Ottoman Empire Summary
The Ottoman Empire had been around for hundreds of years. However it began to weaken. The weakness was from the Ottomans struggle to modernize. Greece got its independence and Serbia was allowed to govern itself, two countries who were previously under the reign of the Ottoman Empire. Countries in Europe noticed the weakening Empire, however so did Russia. Russia and the Ottomans began a war. This war was called the Crimean war. France and Britain took the side of the Ottomans because they didn 't want Russia controlling that land. The Ottomans, Britain, and France won the war. However, after the war countries from mainly Europe, but also Asia began taking the Ottomans land. An Ottoman leader, Muhammad Ali broke away from the Ottoman Empire and began having his people harvest cotton. His grandson continued to modernize and helped the French with building the Suez Canal, which connected the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. However when they didn 't pay their debt to British banks, so the British took over the canal. The Suez Canal was very important because it allowed quicker access to different parts of Asia and Africa.

Persia Summary
Persia’s land was desired by both Britain and Russia. Britain and Russia both fought for control over the land with locals. Russia wanted control over the land in Persia because it had access to the Indian Ocean. Britain wanted the land as a barrier between Russian and its colony in India. In the early