Who ruled the Ottoman Empire after Sultan Suleiman. Women's sultanate of the Ottoman Empire. How the government of the Ottoman Empire advanced: slowly but surely

For all the many hundreds of years during which the formation and development of our country took place, relations with the tribes that lived on the territory of present-day Turkey were tense. The most powerful opponents have always been the Ottoman Turks, whose dynasty ruled for many years.

Where did they come from?

Back in the middle of the first millennium of our era, during the beginning of the Great Migration of Peoples, the first representatives of the Turkic-speaking tribes appeared in Asia Minor. But during the period of power and strength of Byzantium, when the central government was still strong, they all successfully assimilated and did not have much influence on the history of that region. This went on for nearly a thousand years. By that time, Byzantium was barely able to withstand the constant attacks of the Arabs, and therefore could not effectively resist attempts from outside penetration.

At the same time, the Seljuks moved their capital into the depths of Anatolia, which was located in close proximity to the Byzantine lands. From the Oghuz Turks, Greeks, Armenians and Persians who arrived over the following years, the formation of the Turks we know today began. But this process was very long and difficult, since many nationalities lived in those parts from ancient times, many of which professed Christianity.

Turks are not Turks

Even the appearance of a large number of Turks, who by that time already professed Islam, did not radically change the situation. Oddly enough, but for hundreds of years, representatives of the two religions quite peacefully coexisted with each other, even despite the fact that it was the Turks who occupied leading positions in power.

And therefore, “Turks”, who later turned into Turks, can be called with a stretch only the “core” of that society, while the rest of the population initially had nothing to do with this ethnic group. So how did the Ottomans appear at all, whose dynasty then ruled for several centuries?

Formation of the Ottoman Sultanate

A mixture of Islam and the traditional tribal structure of the Turks themselves predetermined the features of the resulting sultanate. As a result - a weak center, controlled not only by the ruler, but also by the bureaucracy. By the way, it was not the Turks who played the leading role in it, but all the same Greeks and Armenians. The outlying provinces were ruled by a whole "vassal institution", which was played by influential beys. Accordingly, these "districts" were called beyliks. From one came the Ottomans. Their dynasty began with one particularly perspicacious ruler.

This state of affairs could not lead to good. Ultimately, it was the beys who began to rule the country, using an extensive network of their relatives at court. In the 13th century, the history of the future Turkey almost ended: first, the Shiite sectarians rebelled, and then the Mongols invaded. The Sultan is dead. The beyliks were also in distress... Except for the one that belonged to Bey Osman.

In 1299, he became the ruler of his own state, since, by and large, there was no one to obey him. He was the one historical figure, from which all subsequent Ottoman sultans went.

Assimilation of the Byzantine provinces

Osman was very lucky: the center of the pro-Mongolian state was far away, and the weak and decrepit Byzantium was close. He began to gradually annex its provinces to his country, along the way buying off part of the loot from the Mongol emissaries. The successors of the nimble bey became the successors of a successful policy: at first they finally "raked" all of Asia Minor under them, and then they reached the Balkans.

In 1396, the Turks were able to defeat the united army of the crusaders, and in 1400 they even attacked Constantinople. For the first time they did not succeed, but all the same, the days of the old Byzantium were finally numbered. In Constantinople, on the second attempt, it was nevertheless taken, and all territories, including finally, were under the rule of the Ottomans.

Way to the East

In 1475 he also recognizes himself as a vassal of the Ottoman Empire. After that, the most important trade routes fell into the hands of the Turks, which they could not help but use. In 1514, the strengthened empire managed to defeat the army of Safavid Iran. After that, the country gets free access to the Arab East and, more importantly, dramatically increases its own territories. Already in 1516, the Turks completely occupy all of Syria and rush further. Ottoman sultans "on horseback" in the literal and figurative sense.

Just a year later, they invade Egypt, completely abolishing the power of the caliphs along the way. Moreover, the latter turned out so well that the Turkish sultan became almost the official successor to the last caliph, which made it possible to completely avoid the struggle for power and civil war that was inevitable in this situation. In principle, even otherwise, the Sultan would still have been warmly received by the “electorate”, since in recent years the Ottoman Empire has grown rapidly, grew richer, treated the conquered peoples well, and therefore there were enough people who wanted to voluntarily join it.

It is difficult to consider this an accident, since in a few years the small Bey province has already been able to prove the existence of smart rulers, pursuing an independent and reasonable policy. It was the Ottomans, whose dynasty achieved outstanding success, who elevated Turkey to the pinnacle of her greatness. The former Turkic allotment has grown and strengthened so much that it began to pose a serious threat to all of Europe and the Russian Empire.

In addition, the Turks left the world a developed culture, many examples of which are still the pride of museums around the world. But who were the Ottoman sultans? The list of rulers in our article cannot give a complete list of them (it is too large), but it gives a basic idea of ​​​​them.

The most significant Ottoman sultans

Of course, we cannot but dwell on the personality of Osman I Ghazi. It was he who was the ruler of a small province of the Turkic sultanate, subsequently rising to the ruler of an independent state. Who was he, this man?

Born in 1258, died in 1324 (according to chronicles). Contemporaries considered him "a brave and strong-willed man" who had a "barbaric but fair nature." He has been on the throne since 1281. Buried in Bursa, his tomb became the center of pilgrimage for all righteous Muslims of that time. All Turkish rulers, entering into the rights of government, uttered the words of an oath ... which was carved on the tomb of the first Ottoman, acting as an epitaph. So, the Ottoman sultans in order ...

Sultan Orhan

Years of life - from 1281 to 1360. He was the youngest son of Osman. He completed the capture and created regular troops (those same Janissaries), the first of the Ottoman rulers began the targeted conquest of Europe. It is Orhan who is considered the person to whom the Turks owe the formation of their ethnic group.

Sultan Murad II

The personality is no less bright than all his outstanding predecessors. He lived from 1403 to 1451. He strengthened the state of the Ottomans, harshly suppressing all internal turmoil and civil strife. During his reign, Pope Eugene V called all Christians to another Crusade. The absurdity of the situation was that Murad was not at all an enemy of Christians: two faiths coexisted perfectly in his country, his wife was the daughter of the Serbian king, who freely professed Christianity.

He agreed to the unfavorable terms of the treaty proposed by the Vatican. The Crusaders sealed him with an oath on the Gospel, and he on the Koran. But soon the papal legates broke their word. There was a battle at Varna. The crusaders were utterly defeated, and the Turks received a direct route to the lands of Eastern Europe. Who were the other Ottoman sultans, the chronology of whose reign is considered on the pages of our article.

Sultan Suleiman I Kanuni

The name of this person is probably known to everyone who is fond of the TV series "The Magnificent Age". He lived from 1495 to 1566. Known as "Great", "Magnificent", "Legislator". Perhaps he was the last of the first Ottomans, truly worthy of the glory of their ancestors. Under him, Turkey really lived through its peak of prosperity, and under his descendants, the collapse and decline of the empire began. It can be said that the Ottoman dynasty during the time of Suleiman the Magnificent began to fade, because he failed to raise a worthy descendant.

He expanded the borders of his empire so that its outskirts reached. He dreamed of following in the footsteps of Macedonian and uniting the whole world under the wing of his country, carried out many reforms that remained relevant until the 20th century.

History also preserved his affection for the favorite Roksolana, who managed to officially become his wife. This could not be achieved by any other concubine in the previous two hundred years. In the last years of his life, he led a campaign against Hungary, but did not live to see the victory. His death was hidden until Sultan Selim ascended the throne. He was the son of Suleiman and Roksolana. A drunkard and a weak-willed man, he began the collapse of the empire. Who were the other Ottomans (the dynasty of Turkish sultans)?

Sultan Murad IV

Years of life - 1612-1640. Ruled for 17 years, "famous" as a bloody dictator. But his reign also had positive results - it was Murad who managed to put an end to the flourishing collapse of the army and the arbitrariness of the viziers. Killing just for the sake of killing, he managed to return justice to the courts ... He returned Erivan and Baghdad, which had already been lost by that time, but he no longer had time to enjoy the fruits of victory. He was an extremely sensible and even self-critical person, but on his deathbed he ordered his brother Ibrahim to be strangled. He was the last heir of the Ottomans in the male line, but ...

His mother saved him. Ibrahim ruled from 1640-1648. A weak ruler, a self-willed and extremely lustful person: concubines for him were caught even in city baths. Often, the beauties turned out to be the wives and daughters of prominent citizens, and officials at the palace had to spend huge sums to settle things ... In the end, the higher clergy and Janissaries were completely tired of this whole mess, the overly "loving" ruler was simply strangled. What were the rest of the Ottoman sultans whose years of rule were marked by the final decline of the once great empire?

Sultan Mahmud II

He lived from 1784 to 1839. He sincerely respected Peter the Great and himself dreamed of becoming a reformer of a rather rotten and rickety one. He created a post office, paid great attention to printing, published newspapers and completely reformed almost the entire state apparatus. But all this was done too late: it was already impossible to stop the processes of disintegration of the state. Known for turning to Nicholas I for help when it was necessary to suppress the uprising in the Egyptian provinces.

In the Russian army itself, there were sentiments about the return of Constantinople to the bosom of the Orthodox Church, and “purely technically” it was possible to do this. But Nicholas I did not want to spoil relations with England and France, and a weak Turkey was much more profitable than a strengthened Egypt. Mahmud himself did not live long, at the 54th year of his life, he died, without leaving the next binge.

Do Ottomans live in our time? The dynasty in our time, one might say, has not been preserved. There are no direct heirs, only distant descendants live in Turkey and Europe.

On November 6, 1494, a son, Suleiman, was born to Selim the Terrible. At the age of 26, Suleiman the Magnificent became Caliph of the Ottoman Empire. The powerful state breathed a sigh of relief after 9 years of Selim's bloody rule. The Magnificent Age has begun. After Suleiman's accession to the throne, one of the foreign ambassadors made the following entry: "The bloodthirsty lion was replaced by a lamb," but this was not entirely true.

Ottoman dynasty: Suleiman the Magnificent

Suleiman was an atypical ruler. He was distinguished by a craving for beauty, he was interested in fashion, architecture. The great caliph showed mercy to singers, poets, sculptors, architects. During his reign, architectural masterpieces were created, ingenious and ahead of their time buildings, for example, an aqueduct that stretches for 120 km and supplies fresh water to the capital of the empire.

Those who considered Suleiman a gentle ruler were wrong. The infamous and infinitely wise Cardinal Wolsey wrote to Henry VII: "He is only twenty-six years old, but he can be dangerous, like his father." The blood of a conqueror flowed in the veins of the great caliph, he dreamed of expanding the empire. He clearly demonstrated his will and character in 1521. The ruler of the Ottomans, Suleiman the Magnificent, sent three of his subjects as ambassadors to negotiate in Hungary, two returned from there with cut off noses and auricles.

Suleiman was furious. And immediately began a campaign against the Hungarian fortress Shabats. Belgrade was his next target. Suleiman was the first to use cannons against infantry, this action was condemned by European commanders, however, after a while they began to successfully use this method themselves. Belgrade resisted to the last, but in the end the city surrendered. In 1522, Suleiman continued to expand his borders, he captured the impregnable island of Rhodes, shedding the blood of the Ionite knights. In 1526, the 100,000th army of Suleiman, who took with him countless cannons, utterly defeated the army of Lajos II and Hungary entered the Ottoman Empire. In 1527-28 Bosnia and Herzegovina and Transylvania were conquered.

Suleiman the Magnificent set Austria as his next target, but was forced to retreat. Suleiman repeatedly made attempts to capture the Austrian lands, but winter, swampy terrain over and over again moved him away from the goal. Later, during the long period of his reign, Suleiman undertook more than one military campaign both to the east and to the west, more often he won and established his power over various territories.

In every captured city christian church the builders of the great caliph were rebuilt into a mosque, this was gratitude to Allah for the victory. In addition to remodeling churches in the occupied territories, Suleiman enslaved local residents, but the great caliph never forced Christians, Catholics, Jesuits to change their faith. Probably because of this, most of his army consisted of foreigners, infinitely devoted to him. This fact may assert that Suleiman was a wise man and a subtle psychologist.

In the last years of his reign, the ruler did not abandon military activities; in 1566, during the siege of another Hungarian fortress, Suleiman was found dead in his tent, he was 71 years old. According to legend, the caliph's heart was buried in the place of the tent, and his body was buried in Istanbul, next to the grave of his beloved wife.

A few years before his death, the Sultan went blind and was unable to observe the greatness of his empire. At the end of the reign of Suleiman, the population of the Ottoman Empire was 15,000,000 people, and the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe state increased several times. Suleiman created many legislative acts covering almost all aspects of life, even the prices in the bazaar were regulated by law. It was a strong and independent state, inspiring fear in Europe. But the great Turk is dead.

Ottoman slave Roksolana

Suleiman had a large harem with many concubines. But one of them, the slave Roksolana, was able to do the impossible: to become an official wife and the first adviser in state affairs, and also to gain freedom. It is known that Roksolana was a Slav, perhaps she was captured during a campaign against Rus'. The girl got into the harem at the age of 15, here she received the nickname Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska - cheerful. The young sultan immediately drew attention to the fair-haired and blue-eyed slave and began to come to her every night.

Before the advent of Roksolana, the Caliph's favorite was Mahidevran, she gave birth to his heir, Mustafa. But a year after her appearance in the harem, Roksolana also gave birth to a son, and then three more. According to the laws of that time, Mustafa was the main contender for the throne. Probably, Roksolana was a woman of extraordinary intelligence and had foresight. In 1533, she arranges the death of Mustafa, and acts through the hands of Suleiman himself. Mustafa was a worthy son of his father, but due to slander, the Ottoman Empire did not see another great ruler, young man strangled in front of his father, the grandfather did not spare his grandson, the little son of Mustafa. After the death of the first-born, the four sons of Roksolana automatically become heirs to the throne.

The Ottoman dynasty after Suleiman the Magnificent

The son of Roksolana, Selim II, became the heir to the throne, however, another son, Bayezid, began to challenge his power, but was defeated. Suleiman executed his son Bayezid in 1561 and all his sons, after the death of Roksolana. Bayezid is mentioned in the sources as wise man and desired ruler. But Selim II was destined to become caliph, and this is where Suleiman's "Magnificent Age" ends. Unexpectedly for everyone, Selim is addicted to alcohol.

He entered the annals of history as "Sulim the Drunkard". Passion for alcohol, many historians explain the upbringing of Roksolana and her Slavic roots. During his reign, Selim captured Cyprus and Arabia, continued the wars with Hungary and Venice. He made several unsuccessful campaigns, including to Rus'. In 1574, Selim II died in the harem, and his son Murad III took the throne. The empire will no longer see the brilliant rulers of the Ottoman dynasty like Sultan the Magnificent, the age of infantile sultans has come, rebellions and illegal changes of power often occurred in the empire. And only after almost a century - in 1683, the Ottoman Empire is again gaining its strength.

