The Role of Nationalism and Ottoman Empire

Why are the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the significance of nationalism prior to World War One the subject of so many historical debates?

The primary factor in the fall of the Ottoman Empire was nationalism.

The history of the Ottoman Empire’s collapse covers a broad range of factors, including the part nationalism played in the collapse of the empire. In this research, I’ll make the case that nationalism was the factor that contributed most to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Even though the external resistance has a considerable effect on the survival of the empire, it is the internal uprising that weakens the state most. The study recognizes the role played by the failure to expand the territories and the death of the emperor who was termed as the Suleiman the Magnificent. The Suleiman the Magnificent was able to rule the Ottoman Empire and ensure that there were values in place which helped in bringing the people together but this was not the case after his death.

The study also highlights the weakening of the leadership process especially through the erosion of the existing morals by corrupt authorities and how this affected the identity of the empire. I argue that the autocratic leadership that was evident after the death of Suleiman the Magnificent and the discrimination of the minorities groups led to the increase in the rebellious activities. Specifically, I identify the Greek rebellion which I believe motivate others minorities groups to fight for their rights. However, I note that it was the cultural unity, languages and religious background that helped in bringing people together and in the process contributed to the rise of nationalism. The length of the territory that Ottoman Empire occupied meant that it needed a large army in order to eliminate the rebellion and after the weakening of the army during the Vienna war, and the autocratic leadership, the rebellion was inevitable.

I highlight the role that was played by the Russia, Britain, and the France in the promotion of nationalism and in limiting the power that Ottoman Empire had in terms of trading activities. In the study, I argue that it was the nationalism concept that also motivated the rise of Young Turks and also the formation of Balkan League which was focused on gaining the independence of the Ottoman Empire. I highlight that even though the first motivation behind the formation of Young Turks was to overcome the oppressive rule after the suspension of the constitution, it led to the rise of nationalism. However, I also argue that even though nationalism helped in overcoming the oppressive rule and in gaining of the identity, it led to the displacement of communities and the ethnical cleansing. The nationalism was focused mainly on the ethnicity which later contributed to the cases such as the Armenian genocide and the political instability.

Essay

Historical debates in regards to the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the role that Nationalism played before the World War 1

Introduction

The formation of the Ottoman Empire dates back to the 13th century. However, the initial focus was on expanding the territories as well as acquiring the resources that would help in promoting the successful ruling in the region acquired. At the initial stages, the Ottoman Empire lived in peace but after two centuries the conflict between began due to poor leadership, focus on wealth as well as discrimination. This gave rise to the rebellious activities in order to oppose the harsh ruling and further opened the door for the rise of nationalism which caused the segregation of the Ottoman Empire. The activities of the Greeks signified the rise of nationalism and with the support of other countries such as Russia and other European powers, the Ottoman Empire slowly designated. It was the nationalism that gave rise to the Young Turks a group that took over the leadership of Ottoman Empire in order to help in safeguarding the identity of the state. However, one must understand the foundation of the Ottoman Empire as well as the fall of the empire on the eve of the First World War. However, one of the main points of disagreement among the historians that covers the Ottoman Empire is identifying the exact point which signified the fall of Ottoman Empire which had dominated for centuries in the Middle East and across Europe. It is considered as the largest empire that was dominated by Muslim in terms of how the culture and the politics empire was structured. Even though it was dominated by Islam it was, however, a multicultural society but authority emanated from the Islamic authority which made up the largest empire. However, one might not be able to identify the specific event that can be termed as the cause of the failure of the Ottoman Empire especially with the battle of Vienna which some consider it as the one of the major loss of the empire. However, the failure of the empire was the distractions that resulted from engaging in different activities while focusing on extending the regions which suddenly started declining in 1500. However, the Ottoman Empire trading activities helped in shaping the manner in which trading activities were conducted given that even the European traders relied on the products from the Ottoman Empire but later this changed as the increase in the purchase of the consumer products in the empire led to the increase in inflation as well as the increase in corruption. The bureaucratic nature of the Ottoman Empire further facilitated the increase in corruption which further weakened its efficiency since the values that have been established in the past were bridged.

