disturbing people without a particularly important reason, and I wasn’t sure that right now this reason was serious ... But Stella was apparently in this I am absolutely sure, because literally in a fraction of a second a person appeared next to us. He was a very sad knight... Yes, yes, exactly a knight!.. And I was very surprised that even in this "other" world, where he could parted with his severe knightly appearance, in which he apparently still remembered himself very well ... And for some reason I thought that he must have had some very serious reasons for this, even if after so many years he did not want to part with this appearance. Usually, when people die, for the first time after their death, their essences always look exactly as they looked at the moment of their physical death. Apparently, the huge shock and wild fear of the unknown is great enough not to add any more additional stress to this. When time passes (usually after a year), the essences of old and old people gradually begin to look young and become exactly the same as they were in the best years of their youth. Well, the untimely dead babies “grow up” sharply, as if “catching up” with their unlived years, and become something similar to their essence, as they were when they entered the bodies of these unfortunate ones who died too early, or from some kind of illness. untimely dead children, with the only difference being that some of them “add” a little in development, if they were lucky enough during their short years in the physical body ... And much later, each essence changes, depending on how She lives on in the "new" world. And high beings living on the mental level of the earth, unlike all the others, are even able to create their own “face” and “clothing” at their own will, because, having lived for a very long time (the higher the development of the essence, the less often it re-incarnates into a physical body) and having become sufficiently accustomed to that “other”, at first unfamiliar world, they themselves are already able to create and create a lot. Why little Stella chose this adult and something deeply wounded person as her friend remains an unsolved mystery for me to this day. But since the girl looked absolutely satisfied and happy with such an "acquisition", I could only fully trust the unmistakable intuition of this little, crafty sorceress... As it turned out, his name was Harold. The last time he lived in his physical earthly body more than a thousand years ago and apparently had a very high essence, but I felt in my heart that the memories of the interval of his life in this last incarnation were something very painful for him, since it was from there Harold endured this deep and mournful sadness that had accompanied him for so many years... - Here! He is very nice and you will make friends with him too! - Stella said happily, not paying attention to the fact that her new friend is also here and hears us perfectly. It probably didn’t seem to her that talking about him in his presence might not be very right ... She was simply very happy that she finally had a friend, and this happiness with me openly and with shared pleasure. She was generally an incredibly happy child! As we said - "happy by nature." Neither before Stella, nor after her, I never had to meet anyone, at least a little like this "sunny", sweet girl. It seemed that no misfortune, no misfortune could knock her out of this extraordinary “happy rut” of hers ... And not because she did not understand or did not feel human pain or misfortune - on the contrary, I was even sure that she felt it much deeper than all the others. It’s just that she was, as it were, created from cells of joy and light, and protected by some strange, very “positive” protection, which did not allow either grief or sadness to penetrate into the depths of her small and very kind heart in order to destroy it so familiar to all of us. an everyday avalanche negative emotions and feelings wounded by pain .... Stella herself WAS HAPPINESS and generously, like the sun, gave it to everyone around. “I found him so sad!.. And he's much better now, isn't he, Harold? - Addressing both of us at the same time, Stella continued happily. “I am very pleased to meet you,” I said, still feeling a little uneasy. – It must be very difficult to be between the worlds for so long? .. “This is the same world as everyone else,” the knight calmly replied with a shrug. - Almost empty... How is it empty? I was surprised. Stella immediately intervened... It was evident that she was impatient to tell me "everything, everything" as soon as possible, and she was already simply jumping up and down from the impatience that burned her. “He just couldn’t find his loved ones here, but I helped him!” - the little girl burst out happily. Harold smiled affectionately at this marvelous, "sparkling" little man with happiness and nodded his head, as if confirming her words: - It's true. I was looking for them for ages, but it turned out that all I had to do was open the right “door”. This is where she helped me. I stared at Stella, waiting for an explanation. This girl, without realizing it, continued to amaze me more and more. - Well, yes, - Stella said a little embarrassed. “He told me his story, and I saw that they were simply not here. So I looked for them... Naturally, I did not really understand anything from such an explanation, but I was ashamed to ask again, and I decided to wait what she would say next. But, unfortunately or fortunately, it was not so easy to hide something from this smart little girl ... Slyly looking at me with her huge eyes, she immediately suggested: - Do you want me to show you? I just nodded in the affirmative, afraid to frighten me away, because again I was expecting something else from her, “stunningly incredible” ... Her “colorful reality” once again disappeared somewhere, and an unusual landscape appeared ... Apparently, it was some kind of very hot, possibly eastern, country, since everything around was literally blinded by a bright, white-orange light, which usually appeared only when the air was very hot, dry. The earth, as far as the eye could see, was scorched and colorless, and, except for distant mountains visible in a blue haze, nothing diversified this sparingly monotonous, flat and “bare” landscape ... circle was surrounded by a dilapidated stone wall. Surely, no one attacked this city for a long time, and the locals were not very worried about the “renovation” of the defense, or at least the “aging” of the surrounding city wall. Inside, narrow snake-like streets ran through the city, connecting into a single wider one, with unusual small “castles” that stood out on it, which rather looked like miniature white fortresses surrounded by the same miniature gardens, each of which was shamefully hidden from prying eyes behind a high stone wall. There was practically no greenery in the city, from which the white stones bathed in the sun literally “melted” from the sizzling heat. The evil, midday sun furiously brought down all the power of its burning rays on the unprotected, dusty streets, which, already suffocating, plaintively listened to the slightest breath of a fresh breeze that never appeared. The hot air “waved” with hot waves, turning this unusual town into a real stuffy oven. It seemed to be the hottest day of the hottest summer on earth..... This whole picture was very real, just as real as my favorite fairy tales used to be, into which, just like here, I “fell headlong”, not hearing or seeing anything around ... Suddenly, a small but very “homely” fortress stood out from the “general picture”, which, if not for two funny square turrets, would have looked more like a large and rather cozy house. On the steps, under a large olive tree, a little blond boy of four or five years old was playing. And behind him, under an old apple tree, a plump, pleasant woman, who looked like a sweet, caring, good-natured nurse, was picking fallen apples. A very beautiful, fair-haired young lady appeared in the yard and ... my new acquaintance - the knight Harold. The woman was dressed in an unusual, but apparently very expensive, long silk dress, the folds of which gently swayed, repeating every movement of her light, graceful body. A funny, beaded, blue silk hat rested peacefully on the blond hair of a beautiful lady, perfectly emphasizing the color of her large light blue eyes. Harold, despite such a sizzling, hellish heat, almost suffocating, “honestly suffered” in his red-hot knightly armor, mentally cursing the crazy heat (and immediately asking for forgiveness from the “merciful” Lord, to whom he had been so faithful and sincere for so many years served) ... Hot sweat, very annoying, poured from him in hail, and, covering his eyes, heartlessly spoiled the quickly fleeing minutes of their next “last” farewell ... Apparently, the knight was going somewhere very far away, because his lovely lady's face was very sad despite the fact that she honestly tried her best to hide it... “This is the last time, my kindness… I promise you, this is true for the last time,” the knight said with difficulty, affectionately touching her tender cheek. I heard the conversation mentally, but there was a strange sensation of someone else's speech. I understood the words perfectly, and yet I knew that they were speaking in some other language. “I will never see you again…” the woman whispered through her tears. - Never again... For some reason, the little boy did not react in any way either to the imminent departure of his father, or to his farewell to his mother. He calmly continued to play, not paying any attention to the adults, as if it had nothing to do with him. This surprised me a little, but I did not dare to ask anything, but simply watched what would happen next. "Won't you say goodbye to me?" – turning to him, asked knight. The boy shook his head without looking up. “Leave him, he’s just mad at you…” the woman asked sadly. “He also believed you that you would never leave him alone again. The knight nodded and, climbing onto his huge horse, galloped along the narrow street without turning around, very soon disappearing behind the first turn. And the beautiful lady sadly looked after him, and her soul was ready to run ... crawl ... fly after him no matter where, if only to see him at least for a moment, to hear at least for a short moment! .. But she knew that this will not happen, that she will remain where she is, and that, by a capricious whim of fate, she will never see or hug her Harold again ... Large, heavy tears rolled down her pale, haggard cheeks in an instant, and vanished like sparkling drops into the dusty earth... “God save him…” the woman whispered bitterly. – I will never see him... never again... help him, Lord... She stood motionless, like a mournful Madonna, not seeing or hearing anything around her, and a blond baby was clinging to her feet, now exposing all his sadness and looking longingly to where instead of his beloved dad only an empty dusty road was white white .. ... - How could I not say goodbye to you, my affection? .. - a quiet, sad voice suddenly sounded nearby. Harold kept looking at his sweet, and so sad wife, and a deadly longing that seemed impossible to wash away even with a waterfall of tears splashed in his blue eyes ... But he looked like a very strong and courageous man, who, most likely, , it was not so easy to shed a tear ... - No need! Well, no need to be sad! - Little Stella stroked his huge hand with her fragile fingers. - You see how much they loved you? .. Well, do you want us not to watch anymore? You have seen it and so many times already! .. The picture disappeared... I looked at Stella in surprise, but did not have time to say anything, as I found myself in another "episode" of this alien, but so deeply affected my soul, life. An unusually bright, cheerful, pink dawn, strewn with diamond dew drops, woke up. The sky flared up for a moment, coloring the rims of curly, blond clouds with a scarlet glow, and immediately it became very light - an early, unusually fresh morning had come. On the terrace of an already familiar house, in the cool shade of a large tree, the three of us were sitting - already familiar to us, the knight Harold and his friendly little family. The woman looked amazingly beautiful and completely happy, like the same morning dawn ... Gently smiling, she said something to her husband, sometimes gently touching his hand. And he, completely relaxed, quietly rocked his sleepy, disheveled son on his knees, and, with pleasure drinking a soft pink, “sweaty” drink, from time to time lazily answered some, apparently already familiar to him, questions of his lovely wife. .. The air was “ringing” in the morning and surprisingly clean. The little neat garden breathed freshness, moisture and the smell of lemons; his chest was bursting from the fullness of the intoxicatingly clean air flowing straight into his lungs. Harold wanted to mentally “fly up” from the quiet happiness that filled his tired, tormented soul! he has this wonderful moment of bright joy and peace of his little happy family... To my surprise, this idyllic picture suddenly suddenly separated from Stella and me by a luminous blue "wall", leaving the knight Harold alone with his happiness. And he, forgetting about everything in the world, with all his heart “absorbed” these wonderful, and such moments dear to him, without even noticing that he was left alone ... “Well, let him watch it,” Stella whispered softly. And I'll show you what happened next... The wonderful vision of quiet family happiness disappeared... and instead of it another one appeared, cruel and frightening, not promising anything good, let alone a happy ending..... It was still the same white-stone city, and the same house already familiar to us... Only this time everything around was on fire... Fire was everywhere. A roaring, devouring flame burst out of broken windows and doors, and embraced people rushing about in horror, turning them into screaming human torches, which created a successful living target for the monsters chasing them. With a squeal, women grabbed the children, trying to hide with them in the basements, but they did not escape for a long time - after a short time, the laughing monsters dragged them, half-naked and screaming desperately, outside to rape them right on the street, next to the corpses of their little children that had not yet cooled down. .. From the soot spreading everywhere, almost nothing was visible ... The air was "clogged" with the smells of blood and burning, there was nothing to breathe. Crazed with fear and heat, the old people hiding in the cellars climbed out into the yard and immediately fell dead under the swords of terribly whooping, rushing around the city on horseback, bestial wild people. All around you could hear the roar of hooves, the sound of iron, and wild cries, from which the blood ran cold... Before my eyes, as in a movie, terrible, heart-chilling pictures of violence and brutal murders flashed by ... I could not look at all this calmly, my heart literally "jumped" out of my chest, forehead (as if I were in a physical body!. .) was covered with cold perspiration, and I wanted to run wherever my eyes looked from this terrifying, monstrously ruthless world ... But, looking at Stella's seriously concentrated face, I felt ashamed of my weakness, and I forced myself to look further.

