World History from Prehistory to the 21st Century - (Lower) (7th Edition) (Revised Edition)

Author: Stavros Stavrianos
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-10-01
Features: Purchase link for the first volume of this book: Global History - From Prehistory to the 21st Century (7th Edition Revised Volume 1)
The Ottoman Turks, who established an empire named after themselves, were originally a branch of the widely scattered Turks from Central Asia (while the Semitic Arabs originated from the Arabian Peninsula). For centuries, Turkic tribes migrated in waves to the fertile regions of the Middle East. They arrived in the Middle East as early as the 8th century, infiltrating the Islamic Empire initially as mercenaries. In the 10th century, pressure from the Mongol westward campaigns forced more Turkic tribes to migrate to the Middle East, including a group of Seljuk Turks. These new immigrants defeated the Byzantine army in the decisive Battle of Manzikert in 1071, breaking through the traditional boundary of Anatolia along the Taurus Mountains—the boundary that had protected Rome and the Byzantine Empire for 1,400 years. This victory made most of Anatolia a part of the Seljuk Empire, leaving only the northwest corner to the Byzantines. However, the Seljuk Empire later declined and split into many independent principalities or sultanates. In the late 13th century, new waves of Turkic immigrants further complicated the situation. One group settled in the far northwest edge of the Seljuk Empire, less than 50 miles from the strategic Dardanelles Strait, which separated Europe and Asia.
In 1299, the leader of this group, a man named Osman, declared his independence to the highest ruler of the Seljuk Empire. From this humble beginning, the Ottoman Empire, named after this initially obscure figure, rose. This dazzling success was marked by the conquest of the remaining Byzantine territories in Anatolia. By 1340, the entire Anatolia was under the control of Islamic forces. In 1354, the Turks crossed the Dardanelles Strait and established a fortress at Gallipoli, thus gaining their first foothold in Europe. The timing was almost ideal for them to launch an attack on Europe. The entire Christian world was in decline and disarray: the terrible plague of the Black Death had wiped out vast numbers of people in Christian nations; the disastrous Hundred Years' War had left England and France powerless (the dates of this conflict are worth noting: it began in 1338, the year the Turks were completing their conquest of Anatolia, and ended in 1453, the year the Turks captured Constantinople); the Italian states were too weakened by the long struggle between Venice and Genoa to resist the Turks; the Balkan Peninsula was irreversibly divided by religious conflicts among Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and the heretical Bogomil sect, as well as by competition among the already past-peak Byzantine Empire, the Serbian Empire, and the Bulgarian Empire. Moreover, like Anatolia, the Christian peasants in the Balkans were deeply dissatisfied with their rulers, offering little or no resistance to the Turks' fierce attacks. These circumstances explained the astonishing success of the Ottomans in expanding from their base in Anatolia.
In 1384, they captured Sofia and soon controlled the entire Bulgaria. Five years later, they defeated the army of the South Slavs in the historically famous Battle of Kosovo.