Gradual Fall of the Ottoman Empire - Report Example

Gradual fall of the Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire is known to have been one of the most successful Islamic empires of its time in that it stood for a long time and weathered most of the battles that were waged against it. As such, there have been questions and analyses as to why it was able to hold out strong for so long without declining, as compared to other Islamic empires. As a result, it is crucial to look into the background of the Ottoman Empire and look for the reasons as to why it took longer than other Islamic empires to decline. The Ottoman Empire took time to fall since it was of a great size to the extent that it would take a long time to bring it down. As such, the Ottoman Empire had undergone a period of great expansion in to diverse places and over a great land area, as well as covering a large population to its own empire. The ottoman had gone to great lengths to see that they had spread their ways and culture to all corners of the world as Muhammad I had seen the empire reunited and gain numerous victories under his successors in wars and battles to conquer more lands for the empire. With this in mind, the Ottoman Empire had plenty to lose before it finally came down to its end much later. As such, the ottoman was so large that when it broke down, it only broke into pieces just as large as itself and it was simple to recollect itself from the that point and continue from where it had left. The expansion of the empire went as far as Hungary in Europe to capture as much territory as it could, the same way that the empire was expansive into Africa, all the way to northern Africa and the middle east (Guisepi). As an Islamic empire, the Ottoman Empire maintained its large size as a means of maintaining its power and ability to rule and run itself, which meant that the area that its opponents had to conquer was large and the people of the empire guarded it jealously. In addition, the leaders went as far as conquering as many areas in order to gain more influence, a thing that other empires of an Islamic nature did not, as well. With this in mind, the Ottoman Empire was expansive and vast by going as far as Yugoslavia, lands that were previously unreached. In order to bring down the empire, all of the areas that the Ottoman Empire had under its control had been conquered and shrunken until the Ottoman Empire ran from a small area that could be managed in an attack by enemy states. The large size was also a deterrent for other states as it meant that the empire had numerous resources to defend itself against foreign powers, and could guard itself against them. In addition, the large size of the empire also ensured the slow end of the empire in that as one end of the empire ended another would rise and other parts that were put under threat saw increased defense activity to prevent attacks and could therefore fend off any threats. The large size as significantly helpful in seeing that the empire made it for a long time since its inception to its downfall in that it was heavily intimidating to its enemies, an angle that other Islamic empire did not use to their advantage. As far as they went, none of them was as expansive as the Ottoman Empire and none of them saw large conquests as the ones that the Ottoman Empire experienced to see it go as far as Europe and North Africa from the Middle East to set up its own system and influence the people in their ways of life. It is for this reason that the ottoman took an extensively slow progression in its decline, as compared to other Islamic empires. Weak enemies As competed to the Ottoman Empire, most of the neighboring countries or states and empires did not have as much strength as the Ottoman Empire in relation to the ability to defeat their enemies in battles and wars. As such, the Ottoman Empire had all the ability and size to beat its enemies to the point of crushing them without much effort. This is as seen in the case of Suleyman who ruled from 1520 to 1566, who saw one of the largest conquest of the Ottoman Empire against its enemies as it captured the city of Vienna and Belgrade. The strong military power did plenty to see its enemies crushed and seen to then ground, where the ottoman had a strong military presence having huge canons that allowed them to beat their enemies easily. The weakness of their enemies was in terms of military strengths and presence, where the ottoman was the most dominant empire of its time exceeding most of its enemies, prior to its downfall (Guisepi). In spite of its eventual downfall, the fear that the Ottoman Empire inspired in its enemies dwarfed all their capabilities in terms of attacks against the Ottoman Empire. As a result, the ottoman took its time to fall, as even after most of the structures had been crushed, there was still fear that the empire could rise again, as was the case when the first sultan reunited the empire. Concerning the military power of the empire, they had plenty of military resources to guard its empire, especially in the waters. This is such that the empire had a huge fleet of ships in the Mediterranean and red seas, as well as the Persian Gulf, which they patrolled regularly. This kept off their enemies and secured the empire even further, while at the same time instilling fear into its enemies following the powerful organization of the empire. In relation to the organization of the military, their military was organized in a superior way that superseded their enemies and other Islamic empires before them. This is such that the military naval fleet assisted other Muslims across the globe from persecution by other faiths, especially Muslim rebels in catholic Spain. In addition, the same military organization saw the empire offer more assistance against invasions by the Portuguese in Sumatra, as well as assisting other Muslims who were not part of the Ottoman Empire. As such, the empire and its military grew to be feared across the globe as it had great military conquests that was ruthless to its enemies and that stood for its principles. This is unlike other military powers of its time in Muslim empires and even its enemies as was the case in the Austrian empire