Essays on Ottoman Empire

1299–1922

World War I, Napoleonic Wars, French Revolutionary wars, Fall of Constantinople, Armenian Genocide

Kemal Ataturk, Mehmed II, Philip II, Leopold I, Janos Hunyadi

The Ottoman Empire was founded circa 1299 by Osman I, and was one of the mightiest and longest-lasting dynasties in world history. The empire controlled large areas of the Middle East, Eastern Europe and North Africa.

The founder of the Ottoman Empire, Osman I, was a leader of the Turkish tribes in Anatolia, and began to expand his kingdom into the Byzantine Empire in Asia Minor. In 1453, the Ottoman Turks seized the Byzantine Empire’s capital, the ancient city of Constantinople, after that, Sultan Mehmed renamed the city Istanbul and made it the new capital of the Ottoman Empire.

Under the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire marked the peak of its power and prosperity, between 1520 and 1566. Many Muslims considered Suleiman a religious leader as well as a political ruler. During this period, the empire expanded and included areas of Eastern Europe.

The Ottomans were known for their achievements in art, science and medicine, especially during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. Some of the most popular forms of art were calligraphy, painting, textiles and carpet weaving, ceramics.

Starting in the 1600s, the Ottoman Empire began to lose its dominance in Europe, and the empire began to lose key regions of land. During the Balkan Wars in 1912-1913, the Ottoman Empire lost nearly all their territories in Europe. In 1922, the Ottoman Empire officially ended, after the title of Ottoman Sultan was eliminated.