Ottoman Decline European Great Powers

Ottoman Decline

European Great Powers and Ottoman Decline

The Reformation, Age of Exploration and Discovery, the Enlightenment, and the Industrial Revolution all expanded European influence and transformed European nations into global powers. However, on the edge of Europe was the Ottoman Empire which did not partake in the transformative processes that modernized Europe. Because of this, the Ottoman-Turks, beginning in the 1700's, were at the mercy of an ever expanding number of European nations, many of which wanted to expand territorially at the expense of the Turks. Over the next two centuries, the Europeans slowly devoured the Ottoman Empire through a number of geo-strategic, military, and religious policies.

The first to take advantage of the Ottoman Turk's weakness was the up and coming power of Russia, who in early 1700's expanded their control into the area of the Black Sea, primarily the Crimea. In the quest for conquest, Russia sought an outlet to the sea, to expand the Orthodox Christian religion, and to encourage "pan Slavism." (Goldschmidt, 2005, p. 162) While the Russians continued to expand into Turkish territory, ironically it was the intervention of the other European powers that saved the Ottoman Turks from annihilation at the hands of the Russians.

Another early proponent of expansion into Ottoman Turkish territory were the Austrians. Beginning with the Austrian defeat of the Turks outside Vienna in 1699, the Austrians slowly pushed the Turks back. "Austria hoped to move down the Danube River toward the Black Sea. It also wanted to control lands south of the Danube, especially Croatia, Bosnia, and Serbia." (Goldschmidt, 2006, p. 165) The French also wanted to gain influence in the region, and at first sought to ally themselves with the Turks. When the Russians claimed to want to protect Orthodox Christians under Ottoman control, the French similarly sought to protect Catholics. "One fateful result was the special bond between France and Syria." And would lead to the control of Syria by France. (Goldschmidt, 2006, p. 165)

But it was the British who would have the greatest impact on the decline of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. Gaining control of Egypt during the Napoleonic Wars, Britain administered Egypt as an independent province of the Ottoman Empire. However, it was World War One that gave Great Britain the opportunity to directly expand into the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans allied themselves with the Central Powers, enemies of France, Russia, and, most importantly, Great Britain. By first fomenting a revolution among the Arabs, the British were able to destabilize the Turks in the Middle East, which then led to the conquest of Palestine and Syria. While the British had promised their Arab Allies independence, the Sykes-Picot agreement actually split the Middle East into four "mandates," and "recognized long-standing French claims to Syria." (Cleveland, 2009, p 164) Three of the four "mandates" were controlled by the British, one by the French, and the Ottoman Turkish Empire was effectively dismantled.