Tuesday, January 19, 2010
The Young and Old Ottoman Empire
Religion played a key role in the rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire. In the 16th and 17th centuries the empire was seen as the center of Islam. It was dominated by Muslims, but it allowed for other religions to live under them. It was this open attitude that ultimately led to their downfall. By losing the Muslim superiority they lost their religious identity which was the glue that held such an enormous nation together. The younger generations wanted to base their system off more westernized ideas and equality between religions. The Muslim power became diluted and power fell from it's the central ruler to more local and smaller leaders. They tried to reunite and bring back the old Muslim supremacy, but they ultimately failed. Once there was equality among the different religions the younger generations would not fold back into the past ideals. They began to advocate for a Turkish nation rather than an Islamic nation. The empire crumbled from a lack of unification and European dominance.
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I really liked hearing how this post was completely centered on the idea of religion. It was good to hear about how the conflict of religion ended up playing a major role in the Ottomon Empire. The only thing I would like to hear more about is how European dominance led to the crumbling of the empire.
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree about the Muslims being accepting that caused them to fall. Do you think that if the Ottomans were super duper strict about everybody being Muslim that they would have lasted longer. I feel like there would be more rebellion. But that's just me.
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