I learned this today. The Ottoman Empire ended due to revolt, general decline, and defeat in World War 1.
The Ottoman Empire began in the 13th century. Osman I, a Turkish tribal leader, managed to conquer a few of the territories near to his own on the border of the Byzantine Empire. The name “Ottoman” comes from Osman I. Very little is known about him due to a lack of sources. He possibly reigned from 1280 and died in about 1324.
Over the next hundred years, the Ottomans extended their territory into Balkans. They managed to conquer Constantinople in 1453, which put an end to the Byzantine Empire and, technically, the Roman Empire as well.
Successive Sultans continued to expand the empire until it peaked under Suleiman the Magnificent who was sultan from 1520 to 1566. Under him, the empire reached 2,273,720 km2, over three continents. The controlled the Mediterranean Sea and were very involved in European politics.
On the day that Suleiman died in 1566, the Empire entered into a period of peace and slow decline. Peace meant that the army of the Ottoman Empire stopped focusing on its military, while the Hapsburg Empire and the Russian Empire gradually became stronger. Over the next two hundred years the Ottomans started to lose land for the first time. They were defeated at the Battle of Vienna in 1683 and lost many territories. They tried to retake them in 1697, but were unable. They also lost a lot of territory during the Austro-Turkish War (1716 – 1718) and the Russo-Turkish War (1768 – 1764). These wars showed Europe that the Ottoman Empire was no longer likely to be a threat, but was becoming more defensive.
So, why did the Ottoman Empire end? There are several reasons and probably none of the reasons are enough on their own to have caused it, except for World War 1.
During the 18th and early 19th centuries, many European countries industrialized. The agricultural revolution introduced far more efficient farming methods and the industrial revolution increased productivity tremendously. This never happened in the Ottoman Empire. They remained an agrarian society almost up to World War 1 and quickly found they did not have the capacity to make armaments and fight on an equal footing.
They also had a relatively uneducated populace. By the start of World War 1, only 10% of the population could read. This made fighting a modern war difficult.
The Empire was too mixed for its own good. The Empire consisted of many countries that spoke many different languages and had their own identities. It was difficult to keep them in an empire unless military force was an option. Once the Ottoman Empire started to be defeated, a lot of the countries in it decided that they didn’t want to be a part of it anymore. The Balkans were particularly keen to leave, which came to a head in the Serbian Revolution of 1804. The Greek War of Independence started in 1821, and by the end in 1829, Greece was no longer a part of the Ottoman Empire.
A lot of European powers were working to undermine the power of the Ottoman Empire. That can be seen in the Greek War of Independence because Britain, France, and Russia, all came to the aid of the Greeks.
The Empire also had financial difficulties. By the end of the Crimean War, it had taken on so much debt that it had to declare bankruptcy in 1875. Its debt ended up being controlled by a consortium of Europeans who obviously didn’t have the Ottoman interests at heart.
There is an argument that, despite all of this, the Ottoman Empire would have been able to survive. It had shown that it could modernize and reorganize itself before. And there are federations of different countries that work successfully. The Empire may well have survived, if it hadn’t been for World War 1.
The Empire lost the first Balkan War in 1913, and its territory was a fraction of what it used to be. There was a lot of unrest from young people in the Empire. There were coups in 1912 and 1913. The Ottoman Empire entered World War 1 on the side of Germany. By 1918, they had been defeated on every front and signed an armistice. They lost most of their territory and they lost Constantinople.
Within the Empire, there was a lot of unrest and the Turkish national movement started the Turkish War of Independence, which they won. Mustafa Kemal took power and abolished the sultanate on 1st November 1922. The last sultan, Mehmed VI, left the country. He died in 1926 in Italy. The Republic of Turkey was established on 29th October 1923, and its new capital was placed in Ankara. The Ottoman Empire had lasted for 600 years. And that is what I learned today.
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Sources:
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/why-did-the-ottoman-empire-fall.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osman_I
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_War_of_Independence
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehmed_VI
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_War_of_Independence
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire#Defeat_and_dissolution_(1908%E2%80%931922)
https://www.history.com/news/ottoman-empire-fall
https://www.history.com/topics/middle-east/ottoman-empire#when-did-the-ottoman-empire-fall