that was one of its greatest empire. However, with the rise of new foes in Europe, the Ottoman Empire faced challenges in defending itself since European powers came up with improved means of defending themselves. With a slow pace of acknowledging and adopting European weapons and defense systems, the ottoman gradually became overpowered by new powers that were rising with their new weapons. The weapons used by the ottoman empire inspired the new systems and weapons to defeat the ottoman empire, which is why, as other nations adopted the weapons, the ottoman empire fell slowly as it weakened from being conquered and getting its territories acquired. Another reason that the Ottoman Empire took its time to fall, in relation to the military, was due to its military, which increased over the years to be quite large. This is such that the military had a large standing army and mercenaries, which put in a lot of stress on the financial capabilities of the empire following the rapid flow of funds from other empires. With this in mind, the large military saw the empire decline slowly unlike other Islamic empires that declined from lack of a military presence, and not due to the presence of a strong standing army, which was in excess. The large military coupled with poor weaponry saw the empire suffer losses over an extended period. Alliances The fall of the Ottoman Empire had a lot to do with alliance with foreign empires and nations as was previously seen in the case of the Indonesian sultan who received help from the ottoman military. As such, the Ottoman Empire had plenty of friendly nations than foes to an extent that they helped them in times of need, which assisted in keeping the empire afloat even in times when it was threatened. Alliances can further be seen in the case of France, which favored the Ottoman Empire to fight against their common enemy, which they did. The alliance with France fought against Habsburg and allowed the empire to conquer Hungary and besiege Vienna, in which case the Vienna siege was unsuccessful. The alliances formed with other nations also saw the empire undergo rapid expansion, which is part of the reason why it took a long time to be brought down. This is because with the alliances in place, the Ottoman Empire was able to piece together an arm of the military that could that conducted guerilla warfare in Europe (McKinney). The results of guerilla warfare were a well-established empire that went well beyond the conventional size that could easily be brought down. In addition to the formation of alliances, the earlier mentioned concept of military power was formed based on the spirit of common goals and creation of alliances. In order for the ottoman to have a strong naval presence in the Mediterranean and Red seas, as well as the Persian Gulf, the navy was led by a pirate with experience in the seas. This contributed to its strengths and not its weaknesses, as the alliance was between the sultan of the Ottoman Empire and the pirate governor of Algeria, who later became the leader of the naval arm of the military. With such a strong presence, the empire stood strong and weathered plenty of storms, as well as conquered most of its enemies before they had a chance to overthrow the empire. There were also alliance with the great powers that created an overall diplomatic stance, where the empire sought to make peace with its enemies rather than choose combat to create a state of neutrality. This can be seen with the case of collaborating with its traditional enemy, Russia, which saw the best relations ever between the two Russia and the Ottoman Empire. Relations between Germany and Russian also saw the slow decline of the empire as rather than be wiped out; it was slowly absorbed in various parts of its expanse, especially in Europe where parts of Hungary and the besieged Vienna were absorbed by the German empire. However, the alliances with some of the nations and empires were only strategic to tame some of its opponents, as was the case with Germany, in which case the two collaborated to weaken Britain. Altogether, alliances between the Ottoman Empire and its neighbors, as well as its competitors saw the empire last a long time and decline slowly rather than rapidly, as was the case with other Islamic empires that collapsed after conquests with British and other European forces, as can be seen with the Mughal Empire (alikhan3). Economy The Ottoman Empire was large in size, which meant that its economic was equally as large, as most of its economic power came from the booty that they secured from conquering other lands and empires. With increased conquests, the empire increased in economic resources, as there were more spoils of war to salvage. With time, the empire had grown so much that its land size was vast and other areas that it could conquer were way beyond the capital, Istanbul. This was such that waging a war to conquer these lands would be too expensive thus, the empire ceased to conquer new lands. As a result, the intimidation that they instilled in their opponents and competing nations was reduced, as well as their failure to consolidate the conquests they already had. With the cessation of expansion, there as reduced funding in that the empire did not make much income by collecting spoils of war, and one of its major sources of income was shut (Lost Islamic History a “part 1”). The low economic power saw the power decline slowly as conquests did not occur continuously thus; the empire was left to consume what they already had before the expansion stopped. In addition, due to their large conquests, there was still enough economic strength left to last them a long time as they sought alternative sources of income. Moreover, the Ottoman Empire used silver as their chief measure of their economic strength in that every business transaction was done in silver from the collection of taxes to the printing of coins that were used as currency for the empire. With this in mind, the conquests made by the neighboring empires and nations saw a huge influx of gold and silver into the empire, which became affected by inflation based on the principle of supply and demand. The Ottoman Empire lost value in its currency, which meant a