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10 Battles That Shaped the Ottoman Empire
Real Clear History ^ | June 7, 2018 | Brandon Christensen

Posted on 06/08/2018 6:24:17 AM PDT by C19fan

On June 4, 1915, the Third Battle of Krithia was fought between the Ottoman Empire and its Allied enemies, composed of mostly French and British troops. The Ottomans won, handily and somewhat surprisingly. The Allies had to retreat and regroup as a result, and the Balkans campaign had to go through a more careful re-think by Allied strategists.

World War I marked the end of the Ottoman Empire, of course, but the “sick man of Europe” had more fight in it than many Western historians give it credit for. Scholarship on the Ottoman Empire has improved over the years, but there is still plenty of opportunity () to do more. The Ottoman Empire spanned three continents, after all, and lasted for 623 years.

(Excerpt) Read more at realclearhistory.com ...


TOPICS: History; Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: islam; turkey
Left out the Battle of Mohacs in 1526 where the Turks crushed the Hungarians and allies leading to the absorption of most of Hungary into the Ottoman Empire. The great Christian victory at Lepanto was left out ending any hopes the Ottomans would dominate the Mediterranean.
1 posted on 06/08/2018 6:24:17 AM PDT by C19fan
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To: C19fan

Here, and all this time I thought they just sat around all the time with their feet up kickin’ it.


2 posted on 06/08/2018 6:30:36 AM PDT by ImJustAnotherOkie (All I know is what I read in the papers.)
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To: ImJustAnotherOkie; Gamecock; SaveFerris; FredZarguna; PROCON; Army Air Corps; KC_Lion

Jerry: Right there. I got it. I did this thing on the Ottoman Empire. Like, what was this? A whole empire based on putting your feet up?


3 posted on 06/08/2018 6:34:07 AM PDT by Larry Lucido
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To: All

The Ottoman Empire is really a part of history I know next to nothing about.

I gotta get one of those “The Ottoman Empire for Dummies” books and brush up that segment of history.


4 posted on 06/08/2018 6:37:45 AM PDT by MplsSteve
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To: MplsSteve

Also read up on the Eastern Roman Empire. Very interesting as it outlasted the Western Roman Empire by more than 1000 years.


5 posted on 06/08/2018 6:41:50 AM PDT by buffaloguy (Bond arms Cowboy)
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To: C19fan

The article also didn’t mention the Battle of Cairo in 1517 in which the Ottomans overpowered the Mamluks, who had ruled Egypt since 1250 and had defeated the Mongols and the Crusaders. The Ottomans would retain Egypt—at least formally—as part of their empire until 1914.

Also failing to make the cut was the siege of Vienna in 1529, which may have been more decisive than the one in 1683, and the siege of Malta in 1565 in which the Christian Knights of Malta fought off the Ottoman attempt to seize their islands, located strategically along the Mediterranean trade route.


6 posted on 06/08/2018 6:43:23 AM PDT by Fiji Hill
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To: C19fan
Left out the Battle of Mohacs in 1526...

They also left out a little naval scuffle called Lepanto in 1571.

7 posted on 06/08/2018 6:48:14 AM PDT by InABunkerUnderSF (Time to BLOAT again.)
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To: C19fan

Let’s all just say, based on the above comments, that the article should have been about 20 battles. (You get more clicks that way, but that is just serendipitous.)


8 posted on 06/08/2018 6:51:57 AM PDT by chajin ("There is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12)
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To: C19fan

The greatest triumph of the Ottomans, I would argue, was most likely their conquest of Constantinople/Istanbul in 1453. The corresponding factor there is how weakened the Byzantine Empire became from the earlier actions by their fellow Christians of the Latin West (Europe)! While there were many enemies of Byzantium in the wet, the most effective was Venice, a burgeoning commercial and military rival.

The singular and most significant blow struck by Venice in the 4th Crusade (1202-04) when in 2004, instead of attacking Islamic Egypt to free up the Holy Land, the Crusaders instead attack and sacked Constantinople, wrecking their economy and essentially dooming that polity to the eventual Ottoman destruction. A true irony of history but typical of national and financial rivalries.


9 posted on 06/08/2018 6:57:50 AM PDT by SES1066 (Happiness is a depressed Washington, DC housing market!)
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To: SES1066
The singular and most significant blow struck by Venice in the 4th Crusade (1202-04) when in 1204, instead of attacking Islamic Egypt to free up the Holy Land, the Crusaders instead attack and sacked Constantinople, wrecking their economy and essentially dooming that polity to the eventual Ottoman destruction. A true irony of history but typical of national and financial rivalries.

Some historians argue that the sack of Constantinople by the Venetians marked the real end of the Roman Empire.

10 posted on 06/08/2018 7:21:34 AM PDT by Fiji Hill
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To: MplsSteve

If you can find it, I HIGHLY recommend “Lords of the Horizon” by Goodwin.

Very informative, but, not overly scholarly.

The Ottomans were very defeat-able, but, ony when the west came together and fought as one. (that didn’t happen often)


11 posted on 06/08/2018 7:26:33 AM PDT by Conan the Librarian (The Best in Life is to crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and the Dewey Decimal System)
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To: buffaloguy

John Romer does a great two part series on Byzantium. It’s on You Tube. Well worth a look.


12 posted on 06/08/2018 8:40:28 AM PDT by Jimmy Valentine (DemocRATS - when they speak, they lie; when they are silent, they are stealing the American Dream)
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To: MplsSteve

All you need to know is that they are Genocidal, conquering assholes. Erdogon is trying to revive the good ole days.
FU__ TURKEY! Biji Kurdistan.


13 posted on 06/08/2018 9:41:59 AM PDT by partyrepub
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