  Turks are a relatively young people. His age is only 600 years old. The first Turks were a bunch of Turkmens, fugitives from Central Asia, who fled from the Mongols to the west. They reached the Konya Sultanate and asked for land for a settlement. They were given a place on the border with the Empire of Nicaea near Bursa. The fugitives began to settle there in the middle of the 13th century.

  The main among the fugitive Turkmens was Ertogrul-bey. He called the territory allotted to him the Ottoman beylik. And taking into account the fact that the Konya Sultan lost all power, he became an independent ruler. Ertogrul died in 1281 and power passed to his son Osman I Ghazi. It is he who is considered the founder of the dynasty of the Ottoman sultans and the first ruler of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire existed from 1299 to 1922 and played a significant role in world history.

  Ottoman sultan with his warriors

  An important factor contributing to the formation of a powerful Turkish state was the fact that the Mongols, having reached Antioch, did not go further, as they considered Byzantium their ally. Therefore, they did not touch the lands on which the Ottoman beylik was located, believing that it would soon become part of the Byzantine Empire.

  And Osman Gazi, like the crusaders, declared a holy war, but only for the Muslim faith. He began to invite everyone to take part in it. And seekers of fortune began to flock to Osman from all over the Muslim East. They were ready to fight for the faith of Islam until their swords became dull and until they got enough wealth and wives. And in the east it was considered a very big achievement.

  Thus, the Ottoman army began to be replenished with Circassians, Kurds, Arabs, Seljuks, Turkmens. That is, anyone could come, pronounce the formula of Islam and become a Turk. And on the occupied lands, such people began to allocate small plots of land for farming. Such a site was called "timar". He represented a house with a garden.

  The owner of the timar became a rider (spagi). It was his duty to appear at the first call to the Sultan in full armor and on his own horse in order to serve in the cavalry. It was noteworthy that spagi did not pay taxes in the form of money, since they paid the tax with their blood.

  With such an internal organization, the territory of the Ottoman state began to expand rapidly. In 1324, Osman's son Orhan I captured the city of Bursa and made it his capital. From Bursa to Constantinople, a stone's throw, and the Byzantines lost control over the northern and western regions of Anatolia. And in 1352, the Ottoman Turks crossed the Dardanelles and ended up in Europe. After this, the gradual and steady capture of Thrace began.

  In Europe, it was impossible to get by with one cavalry, so there was an urgent need for infantry. And then the Turks created a completely new army, consisting of infantry, which they called Janissaries(yang - new, charik - army: it turns out Janissaries).

  The conquerors took by force from the Christian nations boys aged 7 to 14 years old and converted to Islam. These children were well fed, taught the laws of Allah, military affairs and made foot soldiers (Janissaries). These warriors turned out to be the best foot soldiers in all of Europe. Neither the knightly cavalry, nor the Persian Qizilbash could break through the line of the Janissaries.

  

  Janissaries - infantry of the Ottoman army

  And the secret of the invincibility of the Turkish infantry was in the spirit of camaraderie. Janissaries from the first days lived together, ate delicious porridge from the same cauldron, and, despite the fact that they belonged to different nations, they were people of the same fate. When they became adults, they got married, started families, but continued to live in the barracks. Only during the holidays they visited their wives and children. That is why they did not know defeat and represented the faithful and reliable force of the Sultan.

  However, having reached the Mediterranean Sea, the Ottoman Empire could not confine itself to the Janissaries alone. Since there is water, ships are needed, and a need arose for a navy. The Turks began to recruit pirates, adventurers and vagabonds from all over the Mediterranean for the fleet. Italians, Greeks, Berbers, Danes, Norwegians went to serve them. This public had no faith, no honor, no law, no conscience. Therefore, they willingly converted to the Muslim faith, since they did not have any faith at all, and it did not matter to them who they were, Christians or Muslims.

  From this motley crowd, a fleet was formed that looked more like a pirate than a military one. He began to rage in the Mediterranean, so much so that he horrified the Spanish, French and Italian ships. The very same navigation in the Mediterranean began to be considered a dangerous business. Turkish corsair squadrons were based in Tunisia, Algeria and other Muslim lands that had access to the sea.

  

  Ottoman navy

  Thus, from completely different peoples and tribes, such a people as the Turks was formed. And the connecting link was Islam and a single military destiny. During successful campaigns, Turkish soldiers captured captives, made them their wives and concubines, and children from women of different nationalities became full-fledged Turks born on the territory of the Ottoman Empire.

  A small principality that appeared on the territory of Asia Minor in the middle of the XIII century, very quickly turned into a powerful Mediterranean power, called the Ottoman Empire after the first ruler Osman I Gazi. The Ottoman Turks also called their state the High Port, and they called themselves not Turks, but Muslims. As for the real Turks, they were considered to be the Turkmen population living in the interior regions of Asia Minor. The Ottomans conquered these people in the 15th century after the capture of Constantinople on May 29, 1453.

  European states could not resist the Ottoman Turks. Sultan Mehmed II captured Constantinople and made it his capital - Istanbul. In the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire significantly expanded its territories, and with the capture of Egypt, the Turkish fleet began to dominate the Red Sea. By the second half of the 16th century, the population of the state reached 15 million people, and the Turkish Empire itself began to be compared with the Roman Empire.

  But to late XVII century, the Ottoman Turks suffered a series of major defeats in Europe. Important role played in the weakening of the Turks Russian empire. She always beat the warlike descendants of Osman I. She took Crimea and the Black Sea coast from them, and all these victories became a harbinger of the decline of the state, which in the 16th century shone in the rays of its power.

  But the Ottoman Empire was weakened not only by endless wars, but also by ugly farming. Officials squeezed all the juice out of the peasants, and therefore they ran the economy in a predatory way. This led to the emergence of a large number of waste lands. And this is in the "fertile crescent", which in ancient times fed almost the entire Mediterranean.

  

  Ottoman Empire on the map, XIV-XVII centuries

  It all ended in disaster in the 19th century, when the state treasury was empty. The Turks began to borrow loans from the French capitalists. But it soon became clear that they could not pay their debts, since after the victories of Rumyantsev, Suvorov, Kutuzov, Dibich, the Turkish economy was completely undermined. The French then brought a navy into the Aegean and demanded customs in all ports, mining as concessions, and the right to collect taxes until the debt was repaid.

  After that, the Ottoman Empire was called the "sick man of Europe." She began to quickly lose the conquered lands and turn into a semi-colony of European powers. The last autocratic sultan of the empire, Abdul-Hamid II, tried to save the situation. However, under him the political crisis worsened even more. In 1908, the Sultan was overthrown and imprisoned by the Young Turks (a political movement of the pro-Western republican persuasion).

  On April 27, 1909, the Young Turks enthroned the constitutional monarch Mehmed V, who was the brother of the deposed sultan. After that, the Young Turks entered the First World War on the side of Germany and were defeated and destroyed. There was nothing good in their reign. They promised freedom, but ended up with a terrible massacre of Armenians, saying that they were against the new regime. And they really were against it, since nothing has changed in the country. Everything remained the same as before it was 500 years under the rule of the sultans.

  After the defeat in the First World War, the Turkish Empire began to agonize. Anglo-French troops occupied Constantinople, the Greeks captured Smyrna and moved inland. Mehmed V died on July 3, 1918 from a heart attack. And on October 30 of the same year, the Mudros truce, shameful for Turkey, was signed. The Young Turks fled abroad, leaving the last Ottoman sultan, Mehmed VI, in power. He became a puppet in the hands of the Entente.

  But then the unexpected happened. In 1919, a national liberation movement was born in the distant mountainous provinces. It was headed by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. He led the common people. He very quickly expelled the Anglo-French and Greek invaders from his lands and restored Turkey within the borders that exist today. On November 1, 1922, the Sultanate was abolished. Thus, the Ottoman Empire ceased to exist. On November 17, the last Turkish sultan, Mehmed VI, left the country and went to Malta. He died in 1926 in Italy.

  And in the country on October 29, 1923, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey announced the creation of the Republic of Turkey. It exists to this day, and its capital is the city of Ankara. As for the Turks themselves, they have been living quite happily for the last decades. In the morning they sing, in the evening they dance, and in between they pray. May Allah protect them!

  History of the Ottoman Empire

  History of the Ottoman Empire is over one hundred years old. The Ottoman Empire existed from 1299 to 1923.

  Rise of an empire

  Expansion and fall of the Ottoman Empire (1300-1923)

  Osman (r. 1288-1326), the son and heir of Ertogrul, in the fight against the powerless Byzantium, annexed region after region to his possessions, but, despite his growing power, recognized his dependence on Lycaonia. In 1299, after the death of Alaeddin, he assumed the title "Sultan" and refused to recognize the authority of his heirs. By his name, the Turks began to be called Ottoman Turks or Ottomans. Their power over Asia Minor spread and strengthened, and the sultans of Konya could not prevent this.

  Since that time, they have developed and rapidly increased, at least quantitatively, their own literature, although very little independent. They take care of maintaining trade, agriculture and industry in the conquered areas, create a well-organized army. A powerful state is developing, military, but not hostile to culture; in theory it is absolutist, but in reality the generals, to whom the sultan gave various areas to control, often turned out to be independent and reluctantly recognized the supreme authority of the sultan. Often the Greek cities of Asia Minor voluntarily gave themselves under the patronage of the powerful Osman.

  Osman's son and heir Orhan I (1326-59) continued his father's policy. He considered it his calling to unite all the faithful under his rule, although in reality his conquests were directed more to the west - to the countries inhabited by Greeks, than to the east, to the countries inhabited by Muslims. He very skillfully used internal strife in Byzantium. More than once the disputing parties turned to him as an arbitrator. In 1330 he conquered Nicaea, the most important of the Byzantine fortresses on Asian soil. Following that, Nicomedia and the entire northwestern part of Asia Minor to the Black, Marmara and Aegean seas fell into the power of the Turks.

  Finally, in 1356, a Turkish army under the command of Suleiman, the son of Orhan, landed on the European coast of the Dardanelles and captured Gallipoli and its environs.

  Bâb-ı Âlî, High Port

  In the activities of Orhan in the internal government of the state, his permanent adviser was his older brother Aladdin, who (the only example in the history of Turkey) voluntarily renounced his rights to the throne and accepted the post of grand vizier, established especially for him, but preserved after him. To facilitate trade, the coinage was settled. Orkhan minted a silver coin - akche in his own name and with a verse from the Koran. He built himself in the newly conquered Bursa (1326) a luxurious palace, by the high gate of which the Ottoman government received the name "High Port" (literal translation of the Ottoman Bab-ı Âlî - "high gate"), often transferred to the Ottoman state itself.

