The Fall of the Ottoman Empire

During the beginning of the 20th century, the once powerful Ottoman Empire was then referred to as the “Sick Man of Europe”. Many argue that external factors, such as capitulation, change in trade routes, and military power advance in European countries were the main reasons that lead to the fall of the empire. However; the causes of the decline and fall of the Ottomans was mainly internal than external reasons, for example, corrupt Sultans, corruption and weakness in the officers of the military forces, corruption and increase in bribery among the executive system officers, and among officials of the judicial system, rise of nationalism among ethnic groups such as the Arabs and young Turkish people, and wide spread missionary activities.

In the following, the four major internal reasons which lead to the empire’s fall will be discussed.

Among all of the internal reasons mentioned, incompetent sultans were the main reason of the empire’s decline. The first weak sultan was Selim II (1566-74). He was the successor to the Suleiman, the Grand Turk. This was the first weak sultan of the next 24 ones, which would lead the empire to its slow decline. Selim was the first sultan to drink wine. Selim had a poor figure to be a sultan as his father Suleiman didn’t give him the training he needed to become a strong sultan. As to become a sultan the prince should serve in military or government campaigns. Indolent and dissolute, he won little respect from his ministers and subjects. At his time, the ottomans had their first defeat in battle at Lepanto. This was the first time the western world believed that the Turks could be defeated.

Why did this happen?

Perhaps the most significant innovation in Sultanic government was the preservation of the brothers of the Sultan. While Sultanic succession is hotly disputed among both Islamic and Western historians, it seems clear that the Ottomans believed that the Sultan was selected primarily through divine kut , which in Turkish means "favor." All the members of the ruling family, according to some historians, had an equal claim to the throne. This explains the Ottoman practice of killing the brothers of the Sultan and their sons; the purpose of this practice was to obviate rebellion or rival claims to the throne. In the late sixteenth century, the Ottoman Sultans abandoned this practice, yet still distrusted filial loyalty. So the brothers of the Sultan were locked away in the harem in the palace. While they lived in luxury, they were still forced to live in small rooms and often in isolated conditions. Many went mad, but most simply became fat and lazy, addicted to alcohol and food and lying about. All of them made bad Sultans. In addition, the Sultans left the practice of training their sons to take on the Sultanate by making them serve in the government and the military. In both Islamic and Western histories of the Ottomans, this decline in the Sultanate is regarded as one of the prime causes of its decline.

Weak of the sultans meant weak and corrupt executive officers. Selim II’s son Murad can be an example for this. He was weak as his father. He loved both gold and women. He never really cared about the empire’s affairs. He surrounded himself with numerous courtiers, which none of them were faithful. Of course there were some of who were sincere with their work, but the other viziers and grand viziers didn’t like them, because mainly those were the ones which the sultans gave his most attention and listening to. This made other people jealous. So they started to make plans of how to get rid of them, and sometimes this meant assassination.

We can take as an example of this the grand vizier Sokullo. When sultan Selim II was on the throne, he gave Sokullo a big authority, which mainly stabled the empire during selim’s reign. After Selim died, his son Murad was on the throne. Sokullo was still a grand vizier, sokullo didn’t enjoy the full authority and power that Selim has given him. Many hated him and were plotting against him. Finally, Sokullo was assassinated in his council chamber by and apparent suppliant dervish who stabbed a dagger in to his heart killing him. Corrupt officers meant that they would do anything to keep their high positions. So they used to bribe officials.

Inheritance

Also inheriting of positions was also introduced for the first time. Before officers were chosen by their quality.

Soon officials of the judicial systems (judges) also followed in to the corruption system. Judges were as corrupt as other officials too. Instead of listeninig to the complaints of the villagers, they were all too welcome to take bribes from those charged with offenses.

Corruption and weakness in the officers of the military forces also had a significant effect on the empire. This was mainly in the janissary officers and soldiers. Sultan Murad I of the Ottoman Empire founded the units around 1365. They were mainly formed from Christian youths and war prisoners from the Balkans. They were distinguished from other soldiers by their marching music and their regular salary. By time through their attachment to the sultan they started to gain too much power, and by power corruption appeared too. Also since Suleiman’s reign janissaries were allowed to marry which led to the growth of heredity among them.

Revolt of the Janissaries

 As Janissaries became aware of their own importance they began to desire a better life. In 1449 they revolted for the first time, demanding higher wages, which they obtained. Similar situations took place a number of times during the following centuries such as the 1622 revolt when the Janissaries resisted attempts to reorganize the army and in 1622 killed Sultan Osman II when he planned to replace them. As the Janissaries were amassing more power and wealth, they gradually turned into a corrupt and largely useless mass. In Istanbul the Janissaries ran the fire brigade and were suspected of starting fires to provide employment and exact contributions from the wealthy. Finally, Mahmud II succeeded by force in disbanding them in 1826.

The Ottoman Empire maintained a large amount of land and consisted of many different ethnic groups. When the ottoman government started to lose its control and authority, different nationalities such as the Bedouin, Kurds, Albanians, and other traditionally independent groups became yet more resistant to authority in the 18th century. The Mamlukes in Egypt ignored the Othman pasha. The Albanian Mohammed Ali removed Egypt permanently from the Ottoman Empire. In 1832, Mohammed Ali’s son Ibrahim pasha, marched north from Egypt to invade the Ottoman province of Syria In 1832. By the spring of 1833 he passes Taurus mountains and is about to attack Istanbul. The sultan guaranties the retreat of the Egyptian army by giving to Mohammed Ali the hereditary governorships of Adana.

Arab Revolt

The Arabs have played a major role in the empires fall too. The political orientation of Arab nationalists in the years prior to the First World War was generally moderate. Their demands were normal, such as greater use of Arabic in education, and local service in peacetime for Arab conscripts to the imperial army. Some radicalization followed the 1908 revolution in the empire and the Turkicisation program imposed by the Committee of Union and Progress government.

Nationalist became more effective during the decadence of Ottoman authority. The brutal cruelty of the secret societies in Damascus and Beirut by Jamal Pasha who was a Turkish Nationalist, collided with the Arab nationalist in 1915 and 1916. The unjust behavior of both extremists has resulted in developing hatred feelings between the two entities who have been living in peace and harmony for centuries.. Meanwhile the British, for their own good encouraged the Sharif of Mecca to launch an Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans were defeated and the rebel forces, loyal to the Sharif's son, Faysal, entered Damascus in 1918.

During the war the British has the Arabs as a weapon to use against the power of the Ottoman Empire. During the interwar years and the British Mandate period, when Arab lands were under French and British colonial control after the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement, Arab nationalism turned an apparent anti-colonial movement against British rule.

- The ottoman centuries the rise and the fall of the empire, lord kinross

- Ottoman empire and Islamic tradition

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_the_Ottoman_Empire      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janissary