The Ottoman Empire
Overview
Often identified as the empire of Islam this civilisation was one of the largest and longest reigning empires to of ever existed in the world. The civilisation originated in a region called Anatolia in which Islamic tribes fought against hordes of different civilisations including the Byzantine empire, separate Turkish tribes and the Mongol's. The eventual outcome being the establishment and the first Ottoman state lead by Osman I.[1]
Longevity
The Ottoman Empire ruled the middle East and the surrounding areas from 1299 up until the end of the First World War at the treaty of sevres on the 10th august 1920 During the founding years of the empire there was rapid expansion as past fallen empires such as the Byzantine empire were enveloped and became part of this newly formed empire. However by the 1800's the empire began to show signs of instability this has been diagnosed to be due to two things these were a poor government and economic stagnation. The Ottoman empire ever since its foundation had been ruled by a sultan a person who held all the power in the empire. As a result of this the ministers who worked underneath the Sultan began to appease the wishes of the sultan rather than govern the empire in order to gain more power themselves as a result policies went unchanged and local governments grew weary of central government as a result many began to become antonymous and eventually lost all respect for the sultan and the empire. The economic decline runs adjacent to the political decline, as towns and cities within the empire began to govern themselves they no longer shared the same goal as the capital to conquer neighbouring lands. Thus the income from pillaging enemies became almost none existent. In addition to this what trade the Ottomans did have in the form of goods was now being outclassed by the newly emerging European empires who due to the economic crisis now gripping the ottoman empire were free to trade anywhere within the empire.[2]
The alliance with axis powers in the first world war was the last straw and the ottoman empire was abolished on August 10, 1920[3]
Population
14.63 million
Leadership
The Ottoman empire was governed by a Sultan in which all power was his. Initially these sultans maintained their power as they were able to conquer the weak surrounding areas of the empire. However towards the fall of the empire. Many towns and cities began to govern themselves as they had realised that many of the sultans were uneducated in politics, economics or war and this was ultimately their demise
Technology
The ottomans at the formation of their empire held a lot of its success to learning, with them experiencing technological advances in economics, military and science. However by the 1700's the emerging European empires began to overtake it with reform in military organisation, schools, medicine, sanitation and the military. The Ottomans unlike other empires accepted that they were inferior technology wise and set out to adopt much of the new western technology in order to improve its own[4].
Size
The Ottoman empire at its largest covered much of the middle east, Eastern Europe and Northern Africa. spanning 7.6 million square miles
Often identified as the empire of Islam this civilisation was one of the largest and longest reigning empires to of ever existed in the world. The civilisation originated in a region called Anatolia in which Islamic tribes fought against hordes of different civilisations including the Byzantine empire, separate Turkish tribes and the Mongol's. The eventual outcome being the establishment and the first Ottoman state lead by Osman I.[1]
Longevity
The Ottoman Empire ruled the middle East and the surrounding areas from 1299 up until the end of the First World War at the treaty of sevres on the 10th august 1920 During the founding years of the empire there was rapid expansion as past fallen empires such as the Byzantine empire were enveloped and became part of this newly formed empire. However by the 1800's the empire began to show signs of instability this has been diagnosed to be due to two things these were a poor government and economic stagnation. The Ottoman empire ever since its foundation had been ruled by a sultan a person who held all the power in the empire. As a result of this the ministers who worked underneath the Sultan began to appease the wishes of the sultan rather than govern the empire in order to gain more power themselves as a result policies went unchanged and local governments grew weary of central government as a result many began to become antonymous and eventually lost all respect for the sultan and the empire. The economic decline runs adjacent to the political decline, as towns and cities within the empire began to govern themselves they no longer shared the same goal as the capital to conquer neighbouring lands. Thus the income from pillaging enemies became almost none existent. In addition to this what trade the Ottomans did have in the form of goods was now being outclassed by the newly emerging European empires who due to the economic crisis now gripping the ottoman empire were free to trade anywhere within the empire.[2]
The alliance with axis powers in the first world war was the last straw and the ottoman empire was abolished on August 10, 1920[3]
Population
14.63 million
Leadership
The Ottoman empire was governed by a Sultan in which all power was his. Initially these sultans maintained their power as they were able to conquer the weak surrounding areas of the empire. However towards the fall of the empire. Many towns and cities began to govern themselves as they had realised that many of the sultans were uneducated in politics, economics or war and this was ultimately their demise
Technology
The ottomans at the formation of their empire held a lot of its success to learning, with them experiencing technological advances in economics, military and science. However by the 1700's the emerging European empires began to overtake it with reform in military organisation, schools, medicine, sanitation and the military. The Ottomans unlike other empires accepted that they were inferior technology wise and set out to adopt much of the new western technology in order to improve its own[4].
Size
The Ottoman empire at its largest covered much of the middle east, Eastern Europe and Northern Africa. spanning 7.6 million square miles