Edward Trimnell's Online Guide to the Middle East
What was the Ottoman Empire?
The Ottoman Empire was history’s last---and most formidable---Islamic Empire. The roots of the Ottoman Empire date back to the late 1200s. The Ottoman Empire peaked in the mid-1500s. It subsequently entered a long period of decline, and was finally dismantled after World War I. The modern state of Turkey is all that is left of this once mighty empire.
After years of warfare, the Ottoman Empire destroyed the Greek-speaking, Christian Byzantine Empire in 1453. Among many other changes, this event turned the Byzantine city of Constantinople into the Muslim city of Istanbul---today the capital of Turkey.
The Ottomans also ruled Greece, Serbia, parts of Russia, and other areas in the Balkans.
The ultimate goal of the Ottoman Empire was the establishment of an Islamic Empire in Western Europe. Ottoman armies threatened the Austrian city of Vienna on several occasions. Vienna was saved by multinational European armies, and the Ottomans were turned back. If the Ottomans had successfully conquered Vienna, much of Western Europe might be Muslim today.
The Ottomans imposed a “slave tax” on their Christian subjects in the Balkans. Every year, Ottoman officials took several thousand male Christian children from their parents. The boys were raised as Muslims, and trained to be soldiers and administrators for the Ottoman Empire.