1453 By The Ottoman Sultan Muhammad II example essay topic

Bayezid I- (r. 1389-1402) Ottoman ruler who started to besiege Constantinople in 1395. The Europeans saw him as a new threat to Christendom, and Hungary's king led English, French, German, and Balkan knights in a crusade against the Turks. He defeated them at Nicopolis, and moved their capital from Bursa to France. If Bayezid had not defeated the Christians, the Ottoman Empire might not have taken Constantinople. The armies of Timur defeated him near Ankara in 1402 where he was taken prisoner and died in captivity.

Captiulations- gave autonomy to foreigners living in a Muslim territory (a practice adopted by the Ottomans). European nationals were freed from having to bey Ottoman laws or pay taxes. This attracted European traders, and spared the ottomans from having to settle their disputes. System adopted from the Mamluks. Constantinople former capital of the Byzantine Empire and of the Ottoman Empire, since 1930 officially called Istanbul (for location and description, see Istanbul). It was founded (AD 330) at ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Constantine I, after whom it was named.

The largest and most splendid European city of the Middle Ages, Constantinople shared the glories and vicissitudes of the Byzantine Empire, which in the end was reduced to the city and its environs. Although besieged innumerable times by various peoples, it was taken only three times-in 1204 by the army of the Fourth Crusade (see Crusades), in 1261 by Michael V, and in 1453 by the Ottoman Sultan Muhammad II. Defended by Greek fire, it was also well fortified. An early inner wall was erected by Constantine I, and the enlarged Constantinople was surrounded by a triple wall of fortifications, begun (5th cent.) by Theodosius II. Built on seven hills, the city on the Bosporus presented the appearance of an impregnable fortress enclosing a sea of magnificent palaces and gilded domes and towers. In the 10th cent., it had a cosmopolitan population of about 1 million.

The Church of Hagia Sophia, the sacred palace of the emperors (a city in itself); the huge hippodrome, center of the popular life; and the Golden Gate, the chief entrance into the city; were among the largest of the scores of churches, public edifices, and monuments that lined the broad arcaded avenues and squares. Constantinople had a great wealth of artistic and literary treasures before it was sacked in 1204 and 1453. Virtually depopulated when it fell to the Ottoman Turks, the city recovered rapidly. The Ottoman sultans, whose court was called the Sublime Porte, embellished Constantinople with many beautiful mosques, palaces, monuments, fountains, baths, aqueducts, and other public buildings.

After World War I the city was occupied (1918-23) by the Allies. In 1922 the last Ottoman sultan was deposed and Ankara became (1923) the new capital of Turkey. Crimean War 1853-56, war between Russia on the one hand and the Ottoman Empire, England, France, and Sardinia on the other. The causes of the conflict were inherent in the unsolved Eastern Question. The more immediate occasion was a dispute between Russia and France over the Palestinian holy places. Challenging the claim of Russia to guardianship of the holy places, France in 1852 secured from Sultan Abd al-Majid certain privileges for the Latin churches.

Russian counter demands were turned down (1853) by the Ottoman government. In July, 1853, Russia retorted by occupying the Ottoman vassal states of Moldavia and Walachia, and in October, after futile negotiations, the Ottomans declared war. In Mar., 1854, England and France, having already dispatched fleets to the Black Sea, declared war on Russia; Sardinia followed suit in Jan., 1855. Austria remained neutral, but by threatening to enter the war on the Ottoman side forced Russia to evacuate Moldavia and Walachia, which were occupied (Aug., 1854) by Austrian troops. In Sept., 1854, allied troops landed in the Crimea, with the object of capturing Sevastopol. The Russian fortress, defended by Tot leben, resisted heroically until Sept., 1855.

Allied commanders were Lord Raglan for the British and Marshal Saint-Arnaud, succeeded later by Marshal Can robert, for the French. Military operations, which were marked on both sides by great stubbornness, gallantry, and disregard for casualties, remained localized. Famous episodes were the battles of Balaklava and Inkerman (1854) and the allied capture (1855) of Malakhov and Redan, which preceded the fall of Sevastopol. On the Asian front the Russians gained advantages and occupied Kars. The accession (1855) of Czar Alexander II and the capture of Sevastopol led to peace negotiations that resulted (Feb., 1856) in the Treaty of Paris (see Paris, Congress of). The Crimean War ended the dominant role of Russia in SE Europe; the cooling of Austro-Russian relations was an important factor in subsequent European history.

