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Sultan Mehmed, the Conquerer |
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From the 16th century on, the Empire started to lose its economic and military superiority over Europe. Moreover in the 19th century, nationalist movements broke out in Ottoman territories, instigated by Russia and some European states. The Christians breaking off with the empire founded independent states. The reform efforts throughout
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the 19th century were of no use. Even the first constitution with a western sense, proclaimed during the First Constitutional Monarchy (1876), which coincided with the reign of Sultan Abdülhamid II, did not help. In fact, the constitutional monarchy period which commenced along with the constitution prepared by intellectuals called the Young Turks and imposed on Sultan Abdülhamid II came to an end when the emperor dissolved the parliament under the pretext of the 1877-1878 Ottoman-Russian War. When the Committee of Union and Progress, which came on the scene as an opposition movement to the Young Turks, forced the reproclamation of the constitutional monarchy (1908) and later seized power by quashing the March 31 rebellion, the empire was faced with new problems and adventures. The defeats experienced in the Tripoli War (1911-1912) against the Italians and in the Balkan War (1912-1913) paved the way for a single-party dictatorship of the Union and Progress. The Ottoman Empire entered the First World War (1914-1918) hastily and without forethought as an ally of Germany, which brought about the end of the Empire. Following the armistice signed after the war; Russia, Britain, and Greece started to invade Ottoman territories. |
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 The Ottoman Culture and Civilization: The Ottoman Empire left behind a splendid cultural heritage and at the
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Tile sample belonging to the Ottoman Era |
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