  In 1328, Orhan gave his domains a new, largely centralized administration. They were divided into 3 provinces (pashalik), which were divided into districts, sanjaks. The civil administration was connected with the military and subordinated to it. Orkhan laid the foundation for an army of Janissaries, recruited from Christian children (at first 1000 people; later this number increased significantly). Despite a significant share of tolerance towards Christians, whose religion was not persecuted (even though Christians were taxed), Christians converted to Islam en masse.

  Conquests in Europe before the capture of Constantinople (1306-1453)

  • 1352 - capture of the Dardanelles.
  • 1354 Capture of Gallipoli.
  • From 1358 to Kosovo field

  After the capture of Gallipoli, the Turks fortified on the European coast of the Aegean, the Dardanelles and the Sea of ​​Marmara. Suleiman died in 1358, and Orkhan was succeeded by his second son, Murad (1359-1389), who, although he did not forget about Asia Minor and conquered Angora in it, transferred the center of gravity of his activity to Europe. Having conquered Thrace, in 1365 he moved his capital to Adrianople. Byzantine Empire was reduced to one Constantinople with its immediate environs, but continued to resist the conquest for almost a hundred years.

  The conquest of Thrace brought the Turks into immediate contact with Serbia and Bulgaria. Both states went through a period of feudal fragmentation and could not be consolidated. In a few years, they both lost a significant part of their territory, pledged themselves to tribute and became dependent on the Sultan. However, there were periods when these states managed, taking advantage of the moment, to partially restore their positions.

  At the accession to the throne of the following sultans, beginning with Bayazet, it became customary to kill the next of kin to avoid family rivalry over the throne; this custom was observed, although not always, but often. When the relatives of the new sultan did not represent the slightest danger due to their mental development or for other reasons, they were left alive, but their harem was made up of slaves made sterile through an operation.

  The Ottomans clashed with the Serbian rulers and won victories at Chernomen (1371) and Savra (1385).

  Battle of Kosovo

  In 1389, the Serbian prince Lazar began a new war with the Ottomans. On the Kosovo field on June 28, 1389, his army of 80,000 people. agreed with Murad's army of 300,000 people. The Serbian army was destroyed, the prince was killed; Murad also fell in the battle. Formally, Serbia still retained its independence, but it paid tribute and undertook to supply an auxiliary army.

  Assassination of Murad

  One of the Serbs who took part in the battle (that is, from the side of Prince Lazar) was the Serbian prince Miloš Obilić. He understood that the Serbs had little chance of winning this great battle, and decided to sacrifice his life. He came up with a cunning operation.

  During the battle, Miloš sneaked into Murad's tent, pretending to be a defector. He approached Murad as if to convey some secret and stabbed him to death. Murad was dying, but managed to call for help. Consequently, Miloš was killed by the Sultan's guards. (Milos Obilic kills Sultan Murad) From that moment on, the Serbian and Turkish versions of what happened began to differ. According to the Serbian version, having learned about the murder of their ruler, the Turkish army succumbed to panic and began to scatter, and only taking control of the troops by Murad's son Bayazid I saved the Turkish army from defeat. According to the Turkish version, the murder of the Sultan only angered the Turkish soldiers. However, the most real option there is a version that the main part of the army learned about the death of the Sultan after the battle.

  Early 15th century

  Murad's son Bayazet (1389-1402) married the daughter of Lazar and thereby acquired the formal right to intervene in the solution of dynastic issues in Serbia (when Stefan, son of Lazar, died without heirs). In 1393, Bayazet took Tarnovo (he strangled the Bulgarian king Shishman, whose son escaped death by converting to Islam), conquered all of Bulgaria, imposed tribute on Wallachia, conquered Macedonia and Thessaly, and penetrated Greece. In Asia Minor, his possessions expanded far to the east beyond Kyzyl-Irmak (Galis).

  In 1396, near Nikopol, he defeated the Christian army, gathered in a crusade by the king Sigismund of Hungary.

  The invasion of Timur at the head of the Turkic hordes into the Asian possessions of Bayazet forced him to lift the siege of Constantinople and personally rush to meet Timur with significant forces. AT battle of Ankara in 1402 he was utterly defeated and taken prisoner, where he died a year later (1403). In this battle, a significant Serbian auxiliary detachment (40,000 people) was also killed.

  The captivity and then the death of Bayazet threatened the state with disintegration into parts. In Adrianople, the son of Bayazet Suleiman (1402-1410) proclaimed himself sultan, who seized power over the Turkish possessions on the Balkan Peninsula, in Brousse - Isa, in the eastern part of Asia Minor - Mehmed I. Timur received ambassadors from all three applicants and promised his support to all three, obviously wanting to weaken the Ottomans, but he did not find it possible to continue its conquest and went to the East.

  Mehmed soon won, killed Isa (1403) and reigned over all of Asia Minor. In 1413, after the death of Suleiman (1410) and the defeat and death of his brother Musa, who succeeded him, Mehmed restored his power over the Balkan Peninsula. His reign was comparatively peaceful. He tried to maintain peaceful relations with his Christian neighbors, Byzantium, Serbia, Wallachia and Hungary, and concluded treaties with them. Contemporaries characterize him as a just, meek, peaceful and educated ruler. More than once, however, he had to deal with internal uprisings, which he dealt with very vigorously.

  Similar uprisings began the reign of his son, Murad II (1421-1451). The brothers of the latter, in order to avoid death, managed to escape in advance to Constantinople, where they met with a friendly welcome. Murad immediately moved to Constantinople, but managed to collect only 20,000 troops and therefore was defeated. However, with the help of bribery, he succeeded soon after in capturing and strangling his brothers. The siege of Constantinople had to be lifted, and Murad turned his attention to the northern part of the Balkan Peninsula, and later to the south. In the north, a thunderstorm gathered against him from the side of the Transylvanian governor Matthias Hunyadi, who defeated him at Hermannstadt (1442) and Nis (1443), but due to the significant superiority of the Ottoman forces, he was utterly defeated in the Kosovo field. Murad took possession of Thessalonica (previously conquered by the Turks three times and again lost by them), Corinth, Patras and a large part of Albania.

  A strong opponent of him was the Albanian hostage Iskander-beg (or Skanderbeg), who was brought up at the Ottoman court and was a favorite of Murad, who converted to Islam and contributed to its spread in Albania. Then he wanted to make a new attack on Constantinople, not dangerous to him militarily, but very valuable in its geographical position. Death prevented him from fulfilling this plan, carried out by his son Mehmed II (1451–81).

  Capture of Constantinople

  Mehmed II enters Constantinople with his army

  The pretext for war was that Konstantin Paleolog, the Byzantine emperor, did not want to give Mehmed his relative Orhan (son of Suleiman, grandson of Bayazet), whom he reserved for inciting unrest, as a possible contender for the Ottoman throne. In the power of the Byzantine emperor was only a small strip of land along the banks of the Bosporus; the number of his troops did not exceed 6000, and the nature of the management of the empire made it even weaker. Many Turks already lived in the city itself; the Byzantine government, starting as early as 1396, had to allow the construction of Muslim mosques next to Orthodox churches. Only the extremely convenient geographical position of Constantinople and strong fortifications made it possible to resist.

  Mehmed II sent an army of 150,000 against the city. and a fleet of 420 small sailing ships that blocked the entrance to the Golden Horn. The armament of the Greeks and their military art was somewhat higher than the Turkish, but the Ottomans also managed to arm themselves quite well. Murad II also set up several factories for casting cannons and making gunpowder, which were managed by Hungarian and other Christian engineers who converted to Islam for the benefits of renegacy. Many of the Turkish guns made a lot of noise, but did no real harm to the enemy; some of them exploded and killed a significant number of Turkish soldiers. Mehmed began preliminary siege work in the autumn of 1452, and in April 1453 he began a regular siege. The Byzantine government turned to the Christian powers for help; the pope hastened to answer with the promise of preaching a crusade against the Turks, if Byzantium would only agree to the unification of the churches; the Byzantine government indignantly rejected this proposal. Of the other powers, Genoa alone sent a small squadron with 6,000 men. under the command of Giustiniani. The squadron bravely broke through the Turkish blockade and landed troops on the coast of Constantinople, which doubled the forces of the besieged. The siege continued for two months. A significant part of the population lost their heads and, instead of joining the ranks of the fighters, prayed in churches; the army, both Greek and Genoese, resisted extremely courageously. The Emperor was at its head. Konstantin Paleolog who fought with the courage of desperation and died in the skirmish. On May 29, the Ottomans opened the city.

  conquests

  The era of power of the Ottoman Empire lasted more than 150 years. In 1459, all of Serbia was conquered (except for Belgrade, taken in 1521) and turned into an Ottoman pashalik. In 1460 conquered Duchy of Athens and after him almost all of Greece, with the exception of some seaside towns, which remained in the power of Venice. In 1462, the island of Lesbos and Wallachia were conquered, in 1463 - Bosnia.

  The conquest of Greece brought the Turks into conflict with Venice, which entered into a coalition with Naples, the Pope and Karaman (an independent Muslim khanate in Asia Minor, ruled by Khan Uzun Hasan).

  The war lasted 16 years in Morea, in the Archipelago and in Asia Minor at the same time (1463-79) and ended with the victory of the Ottoman state. Venice, according to the Peace of Constantinople in 1479, ceded to the Ottomans several cities in Morea, the island of Lemnos and other islands of the Archipelago (Negropont was captured by the Turks as early as 1470); Karaman Khanate recognized the authority of the sultan. After the death of Skanderbeg (1467), the Turks captured Albania, then Herzegovina. In 1475 they were at war with the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray and forced him to recognize himself as dependent on the Sultan. This victory was of great military importance for the Turks, since the Crimean Tatars supplied them with an auxiliary army, at times 100 thousand people; but subsequently it became fatal for the Turks, as it brought them into conflict with Russia and Poland. In 1476, the Ottomans devastated Moldova and made it a vassal.

  This ended the period of conquests for a while. The Ottomans owned the entire Balkan Peninsula up to the Danube and the Sava, almost all the islands of the Archipelago and Asia Minor up to Trebizond and almost to the Euphrates, beyond the Danube, Wallachia and Moldavia were also heavily dependent on them. Everywhere was ruled either directly by the Ottoman officials, or by local rulers, who were approved by the Porte and were completely subordinate to her.

  Reign of Bayazet II

  None of the previous sultans did so much to expand the boundaries of the Ottoman Empire as Mehmed II, who remained in history with the nickname "Conqueror". He was succeeded by his son Bayazet II (1481-1512) in the midst of unrest. The younger brother Jem, relying on the Grand Vizier Mogamet-Karamaniya and taking advantage of the absence of Bayazet in Constantinople at the time of his father's death, proclaimed himself a sultan.

  Bayazet gathered the remaining loyal troops; hostile armies met at Angora. The victory remained with the elder brother; Cem fled to Rhodes, from there to Europe, and after long wanderings found himself in the hands of Pope Alexander VI, who offered Bayazet to poison his brother for 300,000 ducats. Bayazet accepted the offer, paid the money, and Jem was poisoned (1495). The reign of Bayazet was marked by several more uprisings of his sons, which ended (except for the last one) safely for their father; Bayazet took the rebels and executed them. Nevertheless, Turkish historians characterize Bayazet as a peace-loving and meek person, a patron of art and literature.

