History of the Ottoman Empire (1800 - 1900)

 into a position of desperate

defensiveness

and required the centuries-old

conquering power

to make alliances with unexpected

nations in order to prevent collapse

without a doubt the 1800s marked a rapid

decline for the ottoman empire

and through challenge after challenge at

each sultan

who would take the throne over the next

100 years

going into the new century salim iii

was still the sultan of the empire

recently napoleon and his french troops

had taken power in

egypt and styled themselves as the

liberators of

egypt from the ottoman empire although

constant revolts and discord back home

in france

forced napoleon to make a subtle retreat

before causing too much damage to the

ottomans

by 1801 the french officially pulled out

of the territory

allowing saleem a sigh of relief

although

the ottoman sultan actually had a strong

respect for napoleon himself

in 1804 france began attempting to win

over salim's support

whilst russia wanted to keep the

ottomans leaning to their side

napoleon himself even wrote to sultan

saleem

referring to him as most high and

invincible

prince the great emperor of the muslims

and imploring him to explain why he

would let the russians

influence his decision the frenchman

also noted that he himself

recognized the title of emperor for

saleem

so the sultan should do the same for him

in return

he lastly notes that the russians have

fifteen thousand men at korfu

pointing out that those troops surely

were there to oppose the turks

and not the french salim truly wished to

grant napoleon the favor

but was too intimidated by the military

might of the russian british alliance

that faced the french

the ottomans ultimately agreed to

maintain a defensive alliance with

russia until 1806 at which point

war broke out between the empires once

again

the russians were outraged by saleem's

decision to depose his vassal states

russophile governors in moldavia and

wallahia

meanwhile within the empire salim was

faced with rebellion from his janissary

and yamak troops due to his new

reformist policies

the sultan was eventually ousted from

the throne and put into prison

in 1807. mustafa iv

was assigned as saleem's successor

an attempt was made by reformist

supporters to reinstate salim as

sultan but mustafa ordered his

assassination

before anything could be done the new

sultan's endeavors to undo his

predecessor's reforms

were cut short by saleem the third's

brother mahmud ii

whose supporters quickly deposed mustafa

in july of 1808 and crowned muhammad in

his place

sultan mohammed ii wished to continue

the westernization reforms of his

brother

but was first faced with more pressing

matters

the war with russia was only ended in

1812

with the treaty of bucharest and the

ottomans were forced to give bessarabia

or eastern part of moldova over to the

russians

after facing demoralizing losses the

serbian fight for autonomy

shook the balkans in 1815 and the greeks

were moving in the same direction

themselves

in 1821 greeks in the moria revolted

against ottoman sovereignty triggering

the start of their war for independence

also a romanian uprising existed at the

same time

sultan mahmud initially called on the

governor of egypt for help

and the ottomans were temporarily able

to regain control

until an alliance of britain france and

russia rooted the ottoman egyptian

coalition

at the bay of navarino in october of

1827.

