Ottoman Empire, c.1700-1914
Internal Reform & Territorial
Internal Factors of Decline
• Weakened Sultans
• Bureaucratic corruption
• Exploitation of peasants and workers
• Decline of Janissaries
• Fell behind in modern knowledge
– ‘Ulama (“those who know”; religiousscholars)
• Suffered military defeats
• Turkish saying: “balik basdan kokar”
External Factors of Decline
• 18
thCentury: Balance of power shifts to
Europe
• Capitulations
• “Eastern Question” = What should
European countries do with the “Sick
Man of Europe”
– Russia
– Austro-Hungary – Britain
European Imperialism
• Britain
– Suez Canal and
trade routes
– Commercial motive
1881 Young Persons ‘ Cyclopedia of Persons and Places
European Imperialism
• France
– Oldest capitulatory treaty
– Merchants and investors foremost among
Europeans in the OE
– Technical and educational experts
European Imperialism
• Russia
– Interested in warm-water ports
– Wanted to restore Greek Orthodoxy to
Istanbul
– “Big brother” (protector) to Balkan Slavs – Ottomans perceived Russia as main
European Imperialism
• Austria-Hungary
– Control lands south of the Danube,
especially Bosnia and Serbia
• 1878 Berlin Treaty, which ended the
Russo-Turkish War, permitted A-H to occupy Bosnia
– Trade interests
Egypt as Case Study
• Mamluks in decline
• Napoleon Bonaparte invades (1798)
– Description de L’Égypte (Description of Egypt)
Henri Joseph Redoute, Three-clawed emys or Nile Tortoise, 1798-1801
“Revolt of Cairo” by French Neo-Classical artist Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson (1767-1828)
Egypt as Case Study
• Napoleon in Egypt
– 1798: British defeated French in Battle of
Abu-Kir
– 1799: Napoleon’s failed expedition to
Palestine
Egypt as Case Study
• Muhammad Ali (Mehmet Ali)
– An Albanian
– 1799: Sent as Ottoman commander to fight
French
– 1805: Finagled his way into leadership in
Egypt and secured Sultan’s consent
– Modernized Egypt
• Industrialized
Egypt as Case Study
• Muhammad Ali (Mehmet Ali)—cont.
– 1811
• Massacred the Mamluk leaders
• Defeated the Wahhabis in western Arabia
– 1821-29: Greek War of Independence
Egypt as Case Study
• Muhammad Ali (Mehmet Ali)—cont.
– 1831: Turns against the Sultan; sends his
son Ibrahim into Palestine and Syria
– 1831-1840: Ibrahim pursues Ali’s policies
in Palestine and Syria
– 1840-41: Joint British/Ottoman force
defeats Ali and son
– 1841 forward: Ali granted dynastic rule of
Ottoman Reform
• Selim III (r. 1789-1807)
– nizam-i-jedid (“new order”)
• Mahmud II (r. 1808-1839)
– “Auspicious Event” = janissaries crushed
• Tanzimat era (1840-1876)
– tanzimat (“restructuring, reorganization”) – Reigns of Sultans Abdulmejid (r.1839-61);
Abdulaziz (r. 1861-76)
– Young Ottomans (modernizing reformers) – Ottoman Constitution & Assembly (1876-78)
