The collapse of the Ottoman Empire: inevitable - Research Paper Example

There were a number of reasons which were not local in origin, yet they played vital roles in the decline. Also important was the interest of foreign forces in the Ottoman lands. Under these conditions, the variations in the international political scenario also greatly affected the survival of the Empire. Compounded by the local and international influences, the state had continued to witness conditions of destruction and misery for nearly three centuries before it finally fell to destruction in the twentieth century.

Discussion According to the principles of psychology, it is human nature that solutions to problems are only sought after the problems have been identified. In the case of the falling Ottoman Empire, the very notion of the identification of problem was missing. This fact appears to be taking shape as early as in 1699, when the Hungarian land was lost and a very humiliating treaty was signed between the Ottomans and the Christians.1 Although the loss of land, the defeat and the resulting treaty was evidence clear enough to understand the direction in which the state moved, any attempt to take corrective measures was not made.

Keeping in view the vastness of the Ottoman Empire, one can say that for the Ottoman rulers, this was but a negligible loss that they were able to overcome with the passage of time. The subsequent history, however, reveals that the opposite was true. So, it can be said with certainty that the rulers of the Ottoman Empire failed to recognize the problem and for this reason failed to take any corrective measures to stop the progression of failure. Also evident from the history is the fact that while Europe was developing in terms of technology and economy; the Ottomans were lacking any progress in these areas.

The unstable political conditions, repeated wars, multiple mutinies by various elements in the society, religious issues and various other problems were so prominent that focus on educational development was close to negligible.2 The result was that the ruling class of the Empire was greatly impressed by the modern developments in Europe. With this predetermined condition in mind, the Ottoman rulers started accepting the military and economical superiority of Europe. As a consequence, various knowledgeable personalities were invited from Europe to the Ottoman land for the sake of educating the local elite class.

This marks the point where western influence starts to enter the Ottoman Empire. This issue is complicated by the fact that the local elite of the Ottoman Empire was not willing to accept the notion of westernization in its entirety; they intended to benefit from the military and economical developments of Europe but at the same time resisted the intermingling of the western culture with the local one. The resistance was occasionally of a soft nature; most often it resulted in revolts which added to the complexity of the issue.

By the mid-eighteenth century, the tendency of foreign powers to occupy Ottoman lands had gathered considerable pace. Within the next few years, the influence of Russia was clearly evident. The land of Crimea, which was famous for providing soldiers of extreme dedication, was detached by the Russians from the Empire. Subsequently, the Russians were