  Indeed, there was some halt in the Ottoman conquests, but more due to failure than to the peacefulness of the government. Bosnian and Serbian pashas repeatedly raided Dalmatia, Styria, Carinthia and Carniola and subjected them to severe devastation; several attempts were made to take Belgrade, but to no avail. The death of Matthew Corvinus (1490), caused anarchy in Hungary and seemed to favor the Ottomans' plans against this state.

  The long war, waged with some interruptions, ended, however, not particularly favorably for the Turks. According to the peace concluded in 1503, Hungary defended all its possessions and although it had to recognize the right of the Ottoman Empire to tribute from Moldavia and Wallachia, it did not renounce the supreme rights to these two states (rather in theory than in reality). In Greece, Navarino (Pylos), Modon and Coron (1503) were conquered.

  By the time of Bayazet II, the first relations of the Ottoman state with Russia date back: in 1495, ambassadors of the Grand Duke Ivan III appeared in Constantinople to ensure unimpeded trade in the Ottoman Empire for Russian merchants. Other European powers also entered into friendly relations with Bayazet, especially Naples, Venice, Florence, Milan and the pope, seeking his friendship; Bayazet skillfully balanced between everyone.

  At the same time, the Ottoman Empire was at war with Venice over the Mediterranean, and defeated her in 1505.

  His main focus was on the East. He started a war with Persia, but did not have time to finish it; in 1510, his youngest son Selim rebelled against him at the head of the Janissaries, defeated him and overthrew him from the throne. Bayazet soon died, most likely from poison; Other relatives of Selim were also exterminated.

  Reign of Selim I

  The war in Asia continued under Selim I (1512–20). In addition to the usual desire of the Ottomans to conquer, this war also had a religious reason: the Turks were Sunnis, Selim, as an extreme zealot of Sunnism, passionately hated Persian Shiites, on his orders, up to 40,000 Shiites living on Ottoman territory were destroyed. The war was fought with varying success, but the final victory, although far from complete, was on the side of the Turks. According to the peace of 1515, Persia ceded to the Ottoman Empire the regions of Diyarbakir and Mosul, lying along the upper reaches of the Tigris.

  The Egyptian Sultan Kansu-Gavri sent an embassy to Selim with an offer of peace. Selim ordered to kill all the members of the embassy. Kansu stepped forward to meet him; the battle took place in the Dolbec valley. Thanks to his artillery, Selim won a complete victory; the Mamluks fled, Kansu died during the escape. Damascus opened the gates to the winner; after him, all of Syria submitted to the sultan, and Mecca and Medina surrendered under his protection (1516). The new Egyptian sultan Tuman Bay, after several defeats, had to cede Cairo to the Turkish vanguard; but at night he entered the city and exterminated the Turks. Selim, not being able to take Cairo without a stubborn struggle, invited its inhabitants to surrender to capitulation with the promise of their favors; the inhabitants surrendered - and Selim carried out a terrible massacre in the city. Tuman Bey was also beheaded when, during the retreat, he was defeated and captured (1517).

  Selim reproached him for not wanting to submit to him, the ruler of the faithful, and developed a bold theory in the mouth of a Muslim, according to which he, as the ruler of Constantinople, is the heir to the Eastern Roman Empire and, therefore, has the right to all the lands, ever included in its composition.

  Realizing the impossibility of ruling Egypt exclusively through his pashas, ​​who in the end would inevitably have to become independent, Selim kept next to them 24 Mameluke leaders, who were considered subordinate to the pasha, but enjoyed a certain independence and could complain about the pasha to Constantinople. Selim was one of the most cruel Ottoman sultans; in addition to his father and brothers, in addition to countless captives, he executed seven of his grand viziers during the eight years of his reign. At the same time, he patronized literature and himself left a significant number of Turkish and Arabic poems. In the memory of the Turks, he remained with the nickname Yavuz (inflexible, stern).

  Reign of Suleiman I

  Tughra Suleiman the Magnificent (1520)

  The son of Selim Suleiman I (1520-66), nicknamed by Christian historians the Magnificent or the Great, was the exact opposite of his father. He was not cruel and understood the political price of mercy and formal justice; he began his reign by releasing several hundred Egyptian captives from noble families who were kept in chains by Selim. European silk merchants, robbed in Ottoman territory at the beginning of his reign, received generous monetary rewards from him. More than his predecessors, he loved the splendor with which his palace in Constantinople amazed the Europeans. Although he did not refuse conquests, he did not like war, only in rare cases did he personally become the head of the army. He especially appreciated the diplomatic art, which brought him important victories. Immediately after accession to the throne, he began peace negotiations with Venice and concluded with her in 1521 an agreement recognizing the Venetians' right to trade in Turkish territory and promising them the protection of their security; both sides pledged to hand over fugitives to each other. Since then, although Venice did not keep a permanent envoy in Constantinople, embassies from Venice to Constantinople and back were sent more or less regularly. In 1521, the Ottoman troops took Belgrade. In 1522, Suleiman landed a large army on Rhodes. six month siege the main citadel of the Knights of St. John ended with its surrender, after which the Turks proceeded to conquer Tripoli and Algeria in North Africa.

  Battle of Mohacs (1526)

  In 1527, Ottoman troops under the command of Suleiman I invaded Austria and Hungary. At first, the Turks achieved very significant successes: in the eastern part of Hungary, they managed to create a puppet state that became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, they captured Buda, and ravaged vast territories in Austria. In 1529, the Sultan moved his army to Vienna, intending to capture the Austrian capital, but he failed. September 27 began siege of Vienna, the Turks at least 7 times outnumbered the besieged. But the weather was against the Turks - on the way to Vienna, due to bad weather, they lost many guns and pack animals, and diseases began in their camp. And the Austrians did not waste time - they fortified the city walls in advance, and the Archduke of Austria Ferdinand I brought German and Spanish mercenaries to the city (his older brother Charles V Habsburg was both the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the king of Spain). Then the Turks relied on undermining the walls of Vienna, but the besieged constantly made sorties and destroyed all Turkish trenches and underground passages. In view of the impending winter, diseases and mass desertion, the Turks had to leave already 17 days after the start of the siege, on October 14.

  Union with France

  Austria was the closest neighbor of the Ottoman state and its most dangerous enemy, and it was risky to enter into a serious fight with it without enlisting anyone's support. The natural ally of the Ottomans in this struggle was France. The first relations between the Ottoman Empire and France began as early as 1483; since then, both states have exchanged embassies several times, but this has not led to practical results.

  In 1517, the French king Francis I offered the German emperor and Ferdinand the Catholic an alliance against the Turks with the aim of expelling them from Europe and dividing their possessions, but this alliance did not take place: the interests of the named European powers were too opposed to each other. On the contrary, France and the Ottoman Empire did not come into contact with each other anywhere and they had no immediate reasons for enmity. Therefore, France, which once took such an ardent part in crusades, decided on a bold step: a real military alliance with a Muslim power against a Christian power. The last impetus was given by the unfortunate battle of Pavia for the French, during which the king was captured. The regent Louise of Savoy sent an embassy to Constantinople in February 1525, but it was beaten by the Turks in Bosnia in spite of [source not specified 466 days] the wishes of the Sultan. Not embarrassed by this event, Francis I from captivity sent an envoy to the Sultan with an offer of alliance; the sultan was to attack Hungary, and Francis promised war with Spain. At the same time, Charles V made similar proposals to the Ottoman Sultan, but the Sultan preferred an alliance with France.

  Soon after, Francis sent a request to Constantinople to allow the restoration of at least one Catholic church in Jerusalem, but received a decisive refusal from the Sultan in the name of the principles of Islam, along with the promise of all kinds of protection for Christians and protection of their safety (1528).

  Military successes

  According to the truce of 1547, the entire southern part of Hungary, up to and including Ofen, turned into an Ottoman province, divided into 12 sanjaks; the northern one passed into the power of Austria, but with the obligation to pay the Sultan 50,000 ducats of tribute annually for it (in the German text of the treaty, the tribute was called an honorary gift - Ehrengeschenk). The supreme rights of the Ottoman Empire over Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania were confirmed by the peace of 1569. This peace could take place only because Austria spent huge sums of money on bribing Turkish representatives. The war between the Ottomans and Venice ended in 1540 with the transfer of the last possessions of Venice in Greece and the Aegean to the Ottoman Empire. In a new war with Persia, the Ottomans occupied Baghdad in 1536, and Georgia in 1553. In this way they reached the apogee of their political power. The Ottoman fleet sailed freely throughout the Mediterranean to Gibraltar and in the Indian Ocean often plundered the Portuguese colonies.

  In 1535 or 1536, a new treaty "of peace, friendship and trade" was concluded between the Ottoman Empire and France; France henceforth had a permanent envoy in Constantinople and a consul in Alexandria. The subjects of the sultan in France and the subjects of the king in the territory of the Ottoman state were guaranteed the right to freely travel around the country, buy, sell and exchange goods under the protection of local authorities at the beginning of equality. Litigation between the French in the Ottoman Empire had to be dealt with by French consuls or envoys; in case of litigation between a Turk and a Frenchman, the French were protected by their consul. During the time of Suleiman, some changes took place in the order of internal management. Previously, the sultan was almost always personally present in the sofa (ministerial council): Suleiman rarely appeared in it, thus providing more scope for his viziers. Previously, the positions of the vizier (minister) and the grand vizier, and also the viceroy of the pashalik, were usually granted to people more or less experienced in government or military affairs; under Suleiman, the harem began to play a prominent role in these appointments, as well as cash gifts given by applicants for high posts. This was caused by the government's need for money, but soon became, as it were, the rule of law and was main reason the decline of Porta. The extravagance of the government has reached unprecedented proportions; True, the revenues of the government, thanks to the successful collection of tributes, also increased significantly, but, despite this, the Sultan often had to resort to defacing coins.

  Reign of Selim II

  The son and heir of Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim II (1566-74), ascended the throne without having to beat the brothers, since his father took care of this, wanting to secure the throne for him for the sake of his beloved last wife. Selim, reigned prosperously and left his son a state that not only did not decrease territorially, but even increased; this, in many respects, he owed to the mind and energy of the vizier Mehmed Sokollu. Sokollu completed the conquest of Arabia, which was previously only weakly dependent on the Porte.

  Battle of Lepanto (1571)

  He demanded that Venice cede the island of Cyprus, which led to a war between the Ottoman Empire and Venice (1570-1573); the Ottomans suffered a heavy naval defeat at Lepanto (1571), but despite this, at the end of the war they captured Cyprus and were able to keep it; in addition, they obliged Venice to pay 300 thousand ducats of military indemnity and pay tribute for the possession of the island of Zante in the amount of 1500 ducats. In 1574 the Ottomans took possession of Tunisia, which had previously belonged to the Spaniards; Algeria and Tripoli have previously recognized their dependence on the Ottomans. Sokollu conceived two great things: the connection of the Don and the Volga by a canal, which, in his opinion, was supposed to strengthen the power of the Ottoman Empire in the Crimea and re-subordinate to it Astrakhan Khanate, already conquered by Moscow - and digging Isthmus of Suez. However, this was beyond the power of the Ottoman government.

  Under Selim II took place Ottoman expedition to Aceh, which led to the establishment of long-term ties between the Ottoman Empire and this remote Malay sultanate.

