Turkey

Or the Ottoman empire, called by the Turks Osmanli Vilayet i , includes large portions of the continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and consists of Turkey Proper, which is under the direct rule of the sultan, and of numerous dependent and tributary states, governed by their own princes. The existing Turkish empire dates only from the end of the 13th century, when it was founded by Osman, or Othman, a Turk of noble family, who had been driven westward from Khorasan by the invasion of Genghis Khan. Osman first invaded the Greek territory of Nicomedia on July 27, 1299; but the true era of the empire may be dated from the conquest of the city of Prusa, the capital of Bithynia, which surrendered to his son Orchan in 1326. Murad I. (Amurath) subdued, without resistance, the whole of Thrace from the Hellespont to Mount Hæmus, and made Adrianople the seat of vice-royalty. Murad was succeeded by his son Bajazet (Byazid), whose reign forms one of the most splendid epochs in the Turkish annals. His armies were victorious in every country that he undertook to conquer, until at last he encountered the famous Mogul chief, Tamer lane, who defeated the Turkish army and took Bajazet captive. After the death of Tamer lane, Solyman, the son of Bajazet, obtained the European dominions of his father and eventually a umed the title of sultan. At his death in 1421 he bequeathed an undivided empire to his succe or, Amurath II., in whose reign the Turkish empire rose in splendor and opulence. He enlarged the empire by conquests, and was succeeded in 1451 by Mohammed II., the conqueror of Constantinople. Mohammed laid siege to Belgrade, three years after the taking of Constantinople, from which, after an obstinate resistance, he was at length repulsed with the lo of his large ordnance and 40,000 of his best troops. Abandoning his attempts upon Hungary, the sultan undertook an expedition into Greece, and about 1460 succeeded in subduing the whole of the Morea. Mohammed continued to overrun Europe with his victorious armies, until death stopped his triumphant career in 1481. A series of domestic broils continued to take place until Selim ascended the throne in 1512. He was a succe ful prince, and during his short reign conquered Egypt, Aleppo, Antioch, Tripoli, Damascus, and Gaza, and defeated the Persians. On the death of Selim, Solyman the Magnificent ascended the Ottoman throne, and like several of the preceding monarchs he continued to humiliate his enemies and add new territory to his dominions. His dominions extended from Algiers to the river Euphrates, and from the farther end of the Black Sea to the extremity of Greece and Epirus. The latter years of his reign were embittered by domestic di ensions and cruelties. He died while besieging Sigeth, a city of Hungary, in 1566. His son and succe or, Selim II., besieged and took Cyprus; but in the famous sea-fight at Lepanto, in 1571, the Turkish fleet was utterly destroyed by Don John of Austria. Selim afterwards invested and took Tunis by storm. On his death Amurath III. ascended the throne, and extended his dominions. His son, Mohammed III., ascended the throne in 1595, but he was involved in a series of wars which proved disastrous to the Turkish arms, and the country continued to decline, although each succe ive monarch continued to wage war with the neighboring provinces, which nearly always ended disastrously to the Turkish arms; the country was also torn asunder by internal strife. The downward course of Turkey was for a time stayed by Mustapha II., who succeeded to the throne in 1695; he commanded his troops in person, and pa ed the Danube at the head of 50,000 men, carried Lippa by a ault, and closed a campaign against the Austrians with succe . But two years afterwards he was defeated by Prince Eugène, in the bloody battle of Zenta, where the Turks left 20,000 dead on the field, and 10,000 were drowned in their attempt to escape. Shortly after this disaster Mustapha was dethroned. During the reign of Mustapha III., in 1769, a destructive war broke out with Ru ia which lasted till 1774, when the Turks were compelled to make the dishonorable treaty of Kainargi. Another disastrous war broke out between Ru ia and Turkey in the autumn of 1787, in which Austria took sides with the former. This war, which was concluded in 1792, was a series of terrible conflicts, in which much desperate valor was displayed on the one side, and many brave actions were performed on the other; but in which Turkey lost much territory. Turkey was drawn into the French revolutionary war by the invasion of Egypt by the French, and in 1807 she was convulsed by a sanguinary insurrection, which cost Selim his throne, and raised Mahmoud to it. During the event of this insurrection, a war which had been going on with Ru ia had languished; but on the acce ion of Mahmoud, the armies on both sides were augmented, and the contest was carried on with great ferocity. The campaign of 1811 was short, but disastrous to the Porte, the main body of the Ottoman army having surrendered as prisoners of war. In 1821 began that celebrated insurrection which, after a bloody war of eight years, terminated in the complete emancipation of the Greeks from the Turkish yoke. In 1828 war again broke out between Turkey and Ru ia. The first campaign was unfavorable to Turkey, but not completely decisive; it ended with the lo of Varna; but, in 1829, the Ru ians having cro ed the Balkans, a treaty of peace was concluded, which was both humiliating and injurious. Shortly after occurred that rupture between the sultan and Mehemet Ali, the pasha of Egypt, which shook the Ottoman empire to its foundation. In every conflict the Turkish troops were overthrown. The battle of Homs decided the fate of Syria, and the victory at Konieh placed the sceptre almost within the grasp of the ambitious pasha. In this extremity the sultan was reduced to apply to Ru ia for aid. A peace was concluded by which the pasha augmented his territory. In 1839 the Turks were again defeated in several battles by the Egyptians; but the latter were reduced to subjection by the allied powers, Britain, Austria, Ru ia, and Pru ia, and compelled to pay an annual tribute to Turkey. In October, 1858, the Porte declared war against Ru ia, and in 1854 the French and English entered into the contest as allies of Turkey. In the latter part of this war, Sardinia also sent an army to co-operate with those of the allies. The result of this war, which was virtually ended by the treaty of Paris signed on March 30, 1856, was, that Turkey gained some territory, and took her place as a member of the European confederation of states. A revolution took place in Constantinople in 1876, which resulted in the deposition of Abd-ul-Aziz, and the acce ion to the throne of Murad V., who in his turn was superseded by Hamid II. For important battles, etc., which occurred in Turkey, see names of towns, places, etc., under separate headings in this work.