It is believed that the Ottoman dynasty was founded at the beginning of the XIV century. Legends tell about more ancient events, although scientists know sources that tell about the times when the progenitors of a glorious family appeared on the historical arena. Such documents include the Turkish chronicles of Ashik-pasha-zade and the works of the Byzantine John Kantakuzen. According to their information, one of the Turkmen leaders Ertogrul, together with his father, Shah Suleiman, brothers and tribesmen, arrived in Anatolia from Turkmenistan in the 1920s. XIII century. Perhaps the reason for the migration was the attacks of the Mongols. A few years later, the father and brothers decided to return to their native lands. While crossing the Euphrates, Shah Suleiman drowned. Ertogrul and his tribe remained in Anatolia. Ertogrul appealed to the Seljuk sultan Aladdin Keykubad II to give them land for nomads and pastures. Aladdin ordered them to settle near Ankara, and later also granted them land in the area of ​​​​the city of Sogyut in Northwestern Anatolia as a fief.

In 1281, after the death of Ertogrul, his son Osman gradually strengthened his positions, established contacts with local Byzantine rulers, expanded the boundaries of his modest land ownership (beylik) and gradually captured small towns and castles. Already in the second half of the 13th century, in Western Anatolia, on the border with Byzantium, a chain of Turkish beyliks similar to each other was created - Germiyan, Menteshe, Aydin, Sarukhan, Karesi and others. One of their main goals, their rulers, and then subjects, proclaimed the fight against the infidels - ghazavat, as well as the seizure of new lands. Beylik Osmanov quickly became one of the strongest and subjugated neighboring Karesi.

Religion was of great importance for the process of formation and unification of the state. The Ghazi movement (Turkish “gazi” - defender of the faith) in Western Anatolia was unusually strong and eventually had a decisive influence on the expulsion of the Byzantines from those lands. After the fall of the Seljuk Sultanate, when in 1243 the Mongols inflicted a crushing defeat on the Seljuks and subjugated Anatolia, crowds of ghazis poured into the western borders of the country. Sultan Osman I himself (called Bey) was Gaziem himself. Soon the Ottomans subjugated other beyliks of Western Anatolia, after which they headed for the central part of this region, capturing Ankara (the ancient name of Ankira) in 1354. Having mastered the main Byzantine cities of Asia Minor - in 1326 Bursa, which became the first capital of the Ottoman Empire, in 1337. Nicaea (currently Iznik), in the same year Nicomedia (modern Izmit), - they headed for the possessions of Byzantium in the Balkans. In 1361, Adrianople fell, which received the Turkish name of Edirne.

During the same period, members of various Sufi brotherhoods migrated en masse from Eastern and Central Anatolia to the west of the country and beyond. They occupied the lands left by the Byzantines, founded monasteries, carried out active propaganda activities aimed at Islamization and assimilation of the Turkmen nomads, as well as that part of the Byzantine population that remained on their lands. One of the most active Sufi brotherhoods was Akhiler. The sheikh of the brotherhood, Edebali, was a teacher and adviser to Sultan Osman I himself. The Kalenderi and Bektashi brotherhoods also played an important role in the Islamization of the lands occupied by the Ottomans.

Sultan Mehmed III (1566-1603), years of his reign 1595-1603. He began with the fact that he ordered to kill 19 of his brothers - the largest fratricide in the history of the Ottomans - and drown their pregnant favorites in the Bosphorus; he later put his own son to death. The empire was ruled by his mother, but he still made a successful trip to Hungary. His death was predicted by a dervish.

Sultan Ahmed I (1590-1617), who ruled from 1603 to 1617, succeeded to the throne even before he had passed the prescribed rite of circumcision. Moody and not very smart, he often changed advisers and grand viziers - usually at the request of the harem. As a contemporary noted, "no one knows for sure who was the sovereign." Under him, the Turks lost Transcaucasia and Baghdad, were subjected to the first raids of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks.
In 1612, in a letter to the Polish king, Ahmed I called himself the following title: Sultan Ahmed-Khan, Most Glorious, son of the Great God, King of all Turks, Greeks, Babylonians, Macedonians, Sarmatians, Ruler of Greater and Lesser Egypt, Alexandria, India, and also all peoples on earth Sovereign and Monarch, Lord and Most Serene son of Mohammed, Defender and Guardian of the holy Grotto of Heavenly God, King of all Kings and Sovereign of all Sovereigns, Sovereign and Heir of all heirs.

Sultan Mustafa I (1591-1639), reigned 1617-1618 and 1622-1623, is the half-witted brother of Sulan Ahmed I, a lunatic who spent 14 years in prison, but was revered by some as a "holy" person, since Muslims experienced sacred reverence for crazy people. In captivity, he was engaged in the fact that instead of bread crumbs, he threw gold coins into the Bosphorus to the fish. When it became clear that he could not rule, he was again sent to prison. He was succeeded by his nephew, the son of Ahmed's brother, Osman. But after Osman was overthrown, Mustafa was again called to the throne, but he again prosulted for a short time.

Sultan Osman II (1604-1622), son of Ahmed I, ruled from 1618 to 1622, enthroned at the age of 14 by the Janissaries. He was distinguished by a militant character and pathological cruelty - for example, he used prisoners and his own pages as targets. He was defeated by the Zaporozhye Cossacks at the siege of Khotyn. Upon learning that the sultan was preparing to take away the treasury and thereby leave the army without remuneration, the Janissaries, who put Osman II on the throne, rebelled and killed him in hand-to-hand combat. He was 18 years old.

Sultan Murad IV (1612-1640) ascended the throne at the age of 11 and ruled from 1623 to 1640. It was the most bloody of all the Ottoman sultans, but he did away with the yoke of the viziers and army anarchy. "Kill or be killed" - became his principle, and he cracked down on absolutely innocent people - just for the sake of killing. But discipline returned to the barracks, and justice to the courts. He returned the empires of Erivan and Baghdad, but died stricken with fever and wine. Before his death, he decided to remain the last representative of the dynasty and ordered the execution of his brother Ibrahim - the only heir in the male line of the Ottomans, but ...

Sultan Ibrahim (1615-1648), saved by his mother, ascended the throne and ruled from 1640-1648. It was weak, weak-willed, but Cruel person, a reckless squanderer of the treasury, who indulged his favorites, who were caught for him even in city baths. He was deposed by his Janissaries (in alliance with the higher clergy) and strangled.

Sultan Mehmed IV (1642-1693) Hunter ascended the throne as a 6-year-old child (1648) and ruled for almost 40 years. He succeeded at first in restoring the former military splendor of the Ottoman Empire, but then he plunged it into an unprecedented military humiliation, which ended with the first partition of Turkey. Of course, it was not the young sultan who ruled, but his grand viziers. And if one managed to conquer the island of Crete, then the other lost the battle of St. Gotthard, could not capture Vienna, fled from Hungary, etc. (It was Mehmed IV in the famous painting by Repin who wrote a response letter from the Cossacks, who did not support their hetman, who wanted to give Ukraine under the rule of Turkey). The rebellious Janissaries overthrew Mehmed IV and enthroned the eldest of his two brothers - Suleiman II (1687-1691), who was soon replaced by another brother - Ahmed II (1691-1695), followed by his nephew Mustafa II (1695-1703). It was under him that the Karlovitsky Peace was concluded (1699), which is called the first partition of Turkey: Austria received most of Hungary and Slovakia, Transylvania and Croatia, Venice - Morea and the islands of the archipelago, Poland - part of the Right-Bank Ukraine, a truce was concluded with Russia, replaced by Treaty of Constantinople (1700).

Sultan Ahmed III (1673-1736) ruled for 27 years - from 1703 to 1730. It was he who gave shelter to the Ukrainian hetman Mazepa and the Swedish king Charles XII, who lost the battle of Poltava (1709). Peace with Peter I moved the Turks to fighting against Venice and Austria, but the war was lost, and they lost a number of territories in Eastern Europe, as, indeed, in North Africa(Algeria, Tunisia). The Ottoman Empire continued to melt. State minds believed that salvation was in returning to good old morals and building up military power, "because our state was won by the sword and can only be supported by the sword."

Sultan Mahmud I (1696-1754), who ruled in 1730-1754, Sultan Osman III (1699-1757) - in 1754-1757 and Sultan Mustafa III (1717-1774) - in 1757-1773, tried for almost fifty years to hold the limits of the Ottoman Empire - until the beginning of the Russian-Turkish wars of 1768-1774 and 1783-1791. From Sultan Abduly-Hamid I (1773-1789), Catherine II won the Crimea for Russia, and from Sultan Selim III (1789-1807), the Russians recaptured the northern coast of the Black Sea from Bessarabia to the Caucasus.

Sultan Selim III (1761-1808), who ruled from 1789 to 1807, tried to implement reforms in the European spirit in order to save the Ottoman Empire from the domestic and foreign political crises caused by the defeat at Ishmael. On his behalf, a group of secular and spiritual nobility outlined and partially began to implement the Nizam-i-Jedid (New Order) transformation program. However, when the feudal reaction opposed the reforms and the unrest of the Janissaries began, the Sultan did not have the courage to support his like-minded people. In 1807, he was removed from the throne, and a year later he was killed on the orders of his brother Mustafa IV, who, however, was deposed a few months later. The throne was taken by their other brother - Mahmud II.

Sultan Mahmud II (1784-1839) ruled in 1808-1839 and saw himself as Peter the Great as a reformer. He not only reformed the state apparatus, but also founded book printing, newspaper publishing, created a post office, and so on. However, the reforms did not stop the collapse of the empire: the national liberation movement in the Balkans and the Russian-Turkish war of 1828-1829 led to the independence of Greece, the autonomy of Serbia, Moldova and Wallachia, Russia received the mouth of the Danube (Dobruz), the entire Caucasian-Black Sea coast. But when the Egyptian Pasha rebelled against Mahmud II and the Sultan turned to Russia for help, Nicholas I immediately came to his aid. Moods were strong in the Russian army, taking the opportunity to "liberate Constantinople" and return the Orthodox cross to the St. Sophia Church. From a military point of view, this was indeed possible. However, Nicholas I did not dare to aggravate relations with England and France, and it was more profitable to have a weak Turkey in the south than a growing Egypt. And yet, under Mahmud II, the influence of England and France on Turkey increased. The Sultan could not study for a long time state affairs: he had long drinking bouts and he died 54 years old.

Sultan Abdulmejid began his reign as an inexperienced 16-year-old boy, and ended as a mature husband of 38 years (1839-1861). He continued his father's reforms to transform Turkey from a medieval empire into a modern state, although he gained fame as "the meekest of the sultans." His rescript on equal rights all subjects, regardless of nationality and religion, provoked, however, the massacre in Lebanon in the 40s and 60s, from which Christians suffered. The concessions of Abdul-Mejid of the holy places of Bethlehem to the French prompted Nicholas I to declare "war on the keys to the Holy Sepulcher" to Turkey. In this war, known as the Crimean War (1853-1856), England and France fought on the side of Turkey, Russia was defeated. And the Sultan, less and less engaged in reforms, died five years later.

Sultan Abdulaziz, brother of Abdulmejid, ascended the throne in 1861 and ruled until 1876. It was a rude, ignorant, despotic sultan, who ultimately refused to reform. He was under the influence of the Russian ambassador Count Ignatiev, who tried to interfere with the growing influence of England and supported the Turkish ruler's tendency to traditional despotism. Sultan Abdul-Azis studied the art of painting with the artist Stanislav Khlebovsky, who was his court painter for more than 10 years. When in 1875 an uprising broke out against the Turks in Bosnia and Herzegovina, supported by Serbia, Montenegro, spread to Bulgaria, and the Turks staged a wild massacre, this caused outrage in Europe and Russia. Abdul-Aziz was deposed by "Muslim patriots" on the grounds of "mental disorder, evasion of political issues, use of state revenues for personal purposes and behavior generally dangerous to the state and society." Abdulaziz was announced to have committed suicide. It is now believed that he was killed. Murad V, who succeeded him, was declared insane three months later, deposed and imprisoned in the palace. The time of the omnipotence of despotism is behind us. The title "Turkish Sultan" ceased to symbolize permissiveness, power and threat.

Sultan Abdul-Hamid II (1842-1918), who ruled in 1876-1909, began by promulgating a constitution based on the Belgian and Prussian models, but soon dissolved the parliament created on its basis and established a despotic regime "Zulum" (violence, arbitrariness) . With Armenian pogroms, the massacre of Greeks in Crete and other cruel actions, he earned the nickname "bloody sultan". After the war with Russia (1877-1878) in the Balkans with the defeats at Shipka and Phillippopolis, the surrender of Adrianople to the Russians, Abdul-Hamid lost power over the peoples of the Balkan Peninsula, followed by losses in North Africa. Established in 1889, the Turkish organization "Unity and Progress" ("Young Turks") led the fight against the absolutism of Abdul-Hamid. The "Young Turk" revolution (1908) forced him to restore the constitution, but a year later he was deposed and arrested. In fact, Abdul-Hamid II was the last sultan of the Ottoman Empire with the traditional trappings of unlimited power.

Sultan Mehmed V, brother of Abdul-Hamid, was enthroned in 1909 to reign, but not govern: an elderly man and not energetic, he completely fell under the influence of the "Young Turks", under which the Ottoman Empire continued to lose one territory after another (war with Italy, 1911-1912, and the Balkan War, 1912-1913). Rapprochement with Germany led to the participation of Turkey on its side in the First World War. Upon learning of this, the Sultan exclaimed: "To fight with Russia! But after all, one of her corpses is enough to crush us!" He died in 1918.

Sultan Mehmed VI Vahideddin - the last Ottoman sultan who took the throne at the age of 57 after a long wait, ruled from 1918-1922. Mehmed VI, who took the throne at the age of 57 after a long wait. The last period of the power of the sultans is 15 years of wars and a crisis that lasted until the fall of the empire. Italo-Turkish war 1911-1912, Balkan wars 1911-1913 and World War I 1914-1918. weakened the state. The Turkish army, which fought on several fronts after the First World War, despite a number of significant victories, was exhausted and incapable of conducting successful military operations. Fearing a revolution, Mehmed VI began to seek a truce with the Entente countries. Concluded in Mudros on October 30, 1918, it obliged him to demobilize the army and hand over warships to the Entente. The troops of Great Britain, France and Greece occupied Istanbul and almost all of Anatolia. The people of Turkey were under occupation. England and France received control over the straits, railway, radio and telegraph of the Ottoman Empire, the right to occupy it in case of a threat to the "security of the allies". In practice, this meant the end of the empire. A group of patriotic intelligentsia headed by Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Ataturk) created a representative committee that called for war with the invaders. The Turks mobilized their forces and started the war of liberation (1919-1922). During it April 23, 1920. . After defeating the interventionists, Mehmed VI fled abroad, and the parliament passed a law (November 1, 1922) abolishing the sultanate. A year later, on October 29, 1923, Turkey was proclaimed a republic. Mustafa Kemal Pasha (since 1934 called Ataturk) became its first president.

According to a law adopted on March 3, 1924 by the Turkish Grand National Assembly, the property of the members of the Ottoman family was confiscated, and they themselves were expelled from the country. 155 members of the dynasty were forced to emigrate. The Sultan's sons and grandsons, depending on their right to inherit the throne, were ordered to leave the country within 24 or 72 hours. For daughters, their children, other grandchildren and sons-in-law of the Sultan, the time for gathering was set within 7-10 days. Only the wives and distant relatives of the dynasty were allowed to remain in the country. The children of persons deserving before the state who were related to Abdul-Hamid II (for example, the family of Nuri Tazi Osman Pasha, a great military leader who in 1876 delayed the advance of a 100,000-strong Russian army near Captivity), were told: “Your father was great statesman, divorce your wives, let them leave the country, and you stay in Turkey.” Many chose to emigrate with their families. From March 5 to March 15, 1924, at the Sirkeci station in Istanbul, the Ottomans were given 2000 British pounds and a passport for a year, after which they boarded the train. All were deprived of Turkish citizenship, they were strictly forbidden to return to their homeland, even transit through the territory of Turkey was prohibited.