  Reign of Murad III and Mehmed III

  During the reign of Murad III (1574-1595), the Ottoman Empire emerged victorious from a stubborn war with Persia, capturing all of Western Iran and the Caucasus. Murad's son Mehmed III (1595-1603) executed 19 brothers upon accession to the throne. However, he was not a cruel ruler, and even went down in history under the nickname of the Just. Under him, the state was largely ruled by his mother through 12 grand viziers, who often succeeded each other.

  Increased damage to the coin and the rise of taxes more than once led to uprisings in various parts of the state. The reign of Mehmed was filled with a war with Austria, which began under Murad in 1593 and ended only in 1606, already under Ahmed I (1603-17). It ended with the Peace of Sitvatorok in 1606, which marked a turn in mutual relations between the Ottoman Empire and Europe. No new tribute was imposed on Austria; on the contrary, she freed herself from her former tribute for Hungary by paying a lump sum indemnity of 200,000 florins. In Transylvania, Stefan Bochkay, hostile to Austria, was recognized as the ruler with his male offspring. Moldova, repeatedly tried to get out from vassalage, managed to defend during border conflicts with Commonwealth and the Habsburgs. From that time on, the territories of the Ottoman state no longer expanded except for a short period. The war with Persia of 1603-12 had sad consequences for the Ottoman Empire, in which the Turks suffered several serious defeats and had to cede the East Georgian lands, Eastern Armenia, Shirvan, Karabakh, Azerbaijan with Tabriz and some other areas.

  The decline of the empire (1614-1757)

  The last years of the reign of Ahmed I were filled with rebellions that continued under his successors. His brother Mustafa I (1617-1618), a protege and favorite of the Janissaries, to whom he made millions of gifts from state funds, after a three-month rule was overthrown by the fatwa of the mufti as insane, and the son of Ahmed Osman II (1618-1622) came to the throne. After the unsuccessful campaign of the Janissaries against the Cossacks, he made an attempt to destroy this violent army, which every year became less and less useful for military purposes and more and more dangerous for the state order - and for this he was killed by the Janissaries. Mustafa I was again elevated to the throne and dethroned again a few months later, and died a few years later, probably from poisoning.

  Osman's younger brother, Murad IV (1623-1640), seemed to intend to restore the former greatness of the Ottoman Empire. He was a cruel and greedy tyrant, reminiscent of Selim, but at the same time a capable administrator and an energetic warrior. According to estimates, the accuracy of which cannot be verified, up to 25,000 people were executed under him. Often he executed wealthy people solely in order to confiscate their property. He again won in the war with the Persians (1623-1639) Tabriz and Baghdad; he also managed to defeat the Venetians and conclude an advantageous peace with them. He subdued the dangerous Druze uprising (1623-1637); but the uprising of the Crimean Tatars almost completely freed them from Ottoman rule. The devastation of the Black Sea coast, produced by the Cossacks, remained unpunished for them.

  In internal administration, Murad sought to introduce some order and some savings in finances; however, all his attempts proved unworkable.

  Under his brother and heir Ibrahim (1640-1648), under whom the harem was again in charge of state affairs, all the acquisitions of his predecessor were lost. The sultan himself was overthrown and strangled by the Janissaries, who enthroned his seven-year-old son Mehmed IV (1648-1687). The true rulers of the state in the early days of the latter's reign were the Janissaries; all government posts were replaced by their henchmen, management was in complete disarray, finances reached an extreme decline. Despite this, the Ottoman fleet managed to inflict a serious naval defeat on Venice and break the blockade of the Dardanelles, which had been held with varying success since 1654.

  Russian-Turkish war 1686-1700

  Battle of Vienna (1683)

  In 1656, the post of grand vizier was taken over by the energetic man Mehmet Köprülü, who managed to strengthen the discipline of the army and inflict several defeats on the enemies. Austria was to conclude in 1664 a not particularly advantageous peace in Vasvar; in 1669, the Turks conquered Crete, and in 1672, at peace in Buchach, they received Podolia and even part of Ukraine from the Commonwealth. This peace aroused the indignation of the people and the diet, and the war began again. Russia also took part in it; but on the side of the Ottomans stood a significant part of the Cossacks, led by Doroshenko. During the war, Grand Vizier Ahmet Pasha Köprülü died after 15 years of ruling the country (1661–76). The war, which went on with varying success, ended Bakhchisarai truce, imprisoned in 1681 for 20 years, at the beginning of the status quo; Western Ukraine, representing after the war a real desert, and Podolia remained in the hands of the Turks. The Ottomans easily agreed to peace, since their next step was a war with Austria, which was undertaken by the successor of Ahmet Pasha, Kara-Mustafa Köprülü. The Ottomans managed to penetrate to Vienna and besiege it (from July 24 to September 12, 1683), but the siege had to be lifted when the Polish king Jan Sobieski made an alliance with Austria, hurried to the aid of Vienna and won near it a brilliant victory over the Ottoman army. In Belgrade, Kara-Mustafa was met by messengers from the Sultan, who had orders to deliver to Constantinople the head of an incapable commander, which was done. In 1684, Venice joined the coalition of Austria and the Commonwealth against the Ottoman Empire, and later Russia.

  During the war, in which the Ottomans had not to attack, but to defend themselves on their own territory, in 1687 the Grand Vizier Suleiman Pasha was defeated at Mohacs. The defeat of the Ottoman troops irritated the Janissaries, who remained in Constantinople, rioting and plundering. Under the threat of an uprising, Mehmed IV sent them the head of Suleiman, but this did not save him himself: the Janissaries overthrew him with the help of a mufti's fatwa and forcibly elevated his brother, Suleiman II (1687-91), a man devoted to drunkenness and completely incapable of governing, to the throne. The war continued under him and under his brothers, Ahmed II (1691–95) and Mustafa II (1695–1703). The Venetians took possession of the Morea; the Austrians took Belgrade (soon again inherited by the Ottomans) and all the significant fortresses of Hungary, Slavonia, Transylvania; Poles occupied a significant part of Moldova.

  In 1699 the war was over Treaty of Karlowitz, which was the first for which the Ottoman Empire did not receive any tribute or temporary indemnity. Its value significantly exceeded the value Peace of Sitwatorok. It became clear to everyone that the military power of the Ottomans was not at all great and that internal troubles were shaking their state more and more.

  In the empire itself, the Peace of Karlovtsy aroused among the more educated part of the population the consciousness of the need for some reforms. This consciousness had previously been possessed by the Köprülü family, which gave the state during the 2nd half of the 17th and early 18th centuries. 5 Grand Viziers, who belonged to the most remarkable statesmen of the Ottoman Empire. Already in 1690 led. vizier Koprulu Mustafa issued Nizami-Cedid (Ottoman. Nizam-ı Cedid - “ New order”), which established the maximum rates of total taxes levied on Christians; but this law had no practical application. After the Peace of Karlovica, Christians in Serbia and the Banat were forgiven for a year's taxes; the highest government in Constantinople began at times to take care of the protection of Christians from extortions and other oppressions. Insufficient to reconcile Christians with Turkish oppression, these measures irritated the Janissaries and Turks.

  Participation in the Northern War

  Ambassadors at Topkapi Palace

  Mustafa's brother and heir, Ahmed III (1703-1730), elevated to the throne by the uprising of the Janissaries, showed unexpected courage and independence. He arrested and hastily executed many officers of the army of the Janissaries and dismissed and exiled the grand vizier (sadr-azam) Ahmed Pasha, who had been imprisoned by them. The new grand vizier, Damad-Ghassan Pasha, pacified uprisings in various parts of the state, patronized foreign merchants, and founded schools. He was soon overthrown as a result of intrigue emanating from the harem, and the viziers began to be replaced with amazing speed; some remained in power for no more than two weeks.

  The Ottoman Empire did not even take advantage of the difficulties experienced by Russia during the Great Northern War. Only in 1709 did she receive Charles XII, who had fled from Poltava, and, under the influence of his convictions, began a war with Russia. By this time, in the Ottoman ruling circles, there was already a party that dreamed not of a war with Russia, but of an alliance with it against Austria; at the head of this party was led. vizier Numan Keprilu, and his fall, which was the work of Charles XII, served as a signal for war.

  The position of Peter I, surrounded on the Prut by an army of 200,000 Turks and Tatars, was extremely dangerous. The death of Peter was inevitable, but the Grand Vizier Baltaji-Mehmed succumbed to bribery and released Peter for the relatively unimportant concession of Azov (1711). The war party overthrew Baltaji-Mehmed and exiled to Lemnos, but Russia diplomatically secured the removal of Charles XII from the Ottoman Empire, for which they had to resort to force.

  In 1714-18 the Ottomans were at war with Venice and in 1716-18 with Austria. By Peace of Passarovica(1718) The Ottoman Empire got back Morea, but gave Austria Belgrade with a significant part of Serbia, Banat, part of Wallachia. In 1722, taking advantage of the end of the dynasty and the subsequent unrest in Persia, the Ottomans began religious war against the Shiites, which they hoped to reward themselves for their losses in Europe. Several defeats in this war and the Persian invasion of Ottoman territory caused a new uprising in Constantinople: Ahmed was deposed, and his nephew, the son of Mustafa II, Mahmud I, was elevated to the throne.

  Mahmud I's reign

  Under Mahmud I (1730–54), who was an exception among the Ottoman sultans with his mildness and humanity (he did not kill the deposed sultan and his sons and generally avoided executions), the war with Persia continued, without definite results. The war with Austria ended with the Peace of Belgrade (1739), according to which the Turks received Serbia with Belgrade and Orsova. Russia acted more successfully against the Ottomans, but the conclusion of peace by the Austrians forced the Russians to make concessions; of its conquests, Russia retained only Azov, but with the obligation to tear down the fortifications.

  During the reign of Mahmud, the first Turkish printing house was founded by Ibrahim Basmaji. The mufti, after some hesitation, gave a fatwa, with which, in the name of the interests of enlightenment, he blessed the undertaking, and the sultan allowed it as a gatti-sheriff. It was only forbidden to print the Koran and holy books. During the first period of the existence of the printing house, 15 works were printed in it (dictionaries Arabic and Persian, several books on the history of the Ottoman state and general geography, military art, political economy, etc.). After the death of Ibrahim Basmaji, the printing house was closed, a new one appeared only in 1784.

  Mahmud I, who died of natural causes, was succeeded by his brother Osman III (1754-57), whose reign was peaceful and who died in the same way as his brother.

  Reform attempts (1757-1839)

  Osman was succeeded by Mustafa III (1757–74), son of Ahmed III. Upon his accession to the throne, he firmly expressed his intention to change the policy of the Ottoman Empire and restore the brilliance of its weapons. He conceived rather extensive reforms (by the way, digging channels through Isthmus of Suez and through Asia Minor), openly did not sympathize with slavery and set free a significant number of slaves.

  General dissatisfaction, which had never been news in the Ottoman Empire before, was especially intensified by two cases: a caravan of the faithful returning from Mecca was robbed and destroyed by an unknown person, and a Turkish admiral's ship was captured by a detachment of sea robbers of Greek nationality. All this testified to the extreme weakness of state power.

  To settle the finances, Mustafa III began with savings in his own palace, but at the same time he allowed the coins to be damaged. Under the patronage of Mustafa, the first public library, several schools and hospitals were opened in Constantinople. He very willingly concluded an agreement with Prussia in 1761, by which he provided Prussian merchant ships with free navigation in Ottoman waters; Prussian subjects in the Ottoman Empire were subject to the jurisdiction of their consuls. Russia and Austria offered Mustafa 100,000 ducats for the abolition of the rights given to Prussia, but to no avail: Mustafa wanted to bring his state as close as possible to European civilization.

