The Ottoman Turks: An Introductory History to 1923 by Justin Mccarthy

Author:Justin Mccarthy [Mccarthy, Justin]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
ISBN: 9781317890478
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2014-06-06T04:00:00+00:00

Imperialism and Nationalism

The nineteenth-century Ottoman Empire attempted to survive in a world in which imperialism was triumphant. All over Asia and Africa, British, French, German, and Russian armies were finishing the conquest of non-European peoples. By the end of the century, India was the possession of the British, as was much of Africa. France had taken much of North and West Africa. Russia had conquered Muslim Central Asia and the region of the Caucasus Mountains, as well as Christian European countries such as Poland and Finland. All of East Asia was under European control, except Japan and the interior of China. All the great non-Western empires but one had succumbed to European finances and firepower.

Alone among the old Asian empires, the Ottoman Empire managed to survive and keep its independence throughout the ‘imperial century’. This success is often overlooked in the light of obvious European economic and military superiority over the Ottomans. It should not be. The survival of the Ottoman Empire for so long was a tribute to Ottoman administration, diplomacy, reform, and military prowess, all in the face of overwhelming odds.

During the nineteenth century the Ottoman lands were whittled away, particularly by Russian attack, but the Ottomans managed to live on. Their situation can be compared to that of a noble family, fallen on hard times, which manages to hold on by selling off old family treasures, one by one. The Ottoman treasures were stolen, rather than sold, but the situation was nonetheless similar. Like the impoverished family, the Ottoman's economic situation was always grim, and they stood to lose all, but somehow did not. Also like many a person fallen on hard times, the Ottomans could not afford to fail, because they had family that depended on them. The Ottoman family was the millions of Turks and other Muslims in and outside of the Ottoman Empire who depended on the Ottomans for survival, sure that if the Ottomans failed, they would die. They were correct, for the Ottomans' enemies were intent not simply on taking their lands, but on expelling the Turks and other Muslims who lived in them. In the end, the inhabitants of the Ottoman Empire paid an awful price for the covetousness of others. From 1800 to 1922, millions died in the wars with Russia, civil wars between Muslims and Christians brought about by European intervention, and forced exiles of whole populations.

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