oshron

hey, ive been wondering, i know that the ottoman empire was in decline by the time WW1 rolled around and it dissolved entirely soon after teh war ended. im not entirely sure if this is because it was one of the central powers or not.

anyway, if the central powers had won WW1, do you think the ottoman empire would have been revitalized? im not asking for speculations about any of the other central powers of teh allies, JUST the ottomans

Jumbo Patties

no, the seeds of their demise had been planted long before then. world war 1 just sped up the process.

Cicero

The Empire was certainly ailing in the 19th century after a century or more of decline, but in the first decade of the 20th century they were in a rejuvenation period of sorts with deposition of the Sultans and replacement by a group of more progressive "Young Turks.". I think that if they had been on the winning side, further progress might have been possible.

Jumbo Patties

it may have been possible for them to still be around today, but not nearly as powerful and large as they once were.

Zeno

I don't think the Ottoman Empire could have survived. Nationalism in the Balkans, Arabian nationalism, and Turkish nationalism were to strong forces and the Sultan's regime was to weak to hold it all together.

The whole era of WWI, during, before and after is one of nationalism and democratization. Not a good time for an oldschool empire. The Ottoman regime was kept alive by the western powers. Without their support it was a lost case.
The dissolution of the Ottoman empire makes me think of that of the USSR. (rampant nationalism and a bad economy) Even without WWI i think it would have gone that way.

NewModelSoldier

The Great War just finished the process much quicker.

WWI should be renamed the Empireslayer, killing the German, Russian, Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian and hampering the British empire.

Cicero

Interesting, the OP posited that the Central Powers won the War, this brings up a much larger issue... would Nationalism have caused fragmentation of the great empires of Germany, Austria Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire (TOE) had they won the Great War? In giving my answer that a revitalized TOE might survive, I assumed that Nationalism of subject peoples wouldn't be a factor necessarily. I think the Versailles Peace CVonference, with the 14 points of Wilson had a lot to do with the way things turned out. Opinions?

corrocamino

The "sick man of Europe" had been gravely ill for a long time.

Azita

So what do you conclude as to the importance, of the Ottoman Empire In History?
On Balance was it a "good" thing or not.

The Empire was bigger than and more influential than perhaps we in the 21st Century give credit.
The Empire even extended to Britain!

Azita

Volkov

Explain your reasoning behind the last statement. In my opinion it was Russia who dealt the Ottoman empire the most damage in the whole of europe. The Ottomans fought many costly wars with Russia and decisively lost all but two. Ultimately though, she was doomed in large part due to the fact that she tried to compete with virtually every other power of note and some not worthy of not at once which was not helped by her growing corruption and unwillingness to reform. This fate happens to virtually everyone who tries to make a hegemony in europe, France, Germany, Russia, Rome, Spain, the list goes on.

The thing is, even if the ottomans were on the winner's table, it would only postpone the inevitable.