Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire (sometimes referred to in diplomatic circles as the
"Sublime Porte" or simply as "the Porte") was a Turkish state that comprised
Turkey, part of the Middle East, North Africa and south-eastern Europe in
the 14th to 20th centuries, established by the Seljuq Turkish tribe of
Söğüt in western Anatolia. The Ottoman Empire was among the world's
most powerful polities in the 16th and 17th centuries when the countries of
Europe felt threatened by its steady advances through the Balkans.

History

The Ottoman Empire was founded by Osman I (in Arabic Uthm?n, hence the name
Ottoman Empire). As sultan Mehmed II conquered Constantinople (Istanbul) in
1453, the state grew into a mighty empire. The Empire reached its apex under
Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century when it stretched from the
Persian Gulf in the east to Hungary in the northwest; and from Egypt in the
south to the Caucasus in the north. After its defeat at the Battle of Vienna
in 1683, however, the empire began a slow decline, culminating in the defeat
of the empire by the Allies in World War I.

Rise

In the late 13th century the Seljuq empire had collapsed and Anatolia was
divided into hundreds of small states. One of these states was Söğüt,
a small tribe settled in river valley of Sakarya. The founder and bey
(chief) of the tribe was Ertoğrül, the father of Osman I. When
Ertoğrül died in 1299 (or 1281 (?)) Osman became the leader of the
tribe.

Early Expansion

In 1299 the Byzantine city Bilecik fell to Osman I. It was but the first of
many cities and villages to fall into the hands of the turks during the
1300s and 1310s. Osman also conquered some of the nearby turkish emirates
and tribes. During the late 1310s Osman I laid siege to several important
Byzantine forts. Yenişehir was captured and with it as a base the
turks could lay siege to Bursa and Nicaea, the largest Bysantine cities in
Anatolia. Bursa fell in 1324, just before Osman's death.

The son of Osman, Orhan I, conquered Nicaea in 1331 and Nicomedia in 1337
and established the capitol in Bursa. During Orhan's reign the empire was
organized as a state with new currency, government and a modernized army. He
married Theodora, the daughter of Byzantine prince John VI Cantacuzenus. In
1346 Orhan openly supported John VI in the overthrowing of the emperor John
V Palaeologus. When John VI became co-emperor (1347-1354) he allowed Orhan
to raid the peninsula of Gallipoli which gained the Ottomans their first
stronghold in Europe.

Conquests of Murad I

Orhan died in 1360 and left a growing empire to his son and successor, Murad
I. Murad advanced the reformation of the state and founded such entities as
the divan (the government and advisors), the beylerbey (great chief), the
kaziasker (military judge) and the defterdar (financial minister). He also
appointed a grand visir like the arabic rulers of Middle East. He also
founded the Janissary corps.

In the early 1360s the ottoman armies marched into Thrace through Gallipoli
and captured Adrianople (Edirne) and Philippopolis (Plovdiv) and forcing the
Byzantines to pay tribute. In 1366 the count Amadeus VI of Savoy (cousin to
John V Cantacuzenus, the Byzantine emperor) initiated a minor crusade to aid
the Byzantines. The count drove away the Turks from all of Europe except
Gallipoli. The very next year Murad attacked anew and regained most of
Thrace, including Adrianople.

During the early 1370s Murad launched his forces deeper into Europe. At the
river Maritsa they encoutered a 70,000 man strong Serbian-Bulgarian army
under the Serbian king Vukasin. The ottoman army was smaller, but due to
superior tactics the enemy was defeated and king Vukasin killed. Now that
the Serbian coalition was weakened by such a blow Murad was quick to advance
further into Bulgaria and capture the cities of Dráma, Kavála and Seres
(Serrái).

In 1383 Murad declared himself sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Shortly there
after he began a new campaign in Europe. Sofia, the Bulgarian capitol, fell
in 1385 and the city of Niš the year after. The Ottoman Conquest
halted in 1387 when the Serbs won the battle of Plocnik but two years later
Murad marched anew into the west. The Ottomans won a great victory over the
Serbs in the Battle of Kosovo but the sultan himself was killed by the
assassin Miloš Kobilic. (Though some has it that the Ottomans was
defeated at Nicopolis.)

