Ottoman Empire

Flag of the Ottoman Empire, 1844-1922

The Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire was the greatest power in the middle east from its founding in 1299 to its dissolution on November 1st, 1922. The empire's greatest extent came in 1683 when it controlled the entirety of multiple territories, (eg. The Balkans) this would cause multiple uprisings resulting in the Empire controlling only its original territories in the middle-east when the empire entered the First World War.

The Balkan Wars

Since 1683, (With Minor Losses) The Ottoman Empire controlled the entirety of the Balkan territories eventually placing puppet states. But by the early 20th century, Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro and Serbia had achieved independence from the Ottoman Empire, however large amounts of their ethnic populations were still under Ottoman rule. In 1912, the countries formed the Balkan League. The First Balkan War began on 8 October 1912, when the Balkan League declared war on the Ottoman Empire, the war ended eight months later with the signing of the Treaty of London on 30 May 1913. The Second Balkan War began on 16 June 1913, when Bulgaria attacked its former Balkan League allies. The combined forces of Serbian and Greek armies, with superior manpower repelled the Bulgarian invasion and counter-attacked by invading Bulgaria. The Ottoman Empire also attacked Bulgaria and advanced in. In the Treaty of Bucharest, Bulgaria was allowed keep most of the territories it had gained in the First Balkan War.

Admiral Wilhelm Souchon (German) and his men, who commanded the Black Sea Raid on 29 October 1914.

Entry to WW1

In November of 1914, (5 Months after the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.) the Ottoman Empire joined the central powers but only joined the war after Ottoman War Minister, Enver Pasha, led an attack on Russian naval ports along the Black Sea on October 29th, 1914.

Armenian Genocide

In 1915 the Ottoman government began to genocide the ethnic Armenian population near the Russian-Ottoman border, resulting in the death of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians. This was carried out during and after World War 1. It was done by executing the male population, followed by the deportation of women, children, and the elderly to the Syrian Desert.

Dissolution

On October 30th, 1918, the Ottoman Empire officially surrendered. It was only during the "Young Turk Revolution" did the empire officially dissolve into what is now known as modern day Turkey.