The fates of the members of the Osman family turned out to be different. Some died of hunger. Others have gone from washing cars to being awarded the Order of the French Legion. Someone got along with representatives of other royal families, mainly from Albania, India and Egypt.

An example of the sad fate of an exiled prince is the biography of Mehmed Orhan (1909-1994), grandson of Sultan Abdul-Hamid II, son of Prince Abdul-Qadir. If he had taken the throne, he would have become Orhan II or Mehmed VII. Superbly educated, who knew 8 foreign languages, in his early youth he worked as a merchant in the market and as a driver, later became the adjutant of the Albanian king Zog, during the Second World War he was a pilot and civilian employee in several reconnaissance missions, earned a living working as a guide, then janitor. In the end, he settled in a small apartment in Nice. He worked as caretaker of an American military cemetery in Paris with a salary much less than the minimum wage in France. To live, limited to one meal a day. Never, unlike some relatives, he never applied for social assistance or a pension. He repeatedly refused to accept the citizenship of other states, answering that if he could not be a Turkish citizen, then he would prefer to remain stateless until the end of his life. And only at the age of 83 he received Turkish citizenship and, at the invitation of the representative of the Turkish daily newspaper Hurriyet, Murad Bardakci, came to Turkey. After 68 years of exile, he flew to Istanbul for 2 weeks - by this time he was already almost blind.

Currently, representatives of the genus are scattered around the world, many of them are entrepreneurs and employees of international organizations. Now there are 77 members of the family, of which 25 are princes. They adopted the surname Osmanoglu. In September 2009, Prince Ertogrul Osman (Osman V) of the Ottoman Empire, the last direct descendant of the last reigning Caliph of the House of Ottomans, died. However, the Imperial House of the Ottomans itself continues to exist. After the death of Ertugrut Osman, Prince Bayezid Osman Efendi, who took the name of Bayezid III, became its Head. In 2010, the grandson of Murad V, Prince Osman Salahaddin Effendi, announced the project to create the Osmanogullari Vakfi foundation of the Ottomans.

History of the Ottoman Empire

History of the Ottoman Empire is over one hundred years old. The Ottoman Empire existed from 1299 to 1923.

Rise of an empire

Expansion and fall of the Ottoman Empire (1300-1923)

Osman (r. 1288-1326), the son and heir of Ertogrul, in the fight against the powerless Byzantium, annexed region after region to his possessions, but, despite his growing power, recognized his dependence on Lycaonia. In 1299, after the death of Alaeddin, he assumed the title "Sultan" and refused to recognize the authority of his heirs. By his name, the Turks began to be called Ottoman Turks or Ottomans. Their power over Asia Minor spread and strengthened, and the sultans of Konya could not prevent this.

Since that time, they have developed and rapidly increased, at least quantitatively, their own literature, although very little independent. They take care of maintaining trade, agriculture and industry in the conquered areas, create a well-organized army. A powerful state is developing, military, but not hostile to culture; in theory it is absolutist, but in reality the commanders, to whom the sultan gave different areas to control, often turned out to be independent and reluctantly recognized the supreme authority of the sultan. Often the Greek cities of Asia Minor voluntarily gave themselves under the patronage of the powerful Osman.

Osman's son and heir Orhan I (1326-59) continued his father's policy. He considered it his calling to unite all the faithful under his rule, although in reality his conquests were directed more to the west - to the countries inhabited by Greeks, than to the east, to the countries inhabited by Muslims. He very skillfully used internal strife in Byzantium. More than once the disputing parties turned to him as an arbitrator. In 1330 he conquered Nicaea, the most important of the Byzantine fortresses on Asian soil. Following that, Nicomedia and the entire northwestern part of Asia Minor to the Black, Marmara and Aegean seas fell into the power of the Turks.

Finally, in 1356, a Turkish army under the command of Suleiman, the son of Orhan, landed on the European coast of the Dardanelles and captured Gallipoli and its environs.

Bâb-ı Âlî, High Port

In the activities of Orhan in the internal government of the state, his permanent adviser was his older brother Aladdin, who (the only example in the history of Turkey) voluntarily renounced his rights to the throne and accepted the post of grand vizier, established especially for him, but preserved after him. To facilitate trade, the coinage was settled. Orkhan minted a silver coin - akche in his own name and with a verse from the Koran. He built himself a magnificent palace in the newly conquered Bursa (1326), by the high gate of which the Ottoman government received the name of the “High Port” (literal translation of the Ottoman Bab-ı Âlî - “high gate”), often transferred to the Ottoman state itself.

In 1328, Orhan gave his domains a new, largely centralized administration. They were divided into 3 provinces (pashalik), which were divided into districts, sanjaks. The civil administration was connected with the military and subordinated to it. Orkhan laid the foundation for an army of Janissaries, recruited from Christian children (at first 1000 people; later this number increased significantly). Despite a significant share of tolerance towards Christians, whose religion was not persecuted (even though Christians were taxed), Christians converted to Islam en masse.

Conquests in Europe before the capture of Constantinople (1306-1453)

• 1352 - capture of the Dardanelles.
• 1354 Capture of Gallipoli.
• From 1358 to Kosovo field

After the capture of Gallipoli, the Turks fortified on the European coast of the Aegean, the Dardanelles and the Sea of ​​Marmara. Suleiman died in 1358, and Orkhan was succeeded by his second son, Murad (1359-1389), who, although he did not forget about Asia Minor and conquered Angora in it, transferred the center of gravity of his activity to Europe. Having conquered Thrace, in 1365 he moved his capital to Adrianople. Byzantine Empire was reduced to one Constantinople with its immediate environs, but continued to resist the conquest for almost a hundred years.

The conquest of Thrace brought the Turks into immediate contact with Serbia and Bulgaria. Both states went through a period of feudal fragmentation and could not be consolidated. In a few years, they both lost a significant part of their territory, pledged themselves to tribute and became dependent on the Sultan. However, there were periods when these states managed, taking advantage of the moment, to partially restore their positions.

At the accession to the throne of the following sultans, beginning with Bayazet, it became customary to kill the next of kin to avoid family rivalry over the throne; this custom was observed, although not always, but often. When the relatives of the new sultan did not pose the slightest danger due to their mental development or for other reasons, they were left alive, but their harem was made up of slaves made sterile through an operation.

The Ottomans clashed with the Serbian rulers and won victories at Chernomen (1371) and Savra (1385).

Battle of Kosovo

In 1389, the Serbian prince Lazar began a new war with the Ottomans. On the Kosovo field on June 28, 1389, his army of 80,000 people. agreed with Murad's army of 300,000 people. The Serbian army was destroyed, the prince was killed; Murad also fell in the battle. Formally, Serbia still retained its independence, but it paid tribute and undertook to supply an auxiliary army.

Assassination of Murad

One of the Serbs who took part in the battle (that is, from the side of Prince Lazar) was the Serbian prince Miloš Obilić. He understood that the Serbs had little chance of winning this great battle, and decided to sacrifice his life. He came up with a cunning operation.

During the battle, Miloš sneaked into Murad's tent, pretending to be a defector. He approached Murad as if to convey some secret and stabbed him to death. Murad was dying, but managed to call for help. Consequently, Miloš was killed by the Sultan's guards. (Milos Obilic kills Sultan Murad) From that moment on, the Serbian and Turkish versions of what happened began to differ. According to the Serbian version, having learned about the murder of their ruler, the Turkish army succumbed to panic and began to scatter, and only taking control of the troops by Murad's son Bayazid I saved the Turkish army from defeat. According to the Turkish version, the murder of the Sultan only angered the Turkish soldiers. However, the version that the main part of the army learned about the death of the Sultan after the battle seems to be the most realistic option.

Early 15th century

Murad's son Bayazet (1389-1402) married the daughter of Lazar and thereby acquired the formal right to intervene in the solution of dynastic issues in Serbia (when Stefan, son of Lazar, died without heirs). In 1393, Bayazet took Tarnovo (he strangled the Bulgarian king Shishman, whose son escaped death by converting to Islam), conquered all of Bulgaria, imposed tribute on Wallachia, conquered Macedonia and Thessaly, and penetrated Greece. In Asia Minor, his possessions expanded far to the east beyond Kyzyl-Irmak (Galis).

In 1396, near Nikopol, he defeated the Christian army, gathered in a crusade by the king Sigismund of Hungary.

The invasion of Timur at the head of the Turkic hordes into the Asian possessions of Bayazet forced him to lift the siege of Constantinople and personally rush to meet Timur with significant forces. AT battle of Ankara in 1402 he was utterly defeated and taken prisoner, where he died a year later (1403). In this battle, a significant Serbian auxiliary detachment (40,000 people) was also killed.

The captivity and then the death of Bayazet threatened the state with disintegration into parts. In Adrianople, the son of Bayazet Suleiman (1402-1410) proclaimed himself sultan, who seized power over the Turkish possessions on the Balkan Peninsula, in Brousse - Isa, in the eastern part of Asia Minor - Mehmed I. Timur received ambassadors from all three applicants and promised his support to all three, obviously wanting to weaken the Ottomans, but he did not find it possible to continue its conquest and went to the East.

Mehmed soon won, killed Isa (1403) and reigned over all of Asia Minor. In 1413, after the death of Suleiman (1410) and the defeat and death of his brother Musa, who succeeded him, Mehmed restored his power over the Balkan Peninsula. His reign was comparatively peaceful. He tried to maintain peaceful relations with his Christian neighbors, Byzantium, Serbia, Wallachia and Hungary, and concluded treaties with them. Contemporaries characterize him as a just, meek, peaceful and educated ruler. More than once, however, he had to deal with internal uprisings, which he dealt with very vigorously.

Similar uprisings began the reign of his son, Murad II (1421-1451). The brothers of the latter, in order to avoid death, managed to escape in advance to Constantinople, where they met with a friendly welcome. Murad immediately moved to Constantinople, but managed to collect only 20,000 troops and therefore was defeated. However, with the help of bribery, he succeeded soon after in capturing and strangling his brothers. The siege of Constantinople had to be lifted, and Murad turned his attention to the northern part of the Balkan Peninsula, and later to the south. In the north, a thunderstorm gathered against him from the Transylvanian governor Matthias Hunyadi, who defeated him at Hermannstadt (1442) and Nis (1443), but due to the significant superiority of the Ottoman forces, he was utterly defeated in the Kosovo field. Murad took possession of Thessalonica (previously conquered by the Turks three times and again lost by them), Corinth, Patras and a large part of Albania.

A strong opponent of him was the Albanian hostage Iskander-beg (or Skanderbeg), who was brought up at the Ottoman court and was a favorite of Murad, who converted to Islam and contributed to its spread in Albania. Then he wanted to make a new attack on Constantinople, not dangerous to him militarily, but very valuable in its geographical position. Death prevented him from fulfilling this plan, carried out by his son Mehmed II (1451-81).

Capture of Constantinople

Mehmed II enters Constantinople with his army

The pretext for war was that Konstantin Paleolog, the Byzantine emperor, did not want to give Mehmed his relative Orhan (son of Suleiman, grandson of Bayazet), whom he reserved for inciting unrest, as a possible contender for the Ottoman throne. In the power of the Byzantine emperor was only a small strip of land along the banks of the Bosporus; the number of his troops did not exceed 6000, and the nature of the management of the empire made it even weaker. Many Turks already lived in the city itself; the Byzantine government, starting from 1396, had to allow the construction of Muslim mosques next to Orthodox churches. Only the extremely convenient geographical position of Constantinople and strong fortifications made it possible to resist.

Mehmed II sent an army of 150,000 against the city. and a fleet of 420 small sailing ships that blocked the entrance to the Golden Horn. The armament of the Greeks and their military art was somewhat higher than the Turkish, but the Ottomans also managed to arm themselves quite well. Murad II also set up several factories for casting cannons and making gunpowder, which were managed by Hungarian and other Christian engineers who converted to Islam for the benefits of renegacy. Many of the Turkish guns made a lot of noise, but did no real harm to the enemy; some of them exploded and killed a significant number of Turkish soldiers. Mehmed began preliminary siege work in the autumn of 1452, and in April 1453 he began a regular siege. The Byzantine government turned to the Christian powers for help; the pope hastened to answer with the promise of preaching a crusade against the Turks, if Byzantium would only agree to the unification of the churches; the Byzantine government indignantly rejected this proposal. Of the other powers, Genoa alone sent a small squadron with 6,000 men. under the command of Giustiniani. The squadron bravely broke through the Turkish blockade and landed troops on the coast of Constantinople, which doubled the forces of the besieged. The siege continued for two months. A significant part of the population lost their heads and, instead of joining the ranks of the fighters, prayed in churches; the army, both Greek and Genoese, resisted extremely courageously. The Emperor was at its head. Konstantin Paleolog who fought with the courage of desperation and died in the skirmish. On May 29, the Ottomans opened the city.

conquests

The era of power of the Ottoman Empire lasted more than 150 years. In 1459, all of Serbia was conquered (except for Belgrade, taken in 1521) and turned into an Ottoman pashalik. In 1460 conquered Duchy of Athens and after him almost all of Greece, with the exception of some seaside towns, which remained in the power of Venice. In 1462, the island of Lesbos and Wallachia were conquered, in 1463 - Bosnia.

The conquest of Greece brought the Turks into conflict with Venice, which entered into a coalition with Naples, the Pope and Karaman (an independent Muslim khanate in Asia Minor, ruled by Khan Uzun Hasan).

The war lasted 16 years in Morea, in the Archipelago and in Asia Minor at the same time (1463-79) and ended with the victory of the Ottoman state. Venice, according to the Peace of Constantinople in 1479, ceded to the Ottomans several cities in Morea, the island of Lemnos and other islands of the Archipelago (Negropont was captured by the Turks as early as 1470); Karaman Khanate recognized the authority of the sultan. After the death of Skanderbeg (1467), the Turks captured Albania, then Herzegovina. In 1475 they were at war with the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray and forced him to recognize himself as dependent on the Sultan. This victory was of great military importance for the Turks, since the Crimean Tatars supplied them with an auxiliary army, at times 100 thousand people; but subsequently it became fatal for the Turks, as it brought them into conflict with Russia and Poland. In 1476, the Ottomans devastated Moldova and made it a vassal.

This ended the period of conquests for a while. The Ottomans owned the entire Balkan Peninsula up to the Danube and Sava, almost all the islands of the Archipelago and Asia Minor up to Trebizond and almost to the Euphrates, beyond the Danube Wallachia and Moldavia were also in strong dependence on them. Everywhere was ruled either directly by the Ottoman officials, or by local rulers, who were approved by the Porte and were completely subordinate to her.

Reign of Bayazet II

None of the previous sultans did so much to expand the boundaries of the Ottoman Empire as Mehmed II, who remained in history with the nickname "Conqueror". He was succeeded by his son Bayazet II (1481-1512) in the midst of unrest. The younger brother Jem, relying on the Grand Vizier Mogamet-Karamaniya and taking advantage of the absence of Bayazet in Constantinople at the time of his father's death, proclaimed himself a sultan.