mahmud reacted by declaring war on

russia

as the dispute with greece continued

another russo-turkish war

waged on from 1828 through 1829

and the following year the ottoman

empire was forced to acknowledge greek

independence

in 1831 the governor of egypt

muhammad ali pasha confronted sultan

mahmud

about a promise that had been made to

him earlier in which

mahmud agreed to make ali the governor

of syria and tarsus

mahmud refused to follow through and ali

reacted by sending troops under the

command of his son

ibrahim pasha to seize damascus aleppo

and cogna

and then march towards constantinople

sultan mahmud who had stunningly sacked

the entire

janissary corps back in 1826

now had to seek aid from foreign powers

he first appealed to the british who

declined due to france's support of the

egyptians

mahmud then turned to russia who agreed

to

an alliance still the egyptians routed

the ottoman forces at nizip

in june 1839 around the same time that

sultan mahmud

began the tanzamat reform era which

brought about a more

modernized and european inspired turkey

before he was able to see the results of

these changes though

mahmud ii died of tuberculosis in the

summer of 1839

abdul masid the first replaced mahmud as

the new sultan

and continued the increasing reforms

within the empire

the year after the new young sultan took

the throne

the oriental crisis of 1840 occurred

during the ongoing egyptian ottoman war

and the entirety of the ottoman naval

forces

defected to muhammad ali and the

egyptian cause

france was ready to back the egyptians

but britain russia austria and prussia

came to the ottoman sultan's aid

the european powers then established the

convention of london

in july of 1840 promising the egyptians

territory in sudan

egypt under the condition that those

lands remain a part of the ottoman

empire

though mostly as a formality muhammad

ali

was hesitant to accept the deal and turn

to the french for support against it

but his once allies now switched sides

in october of that year

triggering a military response against

the egyptians

from the ottomans and europeans

finally muhammad ali agreed to his

opponent's terms in november

giving up syria adana crete the hijas

and the holy land in addition to handing

the ottoman naval forces back

over to sultan abdul masseed

in 1853 the ottoman empire entered the

crimean war

yet another conflict with russia one of

the main factors leading to the discord

was further dispute surrounding the

russians role as protectors of orthodox

christianity in ottoman vassal states

britain and france quickly backed the

turks

fearing the growing power of the

russians meanwhile

austria aligned once again with russia

eventually though austria threatened to

switch sides and back the ottoman cause

forcing russia to accept peace terms

resulting in the treaty of paris

on march 30 1856

just before the conclusion of the war

sultan abdul masid

issued the hati humayan which

established that all classes and

ethnicities

would be treated equally in all matters

within the empire

in 1861 the ottoman sultan was pressured

by the european powers

into recognizing lebanese autonomy and

died shortly after

from tuberculosis abdul aziz

became the next sultan of the ottoman

empire after the death of his brother

sultan abdul aziz continued the reforms

and westernization of abdul masseed

taking significant advice from france on

the establishment of a council of state

and public education system the empire's

first

civil code was also promulgated during

his reign

as tensions and rebellions rose in the

balkans

the ottomans once again became

unsatisfied with russia

this time due to its support of the

revolts from the balkan states

the russo-turkish war of 1877

to 1878 broke out with russia leading a

coalition of romanian

bulgarian serbian and montenegrin troops

the conflict proved disastrous for the

ottoman empire

ending in a decisive victory for russia

and its allies

the formal declaration of independence

from romania

serbia and montenegro the establishment

of the principality of bulgaria

austria-hungary's occupation of bosnia

and herzegovina

and britain's seizure of cyprus all

confirmed by the congress of berlin

in 1878 furthermore

just before the main portion of the war

had erupted

sultan abdul aziz had actually been

dethroned by his

own ministers due to a plethora of

frustrations within the empire

this meant that sultan abdul hamid ii

would be responsible for handling the

resolution of the balkan

unrest initially murad v

had taken the throne in abdul aziz's

place

but he was deposed after 93 days

due to accusations that he was mentally

ill and unfit for the job

one of sultan abdul hamid's initial

actions was to promulgate the first

ottoman constitution

in 1876 although it only lasted for two

years

before the sultan suspended it in 1878

over the next few years france extended

their reach

into tunisia and britain came to power

in egypt in 1882

prompting the ottomans to look toward

germany for friendship

around which time the greco-turkish war

was sparked in 1897

by the disagreement between the ottomans

and greeks

as to whether crete should remain under

the ottoman empire or unite with greece

germany austria-hungary france italy

russia and britain all backed the

ottomans

and wished to maintain peace in crete

the war was short-lived and a defeat for

greece

which was forced to pay heavy

reparations

and allow crete to remain an autonomous

state under ottoman sovereignty

though sultan abdul hamid ii and his

forces were undeniably victorious

against the greeks and crete

the issue would continue into the next

century

additionally unrest in the balkans was

far from over

as the 1800s came to a close

problems with armenia and its neighbors

began

in the 1890s and only grew with time