Preconditions for Ottoman Conquest
Mid-14th century disintegration of Serbian and Byzantine Empires
disunity among Christian princes
Struggle for throne in Byzantine Empire
1345 warriors from house of Osman asked to help in these power struggles
social weakness within Byzantine society: disaffection among peasantry, heavy taxation
Who were the Ottomans?
Dynasty: House of Osman
Ethnic Turks driven out of Central Asia by Mongols
Alllies of Seljuk Turks who weakened Byzantine Empire
Seljuk state disintegrated
Achieved independent status under Osman (1281-1324)
Ottomans were sunni Muslims, recognized Mohamed 622 as true prophet
Islamic elements: sharia; acceptance of other monotheistic faiths
Millet system
Progress of the conquest
ca. 1280 - the Ottoman Turks are established in NW Asia Minor
1302-1337 Ottomans conquer Byzantine possessions in Asia Minor 1352-1402 - first phase of expansion into SE Europe
major victories: include Kosovo Polje (1389) direct Ottoman administration: Thrace, Macedonia, N Greece, Bulgaria
By 1400 most of the Balkans were in Ottoman hands
advance in South Eastern Europe temporarily halted only by Mongol attacks
Serbia, Wallachia & Albania briefly regained independence.
But by 1413 the Ottoman Empire reunited
1413-1440 new Ottoman offensive; and reconquest of lost Balkan territories
1439 council at Florence; Christian (basically Hungarian) crusades into the Balkans; Ottoman victories at Varna (1444) and Kosovo Polje II (1448)
Mehmed II (1451-1481)
conquers Constantinople (1453); turned into Istanbul
attempt to conquer Central Europe stopped by Janos Hunyadi at Belgrade (1456)
conquers gradually almost all SE Europe (many former tributaries are annexed)
direct Ottoman administration: Serbia, Bosnia, Greece, Albania
vassal states: Wallachia, Moldavia, Ragusa
1514-1517 Selim I defeats the Persians and the Mamluks, and conquers East Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, becoming also protector of Mekka and Medina
Suleyman I (1520-1566) defeats and conquers Hungary
1526 decisive battle at Mohacs
1541 central Hungary becomes Ottoman province; Transylvania becomes a vassal state, while Upper Hungary is occupied by the Habsburgs
1683 siege of Vienna. Ottomans repulsed. Marks beginning of decline of Ottomans
Significance and causes of the Ottoman success
· catastrophe theory (destruction; cause for subsequent backwardness)
· Turkish "liberation" theory (the Ottomans freed the peasants from "feudal" exploitation and exerted a lighter domination)
explanations of the Ottoman success:
· ideology of the holy war (jihad) - debatable
· attraction of Turkish, other Muslim, but also Christian predatory warriors (pragmatism)
· Ottoman military organization: combination of standing army, regular fief-holding cavalry and irregular predatory troops
· political division in Christian South East Europe (e.g. Byzantine civil war of 1341-1355; Serbia after 1355; Bulgaria divided in 3 competing states)
· strife between Orthodox and Catholics
· South East European lack of will to resist; excepting the Albanians (Skanderbeg's uprising 1443), the Balkan Christians did not start major revolts neither in 1402, nor in the 1440s
consequences of the Ottoman conquest:
· political unification of SE Europe (with the Near East), but with a religious and political separation line towards Christian Europe
· elimination of native political elites; the religious elites emerge as almost sole representatives of the non-Muslim populations; increased conservatism
· demographic and religious changes (emergence of Muslim populations)
colonizations
conversions to Islam (mostly voluntary) in Bosnia, Macedonia, Albania
The Ottoman System