Bayazet gathered the remaining loyal troops; hostile armies met at Angora. The victory remained with the elder brother; Cem fled to Rhodes, from there to Europe, and after long wanderings found himself in the hands of Pope Alexander VI, who offered Bayazet to poison his brother for 300,000 ducats. Bayazet accepted the offer, paid the money, and Jem was poisoned (1495). The reign of Bayazet was marked by several more uprisings of his sons, which ended (except for the last one) safely for their father; Bayazet took the rebels and executed them. Nevertheless, Turkish historians characterize Bayazet as a peace-loving and meek person, a patron of art and literature.

Indeed, there was some halt in the Ottoman conquests, but more due to failure than to the peacefulness of the government. Bosnian and Serbian pashas repeatedly raided Dalmatia, Styria, Carinthia and Carniola and subjected them to severe devastation; several attempts were made to take Belgrade, but to no avail. The death of Matthew Corvinus (1490), caused anarchy in Hungary and seemed to favor the Ottomans' plans against this state.

The long war, waged with some interruptions, ended, however, not particularly favorably for the Turks. According to the peace concluded in 1503, Hungary defended all its possessions and although it had to recognize the right of the Ottoman Empire to tribute from Moldavia and Wallachia, it did not renounce the supreme rights to these two states (rather in theory than in reality). In Greece, Navarino (Pylos), Modon and Coron (1503) were conquered.

By the time of Bayazet II, the first relations of the Ottoman state with Russia date back: in 1495, ambassadors of the Grand Duke Ivan III appeared in Constantinople to ensure unhindered trade in the Ottoman Empire for Russian merchants. Other European powers also entered into friendly relations with Bayazet, especially Naples, Venice, Florence, Milan and the pope, seeking his friendship; Bayazet skillfully balanced between everyone.

At the same time, the Ottoman Empire was at war with Venice over the Mediterranean, and defeated her in 1505.

His main focus was on the East. He started a war with Persia, but did not have time to finish it; in 1510 rebelled against him at the head of his Janissaries younger son Selim, defeated him and overthrew him from the throne. Bayazet soon died, most likely from poison; Other relatives of Selim were also exterminated.

Reign of Selim I

The war in Asia continued under Selim I (1512–20). In addition to the usual desire of the Ottomans to conquer, this war also had a religious reason: the Turks were Sunnis, Selim, as an extreme zealot of Sunnism, passionately hated Persian Shiites, on his orders, up to 40,000 Shiites living on Ottoman territory were destroyed. The war was fought with varying success, but the final victory, although far from complete, was on the side of the Turks. According to the peace of 1515, Persia ceded to the Ottoman Empire the regions of Diyarbakir and Mosul, lying along the upper reaches of the Tigris.

The Egyptian Sultan Kansu-Gavri sent an embassy to Selim with an offer of peace. Selim ordered to kill all the members of the embassy. Kansu stepped forward to meet him; the battle took place in the Dolbec valley. Thanks to his artillery, Selim won a complete victory; the Mamluks fled, Kansu died during the escape. Damascus opened the gates to the winner; after him, all of Syria submitted to the sultan, and Mecca and Medina surrendered under his protection (1516). The new Egyptian sultan Tuman Bay, after several defeats, had to cede Cairo to the Turkish vanguard; but at night he entered the city and exterminated the Turks. Selim, not being able to take Cairo without a stubborn struggle, invited its inhabitants to surrender to capitulation with the promise of their favors; the inhabitants surrendered - and Selim carried out a terrible massacre in the city. Tuman Bey was also beheaded when, during the retreat, he was defeated and captured (1517).

Selim reproached him for not wanting to submit to him, the ruler of the faithful, and developed a bold theory in the mouth of a Muslim, according to which he, as the ruler of Constantinople, is the heir to the Eastern Roman Empire and, therefore, has the right to all the lands, ever included in its composition.

Realizing the impossibility of governing Egypt exclusively through his pashas, ​​who in the end would inevitably have to become independent, Selim kept next to them 24 Mameluke leaders, who were considered subordinate to the pasha, but enjoyed a certain independence and could complain about the pasha to Constantinople. Selim was one of the most cruel Ottoman sultans; in addition to his father and brothers, in addition to countless captives, he executed seven of his grand viziers during the eight years of his reign. At the same time, he patronized literature and himself left a significant number of Turkish and Arabic poems. In the memory of the Turks, he remained with the nickname Yavuz (inflexible, stern).

Reign of Suleiman I

Tughra Suleiman the Magnificent (1520)

The son of Selim Suleiman I (1520-66), nicknamed by Christian historians the Magnificent or the Great, was the exact opposite of his father. He was not cruel and understood the political price of mercy and formal justice; he began his reign by releasing several hundred Egyptian captives from noble families who were kept in chains by Selim. European silk merchants, robbed in Ottoman territory at the beginning of his reign, received generous monetary rewards from him. More than his predecessors, he loved the splendor with which his palace in Constantinople amazed the Europeans. Although he did not refuse conquests, he did not like war, only in rare cases did he personally become the head of the army. He especially appreciated the diplomatic art, which brought him important victories. Immediately after accession to the throne, he began peace negotiations with Venice and concluded with her in 1521 an agreement recognizing the Venetians' right to trade in Turkish territory and promising them the protection of their security; both sides pledged to hand over fugitives to each other. Since then, although Venice did not keep a permanent envoy in Constantinople, embassies from Venice to Constantinople and back were sent more or less regularly. In 1521, the Ottoman troops took Belgrade. In 1522, Suleiman landed a large army on Rhodes. six month siege the main citadel of the Knights of St. John ended with its surrender, after which the Turks proceeded to conquer Tripoli and Algeria in North Africa.

Battle of Mohacs (1526)

In 1527, Ottoman troops under the command of Suleiman I invaded Austria and Hungary. At first, the Turks achieved very significant success: in the eastern part of Hungary they managed to create a puppet state that became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, they captured Buda, and ravaged vast territories in Austria. In 1529, the Sultan moved his army to Vienna, intending to capture the Austrian capital, but he failed. September 27 began siege of Vienna, the Turks at least 7 times outnumbered the besieged. But the weather was against the Turks - on the way to Vienna, due to bad weather, they lost many guns and pack animals, and diseases began in their camp. And the Austrians did not waste time - they fortified the city walls in advance, and the Archduke of Austria Ferdinand I brought German and Spanish mercenaries to the city (his older brother Charles V Habsburg was both the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the king of Spain). Then the Turks relied on undermining the walls of Vienna, but the besieged constantly made sorties and destroyed all Turkish trenches and underground passages. In view of the impending winter, diseases and mass desertion, the Turks had to leave already 17 days after the start of the siege, on October 14.

Union with France

Austria was the closest neighbor of the Ottoman state and its most dangerous enemy, and it was risky to enter into a serious fight with it without enlisting anyone's support. The natural ally of the Ottomans in this struggle was France. The first relations between the Ottoman Empire and France began as early as 1483; since then, both states have exchanged embassies several times, but this has not led to practical results.

In 1517, the French king Francis I offered the German emperor and Ferdinand the Catholic an alliance against the Turks with the aim of expelling them from Europe and dividing their possessions, but this alliance did not take place: the interests of the named European powers were too opposed to each other. On the contrary, France and the Ottoman Empire did not come into contact with each other anywhere and they had no immediate reasons for enmity. Therefore, France, which once took such an ardent part in crusades, decided on a bold step: a real military alliance with a Muslim power against a Christian power. The last impetus was given by the unfortunate battle of Pavia for the French, during which the king was captured. The regent Louise of Savoy sent an embassy to Constantinople in February 1525, but it was beaten by the Turks in Bosnia in spite of [source not specified 466 days] the wishes of the Sultan. Not embarrassed by this event, Francis I from captivity sent an envoy to the Sultan with an offer of alliance; the sultan was to attack Hungary, and Francis promised war with Spain. At the same time, Charles V made similar proposals to the Ottoman Sultan, but the Sultan preferred an alliance with France.

Soon after, Francis sent a request to Constantinople to allow the restoration of at least one Catholic church in Jerusalem, but received a decisive refusal from the Sultan in the name of the principles of Islam, along with the promise of all kinds of protection for Christians and protection of their safety (1528).

Military successes

According to the truce of 1547, the entire southern part of Hungary, up to and including Ofen, turned into an Ottoman province, divided into 12 sanjaks; the northern one passed into the power of Austria, but with the obligation to pay the Sultan for it 50,000 ducats of tribute annually (in German text tribute was called an honorary gift - Ehrengeschenk). The supreme rights of the Ottoman Empire over Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania were confirmed by the peace of 1569. This peace could take place only because Austria spent huge sums of money on bribing Turkish representatives. The war between the Ottomans and Venice ended in 1540 with the transfer of the last possessions of Venice in Greece and the Aegean to the Ottoman Empire. In a new war with Persia, the Ottomans occupied Baghdad in 1536, and Georgia in 1553. In this way they reached the apogee of their political power. The Ottoman fleet sailed freely throughout the Mediterranean to Gibraltar and Indian Ocean often plundered the Portuguese colonies.

In 1535 or 1536, a new treaty "of peace, friendship and trade" was concluded between the Ottoman Empire and France; France henceforth had a permanent envoy in Constantinople and a consul in Alexandria. The subjects of the sultan in France and the subjects of the king in the territory of the Ottoman state were guaranteed the right to freely travel around the country, buy, sell and exchange goods under the protection of local authorities at the beginning of equality. Litigation between the French in the Ottoman Empire had to be dealt with by French consuls or envoys; in case of litigation between a Turk and a Frenchman, the French were protected by their consul. During the time of Suleiman, some changes took place in the order of internal management. Previously, the sultan was almost always personally present in the sofa (ministerial council): Suleiman rarely appeared in it, thus providing more scope for his viziers. Previously, the positions of the vizier (minister) and the grand vizier, and also the viceroy of the pashalik, were usually granted to people more or less experienced in government or military affairs; under Suleiman, the harem began to play a prominent role in these appointments, as well as cash gifts given by applicants for high posts. This was caused by the government's need for money, but soon became, as it were, the rule of law and was the main cause of the decline of the Porte. The extravagance of the government has reached unprecedented proportions; True, the revenues of the government, thanks to the successful collection of tributes, also increased significantly, but, despite this, the Sultan often had to resort to defacing the coin.

Reign of Selim II

The son and heir of Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim II (1566-74), ascended the throne without having to beat the brothers, since his father took care of this, wanting to secure the throne for him for the sake of his beloved last wife. Selim, reigned prosperously and left his son a state that not only did not decrease territorially, but even increased; this, in many respects, he owed to the mind and energy of the vizier Mehmed Sokollu. Sokollu completed the conquest of Arabia, which was previously only weakly dependent on the Porte.

Battle of Lepanto (1571)

He demanded that Venice cede the island of Cyprus, which led to a war between the Ottoman Empire and Venice (1570-1573); the Ottomans suffered a heavy naval defeat at Lepanto (1571), but despite this, at the end of the war they captured Cyprus and were able to keep it; in addition, they obliged Venice to pay 300 thousand ducats of military indemnity and pay tribute for the possession of the island of Zante in the amount of 1500 ducats. In 1574 the Ottomans took possession of Tunisia, which had previously belonged to the Spaniards; Algeria and Tripoli have previously recognized their dependence on the Ottomans. Sokollu conceived two great deeds: the connection of the Don and the Volga by a canal, which, in his opinion, was to strengthen the power of the Ottoman Empire in the Crimea and re-subordinate to it Astrakhan Khanate, already conquered by Moscow - and digging Isthmus of Suez. However, this was beyond the power of the Ottoman government.

Under Selim II took place Ottoman expedition to Aceh, which led to the establishment of long-term ties between the Ottoman Empire and this remote Malay sultanate.

Reign of Murad III and Mehmed III

During the reign of Murad III (1574-1595), the Ottoman Empire emerged victorious from a stubborn war with Persia, capturing all of Western Iran and the Caucasus. Murad's son Mehmed III (1595-1603) executed 19 brothers upon accession to the throne. However, he was not a cruel ruler, and even went down in history under the nickname of the Just. Under him, the state was largely ruled by his mother through 12 grand viziers, who often succeeded each other.

Increased damage to the coin and the rise of taxes more than once led to uprisings in various parts of the state. The reign of Mehmed was filled with a war with Austria, which began under Murad in 1593 and ended only in 1606, already under Ahmed I (1603-17). It ended with the Peace of Sitvatorok in 1606, which marked a turn in mutual relations between the Ottoman Empire and Europe. No new tribute was imposed on Austria; on the contrary, she freed herself from her former tribute for Hungary by paying a lump sum indemnity of 200,000 florins. In Transylvania, Stefan Bochkay, hostile to Austria, was recognized as the ruler with his male offspring. Moldova, repeatedly tried to get out from vassalage, managed to defend during border conflicts with Commonwealth and the Habsburgs. From that time on, the territories of the Ottoman state no longer expanded except for a short period. The war with Persia of 1603-12 had sad consequences for the Ottoman Empire, in which the Turks suffered several serious defeats and had to cede the East Georgian lands, Eastern Armenia, Shirvan, Karabakh, Azerbaijan with Tabriz and some other areas.

The decline of the empire (1614-1757)

The last years of the reign of Ahmed I were filled with rebellions that continued under his successors. His brother Mustafa I (1617-1618), a protege and favorite of the Janissaries, to whom he made millions of gifts from state funds, after a three-month rule was overthrown by the mufti's fatwa as insane, and Ahmed's son Osman II (1618-1622) ascended the throne. After the unsuccessful campaign of the Janissaries against the Cossacks, he made an attempt to destroy this violent, every year becoming less and less useful for military purposes and more and more dangerous for public order army - and for this he was killed by the Janissaries. Mustafa I was again elevated to the throne and dethroned again a few months later, and died a few years later, probably from poisoning.

Osman's younger brother, Murad IV (1623-1640), seemed to intend to restore the former greatness of the Ottoman Empire. He was a cruel and greedy tyrant, reminiscent of Selim, but at the same time a capable administrator and an energetic warrior. According to estimates, the accuracy of which cannot be verified, up to 25,000 people were executed under him. Often he executed wealthy people solely in order to confiscate their property. He again won in the war with the Persians (1623-1639) Tabriz and Baghdad; he also managed to defeat the Venetians and conclude an advantageous peace with them. He subdued the dangerous Druze uprising (1623-1637); but the uprising of the Crimean Tatars almost completely freed them from Ottoman rule. devastation Black Sea coast produced by the Cossacks, remained unpunished for them.

In internal management Murad sought to introduce some order and some economy in finance; however, all his attempts proved unworkable.

Under his brother and heir Ibrahim (1640-1648), under whom the harem was again in charge of state affairs, all the acquisitions of his predecessor were lost. The sultan himself was overthrown and strangled by the Janissaries, who enthroned his seven-year-old son Mehmed IV (1648-1687). The true rulers of the state in the early days of the latter's reign were the Janissaries; all government posts were replaced by their henchmen, management was in complete disarray, finances reached an extreme decline. Despite this, the Ottoman fleet managed to inflict a serious naval defeat on Venice and break through the blockade of the Dardanelles, which had been held with varying success since 1654.