  Further attempts at reform did not go. In 1768, the Sultan had to declare war on Russia, which lasted 6 years and ended Kuchuk-Kainarji peace 1774. Peace was already concluded under Mustafa's brother and heir, Abdul-Hamid I (1774-1789).

  The reign of Abdul-Hamid I

  The empire at this time was almost everywhere in a state of ferment. The Greeks, excited by Orlov, were worried, but, left without help by the Russians, they were soon and easily pacified and severely punished. Ahmed Pasha of Baghdad declared himself independent; Taher, supported by Arab nomads, accepted the title of Sheikh of Galilee and Acre; Egypt under the rule of Muhammad Ali did not even think of paying tribute; Northern Albania, which was ruled by Mahmud, Pasha of Scutaria, was in a state of complete rebellion; Ali, the Pasha of Yaninsky, clearly aspired to establish an independent kingdom.

  The entire reign of Adbul-Hamid was occupied with the suppression of these uprisings, which could not be achieved due to the lack of money and a disciplined army from the Ottoman government. This was joined by a new war with Russia and Austria(1787-91), again unsuccessful for the Ottomans. She ended Treaty of Jassy with Russia (1792), according to which Russia finally acquired the Crimea and the space between the Bug and the Dniester, and the Treaty of Sistov with Austria (1791). The latter was comparatively favorable to the Ottoman Empire, since its main enemy, Joseph II, died, and Leopold II directed all his attention to France. Austria returned to the Ottomans most of the acquisitions she made in this war. Peace was already concluded under the nephew of Abdul Hamid, Selim III (1789-1807). In addition to territorial losses, the war made one significant change in the life of the Ottoman state: before it began (1785), the empire entered into its first public debt, first internal, guaranteed by some state revenues.

  Reign of Selim III

  Sultan Selim III was the first to realize the deep crisis of the Ottoman Empire and set about reforming the military and state organization of the country. With energetic measures, the government cleared the Aegean from pirates; it patronized trade and public education. His main focus was on the army. The Janissaries proved their almost complete uselessness in war, while at the same time keeping the country in periods of peace in a state of anarchy. The Sultan intended to replace their formations with a European-style army, but since it was obvious that it was impossible to immediately replace the entire old system, the reformers paid some attention to improving the position of traditional formations. Among other reforms of the Sultan were measures to strengthen the combat capability of artillery and fleet. The government took care of translating the best foreign writings on tactics and fortification into Ottoman; invited French officers to teaching positions in the artillery and naval schools; during the first of them, she founded a library of foreign writings on military sciences. Workshops for casting cannons were improved; military ships of the new model were ordered in France. These were all preliminary measures.

  Sultan Selim III

  The Sultan clearly wanted to move on to reorganizing the internal structure of the army; he set for her new form and began to introduce stricter discipline. Janissaries until he touched. But then, firstly, the uprising of the Viddin Pasha, Pasvan-Oglu (1797), who clearly neglected the orders coming from the government, became in his way, and secondly - Egyptian expedition Napoleon.

  Kuchuk-Hussein moved against Pasvan-Oglu and waged a real war with him, which did not have a definite result. The government finally entered into negotiations with the rebellious governor and recognized his lifelong rights to rule the Vidda Pashalik, in fact, on the basis of almost complete independence.

  In 1798, General Bonaparte made his famous attack on Egypt, then on Syria. Great Britain took the side of the Ottoman Empire, destroying the French fleet in battle of Aboukir. The expedition had no serious results for the Ottomans. Egypt remained formally in the power of the Ottoman Empire, in fact - in the power of the Mamluks.

  As soon as the war with the French ended (1801), an uprising of the Janissaries began in Belgrade, dissatisfied with the reforms in the army. Harassment on their part caused a popular movement in Serbia (1804) under the command of Karageorgi. The government supported the movement at first, but it soon took the form of a real popular uprising, and the Ottoman Empire had to start hostilities (see below). Battle of Ivankovac). The matter was complicated by the war started by Russia (1806-1812). The reforms had to be postponed again: the grand vizier and other senior officials and the military were in the theater of operations.

  coup attempt

  Only the kaymaqam (assistant to the grand vizier) and the deputy ministers remained in Constantinople. Sheikh-ul-Islam took advantage of this moment to plot against the Sultan. Ulema and Janissaries took part in the conspiracy, among whom rumors spread about the intention of the Sultan to disperse them into regiments of the standing army. The kaimaks also joined the conspiracy. On the appointed day, a detachment of Janissaries unexpectedly attacked the garrison of the standing army stationed in Constantinople, and carried out a massacre among them. Another part of the Janissaries surrounded Selim's palace and demanded from him the execution of persons they hated. Selim had the courage to refuse. He was arrested and taken into custody. The son of Abdul-Hamid, Mustafa IV (1807-1808), was proclaimed sultan. The massacre in the city continued for two days. On behalf of the powerless Mustafa, sheikh-ul-Islam and kaymaks ruled. But Selim had his adherents.

  During the coup of Kabakchi Mustafa (tur. Kabakçı Mustafa isyanı), Mustafa Bayraktar(Alemdar Mustafa Pasha - Pasha of the Bulgarian city of Ruschuk) and his followers began negotiations on the return of Sultan Selim III to the throne. Finally, with an army of sixteen thousand, Mustafa Bayraktar went to Istanbul, having previously sent Haji Ali Aga there, who killed Kabakchi Mustafa (July 19, 1808). Mustafa Bayraktar with his army, having destroyed a fairly large number of rebels, arrived in the High Port. Sultan Mustafa IV, having learned that Mustafa Bayraktar wanted to return the throne to Sultan Selim III, ordered to kill Selim and Shahzade's brother Mahmud. The Sultan was killed immediately, and Shahzade Mahmud, with the help of his slaves and servants, was released. Mustafa Bayraktar, having removed Mustafa IV from the throne, declared Mahmud II Sultan. The latter made him sadrazam - the great vizier.

  Reign of Mahmud II

  Not inferior to Selim in energy and in understanding the need for reforms, Mahmud was much tougher than Selim: angry, vindictive, he was more guided by personal passions, which were moderated by political far-sightedness than by a real desire for the good of the country. The ground for innovations had already been somewhat prepared, the ability not to think about means also favored Mahmud, and therefore his activities still left more traces than those of Selim. He appointed Bayraktar as his grand vizier, who ordered the beating of the participants in the conspiracy against Selim and other political opponents. Mustafa's own life was spared for a time.

  As the first reform, Bayraktar outlined the reorganization of the corps of the Janissaries, but he had the imprudence to send part of his army to the theater of operations; he had only 7,000 soldiers left. 6,000 Janissaries made a surprise attack on them and moved towards the palace in order to free Mustafa IV. Bayraktar, with a small detachment, locked himself in the palace, threw out the corpse of Mustafa to them, and then blew up part of the palace into the air and buried himself in the ruins. A few hours later, a 3,000-strong army loyal to the government arrived, headed by Ramiz Pasha, defeated the Janissaries and exterminated a significant part of them.

  Mahmud decided to postpone the reform until the end of the war with Russia, which ended in 1812. Bucharest peace. Congress of Vienna made some changes in the position of the Ottoman Empire, or, more correctly, defined more precisely and approved in theory and on geographical maps what had already taken place in reality. Dalmatia and Illyria were approved for Austria, Bessarabia for Russia; seven ionian islands received self-government under the English protectorate; English ships received the right of free passage through the Dardanelles.

  Even in the territory that remained with the empire, the government did not feel confident. In Serbia in 1817 an uprising began, which ended only after the recognition of Serbia by peace of Adrianople 1829 as a separate vassal state, with its own prince at the head. In 1820 the uprising began Ali Pasha Yaninsky. As a result of the betrayal of his own sons, he was defeated, captured and executed; but a significant part of his army formed a cadre of Greek rebels. In 1821, the uprising, which grew into war for independence started in Greece. After the intervention of Russia, France and England and the unfortunate for the Ottoman Empire Navarino (sea) battle(1827), in which the Turkish and Egyptian fleets perished, the Ottomans lost Greece.

  Military casualties

  Getting rid of the Janissaries and Dervishes (1826) did not save the Turks from defeat both in the war with the Serbs and in the war with the Greeks. These two wars, and in connection with them, were followed by the war with Russia (1828–29), which ended Peace of Adrianople 1829 The Ottoman Empire lost Serbia, Moldavia, Wallachia, Greece, the eastern coast of the Black Sea.

  Following this, Muhammad Ali, Khedive of Egypt (1831-1833 and 1839), broke away from the Ottoman Empire. In the struggle against the latter, the empire suffered blows that put its very existence at stake; but twice (1833 and 1839) she was saved by the unexpected intercession of Russia, caused by the fear of a European war, which would probably be caused by the collapse of the Ottoman state. However, this intercession brought real benefits to Russia: according to the peace in Gunkjar Skelessi (1833), the Ottoman Empire provided Russian ships with passage through the Dardanelles, closing it to England. At the same time, the French decided to take away Algeria from the Ottomans (since 1830), and earlier, however, was only nominally dependent on the empire.

  Civil reforms

  Mahmud II begins modernization in 1839.

  The wars did not stop the reformist plans of Mahmud; private transformations in the army continued throughout his reign. He also cared about raising the level of education among the people; under him (1831), the first newspaper in the Ottoman Empire began to appear in French, which had an official character (“Moniteur ottoman”). From the end of 1831, the first official newspaper in Turkish, Takvim-i Vekai, began to appear.

  Like Peter the Great, perhaps even consciously imitating him, Mahmud sought to introduce European mores into the people; he himself wore a European costume and encouraged his officials to do so, forbade the wearing of a turban, arranged festivities in Constantinople and other cities with fireworks, with European music, and in general according to the European model. Before the most important reforms of the civil system, conceived by him, he did not live; they were already the work of his heir. But even the little that he did went against the religious feelings of the Muslim population. He began to mint a coin with his image, which is directly prohibited in the Koran (the news that previous sultans also took portraits of themselves is highly doubtful).

  Throughout his reign, in different parts of the state, especially in Constantinople, revolts of Muslims caused by religious feelings incessantly occurred; the government dealt with them extremely cruelly: sometimes 4,000 corpses were thrown into the Bosphorus in a few days. At the same time, Mahmud did not hesitate to execute even the ulema and dervishes, who were generally his fierce enemies.

  During the reign of Mahmud there were especially many fires in Constantinople, partly due to arson; the people explained them as God's punishment for the sins of the sultan.

  Board results

  The extermination of the Janissaries, which at first damaged the Ottoman Empire, depriving it of a bad, but still not useless army, after a few years turned out to be extremely beneficial: the Ottoman army rose to the height of the European armies, which was clearly proven in the Crimean campaign and even more in the war of 1877-1878 and in the Greek war of 1897. Territorial reduction, especially the loss of Greece, also turned out to be beneficial rather than harmful for the empire.

  The Ottomans never allowed military service for Christians; areas with a continuous Christian population (Greece and Serbia), without increasing the Turkish army, at the same time required significant military garrisons from it, which could not be set in motion in a moment of need. This applies in particular to Greece, which, due to its extended maritime border did not even represent strategic benefits for the Ottoman Empire, stronger on land than at sea. The loss of territories reduced the state revenues of the empire, but during the reign of Mahmud, the trade of the Ottoman Empire with European states somewhat revived, the country's productivity increased somewhat (bread, tobacco, grapes, rose oil, etc.).