The scandalous treatment of the troops, particularly the wounded, depicted by war correspondents, prompted the work of Florence Nightingale, which was perhaps the most positive result of the war. Devshirme- ("boy levy") The Ottoman system of recruiting and training a group of slaves taken by force from their families, converted to Islam, and trained for military or administrative service. The word can can mean a group of soldiers and bureaucrats produced by the system. Nearly all of these boys were taken from Christian families. Afforded young men ways to climb as high in the government as their talents and aspirations might carry them. Diaspora term used today to denote the Jewish communities living outside the Holy Land.

It was originally used to designate the dispersal of the Jews at the time of the destruction of the first Temple (586 BC) and the forced exile [Heb., = Gamut] to Babylonia (see Babylonian captivity). The diaspora became a permanent feature of Jewish life; by AD 70 Jewish communities existed in Babylonia, Syria, Egypt, Cyrene, Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome. Jews followed the Romans into Europe and from Persia and Babylonia spread as far east as China. In modern times, Jews have migrated to the Americas, South Africa, and Australia.

The Jewish population of Central and Eastern Europe, until World War II the largest in the world, was decimated in the Holocaust. Despite the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, the vast majority of the Jewish people remains in the diaspora, notably in North America, Russia, and Ukraine. The term diaspora has also been applied to other peoples with large numbers living outside their traditional homelands. See Jews; Judaism. Ghazi- successor in Iraq to Faysal in 1933, died in a car crash in 1939, succeeded by Faysal II Herzl, Theodor 1860-1904, Hungarian Jew, founder of modern Zionism. Sent to Paris as a correspondent for the Vienna Neue Frei Presse, he reported on the Dreyfus affair.

Appalled by the vicious anti-Semitism he observed, he decided that Jewish assimilation in Europe was impossible and that the only solution to the Jewish problem was the establishment of a Jewish national state. He stated his ideas in his famous pamphlet, Der Judenstaat, first published in 1896. Herzl organized the first Zionist World Congress (1897) and served as its president from its inception until his death. In 1949 his body was moved from Vienna to Jerusalem, for burial with the highest honors by the Israeli nation.

Janissaries elite corps in the service of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). It was composed of war captives and Christian youths pressed into service; all the recruits were converted to Islam and trained under the strictest discipline. It was originally organized by Sultan Murad I. The Janissaries gained great power in the Ottoman Empire and made and unmade sultans. By 1600, Muslims had begun to enter the corps, largely through bribery, and in the 17th cent. membership in the corps became largely hereditary, while the drafting of Christians gradually ceased. In 1826, Sultan Mahmud II rid himself of the unruly (and by now inefficient) Janissaries by having them massacred in their barracks by his loyal Spa his.

Karlowitz, Treaty of 1699, peace treaty signed at Sremski Karlovci (Ger. Karlowitz), N Serbia, Serbia and Montenegro. It was concluded between the Ottoman Empire on the one side and Austria, Poland, and Venice on the other. The preceding war (1683-97) had resulted in the Ottoman defeat in 1697, thereby forcing the Ottomans to consent to the treaty.

All Hungary (including Transylvania but not the Banat of Temes var), Croatia, and Slavonia were ceded to Austria by the Ottomans. Podolian passed to Poland, and the Peloponnesus and most of Dalmatia passed to Venice. Russia, also at war with the Ottomans, captured Azov in 1696 and concluded a separate peace treaty with Turkey in 1700. The Venetian gains were lost again at the Treaty of Passarowitz (1718). The Treaty of Karlowitz, which crowned the successful campaign of Prince Eugene of Savoy, marked the beginning of the Ottoman Empire's disintegration. Mamluk The Mamluks were first used in Muslim armies in Baghdad by the Abbasid caliphs in the 9th cent. and quickly spread throughout the Muslim world.

They served the Ayyubid sultans from the 12th cent. onward and grew powerful enough to challenge the existence of the rulers who were theoretically their masters. Ay bak, the first Mamluk to actually rule, persuaded (1250) the mother of the last Ayyubid sultan to marry him after she had murdered her son. For more than 250 years thereafter, Egypt and Syria were ruled by Mamluk sultans supported by a caste of warrior slaves, from which the sultans were chosen. The Mamluks took advantage of their power to become the principal landholders in Egypt.

