1. The Ottomans, “The Sick Man of Europe” and a bit about Egypt

3. I. Ottoman Empire A. What was happening in the Ottoman Empire?
1. Succession of weak rulers
2. Corruption
3. Artisan workers in towns – negatively impacted
by competition from imported goods from
Europe – This led to urban riots.
4. Merchants grew more dependent on doing
business with European counterparts – this led
to economic dependence of Ottoman Empire
on European political rivals

4. 5. Ottomans pushed out of areas like Eastern
Europe
6. Russia becomes a major threat to the
Ottomans (led to Crimean War)
7. Empire was crumbling
a. Greeks gain independence in 1830
b. by 1867 Serbia independent
c. by 1870s Ottomans had been driven out
from Balkans
8. Europeans helped keep Ottomans in power –
because they didn’t want each other to get
Ottoman possessions

5. B. So the Ottomans make some reforms
1. Sultan Selim III (r )
a. Wanted bold reforms
b. Improved administration
c. Built new army & navy
d. These reforms made people angry:
1. people in the bureaucracy
2. the Janissary corps who
dominated the Ottoman military
** His reforms cost him his throne – toppled by a Janissary revolt **

6. Selem III

7. 2. Mahmud II (r )
a. Built a small professional army with help of
European advisors in secret
b he tricked and killed the Janissaries and
slaughtered their families and religious allies
c. Implemented reforms based on Western
precedents
1. Diplomatic corps & exchanged ambassadors
with European powers
2. Westernization of army expanded – with
western military advisors

8. Mahmud II

9. 3. Abdülmecid I ( )
a. Son of Mahmud II
b. Tanzimat reforms (between )
1. University education was reorganized along western lines
2. Training in European sciences and mathematics was
introduced
3. State run postal and telegraph systems were established in
1830s
4. Railways built in 1860s
5. Newspapers established
6. Legal reforms
c. Some groups were hurt or gained little from Tanzimat reforms:
1. Artisans weakened by treaty with British that removed
barriers to foreign trade
2. Women gained little

10. Abdülmecid I

11. 4. 1876 constitution based on European
prototypes (Sultans still rule too)
*. Once westernized, some groups
saw sultanate as barrier to more
radical reform

12. 5. Sultan Abdul Hamid (r. 1878-1908)
a. Returned to absolutism
b. Nullified the constitution
c. Restricted civil liberties esp. freedom of
press
d. Killed/imprisoned dissidents or suspected
dissidents
e. Still pushed for western reforms
*. Especially military – German advisors
f. Railroads linked Berlin to Baghdad
g. Telegraph lines built
h. Western education

13. 6. Ottoman Society for Union and Progress
a. Turkish intellectuals
b. Young Turks
c. Want to restore the Constitution of 1876
d. Sympathy within military helped and
e. Bloodless coup in 1908 – overthrew Abdul
Hamid
f. Fought among themselves
g. Wanted to keep Ottoman Empire intact (many
people, like the Arabs wanted Ottoman rule to end)
h. Continued to lose territory
i. WWI begins….

14. II. A bit about Egypt (recap and some new stuff)
A. It’s July 1798 and
1. Mamluk (slave) regime rules
Egypt as vassal of Ottoman sultans
2. Napoleon arrives
3. Defeats Mamluks in the Battle of the
Pyramids
a. French occupy Egypt
b. Mamluks are deeply shocked

16. B. In August 1798
1. British sink most of French fleet
in the Battle of Aboukir
2. French supply line cut – Napoleon
abandons army and creeps back to
Paris (and…well…you know that story)
3. French withdraw

18. C. In 1801 Muhammad Ali (young officer of
Albanian origin) becomes ruler
1. Modernizes the military
2. Hires French military advisors
3. Builds fleet
4. Invades Syria
5. Encourages peasants to grow cash-
crops and material in demand in Europe
6. Tries to industrialize
7. He died in 1848

19. Not this one…
…this one.

20. D. His successors content to rule only
Egypt and Sudanic areas
1. Rulers were called “khedives” from
2. Not strong
3. Made Egypt dependent on cotton –
single crop
4. Wasted money
5. Debt and strategic importance of Suez
canal led to British control (and you
know that story as well!)