= Ottoman Empire = The '''Ottoman Empire''' was a vast and long-lived empire in the Mediterranean. [[Turkey/Democratization|Turkey]] is a successor state but is far removed from the imperial state it succeeded. <> ---- == History == '''Ertuğrul''' rose to prominence in the '''Sultanate of Rum''' as a military commander, likely in service to '''Kayqubad I'''. He was granted a hereditary title of ''uch bey'' (''marcher lord'') and given command of '''Söğüt''', near the border with the [[WorldHistory/ByzantineEmpire|Byzantine Empire]]. His son, [[WorldHistory/OttomanEmpire/OsmanI|Osman I]], rapidly expanded the ''beylik'' into Byzantine lands. Following the fall of '''Mesud II''', and with the support of several neighboring beyliks, he was declared ''padishah'' and sultan. [[WorldHistory/OttomanEmpire/BayezidI|Bayezid I]] expanded the empire to the west, importantly including the conquest of [[Bulgaria/Monarchs#Second_Bulgarian_Empire|Bulgaria]] and repelling the [[Hungary/Sigismund|Crusade of Nicopolis]]. But to the east, he was defeated and captured by [[WorldHistory/TimuridEmpire|Timur]]. He died in captivity in 1403, triggering the '''Ottoman Interregnum'''. '''Mehmed I''' re-united the empire by 1413, and his son '''Murad II''' restarted the imperial expansion in every direction. After repelling the [[Poland/WladyslawIII|Crusade of Varna]], he negotiated the '''Treaty of Edirne''' and '''Peace of Szeged''', and finally abdicated the throne to his son '''Mehmed II'''. [[Hungary/JohnHunyadi|Hunyadi]] however was not dissuaded by peace, and continued to wage war. Murad was thus forced to reclaim the throne and finally brought peace to the west through the '''Battle of Kosovo''' in 1448. He continued to wage wars against the Timurid and [[Albania|Albanians]] up to his death in 1451. Mehmed II again succeeded the throne, and in 1453 he conquered Constantinople, made it his capital, and ended the Byzantine Empire. [[WorldHistory/OttomanEmpire/SuleimanI|Suleiman I]] conquered most of [[Hungary/Monarchs#Principality_of_Transylvania|Hungary]]. TODO: learn more history! ---- == Structure == The Ottoman Empire was [[WorldHistory/OttomanEmpire/Monarchs|monarchical]]. There were however several mechanisms to keep rival claimants weak. * At age 12, a shahzade was sent to a remote [[WorldHistory/OttomanEmpire/Sanjaks|sanjak]] to develop experience. Upon the death of the padishah, the first shahzade to return to [[Turkey/Istanbul|Istanbul]] would inherit, and the rest would usually be killed. * '''Murad IV''' established the practice of '''kafe''' (''cage''). All claimants (including but not limited to sons) were confined to the palace under house arrest, and were only allowed to interact with the imperial harem. The empire originally was subdivided into administrative [[WorldHistory/OttomanEmpire/Eyalets|eyalets]], although these were reorganized into [[WorldHistory/OttomanEmpire/Vilayets|vilayets]] in the '''Tanzimat reforms''' era. Conquered nations were forced to convert to Islam, subjected to serfdom, and pay their sons to the '''devshirme''' system. These forced recruits either served in the military, as '''Janissaries''', or in the bureaucracy. ---- CategoryRicottone CategoryState CategoryEmpire CategoryTodoLearnHistory