The Mamluk sultans are usually divided into two dynasties, the Bahri (1250-1382), chiefly Turks and Mongols, and the Burji (1382-1517), chiefly Circassians who were chosen from the garrison of Cairo. The Bahri sultans were usually selected from a few chief families, but during Burji times there was scant respect for hereditary principle in the see ention of rulers. Neither dynasty was able to exercise more than a limited power over the turbulent Mamluk soldiers. The sultans reigned, on the average, less than seven years and usually met violent ends.

In spite of the dangers that threatened the sultans at home, they usually conducted a vigorous foreign policy. They defeated the last of the Crusaders and repulsed the Mongol invasion of Syria. At times they held all Palestine and Syria and the holy places of Arabia. One of the strongest Mamluk rulers, Baybars (1260-77) defeated the Mongols at Ain Jal ut in Syria (1260), the first serious setback they had received. Baybars also installed a relative of the last Abbasid caliph of Baghdad as a Mamluk puppet caliph at Cairo.

The long reign of al-Nasir from 1293 to 1340, although interrupted three times, was one of ostentation and luxury that helped to undermine the Bahri dynasty. The Burji period that followed was one of bloodshed and treachery. It was marked by war against Timur and by the conquest (1424-26) of the Christian-held island of Cyprus. Muhammad II or Mehmet II (Muhammad the Conqueror), 1429-81, Ottoman sultan (1451-81), son and successor of Murad II.

He is considered the true founder of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). He completed the conquest of the Byzantine Empire by successfully storming (1453) Constantinople after a 50-day siege, for which he constructed the largest cannons the world had yet known. Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI fell in its defense. Muhammad moved his capital from Adrianople to Constantinople and restored the greatness of that city by settling there the populations of other conquered towns. To Greek and Armenian citizens of Constantinople he granted the privileges that they were to enjoy throughout Ottoman rule, including the freedom to practice Orthodox Eastern Christianity. The Church of Hagia Sophia became a mosque.

Muhammad then conquered the Balkan Peninsula, taking Greece, Bosnia, and several Venetian possessions in the Aegean islands. The khan of Crimea became his ally and vassal. However, his further advance was checked at Belgrade by John Hunyadi, in Albania by Scanderbeg until 1478, and in Rhodes by the Knights Hospital ers under Aubusson. In Asia, Muhammad annexed the empire of Trebizond, ended most independent Turkish dynasties, and subdued the emirate of Kara mania, putting to death its ruling family, who were Seljuk Turks.

In 1480 he captured Otranto, in Italy, but the expedition had no results. Muhammad was a patron of learning and an accomplished linguist as well as a great commander. His son, Beyazid II, succeeded him. For a contemporary account of Muhammad II, see Kritoboulos, A History of Mehmet the Conqueror (tr. 1954). Mehmet 'Ali- a military advisor who rose to power in Cairo around 1801 as the French departed.

Using French advisors he started an ambitious training program, built up a strong army and navy, and took Sarai from the Ottomans in 1831. France applauded his efforts but other European powers were not as pleased and saw these gains as threats because they thought he was a french agent. It took British naval intervention to get his troops out of Syria in 1840, but Mehmet 'Ali retained his power in Egypt and founded a dynasty that would reign there until 1952. Millets- "Religious Community" a political and social organization comprised of the Ottoman subject class which included everyone who was not a part of the ruling class. These were herders, peasants, miners, builders, artisans, and merchants. There purpose was to produce the wealth of the empire.

The Greek Orthodox church was a millet. Noble Rescript of the Rose Chamber- a proclamation issued by the new sultan Abdulmejid authorizing the creation of new institutions to safeguard the basic rights of his subjects, to asses and levy taxes fairly, and to conscript and train soldiers. Tax-farming, bribery, and favoritism would end. Osman I or Othman I, 1259-1326, leader of the Ottoman Turks and founder of the dynasty that established and ruled the Ottoman Empire.

The Osmanli or Ottoman Turks derive their name from Osman. He proclaimed (1290) his independence from his overlord, the Seljuk Turks, upon the collapse of their empire. Aided by an influx of Muslim warriors, he expanded his state in NW Asia Minor at the expense of the petty Christian lords who were his neighbors. He nevertheless inaugurated a policy of religious tolerance. Just before his death in 1326, his son and successor, Or khan, took the city of Bursa from the Byzantines.

