In what ways was the Ottoman Empire different to its West European counterparts - Essay Example

During the reign of Muhammad II that lasted between 1451 and 1481, Ottoman Empire was actively involved in absorbing other states. Within this period Ottoman Empire was able to end all the other local Turkish dynasties hence becoming the superpowers of the region. With such a heavy backing from the fact that they had no dynasties to compete with, Ottoman Empire’s expansion started under Osman I, Orkhan, Murad I, and Beyazid I, which happened at the expense of numerous other empires such as Byzantine, Serbia, and Bulgaria.

Due to pressure from Ottoman, another active and strong empire, Bursa fell in 1326, which was followed by the fall of Adrianople in 1261 (Said, 1978). Amazing, besides ensuring that these two (Bursa and Adrianople) empires fell, Ottoman Empire mocked them by making them the capital of the empire in turns that is, when Bursa fell it was made the capital and later on Adrianople was made the capital of the empire after its fall (Dale, 2010). This marked the beginning of expansion for Ottoman Empire, which continuously grew and developed through taking over other Turkish dynasties or empires.

Period of Great Expansion Through Muhammad I, Ottoman Empire was united against other empires. Muhammad I strongly believed that the only way of expanding of the empire was to take over other empires that surrounded Ottoman Empire. Consequently, many empires were victims of such strategy thus marking the initial stage of the “Great Expansion” (Dale, 2010). Amongst the taking over that occurred during the period of Great Expansion include victory at Varna and the 1453 capture of Constantinople.

It is amazing how Ottomans changed from nomads to being the heirs of most ancient existing empire within Europe (Palmer, 1992). The weakness and disunity of the adversaries that competed and surrounded Ottoman Empire was a great step in enhancing the empire’s success. In addition, Ottoman through Muhammad I created a well-organized military group, which ensured that all the captures and take over was successfully done (Dale, 2010). Their military organization was considered superior to all the other surrounding dynasties (Said, 1978).

Surprisingly, such military organizations consisted of mainly Christians who were not only corps of Janissaries but also volunteers who were ready to fight for their empire (Dale, 2010). With such beautifully organized military organization, Ottoman was able to continuously expand until the 16th century where the expansion and growth of the empire reached its peak. Defeating the Hungarian in 1526 gave Ottoman Empire a boost and confidence in more capture and take-over especially the 1541 capture of Buda as well as taking in of major part of Hungary that form Ottoman’s empire.

Continuous capturing and taking over of different dynasties led to the opening up of the empire’s boundaries into Persia and Arabia; a factor that enhanced the strength within the region. During the reign of Selim I, more dynasties were defeated giving opportunity and strength for the expansion and growth of Ottoman Empire. In 1535 when Sulayman I started his reign, the empire continued to capture and take over more empires in a bid to being the heir