  Thus, despite all external defeats, despite even the terrible battle of nizibe, in which Muhammad Ali destroyed a significant Ottoman army and was followed by the loss of an entire fleet, Mahmud left Abdul-Majid with a state strengthened rather than weakened. It was strengthened by the fact that henceforth the interest of the European powers was more closely connected with the preservation of the Ottoman state. The significance of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles has increased unusually; the European powers felt that the capture of Constantinople by one of them would deal an irreparable blow to the others, and therefore they considered it more profitable for themselves to preserve the weak Ottoman Empire.

  In general, the empire nevertheless decayed, and Nicholas I rightly called it a sick person; but the death of the Ottoman state was postponed indefinitely. Beginning with Crimean War, the empire began to intensively make foreign loans, and this acquired for it the influential support of its many creditors, that is, mainly the financiers of England. On the other hand, internal reforms that could raise the state and save it from destruction became in the 19th century. more and more difficult. Russia was afraid of these reforms, as they could strengthen the Ottoman Empire, and through its influence at the court of the Sultan tried to make them impossible; so, in 1876-1877, she killed Midhad Pasha, who turned out to be able to carry out serious reforms that were not inferior in importance to the reforms of Sultan Mahmud.

  The reign of Abdul-Mejid (1839-1861)

  Mahmud was succeeded by his 16-year-old son Abdul-Mejid, who was not distinguished by his energy and inflexibility, but who was a much more cultured and gentle person.

  Despite everything done by Mahmud, the battle of Nizib could have completely destroyed the Ottoman Empire if Russia, England, Austria and Prussia had not concluded an alliance to protect the integrity of the Port (1840); they drew up a treatise by virtue of which the Egyptian viceroy retained Egypt at the hereditary beginning, but undertook to immediately clear Syria, and in case of refusal he had to lose all his possessions. This alliance aroused indignation in France, which supported Muhammad Ali, and Thiers even made preparations for war; however, Louis-Philippe did not dare to do so. Despite the inequality of forces, Muhammad Ali was ready to resist; but the English squadron bombarded Beirut, burned the Egyptian fleet and landed in Syria a corps of 9000 people, who, with the help of the Maronites, inflicted several defeats on the Egyptians. Muhammad Ali relented; The Ottoman Empire was saved, and Abdulmejid, supported by Khozrev Pasha, Reshid Pasha and other associates of his father, began reforms.

  Gulhane Hutt Sheriff

  At the end of 1839, Abdul-Mejid published the famous Gulhane hatti-sheriff (Gulhane - “house of roses”, the name of the square where the hatt-sheriff was announced). It was a manifesto that set out the principles that the government intended to follow:

  • providing all subjects with perfect security regarding their life, honor and property;
  • the right way to distribute and levy taxes;
  • an equally correct way to recruit soldiers.

  It was recognized as necessary to change the distribution of taxes in the sense of their equalization and to abandon the system of handing them over, to determine the costs of land and sea forces; publicity was established legal proceedings. All these benefits extended to all subjects of the Sultan without distinction of religion. The Sultan himself took an oath of allegiance to the Hatti Sheriff. The only thing left to do was keep the promise.

  Humayun

  After the Crimean War, the Sultan published a new Gatti Sheriff Gumayun (1856), in which the principles of the first were confirmed and developed in more detail; especially insisted on the equality of all subjects, without distinction of religion and nationality. After this Gatti Sheriff, the old law on death penalty for converting from Islam to another religion. However, most of these decisions remained only on paper.

  The higher government was partly unable to cope with the willfulness of lower officials, and partly did not want to resort to some of the measures promised in the Gatti Sheriffs, such as, for example, the appointment of Christians to various posts. Once it made an attempt to recruit soldiers from Christians, but this caused discontent among both Muslims and Christians, especially since the government did not dare to abandon religious principles during the production of officers (1847); this measure was soon abolished. The massacres of the Maronites in Syria (1845 and others) confirmed that religious tolerance was still alien to the Ottoman Empire.

  During the reign of Abdul-Mejid, roads were improved, many bridges were built, several telegraph lines were laid, and mail was organized according to the European model.

  The events of 1848 did not resonate at all in the Ottoman Empire; only hungarian revolution prompted the Ottoman government to make an attempt to restore its dominance on the Danube, but the defeat of the Hungarians dispelled his hopes. When Kossuth and his comrades escaped on Turkish territory, Austria and Russia turned to Sultan Abdul-Majid demanding their extradition. The Sultan replied that religion forbade him to violate the duty of hospitality.

  Crimean War

  1853-1856 were the time of the new Eastern War, which ended in 1856 with the Peace of Paris. On the Paris Congress a representative of the Ottoman Empire was admitted on the basis of equality, and by this the empire was recognized as a member of the European concern. However, this recognition was more formal than real. First of all, the Ottoman Empire, whose participation in the war was very large and which proved an increase in its fighting ability compared with the first quarter of the 19th or the end of the 18th century, actually received very little from the war; the demolition of Russian fortresses on the northern coast of the Black Sea was of negligible importance to her, and Russia's loss of the right to keep a navy on the Black Sea could not be long and was canceled already in 1871. Further, consular jurisdiction was retained and proved that Europe was still watching on the Ottoman Empire as a barbarian state. After the war, the European powers began to set up their own postal institutions on the territory of the empire, independent of the Ottoman ones.

  The war not only did not increase the power of the Ottoman Empire over the vassal states, but weakened it; the Danubian principalities in 1861 united into one state, Romania, and in Serbia, friendly to Turkey, the Obrenovici were overthrown and replaced by friendly ones to Russia Karageorgievichi; a little later, Europe forced the empire to remove its garrisons from Serbia (1867). During the Eastern campaign, the Ottoman Empire made a loan in England of 7 million pounds; in 1858,1860 and 1861 I had to make new loans. At the same time, the government issued a significant amount of paper money, the rate of which soon and strongly fell. In connection with other events, this caused the commercial crisis of 1861, which severely affected the population.

  Abdulaziz (1861-76) and Murad V (1876)

  Abdulaziz was a hypocritical, voluptuous, and bloodthirsty tyrant, more like the sultans of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries than his brother; but he understood the impossibility under the given conditions to stop on the path of reforms. In the Gatti Sheriff published by him upon accession to the throne, he solemnly promised to continue the policy of his predecessors. Indeed, he released from prison the political criminals imprisoned in the previous reign, and retained his brother's ministers. Moreover, he declared that he was giving up the harem and would be content with one wife. The promises were not fulfilled: a few days later, as a result of palace intrigue, the Grand Vizier Mehmed Kybrysly Pasha was overthrown, and replaced by Aali Pasha, who in turn was overthrown a few months later and then again took the same post in 1867.

  In general, the grand viziers and other officials were replaced with extreme speed due to the intrigues of the harem, which was very soon reinstated. Some measures in the spirit of the Tanzimat were nevertheless taken. The most important of them is the publication (far, however, not exactly true) of the Ottoman state budget (1864). During the ministry of Aali Pasha (1867-1871), one of the most intelligent and dexterous Ottoman diplomats of the 19th century, the waqfs were partially secularized, Europeans were granted the right to own real estate within the Ottoman Empire (1867), reorganized state council(1868), issued a new law on public education, introduced formally metric system of measures and weights, not grafted, however, in life (1869). Censorship was organized in the same ministry (1867), the creation of which was caused by the quantitative growth of periodicals and non-periodicals in Constantinople and other cities, in Ottoman and foreign languages.

  Censorship under Aali Pasha was distinguished by extreme pettiness and severity; she not only forbade writing about what seemed inconvenient to the Ottoman government, but directly ordered to print praising the wisdom of the sultan and government; in general, it made the whole press more or less official. Its general character remained the same after Aali Pasha, and only under Midhad Pasha in 1876-1877 was it somewhat softer.

  War in Montenegro

  In 1862, Montenegro, seeking complete independence from the Ottoman Empire, supporting the rebels of Herzegovina and counting on the support of Russia, began a war with the empire. Russia did not support it, and since a significant preponderance of forces was on the side of the Ottomans, the latter quickly won a decisive victory: the troops of Omer Pasha penetrated to the very capital, but did not take it, as the Montenegrins began to ask for peace, to which the Ottoman Empire agreed .

  Revolt in Crete

  In 1866, a Greek uprising began in Crete. This uprising aroused warm sympathy in Greece, which began to hastily prepare for war. The European powers came to the aid of the Ottoman Empire and firmly forbade Greece to intercede for the Cretans. Forty thousand troops were sent to Crete. Despite the extraordinary courage of the Cretans, who waged a guerrilla war in the mountains of their island, they could not hold out for long, and after three years of struggle, the uprising was pacified; the rebels were punished with executions and confiscation of property.

  After the death of Aali Pasha, the grand viziers began to change again with extreme speed. In addition to harem intrigues, there was another reason for this: two parties fought at the court of the Sultan - English and Russian, acting on the instructions of the ambassadors of England and Russia. The Russian ambassador in Constantinople in 1864-1877 was Count Nikolai Ignatiev, who had undoubted relations with the disaffected in the empire, promising them Russian intercession. At the same time, he had a great influence on the Sultan, convincing him of the friendship of Russia and promising him assistance in the change of order planned by the Sultan. succession not to the eldest in the family, as it was before, but from father to son, since the Sultan really wanted to transfer the throne to his son Yusuf Izedin.

  coup d'état

  In 1875, an uprising broke out in Herzegovina, Bosnia and Bulgaria, which dealt a decisive blow to Ottoman finances. It was announced that from now on, the Ottoman Empire on its foreign debts pays in cash only one half of the interest, the other half - in coupons payable no earlier than after 5 years. The need for more serious reforms was recognized by many of the highest officials of the empire and, at their head, Midhad Pasha; however, under the capricious and despotic Abdul-Aziz, their holding was completely impossible. In view of this, the Grand Vizier Mehmed Rushdi Pasha plotted with the ministers Midhad Pasha, Hussein Avni Pasha and others and the Sheikh-ul-Islam to overthrow the Sultan. Sheikh-ul-Islam gave this fatwa: “If the ruler of the faithful proves his madness, if he does not have the political knowledge necessary to govern the state, if he makes personal expenses that the state cannot bear, if his stay on the throne threatens with disastrous consequences, should it be deposed or not? The law says yes.

  On the night of May 30, 1876, Hussein Avni Pasha, putting a revolver to the chest of Murad, the heir to the throne (son of Abdul-Majid), forced him to accept the crown. At the same time, a detachment of infantry entered the palace of Abdul-Aziz, and it was announced to him that he had ceased to reign. Murad V ascended the throne. A few days later it was reported that Abdul-Aziz cut his veins with scissors and died. Murad V, who had not been quite normal before, under the influence of the murder of his uncle, the subsequent murder of several ministers in the house of Midkhad Pasha by the Circassian Hassan Bey, who was avenging the Sultan, and other events, completely went crazy and became just as inconvenient for his progressive ministers. In August 1876, he was also deposed with the help of the mufti's fatwa and his brother Abdul-Hamid was elevated to the throne.