Beyazid the Lightning Bolt

Beyazid I succeeded to the sultanship upon the assassination of his father
Murad. In a rage over the attack, he ordered all Serbian captives killed;
Beyazid became known as Yildirim, the lightning bolt, for his temperment.

He conquered most of Bulgaria and northern Greece in 1389-1395 and laid
siege on Constantinople in 1391-1398. On September 25, 1396 at Nicopolis,
his forces met the Venetian-Hungarian army led by king Sigismund of Hungary.
The Ottomans won and signed a peace treaty with Hungary. Beyazid then turned
his attention to the east, conquering the Turkish emirate of Karaman in
1397.

Around 1400 the Mongolian horde of Timur Lenk entered the Middle East. Timur
Lenk pillaged a few villages in eastern Anatolia and the conflict with the
Ottoman Empire was a fact. In August, 1400 the Mongols burned the town of
Sivas to the ground and advanced into the mainland. The war culminated at
the Battle of Ankara in July, 1402. The mongols won, captured Beyazid and
were free to raid and pillage Anatolia. Beyazid died in captivity in 1403.

Interregnum and Restoration

After the defeat at Ankara followed a time of total chaos in the Empire.
Mongols roamed free in Anatolia and the political power of the sultan was
broken. Beyazid was captured and his remaining sons, Suleiman Çelebi,
İsa Çelebi, Mehmed Çelebi, and Mûsa fought each other in what became
known as the Ottoman Interregnum.

When Mehmed Çelebi stood as victor in 1413 he crowned himself in Edirne
(Adrianople) as Mehmed I. His was the duty to restore the Ottoman Empire to
its former glory. The Empire had suffered hard from the Interregnum; the
Mongols where still at large in the east, even though Timur Lenk had died in
1405; many of the Christian kingdoms of the Balkans had broken free of
Ottoman control; and the land, especially Anatolia, had suffered hard from
the war.

During his reign, Mehmed moved the capitol from Bursa to Adrianople
(Edirne), reinforced control over Bulgaria and Serbia, drove the Mongols
from Anatolia and assaulted Albania, Cilicia, the Turkish emirate of Candar
and Byzantine controlled areas in southern Greece.

The Wars of Murad II

When Mehmed died in 1421, one of his sons, Murad, became sultan. Murad spent
his early years on the throne disposing off rivals and rebellions, most
notably the revolts of the Serbs. In 1423 he paid a short visit to
Constantinople, laid siege on it for a couple of months and forced the
Byzantines to pay additional tribute.

In 1423 the first regular war against Venice began. During Murad's siege of
Constantinople, the Byzantine Emperor's control over the Greek city-states
was weakened. On the request of the inhabitants, Venetian troops took
control of the city of Salonika (Thessaloniki). But the Ottoman army that
laid siege to the city knew nothing of the transfer of power, and so several
Venecian soldiers were killed. Murad II had been on peaceful terms with
Venice for some time, so the Venetians deemed the act irresponsible and
declared full war.

Murad acted swift, raised the siege of Constantinople and sent his armies to
Salonika. The Venetians had gained reinforcements by sea but when the
Ottomans stormed the city the outcome was given and the Venetians fled to
their ships. But when the Turks entered and plundered the city the Venetian
fleet suddenly started bombarding the city from the sea-side. The Ottomans
fled and the fleet was able to hold off the Ottomans until new Venetian
reinforcements could arrive to recapture the city. The outcome of the Battle
of Salonika was a setback for Murad and when Serbia and Hungary allied
themselves with Venice, the young sultan was involved in one of the Ottoman
Empire's worst conflicts ever, with all odds against it. Pope Martin V
encouraged other Christian states to join the war against the Ottomans,
though only Austria ever sent any troops to the Balkans.

