The Ottoman Empire and its End

SS7H2 The student will analyze continuity and change in Southwest Asia (Middle East) leading to the 21st century.

a. Explain how European partitioning in Southwest Asia (Middle East) after the breakup of the Ottoman Empire led to regional

conflict.

Beginnings

• The Ottoman Empire began in 1299 in Turkey

• Osman a Turkish warrior was Muslim and had followers called Ottomans.

• Osman conquered the last of the Byzantines and the Ottoman Empire began.

• Osman became the first Sultan

Growth

• By 1451 the Ottomans controlled much of the Middle East.

• Constantinople was its capital and a center of learning and culture.

• By 1500 they controlled the eastern Mediterranean, Northern Africa, and parts of Arabia.

Suleyman

• Suleyman ruled from 1520 to 1566 and became known as the greatest ottoman ruler.

Decline

• After Suleyman’s death the empire began to decline over the next 300 years.

• It would gain and lose territory over those 300 years.

• By the 20th century it was weak and became known as the Sick man of Europe.

The End

• During World War I the Ottomans sided with the Central powers – the wartime alliance of the German Empire, the

Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) and the Kingdom of Bulgaria.

• The British overtook Jerusalem and Baghdad from the Ottomans

• Arabia then followed and rose up against the Ottoman rule

• By 1918 the empire collapsed

After WWI

• In 1920, the Treaty of Sevres split the Ottoman territory up between the Allied or Western powers.

• France was given Syria and Lebanon

• The British controlled Palestine and Iraq

• Turkey was independent.

Consequences

• Europeans did not consider nationalism (the idea that countries are most successful if the people who live there share some common cultural, historic or religious beliefs).

• As a result there has been a lot of conflict.

Question 1

• What led to the end of the Ottoman Empire at the close of WWI?

a. The Ottomans were on the losing side of the war along with Germany and other members of the central powers.

b. The Empire spent too much money on buildings and new roads and went bankrupt.

c. The people in the Empire were starving because a long drought had ruined agriculture.

d. The Ottoman government was overthrown by a revolt of factory workers who were unemployed when the war ended

Question 2

• Who drew up the boundaries of the new countries created from the Ottoman Empire at the end of WWI?

a. United States

b. Ottoman rulers

c. European politicians

d. Middle Eastern governments