The Ottoman Empire was founded c.

1299 by Osman I as a small beylik in

northwestern Asia Minor just south of the Byzantine capital Constantinople. In 1326, the
Ottomans captured nearby Bursa, cutting off Asia Minor from Byzantine control. The
Ottomans first crossed into Europe in 1352, establishing a permanent settlement
at Çimpe Castle on the Dardanelles in 1354 and moving their capital
to Edirne (Adrianople) in 1369. At the same time, the numerous small Turkic states in
Asia Minor were assimilated into the budding Ottoman sultanate through conquest or
declarations of allegiance.
As Sultan Mehmed II conquered Constantinople (today named Istanbul) in 1453,
transforming it into the new Ottoman capital, the state grew into a substantial empire,
expanding deep into Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East. With most of
the Balkans under Ottoman rule by the mid-16th century, Ottoman territory increased
exponentially under Sultan Selim I, who assumed the Caliphate in 1517 as the Ottomans
turned east and conquered western Arabia, Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Levant, among
other territories. Within the next few decades, much of the North African coast (except
Morocco) became part of the Ottoman realm.
The empire reached its apex under Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century, when it
stretched from the Persian Gulf in the east to Algeria in the west, and from Yemen in the
south to Hungary and parts of Ukraine in the north. According to the Ottoman decline
thesis, Suleiman's reign was the zenith of the Ottoman classical period, during which
Ottoman culture, arts, and political influence flourished. The empire reached its maximum
territorial extent in 1683, on the eve of the Battle of Vienna.
From 1699 onwards, the Ottoman Empire began to lose territory over the course of the
next two centuries due to internal stagnation, costly defensive wars, European
colonialism, and nationalist revolts among its multiethnic subjects. In any case, the need
to modernise was evident to the empire's leaders by the early 19th century, and
numerous administrative reforms were implemented in an attempt to forestall the decline
of the empire, with varying degrees of success. The gradual weakening of the Ottoman
Empire gave rise to the Eastern Question in the mid-19th century.
The empire came to an end in the aftermath of its defeat in World War I, when its
remaining territory was partitioned by the Allies. The sultanate was officially abolished by
the Government of the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara on 1 November 1922
following the Turkish War of Independence. Throughout its more than 600 years of
existence, the Ottoman Empire has left a profound legacy in the Middle East
and Southeast Europe, as can be seen in the customs, culture, and cuisine of the various
countries that were once part of its realm.
Ottoman etiology[edit]
With the end of the First World War and the Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire,
questions arose in a geopolitical and historical context about the reasons for the
emergence and decline of the Ottomans, the reasons for the emergence and decline of
their empire and how both events were defined. On the eve of World War II, the
geographical position and the geopolitical weight of Turkey, the major historical heir to
the Ottoman Empire, gave weight to the issues as propaganda. The first item on the
agenda of the Tehran conference was the issue of Turkey's participation in World War II
by the end of 1943.[1]
Formulable theses[edit]
Those about the emergence of the Ottoman Empire[edit]
Main article: Osman's Dream

1. Ghaza thesis — it is formulated first, but it is the most criticized and politicized.
The thesis most clearly advocates the ethnic pan-Turkic principle. It was
developed by Paul Wittek;[2]
 2. Renegade thesis — represented in studies, articles and books by various authors.
It is based on numerous eyewitness accounts. It is supplemented by the
hypothesis of the geographical and to some extent civilizational succession of the
Ottoman Empire (Rûm) by the Eastern Roman Empire;
3. Socio-economic thesis — the newest and most modern, sustained in the
traditions of Marxist historiography. The thesis is found in various articles and
studies. It is based on the aftermath of the Black Death and the legacy of
the Byzantine civil wars.
Those about the decline of the Ottoman Empire[edit]

1. Classic thesis — as a result of the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) with the

subsequent Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca. Previously marked by the beginning of the
reign of Catherine the Great, the writing of "Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya" and the
death of Koca Ragıp Pasha;
2. Ottoman decline thesis — now-controversial thesis clearly formulated for the first
time in 1958 by Bernard Lewis.[3] Aligns with Koçi Bey's risalets, but arguably
ignores the Köprülü era and its reform of the Ottoman state, economy and navy
heading into the 18th century;
3. Neoclassical thesis — to some extent it unites the previous ones about the
beginning of the Ottoman decline, which are divided even nearly two centuries in
time. The beginning of the end was marked by the Treaty of Karlowitz, the Edirne
event and the reign of Ahmed III.
Rise of the Ottoman Empire (1299–1453)[edit]
Main article: Rise of the Ottoman Empire
Further information: Ottoman Dynasty
With the demise of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum during 12th to 13th century, Anatolia was
divided into a patchwork of independent states, the so-called Anatolian Beyliks. For the
next few decades, these Beyliks were under the sovereignty of Mongolians and their
Iranian Kingdom Ilkhanids. By 1300, a weakened Byzantine Empire had lost most of its
Anatolian provinces to these Turkish principalities. One of the beyliks was led by Osman
I (d. 1323/4), from which the name Ottoman is derived, son of Ertuğrul,
around Eskişehir in western Anatolia. In the foundation myth expressed in the story
known as "Osman's Dream", the young Osman was inspired to conquest by a prescient
vision of empire (according to his dream, the empire is a big tree whose roots spread
through three continents and whose branches cover the sky).[4] According to his dream
the tree, which was Osman's Empire, issued four rivers from its roots, the Tigris,
the Euphrates, the Nile and the Danube.[4] Additionally, the tree shaded four mountain
ranges, the Caucasus, the Taurus, the Atlas and the Balkan ranges.[4] During his reign as
Sultan, Osman I extended the frontiers of Turkish settlement toward the edge of
the Byzantine Empire.
During this period, a formal Ottoman government was created whose institutions would
change drastically over the life of the empire.
In the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over the Eastern
Mediterranean and the Balkans. Osman's son, Orhan, captured the city of Bursa in 1326
and made it the new capital of the Ottoman state. The fall of Bursa meant the loss of
Byzantine control over Northwestern Anatolia.
After securing their flank in Asia Minor, the Ottomans then crossed into Europe from
1352 onwards; within a decade, almost all of Thrace had been conquered by the
Ottomans, cutting off Constantinople from its Balkan hinterlands. The Ottoman capital
was moved to Adrianople Edirne in 1369. The important city of Thessaloniki was
captured from the Venetians in 1387. The Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively
marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion
into Europe. The Battle of Nicopolis in 1396, widely regarded as the last large-
scale crusade of the Middle Ages, failed to stop the advance of the victorious Ottoman
Turks. With the extension of Turkish dominion into the Balkans, the strategic conquest of
Constantinople became a crucial objective. The Empire controlled nearly all
former Byzantine lands surrounding the city, but the Byzantines were temporarily relieved
when Timur invaded Anatolia in the Battle of Ankara in 1402. He took Sultan Bayezid I as
a prisoner. The capture of Bayezid I threw the Turks into disorder. The state fell into a
civil war that lasted from 1402 to 1413, as Bayezid's sons fought over succession. It
ended when Mehmed I emerged as the sultan and restored Ottoman power, bringing an
end to the Interregnum.