Ottoman ism- goals of the CUP (Committee of Union and Progress): the Ottoman empire must be strengthened militarily and morally, that all religious and ethnic groups must have equal rights, that the constitution must be restored, and Sultan Abdulhamid must be shorn of power. Safavid Dynasty- comprised of Shi " is and Ottoman Sunnis Tamerlane- "Timur Leng" a petty prince, who gathered an army of Muslim Turks, and marched through Georgia, Armenia, northern Iraq, and parts of southern Russia. Everywhere they went he had thousands of men, women, and children put to death. Especially middle Eastern Christians.

His empire spread from the eastern shore of the mediterranean to India and even Damascus. His unexpected death in 1405 stopped his soldiers from invading China. Is not well regarded in history. Tanzimat the name referring to a period of modernizing reforms instituted under the Ottoman Empire from 1839 to 1876.

In 1839, under the rule of Sultan Abd al-Majid, the edict entitled Haiti-i Sharif of Gulhane laid out the fundamental principles of Tanzimat reform. Foremost among the laws was the security of honor, life, and property for all Ottoman subjects, regardless of race or religion. Other reforms, which sought to reduce theological dominance, included the lifting of monopolies, fairer taxation, secularized schools, a changed judicial system, and new rules regarding military service. Tanzimat ended (1876) under Abd al-Hamid II's reign, when the ideas for a Turkish constitution and parliament promoted by the vizier Mid hat Pasha were rejected by the sultan.

Timur- estate properties given to horse soldiers, , by the Ottoman Empire which they were entitled to exploit as long as they reported for duty and outfitted a specified number of horse soldiers whenever the sultan needed them. Vez ir- was the chief administrator of the cabinet, who was authorized to take the sultan's place on military campaigns. Considered second in power to the sultan, early were usually Turkish princes or administrators from older Muslim states. Young Turks- or new Ottoman's organized a military coup that forced Abdulhamid to restore the Ottoman constitution in 1908 (originally drafted in 1876 by New Ottomans who were western educated). However, they did not halt disintegration, did not rapidly grow economically, eventually losing all of their European lands, and democracy was dead by the outbreak of WWI.

Zionism In the late 19th cent., Zionism promised a return to the Holy Land. This again created problems for the traditionalists whose religious ideas were rooted in the Diaspora, and many of whom opposed any movement to build a secular Jewish state in the Holy Land. Eventually, an Orthodox wing of Zionism did emerge. For many Jews still unanswered is the question of whether a full Jewish life is possible in exile, or whether residing in Zion is essential. Theologically, Zionism posed the problem of whether Jews can work for the messianic return or whether this would be counter to another traditional belief that saw humanity awaiting the divine intervention.

#6 Hussein-McMahon Letters- an exchange of controversial letters between the amir of Mecca, and the British high commissioner for Egypt and the Sudan between 1915 and 1916. Britain pledged that if Husayn pledged an Arab assault against Ottoman rule than they would provide military and financial aid during the war and would then help to create independent Arab governments in the Arabian peninsula and most parts of the fertile crescent. Britain excluded Lebanon, and / or possibly palestine, this angered Husayn, and his correspondence with Britain ended in early 1916. Sykes-Picot Treaty- signed in May 1916, it provided for direct french rule of northern and western Syria, plus a sphere of influence in the Syrian hinterland including Damascus, Aleppo, and Mosul. Britain would rule lower Iraq directly, as well as ensuring indirect British control from the Mediterranean to the Gulf. An enclave around Jaffa and Jerusalem would be under international government because Russia wanted a part in administering the Christian holy places.

The only area left for the Arabs to govern without foreign rulers or advisors was the Arabian desert. Balfour Declaration- After Herzl's death, the Zionist movement came under the leadership of Chaim Weizmann, who sought to reconcile the "practical" wing of the movement, which sought to further Jewish settlement in Palestine, and its "political" wing, which stressed the establishment of a Jewish state. Weizmann obtained few concessions from the Turkish sultan, who ruled Palestine; however, in 1917, Great Britain, then at war with Turkey, issued the Balfour Declaration (see Balfour, Arthur James), which promised to help establish a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. Great Britain was given a mandate of Palestine in 1920 by the League of Nations, in part to implement the Balfour Declaration.

Jewish colonization vastly increased in the early years of the mandate (see Palestine for the period up to 1948), but soon the British limited their interpretation of the declaration in the face of Arab pressure. There were disputes in the Zionist movement on how to counter the British position. The right-wing Revisionists, led by Vladimir Jabotinsky, favored large-scale immigration to Palestine to force the creation of a Jewish state. The most conciliatory faction was the General Zionists (representing the original national organizations), who generally remained friendly to Great Britain.