DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION: THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND TURKEY

Cleon Orina
Professor’s Name
HISTORY
3rd, December 2020
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION: THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND TURKEY
The Ottoman empire forms the most important history of Asia. Its influence in Europe since its inception in 1300 to its fall in 1922 has been widely documented by world historians. The Turkish tribes in Anatolia created an empire that would become one of the world’s superpowers during the 15th and 16th centuries. The empire’s rule and dominance spanned over 6 centuries until its replacement by the Turkish Republic and other regional powers in the Middle East and Southeastern Europe.
During its first years, the Ottoman empire focused on continual territorial expansion, spreading its dominion from a remote Anatolia region to cover expansive Southeastern Europe and Anatolia at large. At the height of its dominance, the empire covered the bigger parts of Southeastern Europe stretching to current day Vienna, Hungary, Balkan, Ukraine, Greece, almost the entire Middle East, and a bigger part of North Africa. The old Islamic empires’ economic, social, and political institutions were incorporated with those adopted from Turkish empires in Central Asia and Byzantium. The entire reorganization into a new block has continued to determine the area’s social, political, and economic behavior to the present day.
Becoming a superpower invokes more responsibilities and enemies. Towards the end of the 18th century, the empire was faced with numerous challenges and constant attacks from enemies who equally wanted dominance. This almost resulted in its downfall, but it counteracted through the creation of internal reforms which was to be called Tanzimat, lasting from 1839 to 1871. The reforms targeted centralization, increasing revenue collection, averting any cessation, and strengthening the conquest. It succeeded in this as the central state got stronger despite its dicey international position. Beginning the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire became increasingly powerful and spreading its dominance over its population surpassing the earlier centuries. New Order (Nizam-I Cedid) kickstarted the reform and modernization process in the empire. Various reform decrees subsequently followed in the years 1839(Hatt-I Serif of Gulhane) and 1856(Hatt-I Humayun). By 1908, Ottoman’s military rivaled its Western European counterpart’s armies, it once more became a force to reckon with!
Talk of luck or pure resilience encompassed with charisma? These are the traits Ottoman’s different sultans possessed throughout the empire’s existence (1299 to 1922 CE as an empire and 1922 to 1924 CE as a caliphate). The empire was an imperial Turkic state dubbed after Osman, a chieftain from Anatolia. As earlier noted, this was an empire envied by the west European countries. They staged numerous attacks on the Ottomans but significantly failed, referencing battles of Kosovo (1389 CE) and Nicopolis (1396 CE).
Unsuspicious of its neighboring rivals, the empire almost suffered a downfall from its east rival Timurid forces in Ankara 1402 CE battle under Timur, Turko-Mongol ruler (r.1370 to 1405 CE). This was one of the worst empire’s defeats resulting in the capture of Sultan Bayezid I (r. 1389 to 1402 CE). However, this defeat was not to last as the Ottoman Interregnum civil war of (1402 to 1413 CE), catapulted Mehmed I (r. 1413 to 1421 CE), Bayezid’s son to the top leadership of the new unified Ottoman empire. He is often referred to as the second founder of the Ottoman Sultanate. Western powers failed to take advantage of Bayezid’s defeat and capture, giving a new lease to the Ottoman empire to dominate for more centuries. The Ottomans once more gained their superiority in the region after restoring and securing its borders as was before the battle of Ankara. Under the rule of Mehmed II (r. 1451 to 1481 CE), Mehmed I’s grandson, the Ottomans marched to the famous Theodosian Walls of Constantinople in 1453 CE and took over the last standing bastion of th...