Background

Ottoman Empire is one of the most important historical aspects in the Middle East and played a significant role in shaping the political dimension in the Middle East. The disintegration of the Ottoman Empire holds a significant importance in the Middle East due to the role that the empire had in the region. However, the main significance development that led to the decline of the Ottoman Empire was the failure to acquire new lands and at the same time the death of the revolutionary leader Suleiman the Magnificent. The success of the Ottoman Empire was due to its ability to acquire more lands and in the process ensure that it consolidate large resources which helped in shaping its activities. However, this may not be the case as one of the major reason for the decline was the oppression of the minorities which in turn caused major revolts in 1600-1800. Since the Ottoman Empire dominated the Middle East and the Greek was of a major importance to the Ottoman Empire its rebellion weakened the Ottoman Empire. While some may consider this as the leading cause of the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, this is not the case as this part covers the impact of the nationalism as the main contributor to the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Being a multicultural state, it was important to have a sultan in place that would help in uniting the people and at the same time ensure that people rights were well respected but this was not the case from mid-1500 to 1800. The cases of discrimination and the increase in corruption further triggered the increase in rebellions activities which further motivated revolts across the empire. Since the army was further weakened in the battle of Vienna the soldiers could not completely ensure that revolt was controlled. Furthermore, what made the situation worse was that people were the group in terms of rebellion or language which brought them together and in the process gave them the motivation that they needed to fight against the oppression from the Turkish. With its kingdom spreading across North Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, it was important to have stable authorities in place to help in managing the multicultural society. However, the further weakening of the Ottoman Empire resulted from the activities that were witnessed during the French revolution.

The rise of nationalism

The unification of the Balkan and the subsequent Balkan wars triggered the complete disintegration of the empire since it contributed to the loss of territories in Europe. The significance of the territories in Europe and the Middle East helped in providing the trade as well as the trade routes which played a key role in strengthening the region. However, this was only possible due to the rise of nationalism and the need to preserve their individual identity especially in the manner in which various issues were managed at the time. The empire failed to recognize in time the need to unite the public but instead focused on expanding the kingdoms in search of wealth. The Serbians during this period came together and formed a rebellious group against the oppressing authorities. However, with the support of the Russia, Great Britain, Germany, and France were seeking to help the nationalized groups such as Bulgaria were subsequently liberated. However, the formation of Bulgaria was a Christian based nationalization and as result, the large number of Muslims were displaced.

Every religion and the people speaking different languages were more focused on making sure that they retained their identity as a result contributed to the need for the national identity. The loss of the territories weakened the empire which was further caused by the nationalization of the Balkans.

The seeking for nationalism as well as individual identifies helped in triggering the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. Since the Ottoman Empire was the multicultural empire, this contributed to its disintegration due to the inability of the empire to eliminate the discrimination of the minorities. The dominance of Muslim brought the other minorities groups together based on the languages as well as the religious groups. This played a key role in triggering the nationalization based on the languages and the religious identity in order to help in eliminating the discrimination which largely affected the manner in which various activities were executed at the time. The conflicts between the Muslims and the Orthodox during this period also showed the significant development in terms of promoting ethnic revolt. The oppression of the revolts by the Ottoman Empire soldiers caused massive loss of lives, especially during the Bosnian revolt.

Greek Rebellion

The Bulgarians, Serbia, and the Greek nationalism were the major highlights of the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. Even though the nationalism was mainly based on the religion and languages, there was case of the infighting between different Christian groups in order to gain some of the territories under the Ottoman Empire. The rise of the Young Turks movement was initially formed in order to help in safeguarding the Ottoman Empire but this was difficult as the nationalism was on the rise and other groups used this as a platform to further push their nationalist agenda.