Russian-Turkish war 1686-1700

Battle of Vienna (1683)

In 1656, the post of grand vizier was taken over by the energetic man Mehmet Köprülü, who managed to strengthen the discipline of the army and inflict several defeats on the enemies. Austria was to conclude in 1664 a not particularly advantageous peace in Vasvar; in 1669, the Turks conquered Crete, and in 1672, at peace in Buchach, they received Podolia and even part of Ukraine from the Commonwealth. This peace aroused the indignation of the people and the diet, and the war began again. Russia also took part in it; but on the side of the Ottomans stood a significant part of the Cossacks, led by Doroshenko. During the war, Grand Vizier Ahmet Pasha Köprülü died after 15 years of ruling the country (1661–76). The war, which went on with varying success, ended Bakhchisarai truce, imprisoned in 1681 for 20 years, at the beginning of the status quo; Western Ukraine, representing after the war a real desert, and Podolia remained in the hands of the Turks. The Ottomans easily agreed to peace, since their next step was a war with Austria, which was undertaken by the successor of Ahmet Pasha, Kara-Mustafa Köprülü. The Ottomans managed to penetrate to Vienna and besiege it (from July 24 to September 12, 1683), but the siege had to be lifted when the Polish king Jan Sobieski made an alliance with Austria, hurried to the aid of Vienna and won near it a brilliant victory over the Ottoman army. In Belgrade, Kara-Mustafa was met by messengers from the Sultan, who had orders to deliver to Constantinople the head of an incapable commander, which was done. In 1684, Venice joined the coalition of Austria and the Commonwealth against the Ottoman Empire, and later Russia.

During the war, in which the Ottomans had not to attack, but to defend themselves on their own territory, in 1687 the Grand Vizier Suleiman Pasha was defeated at Mohacs. The defeat of the Ottoman troops irritated the Janissaries, who remained in Constantinople, rioting and plundering. Under the threat of an uprising, Mehmed IV sent them the head of Suleiman, but this did not save him himself: the Janissaries overthrew him with the help of a mufti's fatwa and forcibly elevated his brother, Suleiman II (1687-91), a man devoted to drunkenness and completely incapable of governing, to the throne. The war continued under him and under his brothers, Ahmed II (1691–95) and Mustafa II (1695–1703). The Venetians took possession of the Morea; the Austrians took Belgrade (soon again inherited by the Ottomans) and all the significant fortresses of Hungary, Slavonia, Transylvania; Poles occupied a significant part of Moldova.

In 1699 the war was over Treaty of Karlowitz, which was the first for which the Ottoman Empire did not receive any tribute or temporary indemnity. Its value significantly exceeded the value Peace of Sitwatorok. It became clear to everyone that the military power of the Ottomans was not at all great and that internal troubles were shaking their state more and more.

In the empire itself, the Peace of Karlovtsy aroused among the more educated part of the population the consciousness of the need for some reforms. This consciousness had previously been possessed by the Köprülü family, which gave the state during the 2nd half of the 17th and early 18th centuries. 5 Grand Viziers, who belonged to the most remarkable statesmen of the Ottoman Empire. Already in 1690 led. vizier Köprülü Mustafa issued Nizami-ı Cedid (Ottoman Nizam-ı Cedid - "New Order"), which established the maximum norms for total taxes levied on Christians; but this law did not have practical application. After the Peace of Karlovica, Christians in Serbia and the Banat were forgiven for a year's taxes; the highest government in Constantinople began at times to take care of the protection of Christians from extortions and other oppressions. Insufficient to reconcile Christians with Turkish oppression, these measures irritated the Janissaries and Turks.

Participation in the Northern War

Ambassadors at Topkapi Palace

Mustafa's brother and heir, Ahmed III (1703-1730), elevated to the throne by the uprising of the Janissaries, showed unexpected courage and independence. He arrested and hastily executed many officers of the army of the Janissaries and dismissed and exiled the grand vizier (sadr-azam) Ahmed Pasha, who had been imprisoned by them. The new grand vizier, Damad-Ghassan Pasha, pacified uprisings in various parts of the state, patronized foreign merchants, and founded schools. He was soon overthrown as a result of intrigue emanating from the harem, and the viziers began to be replaced with amazing speed; some remained in power for no more than two weeks.

The Ottoman Empire did not even take advantage of the difficulties experienced by Russia during the Great Northern War. Only in 1709 did she receive Charles XII, who had fled from Poltava, and, under the influence of his convictions, began a war with Russia. By this time, in the Ottoman ruling circles, there was already a party that dreamed not of a war with Russia, but of an alliance with it against Austria; at the head of this party was led. vizier Numan Keprilu, and his fall, which was the work of Charles XII, served as a signal for war.

The position of Peter I, surrounded on the Prut by an army of 200,000 Turks and Tatars, was extremely dangerous. The death of Peter was inevitable, but the Grand Vizier Baltaji-Mehmed succumbed to bribery and released Peter for the relatively unimportant concession of Azov (1711). The war party overthrew Baltaji-Mehmed and exiled to Lemnos, but Russia diplomatically secured the removal of Charles XII from the Ottoman Empire, for which they had to resort to force.

In 1714-18 the Ottomans were at war with Venice and in 1716-18 with Austria. By Peace of Passarovica(1718) The Ottoman Empire got back Morea, but gave Austria Belgrade with a significant part of Serbia, Banat, part of Wallachia. In 1722, taking advantage of the end of the dynasty and the subsequent unrest in Persia, the Ottomans began religious war against the Shiites, which they hoped to reward themselves for their losses in Europe. Several defeats in this war and the Persian invasion of Ottoman territory caused a new uprising in Constantinople: Ahmed was deposed, and his nephew, the son of Mustafa II, Mahmud I, was elevated to the throne.

Mahmud I's reign

Under Mahmud I (1730–54), who was an exception among the Ottoman sultans with his gentleness and humanity (he did not kill the deposed sultan and his sons and generally avoided executions), the war with Persia continued, without definite results. The war with Austria ended with the Peace of Belgrade (1739), according to which the Turks received Serbia with Belgrade and Orsova. Russia acted more successfully against the Ottomans, but the conclusion of peace by the Austrians forced the Russians to make concessions; of its conquests, Russia retained only Azov, but with the obligation to tear down the fortifications.

During the reign of Mahmud, the first Turkish printing house was founded by Ibrahim Basmaji. The mufti, after some hesitation, gave a fatwa, with which, in the name of the interests of enlightenment, he blessed the undertaking, and the sultan allowed it as a gatti-sheriff. It was only forbidden to print the Koran and holy books. In the first period of the existence of the printing house, 15 works were printed in it (Arabic and Persian dictionaries, several books on the history of the Ottoman state and general geography, military art, political economy, etc.). After the death of Ibrahim Basmaji, the printing house was closed, a new one appeared only in 1784.

Mahmud I, who died of natural causes, was succeeded by his brother Osman III (1754-57), whose reign was peaceful and who died in the same way as his brother.

Reform attempts (1757-1839)

Osman was succeeded by Mustafa III (1757–74), son of Ahmed III. Upon his accession to the throne, he firmly expressed his intention to change the policy of the Ottoman Empire and restore the brilliance of its weapons. He conceived rather extensive reforms (by the way, digging channels through Isthmus of Suez and through Asia Minor), openly did not sympathize with slavery and set free a significant number of slaves.

General dissatisfaction, which had never been news in the Ottoman Empire before, was especially intensified by two cases: a caravan of the faithful returning from Mecca was robbed and destroyed by an unknown person, and a Turkish admiral's ship was captured by a detachment of sea robbers of Greek nationality. All this testified to the extreme weakness of state power.

To settle the finances, Mustafa III began with savings in his own palace, but at the same time he allowed the coins to be damaged. Under the patronage of Mustafa, the first public library, several schools and hospitals were opened in Constantinople. He very willingly concluded an agreement with Prussia in 1761, by which he provided Prussian merchant ships with free navigation in Ottoman waters; Prussian subjects in the Ottoman Empire were subject to the jurisdiction of their consuls. Russia and Austria offered Mustafa 100,000 ducats for the abolition of the rights given to Prussia, but to no avail: Mustafa wanted to bring his state as close as possible to European civilization.

Further attempts at reform did not go. In 1768, the Sultan had to declare war on Russia, which lasted 6 years and ended Kuchuk-Kainarji peace 1774. Peace was already concluded under Mustafa's brother and heir, Abdul-Hamid I (1774-1789).

The reign of Abdul-Hamid I

The empire at this time was almost everywhere in a state of ferment. The Greeks, excited by Orlov, were worried, but, left without help by the Russians, they were soon and easily pacified and severely punished. Ahmed Pasha of Baghdad declared himself independent; Taher, supported by Arab nomads, accepted the title of Sheikh of Galilee and Acre; Egypt under the rule of Muhammad Ali did not even think of paying tribute; Northern Albania, which was ruled by Mahmud, Pasha of Scutaria, was in a state of complete rebellion; Ali, the Pasha of Yaninsky, clearly aspired to establish an independent kingdom.

The entire reign of Adbul-Hamid was occupied with the suppression of these uprisings, which could not be achieved due to the lack of money and a disciplined army from the Ottoman government. This was joined by a new war with Russia and Austria(1787-91), again unsuccessful for the Ottomans. She ended Treaty of Jassy with Russia (1792), according to which Russia finally acquired the Crimea and the space between the Bug and the Dniester, and the Treaty of Sistov with Austria (1791). The latter was relatively favorable for the Ottoman Empire, since its main enemy, Joseph II, died, and Leopold II directed all his attention to France. Austria returned to the Ottomans most of the acquisitions she made in this war. Peace was already concluded under the nephew of Abdul Hamid, Selim III (1789-1807). In addition to territorial losses, the war made one significant change in the life of the Ottoman state: before it began (1785), the empire entered into its first public debt, at first internal, guaranteed by some state revenues.

Reign of Selim III

Sultan Selim III was the first to realize the deep crisis of the Ottoman Empire and set about reforming the military and state organization of the country. With energetic measures, the government cleared the Aegean from pirates; it patronized trade and public education. His main focus was on the army. The Janissaries proved their almost complete uselessness in war, while at the same time keeping the country in periods of peace in a state of anarchy. The Sultan intended to replace their formations with a European-style army, but since it was obvious that it was impossible to immediately replace the entire old system, the reformers paid some attention to improving the position of traditional formations. Among other reforms of the Sultan were measures to strengthen the combat capability of artillery and fleet. The government took care of translating the best foreign writings on tactics and fortification into Ottoman; invited French officers to teaching positions in the artillery and naval schools; during the first of them, she founded a library of foreign writings on military sciences. Workshops for casting cannons were improved; military ships of the new model were ordered in France. These were all preliminary measures.

Sultan Selim III

The Sultan clearly wanted to move on to reorganizing the internal structure of the army; he set for her new form and began to introduce stricter discipline. Janissaries until he touched. But then, firstly, the uprising of the Viddin Pasha, Pasvan-Oglu (1797), who clearly neglected the orders coming from the government, became in his way, and secondly - Egyptian expedition Napoleon.

Kuchuk-Hussein moved against Pasvan-Oglu and waged a real war with him, which did not have a definite result. The government finally entered into negotiations with the rebellious governor and recognized his lifelong rights to rule the Vidda Pashalik, in fact, on the basis of almost complete independence.

In 1798, General Bonaparte made his famous attack on Egypt, then on Syria. Great Britain took the side of the Ottoman Empire, destroying the French fleet in battle of Aboukir. The expedition had no serious results for the Ottomans. Egypt remained formally in the power of the Ottoman Empire, in fact - in the power of the Mamluks.

As soon as the war with the French ended (1801), an uprising of the Janissaries began in Belgrade, dissatisfied with the reforms in the army. Harassment on their part caused a popular movement in Serbia (1804) under the command of Karageorgi. The government supported the movement at first, but it soon took the form of a real popular uprising, and the Ottoman Empire had to start hostilities (see below). Battle of Ivankovac). The matter was complicated by the war started by Russia (1806-1812). The reforms had to be postponed again: the grand vizier and other senior officials and the military were in the theater of operations.

coup attempt

Only the kaymaqam (assistant to the grand vizier) and the deputy ministers remained in Constantinople. Sheikh-ul-Islam took advantage of this moment to plot against the Sultan. Ulema and Janissaries took part in the conspiracy, among whom rumors spread about the intention of the Sultan to disperse them into regiments of the standing army. The kaimaks also joined the conspiracy. On the appointed day, a detachment of Janissaries unexpectedly attacked the garrison of the standing army stationed in Constantinople, and carried out a massacre among them. Another part of the Janissaries surrounded Selim's palace and demanded from him the execution of persons they hated. Selim had the courage to refuse. He was arrested and taken into custody. The son of Abdul-Hamid, Mustafa IV (1807-1808), was proclaimed sultan. The massacre in the city continued for two days. On behalf of the powerless Mustafa, sheikh-ul-Islam and kaymaks ruled. But Selim had his adherents.

During the coup of Kabakchi Mustafa (tur. Kabakçı Mustafa isyanı), Mustafa Bayraktar(Alemdar Mustafa Pasha - Pasha of the Bulgarian city of Ruschuk) and his followers began negotiations on the return of Sultan Selim III to the throne. Finally, with an army of sixteen thousand, Mustafa Bayraktar went to Istanbul, having previously sent Haji Ali Aga there, who killed Kabakchi Mustafa (July 19, 1808). Mustafa Bayraktar with his army, having destroyed a fairly large number of rebels, arrived in the High Port. Sultan Mustafa IV, having learned that Mustafa Bayraktar wanted to return the throne to Sultan Selim III, ordered to kill Selim and Shahzade's brother Mahmud. The Sultan was killed immediately, and Shahzade Mahmud, with the help of his slaves and servants, was released. Mustafa Bayraktar, having removed Mustafa IV from the throne, declared Mahmud II Sultan. The latter made him sadrazam - the great vizier.

Reign of Mahmud II

Not inferior to Selim in energy and in understanding the need for reforms, Mahmud was much tougher than Selim: angry, vengeful, he was more guided by personal passions, which were moderated by political far-sightedness than by a real desire for the good of the country. The ground for innovations had already been somewhat prepared, the ability not to think about means also favored Mahmud, and therefore his activities still left more traces than those of Selim. He appointed Bayraktar as his grand vizier, who ordered the beating of the participants in the conspiracy against Selim and other political opponents. Mustafa's own life was spared for a time.

As the first reform, Bayraktar outlined the reorganization of the corps of the Janissaries, but he had the imprudence to send part of his army to the theater of operations; he had only 7,000 soldiers left. 6,000 Janissaries made a surprise attack on them and moved towards the palace in order to free Mustafa IV. Bayraktar, with a small detachment, locked himself in the palace, threw out the corpse of Mustafa to them, and then blew up part of the palace into the air and buried himself in the ruins. A few hours later, a three thousandth army loyal to the government arrived, headed by Ramiz Pasha, defeated the Janissaries and exterminated a significant part of them.

Mahmud decided to postpone the reform until the end of the war with Russia, which ended in 1812. Bucharest Peace. Congress of Vienna made some changes in the position of the Ottoman Empire, or, more correctly, defined more precisely and approved in theory and on geographical maps what had already taken place in reality. Dalmatia and Illyria were approved for Austria, Bessarabia for Russia; seven ionian islands received self-government under the English protectorate; English ships received the right of free passage through the Dardanelles.