The war in the Balkans began as the Ottoman army moved to recapture
Wallachia, which the Ottomans had lost to Mircea cel Batran during the
Interregnum and that now was an Hungarian vassal state. As the Ottoman army
entered Wallachia, the Serbs started attacking Bulgaria and, at the same
time, urged by the Pope, the Anatolian emirate of Karaman attacked the
Empire from the back. Murad had to split his army. The main force went to
defend Sofia and the reserves had to be called to Anatolia. The remaining
troops in Wallachia was crushed by the Hungarian army was now moving south
into Bulgaria were the Serbian and Ottoman armies battled each other. The
Serbs was defeated and the Ottomans turned to face the Hungarians who fled
back into Wallachia when they realised they were unable to attack the
Ottomans from the back. Murad fortified his borders against Serbia and
Hungaria but did not try to retake Wallachia, instead he sent his armies to
Anatolia were they defeated Karaman in 1428.

In 1430 a large Ottoman fleet attacked Salonika by surprise. The Venetians
signed a peace treaty in 1432. The treaty gave the Ottomans the city of
Salonika and the surrounding land. The war between Serbia and Hungaria and
the Ottoman Empire had come to a standstill in 1441 when the Holy Roman
Empire, Poland, Albania, and the emirates Candar and Karaman (in violation
of the peace treaty) intervened against the Ottomans. Niš and Sofia
fell to the Christians in 1443 and the year after the Empire suffered a
major defeat in the Battle of Jalowaz. July 12, 1444 Murad signed a treaty
that officially gave Wallachia and the Bulgarian province of Varna to
Hungary, western Bulgaria (including Sofia) to Serbia and forced Murad to
abdicate in favor of his twelve-year-old son Mehmed. Later the same year the
Christians violated the peace treaty and attacked anew. In November 11,
1444, Murad defeated the Polish-Hungarian army of Janos Hunyadi at the
Battle of Varna.

Murad was reinstated with the help of the Janissaries in 1446. Another peace
treaty was signed in 1448 giving the Empire Wallachia and Bulgaria and a
part of Albania. After the Balkan front was secured, Murad turned east and
defeated Timur Lenk's son, Shah Rokh, and the emirates of Candar and Karamn
in Anatolia. He died in the winter 1450-1451 in Edirne. Some has it that he
was wounded in a battle against Skanderbeg's Albanian guerilla.

Mehmed the Conqueror

Many doubted the young Mehmed I when he became sultan (again) following his
father's death. But by conquering and annexing the emirate of Karaman
(May-June, 1451) and by renewing the peace treaties with Venice (September
10) and Hungary (November 20) he proved his skills both on the military and
the political front and was soon accepted by the noble class of the Ottoman
court. Although, when he in 1452 proposed to attack Constantinople most of
the divan, and especially the Grand Vizier, Kandarli Halil, was against it
and critized the sultan for being too rash and overconfident in his
abilities.

Decline

After its defeat at the Battle of Vienna in 1683, the Ottoman Empire began a
long decline, culminating in the defeat of the empire by the Allies in World War I.

Russian Expansionism

Fringe territories were lost to Russia in the north, but more importantly
the Empire began to fall behind technologically compared to the west. The
outside world was still mostly unaware of the extent of the Empire's decline
until the 1820s, when it became clear that the Ottoman armies had no way to
put down the Russian backed revolt in southern Greece. The great powers of
Europe decided to intervene to give Greece its independence.

Thus Greece became the first independent country created out of a section of
the Ottoman Empire. Russian aspirations for a section of the empire and
bases on Russia's southern flank provoked British fears over naval
domination of the Mediterranean and control of the land route to India.

When in 1853 Russia destroyed the entire Ottoman fleet at Sinop, Britain and
France concluded that armed intervention on the side of the Ottomans was the
only way to halt a massive Russian expansion, on the grounds that that the
Ottoman armies could do nothing to stop a Russian march on Constantinople.

