Ottoman-Turks
What were the reasons for the military successes of the Ottoman-Turks in creating a third (but non-Arab) Islamic empire re-uniting the Greater Middle East/Gulf Region?
Ottoman-Turks were powerful in military aspect and used plunder from new conquests to survive. Thus, Ottoman state is considered to be a military stature (Pitman III, 1987). Since Ottoman-Turks invaded in vast territories and gained control over numerous authentic peoples, there was an abundance of cultures and religions on the territory of Ottoman state, and every minority was subject to different attitude from native Ottoman-Turks.
Originally, Ottoman-Turks were Muslims, but with expansion of the territory due to invasion, the number of Christians in the Ottoman state grew significantly. Therefore, in addition to the prevailing religion in the lands, Islam, Christianity also became a wide-spread religion (Antonius). The new Christian movement was led by Christian intellectuals, patronized by the Syrian Scientific Society, which was grounded in 1857 (Antonius). Though the Syrian Society existed only until the civil conflict of 1860, it has a substantial influence on Ottoman state (Tibawi). The most probable reason for the mighty power of Christianism on the territory where Islam stood as the major religion, is that the Christian leaders made “the first outward manifestation of a collective national consciousness” and “the cradle of a new political movement.”(Antonius, pp. 47-54) Thus, the Cristian movement was successful with the Arabs, because it exalted the Arab race and language instead of trying to impose their own culture.
What type of relations did the Turks have towards their non-Turkish subject populations and minorities (Arabs, Balkan and Middle-Eastern Christians, Armenian Christians, Jews, Kurds, and Persians)?
Though Ottoman Empire was one of the most influential countries in the world, a multinational and multicultural state, the provinces and the vassal states were not given the full autonomy and were considered as minor to the great Ottoman-Turks. The minorities were given an official right of autonomy, which was proved by the Unionist organization, which comprised Arabs, Kurds, Albanians, Russian Turks, and members of other ethnic groups (Tunaya).
Balkan Peninsula was one of the major provinces of Ottoman state. The largest share of its population were Christians. Ottoman-Turks imposed a series of strict regulations on the peninsula. In particular they introduced Peninsula the centralizing measures of the Tanzimat in the sphere of taxation, which “contributed to social unrest and nationalist movements” ( 4). The Tanzimat regulations in the Asian provinces, like the Balkans, were performed by the local notables. Though the state rules were strict, local notables created the ways to promote their interests in the newly founded provincial councils (Ibid). Thus, even though the administrative system was centralized, local power continued to be predominant within this system, providing for the appointment of provincial governors who had limited powers (Ma’oz, 1968).
Other provinces, such as Arabs, Armenian Christians, Jews, Kurds, and Persians were not so populated and therefore had a less significant meaning for the Turks. However, in the …
