Ottoman Empire
Also called: Ottoman Turkey · Topic: The Rise of Nationalism in Europe · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 1 "The Rise of Nationalism in Europe"; Class 10, Ch 2 "Nationalism in India"; Class 10, Ch 3 "The Making of a Global World"
Meaning
The Ottoman Empire was a large Turkish empire with many peoples, ruled by the Ottoman Sultan from Constantinople (Istanbul). It controlled the Balkans, West Asia and North Africa. In the 19th century it grew weak, and its reforms failed. Subject nations such as the Greeks and Serbs broke away, and the great powers competed over its lands. It fought on the losing side in the First World War, and the victors broke it up. In India, fears about how the Sultan would be treated as Khalifa (spiritual head of Muslims) led to the Khilafat movement.
Example
The Greeks fought the Ottomans from 1821. The Treaty of Constantinople (1832) recognised Greece as independent. After 1918, a harsh peace treaty with Turkey led Indian Muslims to start the Khilafat Committee in Bombay in 1919.
Don't confuse with
- Austria-Hungary (Habsburg Empire): it was another multinational empire that competed in the Balkans. It was Christian and ruled from Vienna.
Related concepts
- Imperialism
- Balkan problem
- Sick man of Europe
- Eastern Question
- Crimean War
- Congress of Berlin 1878
- Pan-Slavism
- Austria-Hungary
- Young Turks
- Balkan Wars 1912-1913