Contents
Introduction
The Ottoman Empire
The Classical Age of the Ottoman Empire
The Hungarians
Concluding Remarks
Bitesize Edition
The Byzantine Empire ruled over the Balkans to varying degrees of control and influence over their 1000-year existence, but eventually fell to the Ottomans in 1453. Parts of their empire clung to existence, but they eventually faded into the history books completely in 1461.
The Ottomans spent a portion of this chapter of their history under the command of Mehmed the Conqueror. Leading the Ottomans, they captured the Duchy of Athens, the territory of Serbia, Wallachia, and Bosnia. They also battled with the Safavid Iran Empire, defeating them and annexing areas of Eastern Anatolia and Northern Iraq.
Things were looking up for the Ottomans. By looking upwards on a map, we can see the Ottoman’s journey through the Balkans brought them face-to-face with the Hungarians. Later, under the leadership of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottomans achieved magnificent success in battle against the Hungarians. Many mark the death of Suleiman the Magnificent as the start of a slow decline of the Ottoman Empire, in a thesis referred to as the Ottoman Decline Thesis. Others believe the Ottomans reached peak power in alignment with the furthest extent of their territorial control, which came over a century later.
Still, this chapter of the Ottoman's rise is of vital importance for what comes next: Forever wars with the Hapsburgs, battles with the Russians, and the eventual rise in Balkan nationalism. For now, we’ll discuss the events that set up these eventual occurrences.
Introduction
We ended last week with the fall of the Byzantines and the rise of the Ottomans in the Balkans. We’ll carry on today’s history with the rise of the Ottomans. Over the coming weeks, we’ll discuss the fall and the journey to the present day.
Balkan History – Part 2
The Ottoman Empire
Mehmed the Conqueror led the Ottomans to the capture of Constantinople in a 53-day siege at the ripe old age of 21, cementing his status as a slight overachiever. The Ottomans now had control of one of the strongest, defensible cities at the time, partly due to the Walls of Constantinople, some of the most advanced of the time. However, generations of warfare shifted. Gunpowder and cannonballs were a contributing factor to the fall of Constantinople. The field of technology in war advances, and if a declining empire doesn’t keep up, its collapse is inevitable. The period of the Byzantine’s 1000-year empire, even longer if you include the Western Roman Empire, came to an end at the hands of the Ottomans.
So, what did the Ottomans do with their newfound empire I hear you ask?
The Classical Age of The Ottomans
After its conquest of Constantinople, the Ottomans controlled large sections of the Balkans. Holding the bridge between Europe and Asia for trade allowed the Ottoman Empire to benefit economically. They entered a period of expansion, as many rising empires do, with the wind certainly behind them.
Still, some regions remained in the Balkans outside of Ottoman control, but they had their eyes on them, that’s for sure.
First, let’s take the Duchy of Athens. One of the crusader states established during the Fourth Crusade, it was conquered by the Ottomans between 1456 and 1458.
The last of the Byzantines had fallen by 1461.
The Ottomans seized the entirety of Serbian territory in 1459, Wallachia by 1462, and the Bosnian territory by 1463. A busy period for the Ottomans.
Outside of the Balkans, the Ottomans fought the Safavid Empire to their east, defeating them in the Battle of Chaldiran. In the aftermath of the conflict, the Ottomans annexed Eastern Anatolia and Northern Iraq. The Ottomans also established a presence in Egypt.
Eventually, they came face-to-face with power in the North, the Kingdom of Hungary, and hence commenced the Ottoman-Hungarian Wars.
The Hungarians
The conflict between the Ottomans and the Hungarians had started many centuries earlier. One of the biggest events of the quarrel was marked by the Ottomans' capture of Belgrade in 1521, led by Suleiman the Magnificent. His victory five years later in the Battle of Mohacs in 1526 saw the death of King Louis ⅼⅼ of Hungary and the partition of Hungary, excluding modern-day Western Hungary.
Still, the Ottomans wanted more. Three years later in 1529, Suleiman the Magnificent eyed Vienna, but failed to take the city. They failed again in 1532.
After a series of setbacks in the attacks on Vienna, the Ottomans again looked eastwards, taking Baghdad from the Persians in 1535, and with it gaining naval access to the Persian Gulf. The Ottomans maintained a strong navy with 200 warships, only bettered by the British and French Navies at this time.
The Caucasus was also split between the Ottomans and Safavids in 1535, as discussed in my series on the history of the Caucasus in relation to the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict.
Many refer to the death of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1566 as the beginning of the peak of the Ottomans. Soon after, stagnation arrived, and in the historical study of empires, stagnation usually precedes the fall. However, the Ottomans reached their maximum extent in terms of territorial control in 1683, over a century later. This marks the differences between those who believe the Ottoman Decline Thesis and those who do not. Still, the period of Suleiman the Magnificent was as his name states for the Ottoman Empire: Magnificent.
Concluding Remarks
A shorter than usual piece, but I wanted to capture the rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire separately, and in all honesty, I’ve been busy and I’m rather tired!
Next week, I’ll explore the fall of the Ottomans, the wars with the Hapsburgs and the Russians, and how rising Balkan nationalism led to rebellions across the Balkans, which further weakened the Ottomans. More next week!
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Well written - Sultan Suleiman's era was arguably one of the most defining moments in the Ottoman empire. But things fell apart after that.