Ottoman Empire Dbq

Sir Thomas Roe, an English diplomat and ambassador to Constantinople once said "The Ottoman Empire has the body of a sick old man, who tried to appear healthy, although his end was near." Definitely, the Ottoman Empire wouldn't stay strong and young forever. Due its fast and rapid success in expanding, having a strong court system, and having an efficient system of taxation, other great powers in Europe felt threatened. After all, if the empire was expanding and gaining much power quickly, it would be unexceptional for it to invade one of these great powers. Europe sensed the Ottoman jeopardy, so countries such as Britain, France, and Italy allied and plans were made to ensure the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The empire was located in Europe,

Subsequently, it had many enemies and allies. Ottomans were not considered part of Europe due to having a different religion and culture, even though the Ottomans flaunted that they accept and welcome Christianity. However, they associated in the European diplomacy. Christian countries such as France and England reached out to the Ottomans when dealing with their regional rivals. In July 1509, the Venetian Senate enlisted the Ottomans for military help against France. They had a trading relationship as well. Many accusations and criticism were faced by the Venetians as a result of allying with the Ottomans. In addition, France and the Ottomans shared a mutual enemy, the Habsburgs. As a result, it was King Francis I who assisted Ottomans in expanding to the Habsburgs. On the other hand, Ottomans helped in the election of the French prince. European powers allied with the Ottomans whenever it was profitable for them. Nevertheless, when they started feeling a great threat that the Ottoman expansion would drastically affect them, for the Ottomans had control over many trade routes and many resources, they unified against the empire. In brief, they typically cared about their own

Several factors prompted this decline such as: several economic problems, the rise of other trade routes, the European hunger for expansion, and weakness in the Ottoman government Furthermore, the Ottoman Empire was both politically and militarily strong, yet, it was too traditional and could not keep up with worldwide changes and modernity through time. Europe and the West were rapidly moving forward innovatively while the Ottomans stayed in their place for too long. All these problems led to the empire being less centralized in Europe. Simply, the Great Powers of Europe took advantage of this situation and allied to completely end the rule of Ottomans. To further affect the empire, European powers chose an Ottoman strength and turned it into a weak point. Europeans monopolized trade with India and China and set high prices of goods sold in the empire, which greatly affected Ottoman trade and caused inflation in their economy. Moreover, the British, French, and Greek forces combined and were ready to fully take control over Thrace and Constantinople. The location of Constantinople was very significant to the Ottoman trade. In addition, Constantinople was very important to the Europeans as it was such a strong and important city during the Roman Empire. For Ottomans to conquer such a city was psychologically not accepted by the Europeans. However, the British had already occupied many