Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire,[lower-alpha 11] historically and colloquially known as the Turkish Empire,[26] was an empire[lower-alpha 12] that controlled much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa, between the 14th and early 20th centuries. The empire also controlled an eastern region of Central Europe from the 16th to the late 17th century.[27] It was founded at the end of the 13th century in northwestern Anatolia in the town of Söğüt (modern-day Bilecik Province) by the Turkoman[28] tribal leader Osman I.[29] After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe and, with the conquest of the Balkans, the Ottoman beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by Mehmed II.[30]

Quick facts: Sublime Ottoman State.mw-parser-output .plain... ▼

Sublime Ottoman State دولت عليه عثمانیه Devlet-i ʿAlīye-i ʿOsmānīye
c. 1299–1922
Flag (1844–1922) Coat of arms (1882–1922)
Motto:  دولت ابد مدت Devlet-i Ebed-müddet "The Eternal State"[1]
Anthem: various[2][3]
The Ottoman Empire in 1481 The Ottoman Empire in 1566 The Ottoman Empire in 1683 The Ottoman Empire in 1739 The Ottoman Empire in 1914
Status	Empire
Capital	Söğüt[4] (c. 1299–1331) Nicaea (İznik)[5] (1331–1335) Bursa[6] (1335–1363) Adrianople (Edirne)[6] (1363–1453) Constantinople (Istanbul)[lower-alpha 1] (1453–1922)
Common languages	Ottoman Turkish (dynastic, official)[10] Arabic[lower-alpha 2] Persian[lower-alpha 3] Greek[lower-alpha 4] Chagatai[lower-alpha 5] French[lower-alpha 6] many others
Religion	Sunni Islam (state) School: Hanafi Creed: Maturidi
Demonym(s)	Ottoman
Government	Absolute monarchy (c. 1299–1876; 1878–1908; 1920–1922) Caliphate (1517–1924)[19] Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy (1876–1878; 1908–1920) Under a one-party triumvirate dictatorship (1913–1918)
Sultan
• c. 1299–1323/4 (first)	Osman I
• 1918–1922 (last)	Mehmed VI
Caliph
• 1517–1520 (first)	Selim I[20][lower-alpha 7]
• 1922–1924 (last)	Abdulmejid II
Grand Vizier
• 1320–1331 (first)	Alaeddin Pasha
• 1920–1922 (last)	Ahmet Tevfik Pasha
Legislature	Imperial Council (until 1876; 1878–1908) General Assembly (1876–1878; 1908–1920) None, rule by decree (1920–1922)
• Unelected upper house	Chamber of Notables (1876–1878; 1908–1920)
• Elected lower house	Chamber of Deputies (1876–1878; 1908–1920)
History
• Founded	c. 1299[21]
• Interregnum	1402–1413
• Conquest of Constantinople	29 May 1453
• 1st Constitutional Era	1876–1878
• 2nd Constitutional Era	1908–1920
• Raid on the Sublime Porte	23 January 1913
• Sultanate abolished[lower-alpha 8]	1 November 1922
• Republic of Turkey established[lower-alpha 9]	29 October 1923
• Caliphate abolished	3 March 1924
Area
1481[22]	1,220,000 km2 (470,000 sq mi)
1521[22]	3,400,000 km2 (1,300,000 sq mi)
1683[22][23]	5,200,000 km2 (2,000,000 sq mi)
1913[22]	2,550,000 km2 (980,000 sq mi)
Population
• 1912[24]	24,000,000
Currency	Various: akçe, para, sultani, kuruş (piastre), pound
Preceded by Succeeded by Sultanate of Rum Anatolian beyliks Byzantine Empire Despotate of the Morea Empire of Trebizond Principality of Theodoro Second Bulgarian Empire Tsardom of Vidin Despotate of Dobruja Despotate of Lovech Serbian Despotate Kingdom of Bosnia Zeta Kingdom of Hungary Kingdom of Croatia League of Lezhë Mamluk Sultanate Hafsid Kingdom Aq Qoyunlu Hospitaller Tripoli Kingdom of Tlemcen Turkey Hellenic Republic Caucasus Viceroyalty Principality of Bulgaria Eastern Rumelia Albania Kingdom of Romania Revolutionary Serbia Bosnia and Herzegovina Principality of Montenegro Emirate of Asir Kingdom of Hejaz OETA Mandatory Iraq French Algeria British Cyprus French Tunisia Italian Tripolitania Italian Cyrenaica Sheikhdom of Kuwait Kingdom of Yemen

