Transcript Ottoman Empire - Hackettstown School District

Ottoman Empire
Bragging Rights
Most long-lived of post-Mongol Muslim Empires
Extended to Eastern Europe, Syria, Egypt, and across North Africa.
Similar to new centralized monarchies of France & Spain
Lasted from around 1300 to 1922
Origins
Established c.1300
Grew from a tiny state in northwestern Anatolia due to 3 factors
◦ Shrewdness of founder, Osman & his descendents
◦ Control of strategic link between Europe & Asia through the Dardanelles
strait
◦ Awesome army
◦ Skills of Turkish cavalrymen
◦ New possibilities from gunpowder
Expansion
At first, focused on Christian enemies in Greece & the Balkans
◦ 1389 – captured Serbian kingdom at Battle of Kosovo
◦ 1402 – Southeastern Europe & SE Anatolia
◦ 1453 – Siege on Constantinople (ended 1100 years of Byzantine rule…)
Selim I “The Grim” – Egypt & Syria in 1516 & 1517
Suleiman the Magnificent presided over greatest assault on Christian Europe
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1521 – Belgrade
1522 – expelled Knights of the Hospital of St John from Rhodes
1529 – siege on Vienna (saved by winter)
Imperial system worked to perfection
Also sought control of Mediterranean
◦ War with Venice 1453-1502 (would last about 2 centuries in the long run) reducing Venetian
military power
◦ Combated Portuguese threats at Ade, but didn’t stifle Portuguese domination
Classical Society &
Administration
Societal division: Osmanli & Raya
◦ Ruling class: loyal to sultan, practice Islam,& knowledgeable of Ottoman customs,
behavior & language
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Imperial/Palace
Military
Administrative/Treasury
Religious (Ulama)
◦ Social mobility based on those characteristics
◦ Rayas produced wealth for the sultan by farming or engaging in trade & paying
taxes
◦ At local level, divisions within subject class determined by religion
◦ Millets – self-contained, autonomous community with own laws & customs responsible to the sultan
for taxes & security
◦ Made rules for marriage, divorce, health, education, justice
◦ Purpose – keep different peoples separated to minimize conflict in a highly heterogeneous state
◦ Guilds – reuglated economic activities, setting quality & pricing standards
Military State
Best organized state in Europe and the Islamic World by 1520s
Military: Cavalry archers + Janissaries
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Christian prisoners of war serving as military slaves
Very elite, deadly force
Held significant political influence
Fought on foot with guns
Trained year-round
Selection changed in early 15th century – devshirme: regular levy of male children on Christian villages in the Balkans
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Sent to sultan’s palace for education in Islam, military training, 7 liberal arts
Produced Janissary soldiers, senior military commanders, & heads of government departments
Cavalrymen supported by land grants & administered rural areas in Anatolia & the Balkans
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Maintained order, collected taxes, etc.
Stayed at home when not on campaign
Navy manned by Greek, Turkish, Algerian, & Tunisian sailors
Successful in wars against the Safavids
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Balanced land & naval capabilities
Safavids slower to adopt firearms
Military class spoke Osmanli, a blend of Turkish, Arabic, and Persian that was distinct from nomads & villagers’ languages
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Also exempt from taxes
Saw sultan as providing justice for ‘flock of sheep’ & military as protectors
Running an Empire
Raya paid taxes to support sultan & military
Sultan’s government was pretty isolated from most subjects
As Islam spread in the Balkans, Shari’a law conditioned urban
institutions & social life
Local customs prevailed in rural areas
Non-Muslims looked to religious leaders for guidance in family matters
Crisis of Military State 15851650
Size & cost of janissary corps increased as technology evolved (cannons,
firearms, etc.)  role of Turkish cavalry diminished
◦ Reduced number of landholding cavalrymen to pay janissaries
◦ Inflation from New World silver bankrupted remaining landholders
◦ Displaced, angry, armed cavalrymen became restive element in rural Anatolia
Revolts devastated Anatolia 1590-1610
◦ Former cavalrymen
◦ Peasants overburdened by taxes
◦ Impoverished students of religion
Janissaries increased influence
◦ Married
◦ Engaged in commerce
◦ Made membership in corps hereditary
Greatly changed structure of Ottoman administration
Economic Change & Weakness
Before: sultan led armies
Now: mostly resided in palace & affairs of gov’t were overseen by administrators
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Suleiman the Magnificent marked peak of Ottoman grandeur
Increasing lack of ability & power in sultans declined the empire
Grand Viziers, second to the sultan, stood in for sultan in official functions
But, separation of political loyalty (to sultan) and central authority (grand vizier) led to decline in
government’s ability to impose its will
Janissaries powerful in urban politics
Tax farming rose in place of land grants for military service
◦ Tax farmers paid specific taxes in advance in return for collecting a greater amount from actual taxpayers
◦ Rural administration suffered & lost control to tax farmers
Simultaneously, military power ebbed
◦ Janissaries concerned elsewhere, now ill-trained
◦ Second Siege on Vienna failed 1683
Lacked wealth & inclination to match European economic advances
◦ Trade agreements first granted as favors by powerful sultans eventually led to domination of Ottoman
seaborne trade
◦ Didn’t have a sizable port to reach colonial settlement or direct control of Ottoman territory though
◦ Tulip Period – European fashions in favor, named for high-priced Dutch tulip bulbs from 1718-1730
Reform Efforts
Attempts at reform in 17th century
Responses to crises & military defeats
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War with Austrian Habsburgs began in 1593 & threatened Ottoman control in SE Europe
Subsequent Treaty of Zsitvatorok (1606) restored rule of Hungary & Romania, but showed Ottoman weakness to Europeans
Rise of Iran to be a major threat
War with Venice
Provincial revolts
Basically efforts to restore inherited system of government of the past
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Restore tax farm system as basis of administration & army
Limits to taxes
Suppress revolts
Forced peasants back to land
Cultivation increased
Fixed coinage problems
Corrupt officials executed
Insubordination driven out
Industry & trade encouraged
Sufficient to end immediate difficulties, but successful only temporarily
◦ Monopoly of self-interested ruling class persisted
◦ Europe also more powerful than it was in the past
Military Defeats 1683-1792
Reforms made empire appear strong, so attempted to siege Vienna
again.. Didn’t work.
Coalition emerged among European countries to destroy Ottoman
empire in 18th century (Habsburgs, Venice, Russia)
◦ Ottomans were supported by France, Sweden, & (neutral) Britain
Fought wars with Europeans from Second Siege of Vienna to Treaty of
Jassy
◦ Lost Hungary, Banat of Temesvar region, Transylvania, and Bukovina
(boundary @ Danube River)
◦ Lost all possessions on northern coast of Black sea by 1812
◦ Compelled to allow Russians & Austrians to intervene legally on behalf of
sultan’s Christian subjects, increasing European influence on internal
Ottoman affairs
Imperial Decline:
Centuries
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18-19
Continuations of earlier conditions + weakness of central government =
loss of control of most provinces to local ruling notables
◦ Resembled European feudalism
Notables gained power & maintained control
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Sultan unable to suppress them
Local population preferred their rule to that of incompetent, corrupt Ottoman officials
Utilized local nationalism in Balkan Christian communities
Formed mercenary armies
Collected taxes & sent only nominal payments to treasury, increasing its problems
Central gov’t able to maintain position by playing local rebels against
each other & taking cash payments when needed
◦ Didn’t suffer from provincial revolts as much as would be imagined
Revolts did disrupt food supplies & caused large-scale famines to starve
major cities on regular basis  urban populace became restless,
anarchic mass responding to unemployment, famine, and plague