The Decline of the Ottoman Empire

For a long time the Ottoman Empire was known as the Sick Man of Europe. This appellation is surprising, given that this behemoth had once ruled over a larger region of the Earth than any single nation had ruled in a long time. The British Empire, at this time, would grow and eclipse the Ottoman but in a much different and more commercial way. The Ottoman Empire was a direct descendant of a conquering band of Islamic fighters who had ruled militarily over their subject peoples just like many other medieval and feudal warriors in Europe centuries before.

The decline had perhaps begun as far back as 1683, when the centuries-long Ottoman advance into Europe was finally stopped at the gates of Vienna. At that time, the Ottomans had ruled over most of Southeastern Europe, all of Anatolia, pieces of modern-day Russia, Palestine, Syria, the Arabian Peninsula and a wide strip of North Africa that included Egypt, Cyrenaica and Tunis. Observers recognized a decline in the following century but the Empire remained an incredibly powerful force that no single European nation dared to defy.

However, as the long nineteenth century elapsed, the decline of vigor in the Empire became much more noticeable. This decline was obvious in military spheres as the Empire failed to overcome revolutionary challenges in its bordering regions, such as in Southeastern Europe and in North Africa. It was also an economic decline as well as a simple decline in morals and will among the rulers of the Empire.

As the Empire fell apart, the increasingly powerful nations of Western Europe and the Russian empire all became mutually concerned about the coming break up. Obviously, each of these nations was self-interested in terms of territorial or commercial expansion. However, there was also concern about maintaining order. No one wanted to see the Empire suddenly go under and leave behind a chaotic mess of ethnic minorities trying to establish conflicting territories and domains.

The resulting decline, thus, was not one of outright rebellion and sudden overturning of centuries-old styles of government and lifestyles. Instead, the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire occurred slowly, with many nations breaking away in steps. The first step was sometimes a separation through the establishment of local rule followed by a declaration of independence that was virtually a fait accompli, as happened in Egypt. A succession of treaties and revolutions led to the ultimate destruction of the Empire after WWI and the establishment of the modern nation of Turkey in 1923.

Causes Behind the Decline

All empires decline eventually. There are many reasons behind the typical imperial decline. By nature, these entities are composed of disparate groups of people and this diversity naturally brings about certain frictions which wear down the military bonds that initially united them. Furthermore, many empires experience a certain moral rot among its leadership which leads to a carelessness in rulers.

The decline of the Ottoman Empire was characterized by these issues but also experienced struggles unique to its framework as a nominally Muslim composite of nations. Among the unique issues impacting the Ottoman Empire was the slow decrease in tax revenue. As in most nations dominated by Muslims during this period, there was a special tax levied on non-Muslims in the Ottoman lands. After the initial conquests, contrary to popular belief, most people remaining in the Empire were Christians or members of other religions. They supplied the Muslim conquerors with significant revenue every year.

Over time, however, conversions to Islam increased. By 1900, the percentage of Christians in the country had dropped to nearly 20%.The majority of citizens were paying significantly less in taxes due to their membership in the Islamic religion. As conquests of new land petered out and the size of the Empire stabilized, it had few new resources to support the administration and the army. In fact, its revenue was constantly shrinking. By the 19^th century, this dearth had created a desperate financial situation not only for the Ottomans but for many Muslim-dominated nations.

The army of the Ottomans had also suffered significant depredations for similar reasons. The vanguard of the army had always been the Janissaries. Companies of these elite shock troops were always formed with Christian children who were taken from their homes at young ages and raised in camps. Two things began to diminish the strength of this force: fewer homes from which to find potential soldiers and less military activity as the Empire stabilized its size among other nations. For centuries, the Ottoman Empire had grown aggressively, each generation of soldiers invigorated by combat. As these prospects became scarcer, soldiers lost opportunities to hone their skills. The Empire was losing its strength.

Imperial Losses Prior to the Long Nineteenth Century

There had been territorial losses in Europe during the 17^th century. However, these had often been offset by gains in Russia, Africa and Asia. Beginning in the 18^th century, though, the Empire began to lose comparatively small pieces of property along the Black Sea and in Central Asia.

The French Conquest of Egypt

During the French Revolution, an expedition led by Napoleon conquered Egypt in 1798. This conquest was short-lived but it had a serious impact on the population, which was restive thereafter.  A civil war erupted between various s ethnic and national groups in Egypt in 1801. In 1805, an Ottoman military officer named Muhammad Ali took over the country. Egypt remained nominally Ottoman but was actually a separately managed territory under Ali for decades.

Autonomy for Serbia

For centuries, the Serbs had agitated for separation from the Empire in one way or another.  In 1812, they achieved autonomy under a truce but were re-annexed to the Empire the following year. A subsequent uprising gained a form of autonomy in which the Sultanate of Constantinople granted Serbia its own parliament, constitution and monarchy. As the Empire continued to crumble, this autonomy became real independence before the end of the 19^th century.

Greek Independence

By 1830, the Empire was also forced to recognize, through international treaties, the independence of a Greek state. At the time, this Greek kingdom occupied only a fraction of modern Greek territory, mostly the Peloponnesus and some portion of the peninsula just to the North, including ancient Attica and Euboea. It became an outpost of independence completely encircled by Ottoman possessions in the Levant and the Balkans.

The Crimean War

This virtual stalemate between Russia and the European powers allied with the Empire technically restored some territory to the Ottomans. However, in practice, these territories became independent and reinforced the unspoken acceptance that the Empire was ready to be partitioned. Territories freed by these struggles eventually united to become an independent territory that would grow into the modern-day nation of Romania.

Bulgaria

With Romania free and Serbia inching its way toward complete independence, territories just south of them began to move toward autonomy. The Principality of Bulgaria was finally recognized as a vassal state under the Ottomans by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878.

The late 19^thcentury in Eastern Europe was characterized by more struggles against the Ottomans and among the nations who had so recently won their independence. The Balkan Wars of 1912 to 1913 resulted in the loss of almost all of the Ottoman Empire’s European territories, some of which it had held for several centuries. 

The significance of this decline should not be overlooked. It was conflict between these newborn nations which set off the First World War that would end the prior World Order and lay the groundwork for the politics of the 20^th century. With the Ottoman decline and eventual extinction in the 1920s, the last remnants of the medieval world, besides a handful of token royals in some European countries, were thrown into the dustbin and modernism was finally unleashed.