The successes of the Ottoman-Turk Empire - Essay Example

The successes of the Ottoman-Turk Empire Affiliation: Explain what the reasons for the military successes of the Ottoman-Turks in creating a third but non-Arab Islamic empire and reuniting the Greater Middle-East/Gulf regionThe Ottoman-Turks were known to be very powerful and this power and strength is what led them to create a third non-Arab Islamic empire. This however happened as a result of many reasons including: advanced weaponry system, large military, nationalism and great wealth (Goldschmidt and Davidson, 2012).

The Ottoman Empire superseded the Byzantine Empire and it came into power around the 14th Century. The Byzantine people were not patriots and neither did they care much for their empire as the Ottomans. The lack of nationalism (in terms of unity and strength) provided a weaknesses that Ottoman took advantage of and conquered them obtaining that empire and calling it their own. The military strength of the Ottoman Empire in terms of the advanced weapons they used was immense. These weapons were acquired from those places they conquered and also as a result of the large wealth that enabled them to purchase the weapons.

This gave them an upper hand when it came to fighting other empires and they therefore acquired a large land.The military number was great and especially because the Ottoman used two different types of military tapping on the strengths of each group. These two groups were the locals and the Kapti Kallari forces and the locals. The strength exuded by such military power led to the success of the whole empire in general.Lastly is the wealth of the empire which made them unapproachable by other states which might have wanted to conquer them.

The wealth was contributed by the increase in land of the empire and also wealth left behind by the Byzantine empire. What type of relations did the Turks have towards their non-Turkish populations and minorities (Arabs, Balkan and Middle East Christians, Armenian Christians, Jews, Kurds)The relationship between the Turks and non-Turks was very noble and people had no issues with their diversity whether from religion or even tribe. During the Ottoman Empire leadership, the Turks were very tolerant of the other people that were non-Turkish.

The Ottoman people were Turks and they were Muslims but the rest of the people within that location were Christians but they related no different with them than they related with their own tribesmen and religious men. The leaders showed their fellow tribesmen that all people were equal and they could coexist if they accepted their diversity. This is another reason that made this empire very strong because they embraced diversity (Goldschmidt and Davidson, 2012).The leadership of the Ottoman empire was almost in sync with the leadership in Europe and since Europe did not tolerate religious or tribal prejudices, then the empire did also not tolerate it.

The issue to note however is the fact that the embrace of tolerance in religion by the leaders did not mean that the rest of the Ottoman followers would avoid prejudicing non-Turkish who were also non-Muslim.This tolerance however did not last until the end of the empire despite the fact that the Ottoman empire was situated in an almost purely Christian location. Towards the end of the empire, the empire started giving preference to the Muslim leaders and they even made a silent rule than the Sultan of the empire always had to be a Sunni Muslim.

ReferencesGoldschmidt, A. and Davidson, L. (2012). A Concise History of the Middle East. Colorado: Westview Press.