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Ottoman Empire Dbq

Decent Essays

century in which Europeans embarked on extensive overseas expeditions. European nations, such as Portugal, Spain, England, and the Netherlands, participated heavily in global trade and set up many trade colonies and routes. Many people will say that the European’s only reason for exploration was to spread Christianity, obtain gold, and gain glory through their conquests and acquisition of lands. Some people might also say that the Ottomans heavily influenced the Europeans to participate in this period of exploration. Although the goals of “God, gold, and glory” are often associated with the Age of Exploration, the Ottoman Empire had a greater influence on the desire of European states to establish overseas empires and employ mercantilist economy …show more content…

In 1453, Ottoman forces conquered Constantinople from the Byzantine Empire and renamed it as Istanbul. Shortly after gaining control of Istanbul, the Ottomans imposed strict trade policies with foreign nations. The Ottoman Empire essentially took control of all trade routes leading to Asia from Europe, including the Silk Road, and cut the Europeans off from accessing these trade routes. The Europeans no longer were able to use any direct trade routes to Asian markets. Essentially, the flow of Asian luxury goods into Europe was halted as a result of the policies established by the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans, however, did allow the Europeans to obtain the highly sought after Asian luxury goods. They did so by forcing European merchants to pay unreasonably high prices and expensive taxes for the Asian goods. The Ottoman Empire acted as the middleman for trade products entering Europe. The Asian goods would have to first travel through the Indian Ocean Basin trade routes, then to the Indians, then to the Arabs, and finally, to the Ottomans before they could arrive in Europe. European nations, such as Portugal, did not want to pay these exorbitantly high prices and decided to cut out the middleman, the Ottomans. They sent out navigators such as Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus, and Bartolomeu Dias to look for direct trade routes to …show more content…

The Europeans were greatly intimidated by the Ottoman's increasingly strong and powerful army. As a result, they wanted to cut off trade with the Ottomans in order to prevent them from becoming too wealthy and powerful. Many of the European nations feared that the Ottomans would be powerful enough to conquer more European nations, similar to how they brought down the Byzantine Empire by conquering Constantinople. The Europeans’ fears came from seeing the ease at which the Ottoman Empire was able to achieve military victories. They believed that the Ottoman armies would cause the political and social infrastructure of Europe to crumble along with Christendom. The Europeans’ concerns about the Ottoman’s armies can be seen in the document, “The Turkish Letters of Ogier Ghislain de Busbeq.” Ogier Ghislain de Busbeq traveled to Istanbul in 1555 as a diplomat of Hungary and Bohemia. In the document, he comments on the state, society, customs, and military forces of the Ottoman Empire. He writes, “I tremble when I think of what the future must bring when I compare the Turkish system with our own. On their side are the resources of a mighty empire, strength unimpaired, experience and practice in fighting, a veterinary soldiery, habituation to victory, endurance of toil, unity, order, discipline, frugality, and watchfulness.” The Ottoman Empire, undoubtedly, made many nations fear

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