Even in the territory that remained with the empire, the government did not feel confident. In Serbia in 1817 an uprising began, which ended only after the recognition of Serbia by peace of Adrianople 1829 as a separate vassal state, with its own prince at the head. In 1820 the uprising began Ali Pasha Yaninsky. As a result of the betrayal of his own sons, he was defeated, captured and executed; but a significant part of his army formed a cadre of Greek rebels. In 1821, the uprising, which grew into war for independence started in Greece. After the intervention of Russia, France and England and the unfortunate for the Ottoman Empire Navarino (sea) battle(1827), in which the Turkish and Egyptian fleets perished, the Ottomans lost Greece.

Military casualties

Getting rid of the Janissaries and Dervishes (1826) did not save the Turks from defeat both in the war with the Serbs and in the war with the Greeks. These two wars, and in connection with them, were followed by the war with Russia (1828-29), which ended Peace of Adrianople 1829 The Ottoman Empire lost Serbia, Moldavia, Wallachia, Greece, the eastern coast of the Black Sea.

Following this, Muhammad Ali, Khedive of Egypt (1831-1833 and 1839), broke away from the Ottoman Empire. In the struggle against the latter, the empire suffered blows that put its very existence at stake; but twice (1833 and 1839) she was saved by the unexpected intercession of Russia, caused by the fear of a European war, which would probably be caused by the collapse of the Ottoman state. However, this intercession brought real benefits to Russia: in terms of peace in Gunkjar Skelessi (1833), the Ottoman Empire provided Russian ships with passage through the Dardanelles, closing it to England. At the same time, the French decided to take away Algeria from the Ottomans (since 1830), and earlier, however, was only nominally dependent on the empire.

Civil reforms

Mahmud II begins modernization in 1839.

The wars did not stop the reformist plans of Mahmud; private transformations in the army continued throughout his reign. He also cared about raising the level of education among the people; under him (1831) began to go to French the first official newspaper in the Ottoman Empire ("Moniteur ottoman"). From the end of 1831, the first official newspaper in Turkish, Takvim-i Vekai, began to appear.

Like Peter the Great, perhaps even consciously imitating him, Mahmud sought to introduce European mores into the people; he himself wore a European costume and encouraged his officials to do so, forbade the wearing of a turban, arranged festivities in Constantinople and other cities with fireworks, with European music, and in general according to the European model. Before major reforms he did not live to see the civil system he conceived; they were already the work of his heir. But even the little that he did went against the religious feelings of the Muslim population. He began to mint a coin with his image, which is directly prohibited in the Koran (the news that previous sultans also took portraits of themselves is highly doubtful).

Throughout his reign, in different parts of the state, especially in Constantinople, revolts of Muslims caused by religious feelings incessantly occurred; the government dealt with them extremely cruelly: sometimes 4,000 corpses were thrown into the Bosphorus in a few days. At the same time, Mahmud did not hesitate to execute even the ulema and dervishes, who were generally his fierce enemies.

During the reign of Mahmud there were especially many fires in Constantinople, partly due to arson; the people explained them as God's punishment for the sins of the sultan.

Board results

The extermination of the Janissaries, which at first damaged the Ottoman Empire, depriving it of a bad, but still not useless army, after a few years turned out to be in the highest degree beneficial: the Ottoman army rose to the heights of the European armies, which was clearly proved in the Crimean campaign and even more so in the war of 1877-1878 and the Greek war of 1897. Territorial reduction, especially the loss of Greece, also turned out to be more beneficial for the empire than harmful .

The Ottomans never allowed military service for Christians; areas with a continuous Christian population (Greece and Serbia), without increasing the Turkish army, at the same time required significant military garrisons from it, which could not be set in motion in a moment of need. This applies especially to Greece, which, due to its extended maritime frontier, did not even represent strategic advantages for the Ottoman Empire, which was stronger on land than at sea. The loss of territories reduced the state revenues of the empire, but during the reign of Mahmud, the trade of the Ottoman Empire with European states revived somewhat, the country's productivity increased somewhat (bread, tobacco, grapes, rose oil, etc.).

Thus, despite all external defeats, despite even the terrible battle of nizibe, in which Muhammad Ali destroyed a significant Ottoman army and which was followed by the loss of an entire fleet, Mahmud left Abdul-Majid with a state strengthened rather than weakened. It was strengthened by the fact that henceforth the interest of the European powers was more closely connected with the preservation of the Ottoman state. The significance of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles has increased unusually; The European powers felt that the capture of Constantinople by one of them would deal an irreparable blow to the rest, and therefore they considered it more profitable for themselves to preserve the weak Ottoman Empire.

In general, the empire nevertheless decayed, and Nicholas I rightly called it a sick person; but the death of the Ottoman state was postponed indefinitely. Beginning with Crimean War, the empire began to intensively make foreign loans, and this acquired for it the influential support of its many creditors, that is, mainly the financiers of England. On the other hand, internal reforms that could raise the state and save it from destruction became in the 19th century. more and more difficult. Russia was afraid of these reforms, as they could strengthen the Ottoman Empire, and through its influence at the court of the Sultan tried to make them impossible; so, in 1876-1877, she killed Midhad Pasha, who turned out to be able to carry out serious reforms that were not inferior in importance to the reforms of Sultan Mahmud.

The reign of Abdul-Mejid (1839-1861)

Mahmud was succeeded by his 16-year-old son Abdul-Mejid, who was not distinguished by his energy and inflexibility, but who was a much more cultured and gentle person.

Despite everything done by Mahmud, the battle of Nizib could have completely destroyed the Ottoman Empire if Russia, England, Austria and Prussia had not concluded an alliance to protect the integrity of the Port (1840); they drew up a treatise by virtue of which the Egyptian viceroy retained Egypt at the hereditary beginning, but undertook to immediately clear Syria, and in case of refusal he had to lose all his possessions. This alliance aroused indignation in France, which supported Muhammad Ali, and Thiers even made preparations for war; however, Louis-Philippe did not dare to do so. Despite the inequality of forces, Muhammad Ali was ready to resist; but the English squadron bombarded Beirut, burned the Egyptian fleet and landed in Syria a corps of 9000 people, who, with the help of the Maronites, inflicted several defeats on the Egyptians. Muhammad Ali relented; The Ottoman Empire was saved, and Abdulmejid, supported by Khozrev Pasha, Reshid Pasha and other associates of his father, began reforms.

Gulhane Hutt Sheriff

At the end of 1839, Abdul-Mejid published the famous Gulhane hatti-sheriff (Gulhane - “house of roses”, the name of the square where the hatt-sheriff was announced). It was a manifesto that set out the principles that the government intended to follow:

• providing all subjects with perfect security regarding their life, honor and property;
• the right way to distribute and levy taxes;
• an equally correct way to recruit soldiers.

It was recognized as necessary to change the distribution of taxes in the sense of their equalization and to abandon the system of handing them over, to determine the costs of land and sea forces; publicity was established legal proceedings. All these benefits extended to all subjects of the Sultan without distinction of religion. The Sultan himself took an oath of allegiance to the Hatti Sheriff. The only thing left to do was keep the promise.

Humayun

After the Crimean War, the Sultan published a new Gatti Sheriff Gumayun (1856), in which the principles of the first were confirmed and developed in more detail; especially insisted on the equality of all subjects, without distinction of religion and nationality. After this Gatti Sheriff, the old law on death penalty for converting from Islam to another religion. However, most of these decisions remained only on paper.

The higher government was partly unable to cope with the willfulness of lower officials, and partly did not want to resort to some of the measures promised in the Gatti Sheriffs, such as the appointment of Christians to various posts. Once it made an attempt to recruit soldiers from Christians, but this caused discontent among both Muslims and Christians, especially since the government did not dare to abandon religious principles(1847); this measure was soon abolished. The massacres of the Maronites in Syria (1845 and others) confirmed that religious tolerance was still alien to the Ottoman Empire.

During the reign of Abdul-Mejid, roads were improved, many bridges were built, several telegraph lines were laid, and mail was organized according to the European model.

The events of 1848 did not resonate at all in the Ottoman Empire; only hungarian revolution prompted the Ottoman government to make an attempt to restore its dominance on the Danube, but the defeat of the Hungarians dispelled his hopes. When Kossuth and his comrades escaped on Turkish territory, Austria and Russia turned to Sultan Abdul-Majid demanding their extradition. The Sultan replied that religion forbade him to violate the duty of hospitality.

Crimean War

1853-1856 were the time of the new Eastern War, which ended in 1856 with the Peace of Paris. On Paris Congress a representative of the Ottoman Empire was admitted on the basis of equality, and by this the empire was recognized as a member of the European concern. However, this recognition was more formal than real. First of all, the Ottoman Empire, whose participation in the war was very large and which proved an increase in its fighting ability compared to the first quarter of the 19th century or the end of the 18th century, actually received very little from the war; the demolition of Russian fortresses on the northern coast of the Black Sea was of negligible importance to her, and Russia's loss of the right to keep a navy on the Black Sea could not be prolonged and was canceled already in 1871. Further, consular jurisdiction was retained and proved that Europe was still watching on the Ottoman Empire as a barbarian state. After the war, the European powers began to set up their own postal institutions on the territory of the empire, independent of the Ottoman ones.

The war not only did not increase the power of the Ottoman Empire over the vassal states, but weakened it; the Danubian principalities in 1861 united into one state, Romania, and in Serbia, friendly to Turkey, the Obrenovici were overthrown and replaced by friendly ones to Russia Karageorgievichi; a little later, Europe forced the empire to remove its garrisons from Serbia (1867). During the Eastern campaign, the Ottoman Empire made a loan in England of 7 million pounds; in 1858,1860 and 1861 I had to make new loans. At the same time, the government issued a significant amount of paper money, the rate of which soon and strongly fell. In connection with other events, this caused the commercial crisis of 1861, which severely affected the population.

Abdulaziz (1861-76) and Murad V (1876)

Abdulaziz was a hypocritical, voluptuous, and bloodthirsty tyrant, more like the sultans of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries than his brother; but he understood the impossibility under the given conditions to stop on the path of reforms. In the Gatti Sheriff published by him upon accession to the throne, he solemnly promised to continue the policy of his predecessors. Indeed, he released from prison the political criminals imprisoned in the previous reign, and retained his brother's ministers. Moreover, he declared that he was giving up the harem and would be content with one wife. The promises were not fulfilled: a few days later, as a result of a palace intrigue, the Grand Vizier Mehmed Kybrysly Pasha was overthrown, and replaced by Aali Pasha, who in turn was overthrown a few months later and then again took up the same post in 1867.

In general, the grand viziers and other officials were replaced with extreme speed due to the intrigues of the harem, which was very soon reinstated. Some measures in the spirit of the Tanzimat were nevertheless taken. The most important of them is the publication (far, however, not exactly true) of the Ottoman state budget (1864). During the ministry of Aali Pasha (1867-1871), one of the most intelligent and dexterous Ottoman diplomats of the 19th century, the waqfs were partially secularized, Europeans were granted the right to own real estate within the Ottoman Empire (1867), reorganized state council(1868), published new law on public education, introduced formally metric system of measures and weights, not grafted, however, in life (1869). Censorship was organized in the same ministry (1867), the creation of which was caused by the quantitative growth of periodicals and non-periodicals in Constantinople and other cities, in Ottoman and foreign languages.

Censorship under Aali Pasha was distinguished by extreme pettiness and severity; she not only forbade writing about what seemed inconvenient to the Ottoman government, but directly ordered to print praising the wisdom of the sultan and government; in general, it made the whole press more or less official. Its general character remained the same after Aali Pasha, and only under Midhad Pasha in 1876-1877 was it somewhat softer.

War in Montenegro

In 1862, Montenegro, seeking complete independence from the Ottoman Empire, supporting the rebels of Herzegovina and counting on the support of Russia, began a war with the empire. Russia did not support it, and since a significant preponderance of forces was on the side of the Ottomans, the latter quickly won a decisive victory: the troops of Omer Pasha penetrated to the very capital, but did not take it, as the Montenegrins began to ask for peace, to which the Ottoman Empire agreed .

Revolt in Crete

In 1866, a Greek uprising began in Crete. This uprising aroused warm sympathy in Greece, which began to hastily prepare for war. The European powers came to the aid of the Ottoman Empire and firmly forbade Greece to intercede for the Cretans. Forty thousand troops were sent to Crete. Despite the extraordinary courage of the Cretans, who waged a guerrilla war in the mountains of their island, they could not hold out for long, and after three years struggle the uprising was pacified; the rebels were punished with executions and confiscation of property.

After the death of Aali Pasha, the grand viziers began to change again with extreme speed. In addition to harem intrigues, there was another reason for this: two parties fought at the court of the Sultan - English and Russian, acting on the instructions of the ambassadors of England and Russia. The Russian ambassador in Constantinople in 1864-1877 was Count Nikolai Ignatiev, who had undoubted relations with the disaffected in the empire, promising them Russian intercession. At the same time, he had a great influence on the Sultan, convincing him of the friendship of Russia and promising him assistance in the change of order planned by the Sultan. succession not to the eldest in the family, as it was before, but from father to son, since the Sultan really wanted to transfer the throne to his son Yusuf Izedin.

coup d'état

In 1875, an uprising broke out in Herzegovina, Bosnia and Bulgaria, which dealt a decisive blow to Ottoman finances. It was announced that from now on, the Ottoman Empire on its foreign debts pays in cash only one half of the interest, the other half - in coupons payable no earlier than after 5 years. The need for more serious reforms was recognized by many of the highest officials of the empire and, at their head, Midhad Pasha; however, under the capricious and despotic Abdul-Aziz, their holding was completely impossible. In view of this, the Grand Vizier Mehmed Rushdi Pasha plotted with the ministers Midhad Pasha, Hussein Avni Pasha and others and the Sheikh-ul-Islam to overthrow the Sultan. Sheikh-ul-Islam gave this fatwa: “If the ruler of the faithful proves his madness, if he does not have the political knowledge necessary to govern the state, if he makes personal expenses that the state cannot bear, if his stay on the throne threatens with disastrous consequences, should it be deposed or not? The law says yes.

On the night of May 30, 1876, Hussein Avni Pasha, putting a revolver to the chest of Murad, the heir to the throne (son of Abdul-Majid), forced him to accept the crown. At the same time, a detachment of infantry entered the palace of Abdul-Aziz, and it was announced to him that he had ceased to reign. Murad V ascended the throne. A few days later it was reported that Abdul-Aziz cut his veins with scissors and died. Murad V, who had not been quite normal before, under the influence of the murder of his uncle, the subsequent murder of several ministers in the house of Midhad Pasha by the Circassian Hassan Bey, who was avenging the Sultan, and other events, completely went crazy and became just as inconvenient for his progressive ministers. In August 1876, he was also deposed with the help of the mufti's fatwa and his brother Abdul-Hamid was elevated to the throne.

Abdul Hamid II

Already at the end of the reign of Abdul-Aziz began uprising in Herzegovina and Bosnia, caused by the extremely difficult situation of the population of these regions, partly obliged to serve corvee in the fields of large Muslim landowners, partly personally free, but completely without rights, oppressed by exorbitant exactions and at the same time constantly fueled in their hatred of the Turks by the close proximity of free Montenegrins.

