What caused the fall of one of the most influential empires in history? - Mostafa Minawi

While Istanbul slept in the early hours of April 27th, 1909,

Sultan Abdulhamid II boarded a westbound train.

Under cover of darkness, he left the imperial capital—

bringing an end to his reign.

For almost six centuries, his family had ruled the Ottoman Empire,

spanning regions in North Africa, southeastern Europe, and the Middle East.

But the end of this powerful dynasty had been brewing for years.

In the late 18th century,

the Ottomans’ once-feared faction of elite warriors called the Janissaries

had become inefficient and greedy.

Their numbers swelled with poorly trained fighters,

and their outdated weapons led to a series of embarrassing defeats

that coincided with several economic crises.

To survive, Sultan Selim III sought to curb the Janissaries’ influence

and modernize the empire with widespread reforms.

The warriors rebelled and assassinated Selim,

but his successor would not be so easily beaten.

Mahmud II subdued the Janissaries in a massacre known as the Auspicious Event,

and swiftly replaced the outmoded warriors with a European-style army.

This was one of many far-reaching efforts to modernize the empire,

which were continued by Mahmud’s successor.

Sultan Abdulmejid ushered in an era of reforms known as the Tanzimat,

or “reordering,”

where economic and administrative systems were overhauled,

and subjects from all backgrounds were recruited to work for the government.

The Tanzimat was hindered by foreign debt and political upheavals.

But perhaps the era’s biggest challenge was the dynasty’s initiative

to unite their diverse subjects.

The Ottoman Empire spanned three continents

containing numerous religious and ethnic groups,

including Arabs, Turks, Kurds, Greeks, Armenians, Jews, and more.

These minority groups were free to choose their language, religion,

and cultural practices,

yet most of them were deprived of the full rights of Muslim citizens.

They had to pay extra taxes

and were prevented from participating in serving in the military.

By the mid-19th century,

this divide was met with pressure from inside and outside the empire

for reform.

So Ottoman leaders tried to resolve it

by introducing an all-inclusive Ottoman national identity.

This reform signaled a drastic societal shift

and emphasized legal equality for all subjects,

alongside new laws concerning citizenship, property, and taxation.

The newly accorded privileges and reforms were sometimes met with resistance

by some members of the ruling classes.

Many minority groups formed separatist movements,

and European empires, including Russia, France, and Britain,

further undermined attempts at unity by fueling ethno-nationalist sentiments.

This discord contributed to the empire losing territories

in North Africa and the Balkans,

where large scale ethnic cleansing of local Muslims often followed.

And efforts to promote pan-Ottoman identity in the remaining provinces

were met with lukewarm success—

especially after Sultan Abdulhamid II took the throne.

While Abdulhamid shared his predecessors’ interest in modernizing reforms,

extensive building projects, and expanding education,

he also ruled as an absolute monarch.

During his reign,

he suspended the constitution, and supported widespread censorship.

Political oppression and violence became regular tools of the state,

including anti-Armenian massacres in Anatolia

that came to be known as the Hamidian massacres.

In 1908, a coup by army officers known as the Young Turk Revolution

curtailed his power and restored the constitution.

But while his successor Mehmed IV took the throne,

the Young Turks political party took hold of the power.

The Committee for Union and Progress encouraged democratic reforms,

however they also pushed for a new brand of Ottoman nationalism

centered on Turkish identity.

This change further alienated non-Turkish Ottomans,

adding fuel to numerous opposition movements.

Yet just as this political infighting was heating up,

European powers initiated an even larger conflict.

At the dawn of World War I,

the CUP-controlled government sided with their longtime allies in Germany.

But following early victories, the war turned disastrous.

The Ottomans suffered severe losses

and the highest number of deaths per capita in any warring nation.

All the while,

Brits and Russians were supporting the empire’s anti-Ottoman movements,

including several Armenian organizations.

In 1915, the CUP responded by issuing the Temporary Law of Deportation,

effectively authorizing the ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population.

This policy was carried out with such brutality

that an estimated 1 million Armenians perished

in what is now known as the Armenian Genocide.

By the end of 1918, World War I was over.

The Ottoman’s side had lost,

and the victors began hastily carving up what remained of the empire

into new nation-states that suited their interests.

The British promised some ruling families what would become

Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Jordan.

The remaining Arab-majority territories were split

into Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine,

all of which were divided between the French and British.

The allies had further plans for Istanbul and Anatolia,

but the Turkish War of Independence forced a renegotiation.

Eventually, this led to the creation of the independent Republic of Turkey

in 1923,

and the formal end to over six centuries of Ottoman rule.