The Greek nationalism has one of the major impacts on the rise of the nationalism among different groups in the Ottoman Empire. This also motivates the Young Turks movement in order to try and ensure that their identity was well protected and this helped in laying the background of the Turkey as a country. While Bulgaria nationalists were supported by Russia it was able to gain its independence which further reduced the territories. The formation of the Balkans league by the Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, and Montenegro which signified the impact of the spread of the nationalism and this led to the further demise of the Ottoman army. However, this led to the increase of the infighting between those involved especially due to the language differences as well as the religious differences.

The autocracy and the suspension of the constitution in late 1800 further contributed the rise of nationalism. This was however during a period where the Ottoman Empire recorded high debts from the European countries and needed to come up with a way of to pay them and in the process led to the loss of territories. However, the trading activities that further motivated the European imperialism and this led to the encroachment of the territories belonging to the Ottoman Empire including Egypt and Algeria. At the same time, the focus on the production process as well as failure to embrace the innovation and modern technology largely contributed to reducing the effectiveness of the empire.

The rise of Young Turks Nationalism

The rise of the Young Turks was also supported by the need for nationalism as this was also done in order to protect their interests. By taking the command of the Ottoman Empire, the young Turks were motivated to ensure that their territories were well protected and at the same time, their interests were also safeguarded. This led to the establishment of the exclusive Muslim empire which would be ruled as per the Islam. It is through this that led to the establishment of Turkey and in the process ensure that it retains its identity but it was the autocratic leadership that further motivated other states within the Middle East to part ways with the Ottoman empire.

When the Sultan Abdul-Hamid II suspended the Ottoman constitution in 1878 the internal uprising from the Young Turks began in order to eliminate the absolute rule that was promoted by the leader. Even though the actions of the Young Turks led to nationalism, it was motivated by the need to ensure that the Ottoman territories were protected and at the same time ensure that the power of the Ottoman Empire drastically improved. It was the rise and the activities of the countries such as the Great Britain and France that reduced the power of the Ottoman Empire. The actions of the Young Turks was supported by the large part of pupation which was mainly the nationalist and this was the same concept that was adopted by the Balkans league in trying to identify the weaknesses of the empire.

The rise of the nationalism during the Ottoman Empire gave rise to the increase in ethnical cleansing and the emergence of the refugees as a result of the displacement. Initially, the nationalists were focused on the fight for independence and against the autocratic rule but this did not prevent them from identifying the differences in terms of culture specifically the language and the languages. This led to the separation of people based on the ethnicity. As a result, it was the Young Turks that further paved a way for the ethnic cleansing within the Ottoman Empire and its activities led to the instabilities in the territories which cover the large part of the Middle East today.

Conclusion

The nationalism caused the decline of the Ottoman Empire. Even though it played a key role in marking the decline of the oppressive Ottoman Empire, it gave rise to the ethnic cleansing and the separation of people based on the cultural differences since it gave rise to the increase in the conflicts between people from different religious backgrounds. Therefore, the failure to reconcile people from, different cultural backgrounds during the Ottoman Empire was the failure of the leadership which gave rise to the rebellious activities. The Greek rebellion marked the start of the rise of nationalism, however, this was mainly motivated by the unification of the Christians who were willing to fight for their independence. However, the leadership diverted from the main objectivities of unifying the territories within the Ottoman Empire to the focus on enriching themselves and at the same time expansion of territories even with the weakened army. Failure to incorporate people from different cultural backgrounds to help in the leadership process and this was one of the major weaknesses of the various emperors. The discrimination and the separation of people based on their ethnicity gave them the platform that would later help them in forming a united from in the fight against the Ottoman Empire. However, issues such as ethnical cleansing contributed to the issues such as the Armenian genocide as the Young Turks were more focused on making sure that their territories were protected and that they were able to maintain their identity. Even though the nationalism contributed to the independence of various countries it also had a major contribution to the increase in conflicts as people were more focused on protecting their territories and as result, millions of people were displaced.

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