  Abdul Hamid II

  Already at the end of the reign of Abdul-Aziz began uprising in Herzegovina and Bosnia, caused by the extremely difficult situation of the population of these regions, partly obliged to serve corvee in the fields of large Muslim landowners, partly personally free, but completely without rights, oppressed by exorbitant exactions and at the same time constantly fueled in their hatred of the Turks by the close proximity of free Montenegrins.

  In the spring of 1875, some communities turned to the Sultan with a request to reduce the tax on rams and the tax paid by Christians in return for military service, and to organize a police force of Christians. They didn't even answer. Then their inhabitants took up arms. The movement quickly covered all of Herzegovina and spread to Bosnia; Niksic was besieged by the rebels. Volunteer detachments moved from Montenegro and Serbia to help the rebels. The movement aroused great interest abroad, especially in Russia and in Austria; the latter appealed to the Porte demanding religious equality, tax cuts, revision of laws on real estate, and so on. The Sultan immediately promised to fulfill all this (February 1876), but the rebels did not agree to lay down their weapons until the Ottoman troops were withdrawn from Herzegovina. The fermentation also spread to Bulgaria, where the Ottomans, in the form of a response, carried out a terrible massacre (see Bulgaria), which caused indignation throughout Europe (Gladstone's brochure on atrocities in Bulgaria), entire villages were completely slaughtered, up to and including infants. The Bulgarian uprising was drowned in blood, but the Herzegovinian and Bosnian uprising continued into 1876 and finally caused the intervention of Serbia and Montenegro (1876-1877; see. Serbo-Montenegrin-Turkish War).

  On May 6, 1876, in Thessaloniki, a fanatical crowd, in which there were also some officials, killed the French and German consuls. Of the participants or conniving in the crime, Selim Bey, the chief of police in Thessaloniki, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, one colonel to 3 years; but these punishments, far from being carried out in their entirety, satisfied no one, and the public opinion of Europe was strongly stirred up against a country where such crimes might be committed.

  In December 1876, at the initiative of England, a conference of the great powers in Constantinople was convened to settle the difficulties caused by the uprising, which did not achieve its goal. The Grand Vizier at this time (since December 13, New Style, 1876) was Midhad Pasha, a liberal and an Anglophile, head of the Young Turk Party. Considering it necessary to make the Ottoman Empire a European country and wanting to present it as such as authorized by the European powers, he drafted a constitution in a few days and forced Sultan Abdul-Hamid to sign and publish it (December 23, 1876).

  Ottoman Parliament, 1877

  The constitution was drawn up on the model of European ones, especially the Belgian one. It guaranteed individual rights and established a parliamentary regime; the parliament was to consist of two chambers, from which the chamber of deputies was elected by universal closed voting of all Ottoman subjects without distinction of religion and nationality. The first elections were made during the reign of Midhad; his candidates were chosen almost universally. The opening of the first parliamentary session took place only on March 7, 1877, and even earlier, on March 5, Midhad was overthrown and arrested due to palace intrigues. Parliament was opened with a speech from the throne, but dissolved a few days later. New elections were held, the new session was just as short, and then, without the formal repeal of the constitution, even without the formal dissolution of Parliament, it did not meet again.

  Main article: Russian-Turkish war 1877-1878

  In April 1877 the war with Russia began, in February 1878 it ended San Stefano world, then (June 13 - July 13, 1878) by the modified Berlin Treaty. The Ottoman Empire lost all rights to Serbia and Romania; Bosnia and Herzegovina were given to Austria to establish order in it (de facto - in full possession); Bulgaria constituted a separate vassal principality, Eastern Rumelia, an autonomous province, which soon (1885) united with Bulgaria. Serbia, Montenegro and Greece received territorial increments. In Asia, Russia received Kars, Ardagan, Batum. The Ottoman Empire had to pay Russia an indemnity of 800 million francs.

  Riots in Crete and in the regions inhabited by Armenians

  Nevertheless, the internal conditions of life remained approximately the same, and this was reflected in the riots that constantly arose in one place or another in the Ottoman Empire. In 1889 an uprising began in Crete. The rebels demanded the reorganization of the police so that it did not consist of only Muslims and patronize more than one Muslims, a new organization of the courts, etc. The Sultan rejected these demands and decided to use weapons. The uprising was put down.

  In 1887 in Geneva , in 1890 in Tiflis the political parties Hunchak and Dashnaktsutyun were organized by the Armenians . In August 1894, the organization of the Dashnaks and under the control of a member of this party, Ambartsum Boyajiyan, began unrest in Sasun. These events are explained by the disenfranchised position of the Armenians, especially by the robberies of the Kurds, who made up part of the troops in Asia Minor. The Turks and Kurds responded with a terrible massacre, reminiscent of the Bulgarian horrors, where rivers bled for months; whole villages were slaughtered [source unspecified 1127 days] ; many Armenians taken prisoner. All these facts were confirmed by European (mainly English) newspaper correspondence, which very often spoke from the standpoint of Christian solidarity and caused an explosion of indignation in England. To the presentation made on this occasion by the British ambassador, the Porte replied with a categorical denial of the validity of the "facts" and a statement that it was a question of the usual suppression of a riot. Nevertheless, the ambassadors of England, France and Russia in May 1895 presented the Sultan with demands for reforms in the areas inhabited by Armenians, based on the decrees Berlin Treaty; they demanded that the officials governing these lands be at least half Christian and that their appointment depend on a special commission in which Christians would also be represented; [ style!] The Porte replied that she did not see any need for reforms for individual territories, but that she meant general reforms for the whole state.

  On August 14, 1896, members of the Dashnaktsutyun party in Istanbul itself attacked the Ottoman Bank, killed the guards and exchanged fire with the arriving army units. On the same day, as a result of negotiations between the Russian ambassador Maksimov and the Sultan, the Dashnaks left the city and headed for Marseille, on the yacht of Edgard Vincent, the general director of the Ottoman Bank. The European ambassadors made a presentation to the Sultan on this occasion. This time the sultan saw fit to reply with a promise of reform, which was not fulfilled; only a new administration of vilayets, sanjaks and nakhiyas was introduced (see. State structure of the Ottoman Empire), which made very little difference to the merits of the matter.

  In 1896, new unrest began in Crete and immediately took on a more dangerous character. The session of the national assembly opened, but it did not enjoy the slightest authority among the population. Nobody counted on the help of Europe. The uprising flared up; rebel detachments in Crete disturbed the Turkish troops, more than once inflicting heavy losses on them. The movement found a lively echo in Greece, from which in February 1897 a military detachment under the command of Colonel Vassos set off for the island of Crete. Then the European squadron, consisting of German, Italian, Russian and English warships, under the command of the Italian admiral Canevaro, assumed a threatening position. On February 21, 1897, she began to bombard the rebels' military camp near the city of Kanei and forced them to disperse. A few days later, however, the rebels and the Greeks managed to take the city of Kadano and capture 3,000 Turks.

  At the beginning of March, a riot of Turkish gendarmes took place in Crete, dissatisfied with not receiving salaries for many months. This rebellion could have been very useful for the rebels, but the European landing disarmed them. On March 25, the rebels attacked Kanea, but came under fire from European ships and had to retreat with heavy losses. At the beginning of April 1897, Greece moved its troops into Ottoman territory, hoping to penetrate as far as Macedonia, where minor riots were taking place at the same time. Within one month, the Greeks were utterly defeated, and the Ottoman troops occupied all of Thessaly. The Greeks were forced to ask for peace, which was concluded in September 1897 under pressure from the powers. There were no territorial changes, except for a small strategic correction of the border between Greece and the Ottoman Empire in favor of the latter; but Greece had to pay a war indemnity of 4 million Turkish pounds.

  In the autumn of 1897, the uprising on the island of Crete also ended, after the sultan once again promised self-government to the island of Crete. Indeed, at the insistence of the powers, Prince George of Greece was appointed governor-general of the island, the island received self-government and retained only vassal relations with the Ottoman Empire. At the beginning of the XX century. in Crete, there was a noticeable desire for a complete separation of the island from the empire and for joining Greece. At the same time (1901) fermentation continued in Macedonia. In the autumn of 1901, Macedonian revolutionaries captured an American woman and demanded a ransom for her; this causes great inconvenience to the Ottoman government, which is powerless to protect the safety of foreigners on its territory. In the same year, the movement of the Young Turk party, at the head of which was once Midhad Pasha, manifested itself with comparatively greater strength; she began to intensively produce brochures and leaflets in the Ottoman language in Geneva and Paris for distribution in the Ottoman Empire; in Istanbul itself, quite a few persons belonging to the bureaucratic and officer class were arrested and sentenced to various punishments on charges of participating in the Young Turk agitation. Even the son-in-law of the sultan, married to his daughter, went abroad with his two sons, openly joined the Young Turk party and did not want to return to his homeland, despite the insistent invitation of the sultan. In 1901, the Porte made an attempt to destroy European postal institutions, but this attempt was unsuccessful. In 1901, France demanded that the Ottoman Empire meet the claims of some of its capitalists, creditors; the latter refused, then the French fleet occupied Mytilene and the Ottomans hurried to satisfy all demands.

  Departure of Mehmed VI, the last sultan of the Ottoman Empire, 1922

  • In the 19th century, separatist sentiments intensified on the outskirts of the empire. The Ottoman Empire began to gradually lose its territories, yielding to the technological superiority of the West.
  • In 1908, the Young Turks overthrew Abdul-Hamid II, after which the monarchy in the Ottoman Empire began to have a decorative character (see article Young Turk Revolution). The triumvirate of Enver, Talaat and Dzhemal was established (January 1913).
  • In 1912, Italy seizes Tripolitania and Cyrenaica (now Libya) from the empire.
  • AT First Balkan War 1912-1913 the empire loses the vast majority of its European possessions: Albania, Macedonia, northern Greece. During 1913, she manages to win back a small part of the land from Bulgaria during Inter-Allied (Second Balkan) War.
  • Weakening, the Ottoman Empire tried to rely on the help of Germany, but this only dragged it into World War I ending in defeat Quadruple Union.
  • October 30, 1914 - The Ottoman Empire officially announced its entry into the First World War, having actually entered it the day before by shelling the Black Sea ports of Russia.
  • In 1915, the Armenian Genocide, Assyrians, Greeks.
  • During 1917-1918, the allies occupy the Middle Eastern possessions of the Ottoman Empire. After the First World War, Syria and Lebanon came under the control of France, Palestine, Jordan and Iraq - Great Britain; in the west of the Arabian Peninsula with the support of the British ( Lawrence of Arabia) formed independent states: Hejaz, Najd, Asir and Yemen. Subsequently, Hijaz and Asir became part of Saudi Arabia.
  • October 30, 1918 was concluded Truce of Mudros followed by Treaty of Sèvres(August 10, 1920), which did not enter into force because it was not ratified by all signatories (ratified only by Greece). According to this agreement, the Ottoman Empire was to be dismembered, and one of the largest cities in Asia Minor Izmir (Smyrna) was promised to Greece. The Greek army took it on May 15, 1919, after which the war for independence. Turkish military statesmen led by a pasha Mustafa Kemal refused to recognize the peace treaty and the armed forces remaining under their command expelled the Greeks from the country. By September 18, 1922, Turkey was liberated, which was recorded in Treaty of Lausanne 1923, which recognized the new borders of Turkey.
  • On October 29, 1923, the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed, and Mustafa Kemal, who later took the surname Atatürk (father of the Turks), became its first president.
  • March 3, 1924 - Grand National Assembly of Turkey Caliphate was abolished.