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History of Turkey
Prehistory Prehistory of Anatolia Palaeolithic Anatolia c. 500,000–  10,000 BC Mesolithic Anatolia c. 11,000–  9,000 BC Neolithic Anatolia c. 8,000–  5,500 BC
Bronze Age Troy 3000–700 BC Hattians 2500–2000 BC Akkadian Empire 2400–2150 BC Luwians 2300–1400 BC Assyria 1950–1750 BC Kussara 1780–1680 BC Achaeans (Homer) 1700–1300 BC Kizzuwatna 1650–1450 BC Hittites 1680–1220 BC Arzawa 1500–1320 BC Mitanni 1500–1300 BC Hayasa-Azzi 1500–1290 BC Lycia 1450–350 BC Assuwa 1300–1250 BC Diauehi 1200–800 BC Neo-Hittites 1200–800 BC Phrygia 1200–700 BC Caria 1150–547 BC Tuwanuwa 1000–700 BC Ionia 1000–545 BC Urartu 859–595/585 BC
Iron Age Diauehi 1200–800 BC Neo-Hittites 1200–800 BC Phrygia 1200–700 BC Caria 1150–547 BC Doris 1100–560 BC Aeolis 1000–560 BC Tuwanuwa 1000–700 BC Ionia 1000–545 BC Urartu 859–595/585 BC Median Empire 678–549 BC Lydia 685–547 BC
Classical Age Classical Anatolia Classical Thrace Achaemenid Empire 559–331 BC Kingdom of Alexander the Great 334–301 BC Kingdom of Cappadocia 322–130 BC Antigonids 306–168 BC Seleucid Empire 305–64 BC Ptolemaic Kingdom 305–30 BC Kingdom of Pontus 302–64 BC Bithynia 297–74 BC Attalid kingdom 282–129 BC Galatia 281–64 BC Parthian Empire 247 BC–224 AD Armenian Empire 190 BC–428 AD Roman Republic 133–27 BC Commagene 163 BC–72 AD Ancient Rome 133 BC-27 BC–330 AD Sasanian Empire 224–651 AD (briefly in Anatolia)
Medieval Age Medieval Anatolia Eastern Roman Empire (330–1453; 1204-1261 in exile as Empire of Nicaea) Rashidun Caliphate (637–656) Great Seljuk State (1037–1194) Danishmends (1071–1178) Sultanate of Rum (1077–1307) Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (1078–1375) Anatolian beyliks (1081–1423) County of Edessa (1098–1150) Artuqids (1101–1409) Empire of Trebizond (1204–1461) Latin Empire (1204–1261) Karamanids (1250–1487) Ilkhanate (1256–1335) Kara Koyunlu (1375–1468) Ak Koyunlu (1378–1501)
Ottoman Era Periods of Ottoman Empire Rise (1299–1453) Classical Age (1453–1566) Transformation (1566–1703) Old Regime (1703–1789) Decline and modernization (1789–1908) Defeat and dissolution (1908–1922)
Republic of Turkey Periods of Turkey War of Independence (1919–1922) Provisional government (1920–1923) One-party period (1923–1930) (1930–1945) Multi-party period (1945–present)
By topic Anatolian peoples Migration of Turks into Anatolia Constitutional history Diplomatic history Economic history Military history Cultural history Jewish history
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Under the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire marked the peak of its power and prosperity, as well as the highest development of its governmental, social, and economic systems.[31] At the beginning of the 17th century, the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy over the course of centuries.[lower-alpha 13] With Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean Basin, the Ottoman Empire was at the centre of interactions between the Middle East and Europe for six centuries.

While the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians.[33] The newer academic consensus posits that the empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society and military throughout the 17th and for much of the 18th century.[34] However, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of its European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian empires.[35] The Ottomans consequently suffered severe military defeats in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The successful Greek War of Independence concluded with decolonization of Greece following the London Protocol (1830) and Treaty of Constantinople (1832). This and other defeats prompted the Ottoman state to initiate a comprehensive process of reform and modernization known as the Tanzimat. Thus, over the course of the 19th century, the Ottoman state became vastly more powerful and organized internally, despite suffering further territorial alosses, especially in the Balkans, where a number of new states emerged.[36]

The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) established the Second Constitutional Era in the Young Turk Revolution in 1908, turning the Empire into a constitutional monarchy, which conducted competitive multi-party elections. However, after the disastrous Balkan Wars, the now radicalized and nationalistic CUP took over the government in the 1913 coup d'état, creating a one-party regime. The CUP allied the Empire with Germany, hoping to escape from the diplomatic isolation which had contributed to its recent territorial losses, and thus joined World War I on the side of the Central Powers.[37] While the Empire was able to largely hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent, especially with the Arab Revolt in its Arabian holdings. During this time, the Ottoman government engaged in genocide against the Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks.[38] The Empire's defeat and the occupation of part of its territory by the Allied Powers in the aftermath of World War I resulted in its partitioning and the loss of its southern territories, which were divided between the United Kingdom and France. The successful Turkish War of Independence, led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk against the occupying Allies, led to the emergence of the Republic of Turkey in the Anatolian heartland and the abolition of the Ottoman monarchy.[39]