The Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire — page 5
THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE But changes during Suleyman’s reign brought the start of a slow and steady decline Following his death the military took control of the government diminishing the power of the sultanate As the central government weakened many regions in the empire began to act independently displaying minimal loyalty loyalty to the sultan and the state The empire’s weakness was met with a West growing in power and assertiveness assertiveness Ottoman wars with Venice and Vienna in the late seventeenth century preceded decades of conflicts with other European nation-states leading to great losses of territory Russia waged several wars against the empire in the nineteenth century gaining control of the Black Sea The Ottomans survived the Crimean War 1854 56 and the Russo-Turkish War 1877 78 largely with the aid of Western powers including Great Britain France and Sardinia By the early twentieth century the empire was on the brink of collapse Siding with Germany in World War I the empire failed to hold Constantinople and several other strategic areas By 1920 the Ottomans had signed the Treaty of Sèvres which abolished the Ottoman Empire and all rights over its territories in the Middle East and North Africa The Treaty of Lausanne 1923 established the boundaries of the modern state of Turkey The six-hundred-year reign of the Ottoman Empire had come to an end 8