weakened state of economic power, which the led to increase in prices around the empire. Over the years, the inflation continued to hurt the empire as a whole, especially the ordinary citizens and the military as they had the purchasing power. As a result, the empire got into the earlier mentioned alliances with foreign powers to an extent that certain European powers held entire industries under their power, where they controlled every aspect of the economy and policymaking. This is because economic policy changed to incorporate concessions to European nations to make investments as the empire faced economic stagnation from all the silver and gold that created inflation. Trade concessions kept the Ottoman Empire running as it provided income and taxes, as well as weakening it slowly from the inside through treaties made by concessions. The above can be seen in the case of a treaty made between the empire and the French in that French citizens had the right to travel and do business in any part of the empire, and even the Ottoman Empire lost sovereignty in that the French had jurisdiction over citizens of the Ottoman Empire. Furthermore, the reason for the empire lasting longer than other Islamic empire is that, economically, the empire had a lot of bargaining power unlike other empires in that it gave much power and authority to other nations in times of need in order to stay afloat. In spite of the loss of military income, the Ottoman Empire relied on agriculture for income, which may not have been sufficient for military conquests. However, it served as substitute for spoils of war and supplemented the foreign concessions that were meant to revive the economy of the empire and see the development of industries and financial institutions such as banks. Economically, the lack of financial institution may have contributed to the fall of empire since the Islamic code of ethics prohibited interests thus, there were no banks to handle the finances, which could have led to the slow slump in the economy. With banks in place, the economy could have come to a close altogether, rather than suffer a stagnation. Social Another reason as to why the Ottoman Empire took much longer to decline in comparison to other Islamic empires is that the empire was built on a strong social foundation. This is such that it had a millet system, where despite being an Islamic empire, there were other social organizations such as Christians, Jews, and Catholics (Shaw and Çetinsaya). With this, the whole society was well integrated such that the Muslim society served as a minority population in some areas, despite the entire empire being founded on Islamic principles. The millet system was such that every religious group was organized into its own nation that was run by its own leaders elected by its people and using its own rules. Without enforcing Islamic rule, the empire was highly stable and harmonious within itself, which was a source of strength and a reason for its ability to stand the test of time and numerous opponents. This is as opposed to other Islamic empires of its time that took over whole areas and alienated the local cultures and religions by enforcing Islamic rule against the will of the people. This led to uprisings against the leaders of these empires, but that was not the case in the Ottoman Empire. Instead, it worked to integrate all religions and cultures together, which translated to support by the people for the sultan and the empire as a whole, such that they defended their own harmony and sovereignty as millets or nations. As for Islamic nations within the empire, the rule of law based on Islam prevailed and was welcomed by the people as it reflected their beliefs and thoughts (Lost Islamic history b “part 2”). With this, the leaders maintained Islamic law throughout their areas of jurisdictions and were responsible for the occurrences in these areas answering to the sultan. This created a close-knit society that took long to fall as the empire ensured their interests were looked after and preserved without having to compromise as other Islamic empires did. However, the interests of the people were violated in time after the economic decline of the empire in that the taxation system changed and was replaced with direct taxation, which saw revolts in the provinces and the capital, which took place gradually and unsettled the empire from its strong foundation (Shaw and Çetinsaya). In addition, the invasion of other nations under the guise of economic development saw the empire decline gradually as they went about violating the sovereignty of the millets, especially the French who were given authority over certain areas and freedom to travel throughout the empire and conduct business. This angered the local population as it undermined their authority in their areas of jurisdiction as even these foreigners were exempted from the rule of law. In conclusion, the Ottoman Empire declined gradually as opposed to many other Islamic empires due to its principles of ruling and integration, as well as its size and integration. These saw the empire enjoy stability and harmony for a long time, while other empires had to grapple with the consequences of enforcing Islamic rule forcefully, which resulted in revolts and rebellions. It was because of the strategic policies and military power that the empire managed to hold out strongly against its foes, and even other challenges. Works cited Lost Islamic History. The Decline of the Ottoman Empire: Part 1 Politics and Economics. 2012. Web. 1 Mar. 2013. Lost Islamic History n.d. The Decline of the Ottoman Empire: Part 2 Islamic Decline. 2012 Web. 1 Mar. 2013. Guisepi, Robert. The Ottomans: From Frontier Warriors To Empire Builders. history-world.org 1992. Web. 1 Mar. 2013. McKinney, Brennan. Ottoman Empire: One of the Most Successful Islamic Empires in History. yahoo voices. 2008. Web. 1 Mar. 2013. Shaw, Stanford and Çetinsaya, Gökhan. Ottoman Empire. Oxford Islamic studies. n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2013. http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e0611 alikhan3. Five Great Islamic Empires. HubPages. 2012. Web. 1 Mar. 2013. http://alikhan3.hubpages.com/hub/Four-Great-Islamic-Empires Read More