Osman I, a leader
of the Turkish tribes in Anatolia, founded the Ottoman Empire around 1299.
In 1453, the
Ottoman Turks seized Constantinople and renamed it
Istanbul. This put an end to 1,000-year reign of the Byzantine Empire.
The Ottoman Empire
reached its peak between 1520 and 1566. It had expanded to include:Turkey,
Greece, Bulgaria, Egypt, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, Jordan, Palestine
Lebanon, Syria, Some of Arabia and the North African coastal strip
After 1600, the
Ottoman Empire began to lose its economic and military dominance to Europe.
Around this time,
Europe had strengthened rapidly with the Renaissance and the dawn
of the Industrial
Revolution. Other factors, such as poor leadership and having to compete with
trade from the Americas and India, led to the weakening of the empire.
In 1683, the
Ottoman Turks were defeated at the Battle of Vienna. This loss added to their
already waning status.
Over the next
hundred years, the empire began to lose key regions of land. After a revolt,
Greece won their independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1830.
In 1878, the
Congress of Berlin declared the independence of Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria.
During the Balkan Wars, which took place
in 1912 and 1913, the Ottoman Empire lost nearly all their territories in
Europe.
At the start
of World War I, the Ottoman
Empire was already in decline. The Ottoman Turks entered the war in 1914 on the
side of the Central Powers (including Germany and Austria-Hungary) and were
defeated in 1918.
Under a treaty
agreement, most Ottoman territories were divided between Britain, France,
Greece and Russia.
The Ottoman empire
officially ended in 1922 when the title of Ottoman Sultan was eliminated.
Turkey was declared a republic in 1923.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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