Book Review: The Decline and Fall of the Ottoman Empire

Alan Palmer’s book was a natural first choice for me in my quest to gain greater knowledge of and understanding about the Ottoman Empire—driven by my general interest in history and specific wargaming interests in the Great Turkish War/Great Northern War, the French Revolutionary/Napoleonic Wars (especially) and also the First World War. I read Alan Palmer’s book “Napoleon in Russia” in my youth and it remains, to my mind, a fine account of that momentous campaign. I thus consider him to be an excellent writer of history and a ‘trusted source’. His book about the final days of the Ottoman Empire, all 87 294-odd of them, did not disappoint.

Palmer begins the book with a prologue, which opens with the capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453. In this section he briefly describes the origins and formation of the Ottoman Empire, the system of government and administration and character of some of the sultans from the period around the apogee of the empire. The book proper begins with the second Siege of Vienna (July–September 1683) and the momentous Battle of Kahlenburg, which Palmer uses as his beginning of the decline of the Ottoman Empire. He describes the campaign and siege in some detail, with regards the main protagonists, the key battles and events, but, unfortunately, there is little specific information regarding the military aspects or forces involved.

The Battle of Kahlenburg and relief of Vienna was not decisive. That war, which has become known as the War of the Holy League or Great Turkish War, lasted for another 16 years with numerous battles and skirmishes, including several Ottoman victories, until its conclusion with the Treaty of Karlowitz on 26th January 1699. Following this, “the decline of the Ottoman Empire was neither rapid nor continuous. … against all expectancy, the Ottoman Empire outlived imperial Spain, republican Genoa and republican Venice, the elective monarchy of Poland, British colonial America, the vestigial Holy Roman Empire, Bourbon and Napoleonic France, and the temporal power of the Papacy; it even survived by a few years the Hapsburg and Romanov empires, so long its apparent residuary legatees, and the Hohenzollern empire which had aspired to overtake France as its chief creditor” (p. 32). His description and discussion of this long, slow decline—that was far from linear—fills the remaining 237 pages of the book.

The bulk of the book covers the period from 1700 to 1922, focussing on events, actions and personalities, both Ottoman and foreign, during the reign of a sultan (or sultans in the case of those with a brief tenure). The topic of each of these 14 chapters, in briefest summary, are the tulip era of Ahmed III; early attempts at ‘westernisation’ under Abdulhamid I; the mix of reform and conservatism, enlightenment and despotism of Mahmud II (with an additional chapter explaining the governance and role Egypt); the early losses during Abdulmecid’s reign leading Czar Nicholas to label the empire the ‘sick man’; the empire  ‘fighting back’, exemplified by Abdulmecid’s moves to create a Parisian-style capital and construction of the Dolmabahçe Palace; the ascent of Abdulmecid’s son Abdulhamid II (“Abdul the damned”), whose long reign in which he sought to rule absolutely covers four chapters; the rise of the Young Turks and coup of 1908, leading to Abdulhamid II’s acceptance of constitutional monarchy, then forced exile; the increasing German influence and eventual alliance with Germany in 1914 (which Palmer demonstrates was not as clear-cut nor certain at the beginning of the First World War as it can appear in retrospect); finally the immediate post-war period, partition plans of the Entente powers, rise of Mustapha Kemal Pasha establishment of the capital at Ankara and declaration of the Turkish state.

Black and white plates of photos and images feature some of the sultans, locations and buildings featured in the text.

These chapters are complemented by a list of grand viziers since the Ottoman capture of Constantinople, a list of alternative names for places described in the text, a detailed glossary, notes from the chapters and selected bibliography.

The book is an excellent entrée into the latter half of this fascinating empire with its origins amongst the steppe peoples of central Asia and links to the Mongol and Byzantine (Roman) empires. I was interested to note key, perhaps stereotypical, aspects of these two former world powers that seem to have been at the core of the Ottoman Empire. These included the palace intrigues, the power of the army particularly the imperial bodyguard (Janissaries), the integration and acceptance of different peoples and religions (provided that they remained compliant) and ruthlessness towards them (and others) if they did not or it was politically expedient to do so. However, unlike either the Roman or Mongol empire the Ottoman Empire was resistant to change and not a great adopter of technology or traditions of conquered peoples.

Palmer describes attempts by several sultans to ‘modernise’ or ‘westernise’ the Empire, only to fail due to the reactions of vested interests and inherent conservatism. A measure of success came with Mahmud II in 1839 who was wily and astute enough to stack key offices with officials of a like-mind prior to acting (an approach that is in use, or at least attempted, by leaders today). Palmer concludes that a driver in going to war in 1854 was the need by Mahmud II’s successor, Abdulmecid to wage “a victorious military campaign (that) would finally silence the critics of westernization” (p. 122).

There are numerous interesting ‘asides’ throughout the text. I learned of the 1873 stock market crash, which began in Vienna and created what was referred to as the Great Depression up until the 1930s. Mother Theresa’s origins, the daughter of an Albanian and a Serb born in Macedonia, hence “…an Ottoman subject by birth…” (p. 198). How, during negotiation of the peace treaty of San Stefano in March 1878, which ended the Russian-Turkish war of 1877, Otto von Bismarck had commented that he did not wish to see the whole continent plunged into war because of friction between Vienna and St Petersburg (p. 155)—prescient indeed.

It was interesting to me too how early in time tensions developed between the British and Russian empires as they jostled for position and influence in ‘the east’ (which I related back to my recent reading of “Setting the East Ablaze” by Peter Hopkirk). The agreements of these two powers helped to create the partition of Cyprus, which exists today. Of course, the partition of the middle east between the victors following World War I is another foreign intervention that has had long-lasting impacts.

So, why did the Ottoman Empire fall?

Naturally there is not a simple answer to this and I do not wish to give away Alan Palmer’s discussion throughout the book and particularly in his concluding chapter. Suffice to say that he points to the position of the empire, the effects of being at the intersection of geography, ethnicity and religions and attempts to balance these forces, as major factors in its demise.

The Ottoman Empire lasted for six centuries, in round figures. Palmer’s narrative presents a marvellous juxtaposition of the ‘final’ 239 years of its existence. Conservatism mixed with a certain dynamism, inclusion mixed with subjugation and attempting to deal with the ‘great powers’ for its own perceived benefit while each of them was working squarely on their own interests and against their rival(s). This large and diverse empire, militaristic at heart, situated at the crossroads of continents and cultures was at the heart of most European intrigues and conflicts of the 17th to 20th centuries.

Reference

Palmer, A (1992) The Decline and Fall of the Ottoman Empire. John Murray, London. 306 pp.