decline of the ottoman empire

Social Studies for 10th EGBTeacher: Mauricio Torres

DECLINE OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

STRENGHTS OF THE EMPIRE• It rested on:

– Kapi Kullari system.– Centralized

absolutism of the Sultan.

– Tolerance– Islam

RELIGIOUS INTERFERENCE OF AFFAIRS• The Ulemas (religious

leaders) were grouped under the leadership of a religious head of state.

• These religious leaders now grew in power and had a voice in government affairs.

WEAKENING ECONOMY • During the 17th century, the Ottomans were no

longer advancing at great steps, but had finally settled down and set their borders.

• By now, they even began to lose the grip on the Eastern Mediterranean.– Portuguese sailors had navigated around Africa, reaching

India and China. This left Ottoman markets very weak.

• The state was now an oversized, clumsy and ineffective bureaucracy!– Their long ability to adapt was not there anymore, making

their old ways, obsolete.

OVERSIZED GOVERNMENT• The centralized government, which had been an

advantage, relied heavily on the ability and capabilities of their rulers.– They were now herded since an early age, into separate

and isolated facilities, full of luxury, but lacking education and even normal humane experiences. They were useless rulers.

• The Janissaries were also to blame:– They were overpaid. No longer slaves. Yet sultans relied

more and more on them, because the rest of their own armies grew obsolete.

– They later became “kingmakers”, looking out mostly for their own interests.

EXTERNAL ISSUES• With the Ottoman markets weaker, the

economy in general collapsed.– New and cheaper products came from America– Inflation rose.– New technologies were rejected by traditional

artisans.

• The lack of income, a primitive economy, added to the oversized and incompetent bureaucracy led to a long collapse.

SUBJECTIVE CAUSES• The Ottomans, due to their long years of

success, had an arrogant assumption of superiority.– In the beginning, the Turks had adapted and even

acquired techniques from their foes.– But later on, the rigid and orthodox Muslims came

to believe nothing worthy could be learned from “barbarous infidels”.

• Therefore, even inside the empire, non-Muslim subjects began to suffer from oppression. They had long been in charge of trade and finances.

PUSHING FOR REFORM• Even though at certain moments and times some

groups tried to push for reform and Westernization, only to find themselves blocked by conservatives.– Only when the incoming threat from Russia did they

actively seek to modernize the country.

• During the early 1800s, the Janissaries were massacred (1826), religious leaders changed their point of view towards reform. This period of reforms was known as the Tanzimat.

REFORM!• Finally, in the year 1876, Mihrdat Pasha

introduced a constitution and an assembly was also elected.– But, this new system of law, was still under the

jurisdiction of the Sharia.

• Western institutions were slowly adopted but could not be easily implemented. Minorities struggled to be accepted into mainstream society.– These ethnic minorities soon sought independence

thought the revival of nationalist ideas: Greeks, Bosniaks, Albanians, Egyptians and Arabs.

SICK MAN OF EUROPE• Faced with a collapse of institutions, the

economy, rising nationalism and a failed reform, the once mighty Ottoman Empire was now known as the Sick Man of Europe.

CAUSES FOR DECLINE

External

• Economy: alternate trade routes

• Development of European powers

• European expansion

Internal

• Obsolete army

• Traditionalist economy and law

• Inept leadership

• Persecution of minorities

• Arrogance

• Insufficient reform efforts