Crimean War

The Crimean War illustrated how modern technology and superior weaponry were
the most important part of a modern army, and a part that the Ottoman Empire
was sorely lacking. While fighting alongside the British, French, and even
the Piedmontese , the Ottomans could see how far they had fallen behind.
While the industrial revolution had swept through western Europe, the
Ottoman Empire was still relying mainly on medieval technologies. The vast
empire had no railroads, and few telegraph lines. It took days before the
major naval defeat at Sinope was learned of in the capital. The poor
communications made it very difficult for Constantinople to control its
provinces. Thus the provinces in the Balkans, Africa, and Asia became almost
autonomous. Serbia was now an independent nation in all but name, paying
only token tribute to the Sultan. Most of the other provinces also paid only
fractions of the tribute required by law. Even the areas under the Sultans
direct control had an outdated and corrupt tax system, drastically depleting
revenues. The disorganisation and corruption permeating the nation also
discouraged trade, hurting both itself and its relations with other nations.
Compared to any other European power the Ottoman empire also had virtually
no industry, and its raw materials were not being harvested. It is not
surprising then that at the mid point of the 19th century the Ottoman Empire
was at the mercy of the Russians until outside forces intervened.

Things began to change after the Crimean war. The western powers had
invested a great deal of resources in the Crimean war and they did not wish
to come to the aid of the faltering Empire again. Thus the nation was
invaded by British, French, and Austrian businessmen and administrators who
came to reform and rebuild the economy. During the period after the Crimean
war a national bank was created, the tax system was revised and
strengthened, the law was altered to emulate the Napoleonic Code, a public
education system based on that of the French was created, the Orient Express
railroad was constructed, as well other railroads were built that travelled
along the coast of Anatolia and into the Balkans. Another change was that
Serbia was permanently granted its independent status. This pleased both
Austria, who feared a Serbian revolt on its borders, and Russia who long
supported the Slavic nation's independence. Other changes began to occur as
Europeans for the first time saw the trading opportunity of Turkey. The
amount of money entering the nation through trade was soon dramatically
increased. As well the government received a great deal of extra money from
a uniform tax system with little corruption. The Sultan also managed to get
a tighter grip on the provincial beys and increased the tribute they had to
pay. Regrettably Abd-ul-Aziz, the Sultan at the time, used much of this
money on furnishing and creating great palaces to rival the great ones in
England and France, which he had visited. The Empire was undergoing a
revolution, throughout Anatolia a new Ottoman nationalism was appearing, and
for the first time the Empire had a middle class. It seemed as though it
might be possible for the Empire to turn its decline around.

Loss of the Balkans

Then on Friday, May 9, 1873 disaster struck. The Vienna stock market crashed
and took with it the economy of Europe. The money and loans from abroad
stopped pouring into Constantinople and the government entered a financial
crisis. Unable to deal with this the Sultan began to rapidly switch Grand
Viziers. Unable to repay foreign loans the empire was forced to default on
them, and ask for assistance from Europe. Soon the Sultan could avoid a
fetva no longer and he was deposed. Eventually Abd-ul-Hamid II was girded
with the sword of power. The monetary and governmental collapse combined
with a new threat from Russia began the final stages of the Empire's
collapse. Russia had been forced by the Crimean War to give up its ambitions
of owning Constantinople and controlling the Bosphorus. Instead it decided
to focus on gaining power in the Balkans. The population of much of the
Balkans were Slavs, as were the Russians. They also mainly followed the
Eastern Orthodox Church, as did the Russians. When new movements in Russia,
such as that of the Slavophiles, started to enter the area, it became
agitated and prone to revolution. When the government in Constantinople
tried to initiate measures to prevent an economic collapse throughout the
empire it touched off a revolt in Herzegovina. The revolt in Herzegovina,
quickly spread to Bosnia and then Bulgaria. Soon Serbian armies also entered
the war against the Turks. These revolts were the first test of the new
Ottoman armies. Even though they were not up to western European standards
the army fought effectively and brutally. Soon the Balkan rebellions were
beginning to falter. In Europe, however, a new problem was developing. The
papers of Russia were filled with reports of Turkish soldiers killing
thousands of Slavs. Soon more than Russian propaganda was moving southwards
and a new Russo-Turkish war had begun.

