HIST 3030 - Module One Session Four - Essay - Ottoman Empire - World History Since 1500 PDF

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Module One Session Four: Essay - Ottoman Empire The early Ottoman Empire had many sources of strength. One of their strengths was a strong military. They had land that they used for military service and they had a strong fighting force. Not only did they have the land and people for military, but they also had a loyal military aristocracy. They were successful at conquering surrounding lands. Another strength was being able to unite and be in control of a large area of land that extended northwest from Daube and east across central Anatolia. An empire has to have certain strengths and power in order to control large areas, so this shows the Ottoman Empire’s strength. The ability to conquer and control over many nations gave them the ambition to continue expanding their empire. The fact that they were able to conquer some nations gave them the confidence to conquer other nations as well. Another strength was the use of their religious beliefs to further their expansionist conquests. They justified their actions in the name of Islam. They were able to take over the center of Eastern Christendom after they were in power for centuries. Although the Ottoman Empire used their religious beliefs as a strength, they weren’t seeking to convert everyone as they allowed the Christian patriarch to remain there to preside over the Eastern church. The tolerance they showed other religions shows that they weren’t self-seeking or focused on making everyone believe the same way that they did. The Ottoman Empire was also able to form treaties that granted them the ability to rule over more land and further extend their empire. Their highly-skilled military, government leaders, and vast empire made them globally unmatched in the early years of their empire. They were truly an empire because they had controlled over a variety of linguistic and ethnic groups. They were able to successfully rule over this empire through their well-established military institution and centralized state. I think that the way they had organized their empire had a lot to do with their success. The whole ‘design’ and each part of the empire was carefully thought out to how it could best accomplish their goal of being successful. The military was by far their top strength that put them well ahead of other countries. The Ottoman Empire later experienced a lot of weaknesses. Many of their weaknesses came as the result of loss of strength in their military. The military aspect of their empire was one that set them apart from the others, so when it experienced problems it was a sign that the empire was in trouble. At the beginning of the Ottoman Empire’s downturn after many successful years, the empire was filled with military corruption and governmental decentralization. The institutions that had gave rise to the early empire were the same ones

that also explained its later weakness. The Ottoman Empire allowed their military and government to be corrupted. This corruption caused them to lose the control they once had over their large empire. They won’t be able to stay at the top of the world if they lost their most important strength. There were many other factors that also explain their weakness in the later years. They experienced economic problems including agricultural failures, commercial imbalances, and inflation. They also experienced unemployment, which I didn’t even realize was a problem at this point in history. Unemployment is always a key sign that the economy is not doing well. Although economic problems often come as a normal cycle, the Ottoman Empire seemed to be stuck with these economic problems and couldn’t get ahead. The economic problems damaged the country that resulted in a long run effect. After the military problems that they experienced, the began to lose some of their territories. They had been so successful at conquering and expanding their territories that this almost seemed impossible, but they no longer were in control of the globe. They didn’t have the strength or resources to fight against these countries, which further showed their weakness and shrunk their empire. This was not a good sign for the health of the empire. It was bad enough that they were no longer able to expand their territory, which will eventually happen to any empire, but the fact that they were actually losing their empire was a sign of how weak the empire had become. Another explanation of their weakness was they became dependent on international market systems, in particular those in western Europe. The change from being a self-sufficient nation to one that was dependent on other nations showed their weakness. They had gone from being a central source of wealth to looking at Europe for wealth. When they gave in to Europe for their needs, they lost their power and influence, just like they had began losing their land. There are many explanations for the weakness that was seen later in the Ottoman Empire. Each of these problems that came out in the later years of the Ottoman Empire can be used to explain its later weakness....