Shaheen at ‘Aqoul asks an interesting question. The entire discussion in the comments is also worth a read.
Why didn’t the Ottomans conquer America?
April 13th, 2007 | Austrolabe | Linkdump
April 13th, 2007 | Austrolabe | Linkdump
Shaheen at ‘Aqoul asks an interesting question. The entire discussion in the comments is also worth a read.
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6 comments ↓
Seems to me that it did not make sense to the Ottomans to go off and expand across the Atlantic (and resulting in a fragmented Empire) when they had yet to conquer Europe -which was bordering the empire and therefore the priority for them.
In other words - for them at that time - it would have made no more sense going to the Americas than going to Japan. Had they completed the conquest of Europe, they almost certainly would have gone to the Americas and Allah knows best.
Secondly, the Spaniards, English, Dutch and French all had something the Ottomans did not: homogeny. They had to keep all the groups together and ran parts of the empire via vassels with different languages
I think the question “Why didn’t the Muslims conquer Australia” is more interesting - after all Muslim Indonesia is right next door…
Tariq, what type of homogeny are you suggesting the Europeans had that the Ottomans did not? It would seem at first glance to the be the other way around.
George, that is a good question. But was there anything of (known) value in Australia to warrant exploration much less conquest? Could it be said that British investment in the Island as a prison colony was what brought interest in it afterwards?
Tariq, what type of homogeny are you suggesting the Europeans had that the Ottomans did not? It would seem at first glance to the be the other way around.
I don’t mean as a continent, but as individual countries. England (I’m speaking of the homeland) for example spoke the same language and had a common culture whereas the Ottomon domain covered several languages and cultures that were loosely affiliated under the Sultan. Their only tie was paying taxes to the Sultan
I remember reading about an interesting pact between the Ottoman Empire and the United States, dated late 18th century. It was during George Washington’s presidency, when USA had had recently formed a fledgling new naval fleet and started sailing across the Atlantic, approaching the coast of Algiers. They were intercepted by the Ottoman navy, and some kind of a clash did take place. Following years, 11 US warships were seized by the Ottomans and US eventually agreed to sign a pact with the Ottoman empire, conceding to pay them over 600,000 gold pieces and agreeing to an annual payment of 12000 gold pieces (jizya), on the condition that the Ottomans would cease intercepting US ships.
The pact was signed by George Washington and some low ranked commanding officer in Algeria on behalf of the Ottoman Empire. It is still in existence in some museum i believe and ostensibly the only concession US has ever granted to any other country in the world.
One of the traps of history is to look at the present day realities and drag them back in time. Because the Americas loom so large in the present day we assume that they had the same value back in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Ottomans did not expand to the Americas because they saw no value there. What did the Americas offer? Gold? The Sultans were swimming in gold and jewels. Fur? Again the Northern Slavs provided more than enough fur. Land? The Ottomans had plenty of that too, they owned the Balkans and all of Northern Africa.
Remember the Americas were “found” because the Europeans were looking for new routs to Asia. The Spanish and the Portugese stumbled upon “virgin” lands trying to find the spice islands. Now the Spanish got lucky as they were able to steal Aztec Gold and Inca Silver. But most of that boon was squandered in the Wars of Religion. While Gold and Silver get top billing it was much more prosaic goods that had the bigger impact in the long run. Maize and Potatoes turned out to be much more important than all the treasures of the Mesoamericans.
The Columbian exchange changed the axis of the European world. Since Roman times Europe was centered on the ocean in the “middle” of the land, the Mediterranean. The Empire of Osman was a classical Mediterranean power. Goods flowed from the Silk Road and from India though the Middle ocean which the Empire owned. The colonial powers were Atlantic powers with deep draft Navies. They developed those Navies out of necessity to get around the Ottomans. The Portugese circumnavigated Africa to bypass the “infidels.” The Sultan had no need to bypass his Infidels as his plan was to go right through them via Vienna.
In the early 16th century the Ottomans were the great power of the age, only Spain came close. From Suleiman majestic perch the bickering divided Europeans were not much of a threat. They were busy tearing into each other over Religious obscurantism. Some nut in Germany was causing the Christians to go absolutely insane or at least crazier than normal. Why should Suleiman worry about some far-flung outpost of the mad Europeans?
Again look at the history, as late as the late 17th century the British put such a low value on their North American possessions that they let a small Guerrilla rebellion detach a significant portions of those possessions in to a new nation. This after they had just fought the French to wrest North America (and other areas) from the France. So much for the value of the Americas. The Ottomans did not go west because their focus was East and South, their focus was a Mediterranean one not an Atlantic focus. To have an Atlantic focus, they would have to have pulled up stakes and centered the empire in Morocco not in Anatolia. Only in Morocco would they have unfettered access to the Atlantic. Why bother, why leave the comforts of Istanbul for the wilds of the North African coast? Why pick up stakes again? Why leave their heartlands of Anatolia to evil Shia Iranians?
By the time the value of the Americas became clear the Empire of Osman was in terminal decline, corrupt conservative leaders were more concerned with maintaining their power than the good of the Empire. Sultans and Viziers were killed when they tried to reform the rotting structures of Ottoman rule. By the time the USA finally arrived on the world stage as a true “Great Power” ,1898 , the Ottomans had been the “sick man of Europe” for several generations.
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