Despite fighting better than they ever had before the advanced Ottoman
armies still were not equal to the Russian forces. This time there was no
help from abroad, in truth many European nations supported the Russian war,
as long as it did not get too close to Constantinople. Ten and a half months
later when the war had ended the age of Ottoman domination over the Balkans
was over. The Ottomans had fought well, the new navy of Ironclads had won
the battle for the Black Sea, and Russian advances in the Caucasus had been
kept minimal. In the Balkans, however, the Russian army, supported by
rebels, had pushed the Ottoman army out of Bulgaria, Walachia, Rumania, and
much of East Rumelia and by the end of the war the artillery firing in
Thrace could be heard in Constantinople.

In response to the Russian proximity to the straits the British, against the
wishes of the Sultan, intervened in the war. A large task force representing
British naval supremacy entered the straits of Marmara and anchored in view
of both the royal palace and the Russian army. The British may have saved
the Ottoman empire once again, but it ended the rosy relations between the
two powers that had endured since the Crimean War. Looking at the prospect
of a British entry into the war the Russians decided to settle the dispute.
The treaty of San Stephano gave Rumania and Montenegro their independence,
Serbia and Russia each received extra territory, Austria was given control
over Bosnia, and Bulgaria was given almost complete autonomy. The hope of
the Sultan was that the other great powers would oppose such a one sided
resolution and a conference would be held to revise it. His desire became
reality and in 1878 the Congress of Berlin was held where Germany promised
to be an "honest broker" in the treaty's revision. In the new treaty
Bulgarian territory was decreased and the war indemnities were cancelled.
The conference also again hurt Anglo-Turkish relations by giving the British
the island of Cyprus. While annoyed at Disraeli and the British, the Sultan
had nothing but praise for Otto von Bismarck who forced many of the major
concessions upon Russia. These close Germano-Turkish relations would persist
until the empires' very end.

Internal Collapse

The autocratic Sultans of the Ottoman Empire had remained unchanged in
centuries, while the rest of the world slowly became more democratic and
liberal. The loss of nearly a quarter of the Empire's territory added to the
already existing economic problems to make a situation ripe for revolution.
The situation was especially dangerous in Constantinople, which contained
thousands of refugees fleeing the Balkans. A number of small coups broke
out, trying to overthrow the Sultan. None of them were well organised or
even remotely successful, but they filled Abd-ul-Hamid II with a paranoia
that lead to a self imposed isolation in the palace of Yildiz. The entire
Ottoman Empire was built around the Sultan, but this Sultan never left his
palace and would only see a few trusted advisors. Unlike in the other states
of Europe, such as Germany, where a weak ruler could be made up for by a
powerful Prime Minister, there was no one who could make up for a weak
Sultan. While in his self imposed exile the Sultan's Empire continued to
fall apart. Egypt had long been only loosely connected to the Ottoman Empire
and in 1882 the British incorporated it into their empire to protect the
Suez canal. In 1896 Crete revolted and received aid from the Greeks. This
soon lead to a war between the Ottoman Empire and its former province. For
the first time in centuries the Ottoman Empire won a war unaided. Greece was
invaded from the North and the Ottoman armies marched south as far as
Thermopylae before King George I of Greece agreed to an armistice. Greece
lost some of Macedonia, and had to pay an indemnity to Turkey. Crete was,
however, given almost complete autonomy to appease Britain and Russia who
did not want to see its Christian inhabitants returned to the Turks.

The military victory did nothing to stop the rise of revolutionary
sentiments. In 1902 a meeting in Paris brought together the leadership of
the "Young Turks" - a group, mainly made of students, who were fervent
Turkish nationalists wishing to do away with the archaic Empire. In Bulgaria
and Macedonia terrorists started bombing Ottoman banks and government
buildings demanding total independence. The two rebellions eventually joined
in 1908 when an army regiment stationed in Macedonia rebelled and fled into
the hills. It was joined by Macedonian rebels as well as large numbers of
Young Turks. This group called itself the Committee of Union and Progress
(CUP). Soon other regiments in Bulgaria and Rumelia mutinied as did many of
the Anatolian soldiers sent in to end the rebellion. Abd-ul-Hamid had no
choice but to give into the revolutionaries' demands. A constitution was
adopted and a parliament created, Abd-ul-Hamid was now the leader of an
Ottoman constitutional monarchy. Soon after the first election, which CUP
won easily, there was a counter coup by the more conservative military
officers. The coup failed to destroy the new government, mainly due to the
skill of an unknown Adjutant-Major named Mustafa Kemal. When the liberals
discovered that the Sultan had aided the coup they decided that he must go.
Thus a fetva was issued and Abd-ul-Hamid II's long reign was at an end.

