The collapse of the Ottoman Empire: history, causes, consequences and interesting facts

The First World War, which brought innumerable disasters to the peoples of Europe, made the collapse of the Ottoman Empire inevitable over the centuries prevalent in significant territories that had fallen victim to its insatiable military expansion. Forced to join the Central Powers, such as Germany, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria, she, along with them, learned the bitterness of defeat, failing to assert itself as the leading world empire.

Founder of the Ottoman Empire

At the end of the 13th century, Osman I Gazi inherited from his father Bey Ertogrul the power over the countless Turkish hordes that inhabited Phrygia. Proclaiming the independence of this relatively small territory and taking the title of Sultan, he managed to conquer a significant part of Asia Minor and thus establish a powerful empire, named in his honor the Ottoman. She was destined to play an important role in world history.

Already in the middle of the fourteenth century the Turkish army landed on the coast of Europe and began its centuries-old expansion, which made this state in the XV-XVI centuries one of the greatest in the world. However, the beginning of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire was already outlined in the XVII century, when the Turkish army , which had not been defeated before and was considered invincible , suffered a crushing blow against the walls of the Austrian capital.

The first defeat from Europeans

In 1683, hordes of Ottomans advanced to Vienna, taking the city under siege. Its inhabitants, who had heard enough about the savage and ruthless customs of these barbarians, showed miracles of heroism, protecting themselves and their families from certain death. As evidenced by historical documents, the success of the defenders was greatly facilitated by the fact that among the garrison command there were many prominent military commanders of those years who were able to competently and quickly take all necessary defensive measures.

When the King of Poland arrived to help the besieged, the fate of the attackers was resolved. They fled, leaving rich prey to Christians. This victory, with which the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire began, had for the peoples of Europe, above all, psychological significance. It dispelled the myth of the invincibility of the omnipotent Porta, as it was customary for Europeans to call the Ottoman Empire.

The beginning of territorial losses

This defeat, as well as a number of subsequent failures, led to the conclusion of the Karlovytsky peace concluded in January 1699. According to this document, Porta lost previously controlled areas of Hungary, Transylvania and Timisoara. Its borders have shifted to the south for a considerable distance. This was already a fairly tangible blow to its imperial integrity.

Troubles in the 18th Century

If the first half of the next, the 18th century, was marked by certain military successes of the Ottoman Empire, which allowed it, albeit with a temporary loss of Derbent, but to preserve its access to the Black and Azov Seas, the second half of the century brought a series of setbacks that also predetermined the future disintegration of the Ottoman Empire.

The defeat in the Turkish war, which Empress Catherine II led with the Ottoman Sultan, forced the latter to sign a peace treaty in July 1774, according to which Russia received lands stretching between the Dnieper and the Southern Bug. The following year brings a new misfortune - Porta loses Bukovina, which has departed to Austria.

Completed for the Ottomans of the XVIII century a complete catastrophe. The final defeat in the Russo-Turkish war led to the conclusion of a very unprofitable and humiliating Jassic world, in accordance with which the entire northern Black Sea region, including the Crimean peninsula, was moving toward Russia.

The signature on the document certifying that from now on and forever our Crimea was put personally by Prince Potemkin. In addition, the Ottoman Empire was forced to transfer to Russia the land between the Southern Bug and the Dniester, and also to accept the loss of its dominant positions in the Caucasus and the Balkans.

The beginning of a new century and new troubles

The beginning of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century was predetermined by its next defeat in the Russian-Turkish war of 1806-1812. The result of this was the signing in Bucharest of yet another, in fact, pernicious for the Porta treaty. On the Russian side, the main authorized representative was Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, and with the Turkish - Ahmed Pasha. The entire region from the Dniester to Prut went to Russia and began to be called first the Bessarabian region, then the Bessarabian province, and now it is Moldova.

The attempt made by the Turks in 1828 to take revenge from Russia for past defeats resulted in a new rout and another peace treaty signed in Andreapol next year, which deprived it of the already already scarce territory of the Danube delta. To top it off, Greece declared its independence at the same time.

Short-term success, again replaced by defeat

The only time the luck smiled to the Ottomans during the Crimean War of 1853-1856, mediocratically lost by Nicholas I. His successor on the Russian throne, Tsar Alexander II, was forced to cede much of Bessarabia to Porte, but the new war that followed in 1877-1878 brought everything back to its proper place.

The collapse of the Ottoman Empire continued. Taking advantage of the favorable moment, in the same year Romania, Serbia and Montenegro separated from it. All three states proclaimed their independence. The 18th century ended for the Ottomans by the unification of the northern part of Bulgaria and the territory of the Empire that belonged to them, called South Rumelia.

War with the Balkan Union

XX century is the final disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and the formation of the Republic of Turkey. A number of events preceded this, the beginning of which was laid in 1908 by Bulgaria, which declared its independence and thus ended the five-hundred-year-old Turkish yoke. Then followed the war of 1912-1913, announced by the Porte Balkan Union. It included Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Montenegro. The purpose of these states was to seize the territories that belonged at that time to the Ottomans.

Despite the fact that the Turks deployed two powerful armies, the Southern and Northern armies, the war, which ended in the victory of the Balkan Union, led to the signing in London of another treaty that deprived the Ottoman Empire of the entire Balkan Peninsula this time, leaving only Istanbul and an insignificant part of Thrace. The main part of the captured territories was received by Greece and Serbia, which increased their area by almost twice. In those days, a new state was formed - Albania.

Proclamation of the Republic of Turkey

About how the collapse of the Ottoman Empire occurred in subsequent years, you can simply imagine, following the course of the First World War. Wanting to regain at least part of the territories lost in recent centuries, Porta took part in hostilities, but, unfortunately, on the side of the losing powers - Germany, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria. This was the last blow that crushed the once-powerful empire that terrorized the whole world. Did not save her and won in 1922, the victory over Greece. The process of decay was already irreversible.

The First World War for the Port ended with the signing in 1920 of the Treaty of Sevres, in which the victorious allies shamelessly took away the last remaining territories under Turkish control. All this led to its complete collapse and the proclamation of the Turkish Republic on October 29, 1923. This act marked the completion of more than six hundred years of the history of the Ottoman Empire.

Most researchers see the reasons for the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, primarily in the backwardness of its economy, the extremely low level of industry, the lack of a sufficient number of highways and other means of communication. In a country that was at the level of medieval feudalism, virtually the entire population remained illiterate. In many respects, the empire was much worse developed than other states of that period.

Objective evidence of the collapse of the empire

Speaking about what factors indicated the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, we should first of all mention the political processes that took place in it at the beginning of the 20th century and were practically impossible in earlier periods. This is the so-called Young Revolutionary revolution, which occurred in 1908, during which power in the country was seized by members of the organization "Unity and Progress". They overthrew the sultan and introduced a constitution.

Revolutionaries did not last long in power, giving way to supporters of the deposed Sultan. The subsequent period was filled with bloodshed, caused by clashes between warring factions and a change of rulers. All this irrefutably testified that powerful centralized power is gone, and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire has come.

Briefly summarizing, it should be said that Turkey has completed the path, from time immemorial prepared for all states that have left their mark in history. This is a generation, a rapid flowering and finally a decline, often leading to their complete disappearance. The Ottoman Empire did not leave completely without a trace, becoming today even a restless, but by no means the dominant member of the world community.