In the spring of 1875, some communities turned to the Sultan with a request to reduce the tax on sheep and the tax paid by Christians in return for military service, and to organize a police force of Christians. They didn't even answer. Then their inhabitants took up arms. The movement quickly covered all of Herzegovina and spread to Bosnia; Niksic was besieged by the rebels. Volunteer detachments moved from Montenegro and Serbia to help the rebels. The movement aroused great interest abroad, especially in Russia and in Austria; the latter appealed to the Porte demanding religious equality, tax cuts, revision of laws on real estate, and so on. The Sultan immediately promised to fulfill all this (February 1876), but the rebels did not agree to lay down their weapons until the Ottoman troops were withdrawn from Herzegovina. The fermentation also spread to Bulgaria, where the Ottomans, in the form of a response, carried out a terrible massacre (see Bulgaria), which caused indignation throughout Europe (Gladstone's brochure on atrocities in Bulgaria), entire villages were completely slaughtered, up to and including infants. The Bulgarian uprising was drowned in blood, but the Herzegovinian and Bosnian uprising continued into 1876 and finally caused the intervention of Serbia and Montenegro (1876-1877; see. Serbo-Montenegrin-Turkish War).

On May 6, 1876, in Thessaloniki, a fanatical crowd, in which there were also some officials, killed the French and German consuls. Of the participants or conniving in the crime, Selim Bey, the chief of police in Thessaloniki, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, one colonel to 3 years; but these punishments, far from being carried out in full, satisfied no one, and the public opinion of Europe was strongly agitated against a country where such crimes might be committed.

In December 1876, at the initiative of England, a conference of the great powers in Constantinople was convened to settle the difficulties caused by the uprising, which did not achieve its goal. The Grand Vizier at this time (since December 13, New Style, 1876) was Midhad Pasha, a liberal and an Anglophile, head of the Young Turk Party. Considering it necessary to make the Ottoman Empire a European country and wishing to present it as such as authorized by the European powers, he drafted a constitution in a few days and forced Sultan Abdul-Hamid to sign and publish it (December 23, 1876).

Ottoman Parliament, 1877

The constitution was drawn up on the model of European ones, especially the Belgian one. It guaranteed individual rights and established a parliamentary regime; the parliament was to consist of two chambers, from which the chamber of deputies was elected by universal closed voting of all Ottoman subjects without distinction of religion and nationality. The first elections were made during the reign of Midhad; his candidates were chosen almost universally. The opening of the first parliamentary session took place only on March 7, 1877, and even earlier, on March 5, Midhad was overthrown and arrested due to palace intrigues. Parliament was opened with a speech from the throne, but dissolved a few days later. New elections were held, the new session was just as short, and then, without the formal repeal of the constitution, even without the formal dissolution of Parliament, it did not meet again.

Main article: Russian-Turkish war 1877-1878

In April 1877 the war with Russia began, in February 1878 it ended San Stefano world, then (June 13 - July 13, 1878) by the modified Berlin Treaty. The Ottoman Empire lost all rights to Serbia and Romania; Bosnia and Herzegovina were given to Austria to establish order in it (de facto - in full possession); Bulgaria constituted a separate vassal principality, Eastern Rumelia, an autonomous province, which soon (1885) united with Bulgaria. Serbia, Montenegro and Greece received territorial increments. In Asia, Russia received Kars, Ardagan, Batum. The Ottoman Empire had to pay Russia an indemnity of 800 million francs.

Riots in Crete and in the regions inhabited by Armenians

Nevertheless, the internal conditions of life remained approximately the same, and this was reflected in the riots that constantly arose in one place or another in the Ottoman Empire. In 1889 an uprising began in Crete. The rebels demanded the reorganization of the police so that it did not consist of only Muslims and patronize more than one Muslims, a new organization of the courts, etc. The Sultan rejected these demands and decided to use weapons. The uprising was put down.

In 1887 in Geneva , in 1890 in Tiflis the political parties Hunchak and Dashnaktsutyun were organized by the Armenians . In August 1894, the organization of the Dashnaks and under the control of a member of this party, Ambartsum Boyajiyan, began unrest in Sasun. These events are explained by the disenfranchised position of the Armenians, especially by the robberies of the Kurds, who made up part of the troops in Asia Minor. The Turks and Kurds responded with a terrible massacre, reminiscent of the Bulgarian horrors, where rivers bled for months; whole villages were slaughtered [source unspecified 1127 days] ; many Armenians taken prisoner. All these facts were confirmed by European (mainly English) newspaper correspondence, which very often spoke from the standpoint of Christian solidarity and caused an outburst of indignation in England. To the presentation made on this occasion by the British ambassador, the Porte replied with a categorical denial of the validity of the "facts" and a statement that it was a matter of the usual suppression of a riot. Nevertheless, the ambassadors of England, France and Russia in May 1895 presented the Sultan with demands for reforms in the areas inhabited by Armenians, based on the decrees Berlin Treaty; they demanded that the officials governing these lands be at least half Christian and that their appointment depend on a special commission in which Christians would also be represented; [ style!] The Porte replied that she did not see any need for reforms for individual territories, but that she meant general reforms for the whole state.

On August 14, 1896, members of the Dashnaktsutyun party in Istanbul itself attacked the Ottoman Bank, killed the guards and exchanged fire with the arriving army units. On the same day, as a result of negotiations between the Russian ambassador Maksimov and the Sultan, the Dashnaks left the city and headed for Marseille, on the yacht of Edgard Vincent, the general director of the Ottoman Bank. The European ambassadors made a presentation to the Sultan on this occasion. This time the sultan saw fit to reply with a promise of reform, which was not fulfilled; only a new administration of vilayets, sanjaks and nakhiyas was introduced (see. State structure of the Ottoman Empire), which made very little difference to the merits of the matter.

In 1896, new unrest began in Crete and immediately took on a more dangerous character. The session of the national assembly opened, but it did not enjoy the slightest authority among the population. Nobody counted on the help of Europe. The uprising flared up; rebel detachments in Crete disturbed the Turkish troops, more than once inflicting heavy losses on them. The movement found a lively echo in Greece, from which in February 1897 a military detachment under the command of Colonel Vassos set off for the island of Crete. Then the European squadron, consisting of German, Italian, Russian and English warships, under the command of the Italian admiral Canevaro, assumed a threatening position. On February 21, 1897, she began to bombard the rebels' military camp near the city of Kanei and forced them to disperse. A few days later, however, the rebels and the Greeks managed to take the city of Kadano and capture 3,000 Turks.

At the beginning of March, a riot of Turkish gendarmes took place in Crete, dissatisfied with not receiving salaries for many months. This rebellion could have been very useful for the rebels, but the European landing disarmed them. On March 25, the rebels attacked Kanea, but came under fire from European ships and had to retreat with heavy losses. At the beginning of April 1897, Greece moved its troops into Ottoman territory, hoping to penetrate as far as Macedonia, where minor riots were taking place at the same time. Within one month, the Greeks were utterly defeated, and the Ottoman troops occupied all of Thessaly. The Greeks were forced to ask for peace, which was concluded in September 1897 under pressure from the powers. There were no territorial changes, except for a small strategic correction of the border between Greece and the Ottoman Empire in favor of the latter; but Greece had to pay a war indemnity of 4 million Turkish pounds.

In the autumn of 1897, the uprising on the island of Crete also ended, after the sultan once again promised self-government to the island of Crete. Indeed, at the insistence of the powers, Prince George of Greece was appointed governor-general of the island, the island received self-government and retained only vassal relations with the Ottoman Empire. At the beginning of the XX century. in Crete, there was a noticeable desire for a complete separation of the island from the empire and for joining Greece. At the same time (1901) fermentation continued in Macedonia. In the autumn of 1901, Macedonian revolutionaries captured an American woman and demanded a ransom for her; this causes great inconvenience to the Ottoman government, which is powerless to protect the safety of foreigners on its territory. In the same year, it appeared in comparison with greater strength the movement of the Young Turk party, which was once headed by Midhad Pasha; she began to intensively produce brochures and leaflets in the Ottoman language in Geneva and Paris for distribution in the Ottoman Empire; in Istanbul itself, quite a few persons belonging to the bureaucratic and officer class were arrested and sentenced to various punishments on charges of participating in the Young Turk agitation. Even the son-in-law of the sultan, married to his daughter, went abroad with his two sons, openly joined the Young Turk party and did not want to return to his homeland, despite the insistent invitation of the sultan. In 1901, the Porte made an attempt to destroy European postal institutions, but this attempt was unsuccessful. In 1901, France demanded that the Ottoman Empire meet the claims of some of its capitalists, creditors; the latter refused, then the French fleet occupied Mytilene and the Ottomans hurried to satisfy all demands.

Departure of Mehmed VI, the last sultan of the Ottoman Empire, 1922

• In the 19th century, separatist sentiments intensified on the outskirts of the empire. The Ottoman Empire began to gradually lose its territories, yielding to the technological superiority of the West.
• In 1908, the Young Turks overthrew Abdul-Hamid II, after which the monarchy in the Ottoman Empire began to have a decorative character (see article Young Turk Revolution). The triumvirate of Enver, Talaat and Dzhemal was established (January 1913).
• In 1912, Italy seizes Tripolitania and Cyrenaica (now Libya) from the empire.
• AT First Balkan War 1912-1913 the empire loses the vast majority of its European possessions: Albania, Macedonia, northern Greece. During 1913, she manages to win back a small part of the land from Bulgaria during Inter-Allied (Second Balkan) War.
• Weakening, the Ottoman Empire tried to rely on the help of Germany, but this only dragged it into World War I ending in defeat Quadruple Union.
• October 30, 1914 - The Ottoman Empire officially announced its entry into the First World War, having actually entered it the day before by shelling the Black Sea ports of Russia.
• In 1915, the Armenian Genocide, Assyrians, Greeks.
• During 1917-1918, the allies occupy the Middle Eastern possessions of the Ottoman Empire. After the First World War, Syria and Lebanon came under the control of France, Palestine, Jordan and Iraq - Great Britain; in the west of the Arabian Peninsula with the support of the British ( Lawrence of Arabia) formed independent states: Hejaz, Najd, Asir and Yemen. Subsequently, Hijaz and Asir became part of Saudi Arabia.
• October 30, 1918 was concluded Truce of Mudros followed by Treaty of Sèvres(August 10, 1920), which did not enter into force because it was not ratified by all signatories (ratified only by Greece). According to this agreement, the Ottoman Empire was to be dismembered, and one of the largest cities in Asia Minor Izmir (Smyrna) was promised to Greece. The Greek army took it on May 15, 1919, after which the war for independence. Turkish military statesmen led by a pasha Mustafa Kemal refused to recognize the peace treaty and the armed forces remaining under their command expelled the Greeks from the country. By September 18, 1922, Turkey was liberated, which was recorded in Treaty of Lausanne 1923, which recognized the new borders of Turkey.
• On October 29, 1923, the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed, and Mustafa Kemal, who later took the surname Atatürk (father of the Turks), became its first president.
• March 3, 1924 - Grand National Assembly of Turkey Caliphate was abolished.

