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How Successful Was The Ottoman Empire

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The Ottoman Empire was undoubtedly impressive. They gained control of southeastern Europe, Western Asia, North Africa, and the horn of Africa. More impressive than just gaining control of these territories was their ability to maintain control of them. While there are many contributing factors to their ability to maintain control over these areas for 6 centuries, the most influential was their unifying religion (Islam), their tolerance of other religions and practices, and their system of transferring power. The main reason why the Ottoman Empire maintained power for so long was that they had Islam as a unifying religion. The warriors for the Empire where boys taken from Christian families who were converted to Islam at a young age and then trained and educated, all with Islamic ideals. These boys in their own class called devshirme. They learned to speak the language and read the Quran. While this practice was harsh, these boys could rise through the ranks to eventually become powerful men in the Ottoman regime. This practice made soldiers absolutely loyal to the Sultan ensuring a powerful military. A powerful military made up of like minded individuals is …show more content…

It was not the kind of tolerance we usually use today, it was more like a rational tolerance. Instead of trying to make everyone under the Ottoman control convert they just taxed the groups who did not practice Islam. In addition, they taxed these people less than what they had previously been required to pay in the past. So, when some places where invaded the Ottomans did not face much resistance. Their multicultural society also allowed them availability to other cultures strategies. They were very rational and often adopted the best ideas from other cultures. So by being rational and not close minded to the ideas of other cultures, they gave themselves more

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