Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire was a Turkish empire that ruled Albania, Algeria, Arabia, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Iraq, Jordan, Moldavia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Syria, Tripolitania and Tunisia from 1299 to 1922. It was founded in Northwest Turkey in the town of Sogut, Bilecik, by an Oghuz Turk tribal leader Osman Ghazi. After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe and annexed the Balkan Peninsula, making the Ottoman principality in Turkey, a transcontinental empire. In 1453, the Ottomans wiped out the Eastern Roman empire and annexed Istanbul, which became the new capital. Under the reign of Suleiman I from 1520 to 1566, the realm marked the peak of its power and prosperity as well as the highest development of its systems in government, society and economy. In 1600, the empire had 32 provinces and numerous vassal and tributary states. Some were granted autonomy while others were absorbed into the kingdom. With Istanbul as its capital and the Mediterranean basin under Ottoman rule, the empire was at the centre of interactions between the Middle East and Europe for 623 years. It is false that the kingdom started declining in 1566. The empire continued to hold a flexible and robust economy for 2 more centuries. But in a peaceful period from 1740 to 1768, Turkey's military system was more outdated than those of its enemies in Europe, Austria and Russia. As a result, the empire suffered severe military defeats. The successful liberation war in Greece in 1821 resulted in its decolonisation. The Ottomans were forced to reform and modernize from 1839 to 1876. Turkey became more powerful and organized despite some more defeats, especially in the Balkan Peninsula, where new countries emerged. In 1908, a revolution led to the formation of a constitutional monarchy. Defeat in the Balkan Wars resulted in a coup and the formation of a one-party regime. The revolutionaries of 1908 allied the Ottomans with Germany in the First World War in 1914 and joined the Central Powers, which also included Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria. The Ottomans held on their own, but it was struggling with internal dissent and rebellions in Arabia. The government committed genocides against the Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks. The defeat in 1918 resulted in the partitioning of the empire. The Middle Eastern land was divided between Britain and France. A liberation war drove the Allies out of Anatolia and established a republic which abolished the Sultanate.