Final Destruction and Rebirth

Italy declared war on the Empire on September 29, 1911, demanding the
turnover of Tripoli and Cyrenaica. When the empire did not respond, Italian
forces took those areas on that November 5 (this act was confirmed by an act
of the Italian Parliament on February 25, 1912). Three years later on
November 5, 1914 the United Kingdom annexed Cyprus, and together with France
declared war on the empire.

The final end to the aged and crippled empire came in the First World War.
Close relations with Germany and the continued enminity towards Russia
pushed the empire into joining the Central Powers. The empire at first held
its own honourably. Its armies did well in the Balkans preventing any
Russian advance, and under the comand of the dynamic Mustafa Kemal the
Ottoman forces won a great victory against ANZAC forces at Gallipoli. This
was all quickly reversed however by the British supported revolt of the
Arabs, who lead by T. E. Lawrence defeated the Ottoman forces in the Middle
East. At the end of the war the Ottoman government collapsed completely and
the empire was divided amongst the victorious powers. France and Britain got
most of the Middle East while Italy and Greece were given much of Anatolia.
At the same time an independent Armenian state was established in eastern
Turkey, and an autonomous Kurdish area was also created.

The Turkish people refused to accept this arrangement, however, and under
Mustafa Kemal the remnants of the Young Turk movement formed a government in
Ankara and created an army. They defeated the Greeks and forced them out of
Anatolia. The Italians had never managed to get a substantial presence in
their holdings and in the weakened state could do little to try to recapture
them after they were in Turkish hands. The British and French, exhausted by
the war had no interest in intervening, especially to stop of movement of
national self-determination of the type they had been supporting in other
lands. The Turks also destroyed the states given to the Armenians and the
Kurds and reabsorbed these areas into their domain. Thus the new state of
Turkey was proclaimed on January 20, 1921 and Mustafa Kemal, who took on the
name Kemal Atatürk, became its first president.

Reasons for Decline

Weak Leadership
In any effort to modernize or reform the empire the Sultan was always
opposed by the powerful military and religious elite who did not want to
lose their traditional powers. One of the most powerful of these elites, was
the powerful religious body known as the ulema. If the ulema was displeased
with a Sultan a decree known as a fetva would be issued and the Sultan would
be removed from power. The threat of a fetva was a powerful weapon used
many times by the ulema to force the Sultan to back down from reforms.

Unstable leadership was also a problem the second most powerful man in the
Empire was the Grand Vizier, the advisor in chief to the Sultan. This
position was also considerably weakened by the fact that to prevent a fetva
or coup the Sultan would often sacrifice his Grand Vizier. In turbulent
times Sultans would thus frequently go through dozens of Grand Viziers in
only a few years. This prevented a stable government, the thing most
required in turbulent times.

Other practices weakened the Empire's leadership. One of the most
problematic was the method of ensuring that an uncle or brother of the
Sultan did not try to seize power. For the duration of the Sultan's reign
they would be locked away in a small apartment, known as a kafe and never
see the outside world. Whenever a Sultan died or was deposed with no male
heir, his brother or uncle would be taken out of the kafe and be made ruler
of the Empire.

Fratricide in the harem
It must be remembered that sultans could take several wives and many
concubines. The sultan had a harem, and there could be between 200 and 600
women there. It was thus possible for a sultan to have many children, and in
particular, many sons. A practice of fratricide grew up, in which on the
death of a sultan, one of the sons would become the new sultan, and would
then order the execution of all his brothers. Although this did not always
happen, many were executed. The thought behind this practice was that it was
considered important to remove any possibility of having different focal
points for power, and a rationalisation was that the death of a few would be
a small price to pay for political stability. The fear of civil war, in
which many could die, was a strong driving force for this practice.