Family tree of the sultans of the Ottoman Empire family tree after Sultan Suleiman in the Ottoman Empire year, and in almost all other sources the date of birth is 11/6/1494, so I can’t say which is more accurate. If you believe this entry, Suleiman was a symbol, since he was born in the 10th year of the 10th cycle of the 10th month of the Hijri - this was in the welcoming speech of the mufti at the time of the accession of Sultan Suleiman (and the Sunnis have 10 - a sacred number), and this is just November 1494 The Hijri calendar is completely different. Father-Selim I, mother- Ayse Hafsa Sultan Wives: Fulane Khatun 1496-1550, - is considered the mother of Shehzade Mahmud (09/22/1512-29/10/1521), Shehzade Abdullah (1514-28/10/1514), daughter of Fatma Sultan (1516-1516) ), see * 2. Gulfem Khatun-(1497-1562), mother of shekhzade Murad 15919-1521, who died of smallpox 3. Mahidevran (Gulbahar) - 1498-1580, mother of shehzade Mustafa and presumably also son Ahmed and daughter, who died at birth or immediately after it. See * 4. Hurrem Haseki Sultan-1506-1558, mother of Mehmed 1521-1543, Mihrimah 1522-1578, Abdullah 1522-1526 : 1.Mahmud-1512-Manisa-29.10.1521-Istanbul 2.Mustafa 1515-Manisa-6.11.1553-Egerli 3.Murad-1519-Manisa-12.10.1521-Istanbul 4.Mehmed-1521-Istanbul-6.11.1543 -Manisa 5.Abdullah-1522-Istanbul-1526-Istanbul 6.Selim-28.05.1524-Istanbul-15.12.1574-Istanbul 7.Bayazid-14.09.1525-Istanbul-23.07.1562-Qazvin 8.Cihangir-1531-Istanbul -27.11.1553-Haleb 9.?0sultan-1521-1521, tentatively the daughter of Mahidevran, with whom she was already pregnant upon arrival in Istanbul -1514 -Manisa- ??1514 12.Razia Sultan- ?- 1561 Istanbul Suleiman was the beylerbey of Bolu (western Anatolia) in 1509, Kafe9Krym) in 1509-1512 and in Manisa from 1512 to 1520. Until 1512, his mother was with him, but from Selim's accession to the throne, he took her to command a harem in Istanbul. * At one Istanbul forum, I found that Cihangir had a son after his death, Orhan, 1554-1562, so it seems to me that this son is attributed to his father Suleiman by mistake. * In 1521 Suleiman's daughter died. The name is unknown, and the second daughter was married to Admiral Ali Pasha, but it is not clear in the same year or a little later, maybe Fatma was born in 1514 *Mustafa was executed in 1553 and buried in the Cema mosque in Bursa with his mother , Orhan, the 5th son of Bayezid's half-brother. Mustafa had four children: Mehmed 1546-9.10.1553, strangled after his father, Orhan -? -1552, who died of illness (who his mother is unknown), daughters Nargiz 1536-1577, wife of Jenabi Ahmet pasha-historian, poet, Beylerbey of Anatolia under 20 years old, and Shah Sultan 1550-2.10.1577, husband Dalan Karim. Shah Sultan's wedding was on August 1, 1562, simultaneously with the weddings of her cousins, Ismikhan and Gevharkhan, daughters of Selim II. Mother Nargiz, presumably after the execution of Mustafa, married Partaf Mehmed Pasha, the second vizier under Selim II (1565-1571). Mustafa's wife, Rumeis-khatun, was born around 1520 (everywhere they write that by the age of 30 she had a son and a daughter, it turns out 1550-30 = 1520, at the age of 12 she got into the harem, and then became Mustafa's favorite, after the death of her husband and son, moved with Mahidevran to Izmir, where she was very loved and called Kadin Efendi Sultan, where she soon died. So she was buried in Izmir, this is my personal opinion. a daughter was born by his favorite concubine Huma Shahsultan (1544-1582) She married in 1566/67 for the first time to Farhad Mehmed Pasha (1526-6.01.1575), after his death she married her grand vizier cousin Murad III - Kara Mustafa Pasha (was vizier-1580-1580), and after his death she married Gazi Mehmed Pasha in 1581. Her husband survived her by 10 years and died on August 23, 1582. In three marriages she had 4 sons and 5 daughters. *Despite the distrust of the Turkish Wikipedia, I read an interesting translation there regarding the first wife of Suleiman Fulane. So, it is written there that the name Fulane belongs to three concubines together, who gave birth to the Sultan's children, but did not play any role in his life, namely: the son of Mahmud 1512-1521, Abdullah 1522-1526, born in the same year as Mihrimah, and who died in the year of Bayezid’s birth from an illness, presumably smallpox, and the daughter of Razia Sultan, who was born either in 1519, or in 1525, but died in 1570, and, it seems, was buried in the tomb of Yahya Efendi, Suleiman’s milk brother. If someone is there in the mausoleum, you can see, on the tablets they usually write who the mother and father are and the years of life. * there was another daughter, Fatma Sultan, who was born and died in the same 1514 * Leslie Pierce writes in her book that the annals of the structure of the Ottoman dynasty mention the daughter of Suleiman, who married Admiral Mizinzade Ali Pasha. but nothing more is written about her , it can be seen before the wedding, as a dowry, she was donated lands, which were included in the documents of the harem. * in the same article, it is mentioned that Mahidevran also had a son, Ahmed, who also died at or immediately after birth, and one daughter, (1521-28 October 1522). Zagrebelny describes that Mahidevran, who was on her way to her husband in Istanbul in October 1520, was in a position. *Bayazid was governor in Konya from 1543-1553, Karaman-1546, Kutahya-1558-1559 cities *Bayazid-son Hurrem had 11 children-7 sons and 4 daughters Sons: Orkhan-1543-1562 -executed with his father Osman- 1545-1562-executed with his father Mihrimah Sultan-1547-? Natije Sultan-1550-? Abdullah-1548-1562 – executed with his father Mahmud-1552-1562- executed with his father Aisha Sultan -1553-? From 1562 married to Damat Ali Pasha Eretnooglu Khanzada Sultan -1556-? Murad / Alemshah -1559-1562 - executed in the bursa Mehmed -? -1559 - died of illness Mustafa -? -1559 - died of illness as a clerk in 1519 while still under his father, and then in a divan, where he literally wrote all the meetings of the divan, which were preserved in the archives of Istanbul. In 1557, after disagreements with the Chief Vizier, Rustem Pasha resigned, died in 1567 at about the age of 75-80 * Suleiman's teacher in childhood was Mevlana Dolayly Hayreddin Efendi. The teacher of his sons is Birgi Ataullah Efendi. * after the execution of Ibrahim, Suleiman was very sad, and, according to the English historian Heath Lavri, wrote several dozen poems, calling him in them a glorious friend or Beloved brother, which he quoted in one of the television programs. Alan Fisher. Suleiman and his sons. Suleiman had several capable sons who were capable of leading in military affairs and the arts. His sons meant a lot to their father. In the first years of his reign, he is said to have gone hunting with them in Edirne, in the forests outside Istanbul and in Asia Minor, and later in the vicinity of Aleppo. The circumcision of his sons was performed twice, which resulted in festivities - the first in 1530 for Mustafa, Mehmed and Selim, and the second in 1540 for Bayezid and Cihangir. Three of his sons died in infancy. And the first to come of age, and who died in 1543, was Mehmed. According to contemporaries, Mehmed was the favorite son of the Sultan, whom he prepared for his place. And that his death plunged Suleiman into terrible grief. From which he never recovered. This was also indicated by the fact that Mehmed was sent as governor in 1540 to Amasya, and already in 1542 to Manisa, which was the place where future sultans were trained. Prior to that, Mustafa-son Mahidevran ruled there from 1533 to 1541. Mustafa was attached to the sword, according to Ottoman customs, and kissed the hand of the Sultan. At that time he was still in favor with his father. His letters to his father and Ibrahim have been preserved. But at the same time, Mehmed took part in hostilities in 1537 in the battles on the Danube, but Mustafa's military companies are not mentioned anywhere. According to contemporaries, Mehmed had a more refined upbringing than Mustafa, they wrote about his sharp mind and subtle judgment. Therefore, his father prepared him for his place, but fate decreed in its own way. Sheikhislams during the reign of Suleiman: Zenbilli Efendi (1520-1526) Ibn Kemal (1526-1534) Sadullah Saadi Effendi (1534-1539) Siivizade Muhyiddin Mehmet Efendi (1539-1542) , Abdul Kadir Hamidi (1542-1543) Feherizade Muhyiddin (14) -1545) Ebu Suud (1545-1566) Victims during the reign: 2 sons, 6 grandsons, 2 relatives: 12/27/1522: shehzade Murad (1475? -1522) - son of Cem, grandson of Mehmed II 12/27/1522: shehzade Cem (1492 ?-1522) - son of Murad, great-grandson of Mehmed II 11/06/1553: shehzade mustafa (1515-1553) - son of 12/00/1553: shehzade Mehmed (1545? -1553) - grandson, son of Mustafa's son 09/25/1561: shehzade Bayazid (1525 -1562) - son of 23. 07.1562: shekhzade Orhan (1545?-1562) - grandson, son of Bayazid 07.23.1562: shekhzade Osman (1547? -1562) - grandson, son of Bayazid .1562: shehzade Mahmud (1551-1562) - grandson, son of Bayezid 07/23/1562: shehzade Murad (1559-1562) - grandson, son of Bayezid Father Suleiman kanuni, mother Khurrem sultan Wives: Nurbanu valide sultan (1525 - 7.12.1583) - mother of Murad III and 4 daughters *Nurbanu was presented to Selim II by his mother when he left for his sanjak of Konya by the governor in 1543. In the years before accession to the throne, 4 daughters and a son were born. after accession to the throne for 8 years, 8 more children were born from different concubines, including 6 sons, one of them Mehmed died during the life of his father and was buried next to Hurrem Sultan in her mausoleum. * Daughters-Shahsultan 1548-1580, Jevherhan Sultan-1544-1580?, married to a bowl pasha, Ismikhan-1545-1585, she was married to his grand vizier Mehmed Sokollu, and the last Fatma -1559-1580, husband of Siyavush Pasha, there were also 2 daughters from concubines, nothing is known about them. * * Shah Sultan was issued at the age of 19 as a reward in 1567 for Zal Mahmud Pasha. But until 1567 she was married to Hasan Agoy from Rumelia, who died in 1567. Zal Mahmud Pasha participated in various campaigns, and Suleiman appreciated his merits, giving him a prefix to the name ZAL - that is, strong. He was the Beylerbey of Anatolia. And since 1567, the second vizier under Selim. * the remaining 5 sons - Abdullah, Dzhihangir, Mustafa, Osman, Suleiman, under the age of 8, from concubines were killed by Murad III when he ascended the throne in 1574, and were buried next to his father Selim II in his mausoleum. * in 1566, when he ascended the throne, Selim II held nikah with Nurbanu. Giving her 100,000 ducats as a dowry, and another 110,000 ducats were presented by her son Murad III, who at that time was 20 years old. * The Sultan was very fond of growing flowers in his gardens. * He wrote poems that have come down to our time. 12. Murad III-4.07.1546-15.01.1595, years of reign -1574-1595 Father - Selim, mother of Nurbanu Wives: 1. Safiya Valide Sultan (1547? -1618) - mother of Mehmed III and Ayse Sultan. 2. Shemsirukhsan Haseki-mother of Rukia's daughter 3. Shahnuban Haseki 4. Nazperver Haseki Yakub, Alemshah, Yusuf, Hussein, Ali, Ishak, Omer, Aladdin, Davud. Daughters: Ayse Sultan, Fehri Sultan, Fatma Sultan, Mihribah Sultan, Rukia Sultan and 22 other daughters from various concubines. * Haseki of Sultan Murat III Safiye since 1563, and with whom he lived for 20 years, without taking other concubines, unlike Khurrem and Nurbanu, with whom Sultans Suleiman and Selim II entered into marriages, did not become his official wife. Nevertheless, Sultan Murat III, after ascending the throne, maintained a monogamous relationship with her for many years. Then, after treatment, he began to take many concubines, after his death, 20 sons and 27 daughters remained from him. According to the archive of the harem, he had 24 sons and 32 daughters. He suffered from promiscuity in sexual pleasures, and could sleep with several concubines together during the night (Freeley p 95). Of the 56 children, 54 were born in the last 12 years of his life. the first concubine of this number was given to him by his sister Huma. Murad III is buried next to his father Selim II in the garden of Aye Sophia, next to him are the graves of his 19 sons who were executed. Victims when ascending the throne: all were born after 1566 12/21/1574: shehzade Abdullah (? -1574) - brother 12/21/1574: shehzade Mustafa (? -1574) - brother 12/21/1574: shehzade Osman (?-1574) - brother 12/21/1574: shehzade Suleiman (?-1574) - brother Safiye Sultan Haseki Wives: 1. Handan (Elena) Valide Sultan (? - 11/26/1605) - mother of Ahmed I and Mustafa I 2. Nazperver Haseki - mother of Selim. 3.Fulane Haseki - mother of Mahmud 4.Fulane Valide Haseki - stepmother of Mustafa I then they were all suffocated. They were buried next to their father, arranged by age around their father. He also ordered to drown 10 wives and concubines of his father, with an alleged pregnancy. All remaining wives. the concubines and 27 daughters of the deceased Sultan were taken to the old palace with all their servants. * Mehmed III, before ascending the throne, spent 12 years as a governor in Manisa, where he had 4 sons from different concubines: Mahmud, Selim, Ahmed and Mustafa. And after the ascent, 2 more sons Suleiman and Dzhihangir, who died in infancy. * Mehmed III was the father of 7 more daughters, the eldest was called Sevgilim. The names of the rest are unknown. *After the return of their military campaign to Hungary in 1596, the Sultan never went to them, due to poor health due to excesses in food and entertainment. The following year, in the spring, he executed his second son, Selim, for unknown reasons. * To Mehmed III, the English queen made a very expensive and unusual gift - an organ with various decorations and a clock, which was brought and installed in 1599. And his mother, Safiye, gave a carriage worth more than an organ. -Safiye Valide had an intermediary for communication with merchants and the outside world - a Jewish woman named Espe-pack Malka. All these intermediaries were called by the common name - Kira. This Jewish woman earned great wealth while communicating with the sultana. They were suspected of a vicious relationship. * In 1603, a revolt of the Janissaries arose, who demanded the Sultan to transfer the throne to his son Mahmud, an additional reason was a letter from one soothsayer, handed over to Mahmud's mother, and intercepted by Safiye Sultan, that within 6 months the Sultan would die and Mahmud would ascend the throne. As a result, on June 7, 1603, the mother and her son Mahmud were executed. * The throne was taken over by 13-year-old son Ahmed, who was very serious and independent. That soon everyone saw. He personally girded himself with a sword without the help of the Sheikhislam and sat on the throne *At the time of his death, the Sultan had another son, Mustafa, who suffered from dementia, so Ahmed spared him and did not execute him. *Mehmed III was buried in a luxurious tomb in the garden of Hagia Sophia, thus this tomb was the last one that stood near Hagia Sophia. In addition to three sultans, numerous wives, concubines and their children are buried there. *Ahmed, immediately after accession to the throne, sent his grandmother Safiye Sultan to the old palace, where she died 15 years later in 1618. Sacrifices during the ascension to the throne (19 brothers, 2 sons): brother 01/28/1595: shehzade Aladdin (1582-1595) - brother 01/28/1595: shehzade Abdullah (1585-1595) - brother 01/28/1595: shehzade mustafa (1585-1595) - brother 01/28/1595: shehzade Bayazid (155 ) - brother 01/28/1595: shehzade Jihangir (1587-1595) - brother 01/28/1595: shehzade Ali (? -1595) - brother 01/28/1595: shehzade Hasan (? -1595) - brother 01/28/1595: shehzade Hussein (? -1595) - brother 01/28/1595: shehzade Ishak (? -1595) - brother 01/28/1595: shehzade Korkud (? -1595) - brother 01/28/1595: shehzade Mahmud (? -1595) - brother 01/28/1595: shehzade Murad (? -1595) - brother 01/28/1595: shekhzade lsman (? -1595) - brother 01/28/1595: shekhzade Omar (? -1595) - brother 01/28/1595: shekhzade Yakub (? -1595) - brother 01/28/1595: shehzade Yusuf (? -1595) - brother 01/28/1595: shehzade Vabdurakhman (1595-1595) - brother 04/20/1597: shehzade Selim (1580-1597) - son 06/07/1603: shehzade Mahmud (1587-1603) - son 14. Ahmed - 18.04 1590-22.11.1617, years of reign -1595-1617 Father-Mehmed III and mother Handan Sultan Valide Wives: 1. Mahfiruz Sultan mother of Osman II 2.. Mahpeyker (Kosem Sultan) -? -1651 - mother of Murad IV and Ibrahim I and daughters of Aisha, Fatma, Atike and Khanzade 3. Fatma Haseki Sons: Osman II, Murad IV, Ibrahim, Bayazid, Suleiman, Kasim, Mehmed, Hasan, Khanzade, Ubeiba, Selim Daughters: Jeverkhan, Aisha, Fatma, Atike. - these daughters from official wives * Upon accession to the throne, Ahmed immediately sent his younger demented brother Mustafa to the old palace along with his mother, whose name remained unknown in history. At the age of 14.5, Ahmed had a son, Osman II, from Mahfiruz, also called Hatice. * during 1605, Ahmed had a son Mehmed and a daughter Jeverkhan from concubines whose names have not been preserved. * Within 10 years from 1605 to 1615, he had another 15 children from various concubines, including 10 sons and 5 daughters. Of these, 6 sons and 4 daughters from official wives. * In 1596, a Greek woman Anastasia appeared in the harem of one of the first concubines, who was nicknamed Kesem, which in translation meant the Leader of the Pack. She was also given the middle name Mahkeyper. Soon she became Ahmed's favorite concubine and gave birth to his second daughter, Aishe, in 1605. * within 10 years, Kesem gave birth to another daughter Fatma and 4 sons - Murad IV - 08/29/1609, Suleiman - 1611, Kasym - 1613 and Ibrahim - 11/9/1615 * Kesem became the stepmother of shehzade Osman, whose mother, the sultan sent one to the old palace to live out her life. Osman loved his stepmother very much. * Ahmed twice wanted to strangle his brother Mustafa, but he was prevented by natural disasters and partly by Kesem Sultan, in the hope that her children would be spared later. * In 1603, Ahmed arranged the marriage of his 8-year-old daughter Jeverkhan with the commander Kara-Mehmed Pasha for 55 years. * the day after the wedding, he almost killed the mother of the bride, who strangled his favorite. * In the same 1603, Ahmed gave his second 7-year-old daughter Aisha to the chief vizier Nasuh Pasha, a middle-aged man. He executed him two years later. After that, Ayse Sultan married 6 more times. The 3rd husband also from 1562 was the Grand Vizier Hafiz-Ahmed Pasha, and the 6th husband Halet Ahmed Pasha died when Aisha was 39 years old. All her husbands died either from old age or in the war, only one was killed * in the same way, Kesem gave away another daughter, Fatma, in order to strengthen ties between the sultans and high-ranking officials, and to have influence on them. *Osman's mother Mahfiruz never became valid under her son, who succeeded Ahmed, as she remained to live in the old palace, where she died in 1620, she was buried at the Ayub mosque. * after death from typhus (written in Turkish sources), Ahmed, Kesem with her sons and other sons from various concubines, were sent to the old palace, and thus saved their lives, since the law of Fatih had not yet been repealed.