The women in the harem also jostled for power, and the mother of the sultan
became a powerful force. Each mother in the harem would try to promote her
own son to become sultan, as they knew that the alternative would be that
their sons would be killed.

Corruption of Janissaries

To create a modern state out of the Ottoman Empire the area that most needed
redevelopment was the military. Most Sultans realised this, but their
efforts were repeatedly repelled. The most powerful group in the empire, and
the one most averse to change, were the members of the Sultan's personal
army. These were known as the Janissaries. They were first created from a
tax, known as the devsirme. The devsirme was imposed on all Christians
living in Ottoman controlled territory. Every five years one in five
Christian sons were given to the Sultan. Some entered the civil service,
some went into politics, and a few managed to rise to the position of Grand
Vizier. The majority of the boys, however, entered the army. They were
trained to be master warriors supremely loyal to the Sultan, and became
known as the Janissaries. They were strictly lead by an ancient code of
honour and were ready to sacrifice themselves for their Sultan at any time.
Overtime, however, the Janissaries, with their great strength and close
attachment with the Sultan, gained a great deal of power in the empire. With
power comes corruption, and during the 18th century the Janissary code of
honour gradually dissapeared. The Janissaries became rich through bribes and
theft. They used their power to control the government, and to do all that
was possible to prevent changes to their traditional powers. By the 1820s
the Janissaries were no more than a group of heavily armed thugs rebelling
at even minor military changes. The situation was desperate, the Ottoman
army had fallen so far behind the rest of Europe that any aggressive power
could take the capital. In 1826 the Janissaries revolted against the
Sultan's decree that forced them to wear western military uniforms. Rather
than back down to the Janissary threat as all previous Sultans had, Mahmud
II used his new artillery regiments against the Janissary barracks in
Constantinople. The barracks was destroyed and all the Janissaries trying to
flee were killed. Outside the capital most of the Janissaries peacefully
disbanded, but many of them were still executed on charges of treason. With
the removal of the Janissaries the path to military reform was now open, but
after centuries of Janissary interference the Ottoman army could never fully
recover.

Failure of Outside Assistance
To modernise the army, and bring it up to European standards, outsiders had
to brought in. Unfortunately these outsiders were regarded as suspicious and
inferior by the empire's elite. These senior members of the army and
government still thought they were back to the 17th century when the Ottoman
army was more powerful than any other on Earth; however, the signs of
decline had were already evident. Catherine the Great had annexed the Crimea
and Georgia at the end of the 18th century, and the Sultan had no way to
intervene. Bessarabia was lost in 1812 after the Ottomans attempted to take
advantage of Russia's war with Napoleon. These first losses to Russia, an
enemy of the empire for centuries, were a great embarrassment, but they were
not enough to motivate reform. In the early part of the 19th century the
Ottoman Empire was allied with France, and thus it was to them that the
Sultan turned for aid in rebuilding his military might. When they had
requested French help a few of years before from the Directory a young
artillery officer by the name of Napoleon Buonaparte was to be sent to
Constantinople. He did not go, for just days before he was to embark for the
near east he proved himself useful to the directory by putting down a
Parisian mob and was kept in France. It is interesting to think of what a
man of Napoleon's skill might have done with the Ottoman army. In his place
a parade of French officers were brought in, and none of them could do a
great deal. One example of an advisor who achieved limited success was the
Baron de Tott a French officer. He did succeed in having a new foundry built
to make artillery. As well he directed the construction of a new naval base.
Unfortunately it was almost impossible for him to divert soldiers from the
regular army into the new units. The new ships and guns that made it into
service were too few to have much of an influence on the Ottoman army and de
Tott returned home.

The Ottoman Empire was always at a cross-roads, should it be true to its
Asian heritage, or embrace European ideas and customs. The Sultans, seeing
the advantages a modern army and new technologies could bring, were often in
favour of westernization.