Stories new topics each week on instagram. It was a huge empire dominated by a turkish dentist that had its origins in asia minor they also means would defend is of islam in four hundred fifty three they subjugated the byzantine empire whose capital constantinople became istanbul. During their heyday in the seventeenth century they even laid siege to vienna the Ottoman Empire stretched across three continents from the black sea to the red sea they ruled a considerable mix of peoples and faiths but then came the century in which the Ottoman Empire disintegrated its. Maps can still be felt in the balkans and the middle east today its wreckage is still a major concern of modern wont politics. Sorry a vote the capital of Bosnia Herzegovina the monuments to the tragic yugoslav was the last conflicts of the Twentieth Century in the heart of europe. For more than three years sorry ever was besieged by serb nationalists who were bent on destroying the exemplary coexistence of orthodox catholic and muslim bosnians. Bosnian civilians were the first victims of this ethnic cleansing. They too were slavs bant descendants of people who converted to islam when the ottomans conquered the balkans in the fourteenth century. With the wars in yugoslavia in the one nine hundred ninety s. Had reawakened a lot of cliches so there was the idea that somehow for some bizarre reason in this part of europe maybe it was the ottomans who new. People had always hated each other and thats why things had blown up in one thousand nine hundred one and one thousand nine hundred two and if you knew about the history of southeastern europe you would know this was wrong there was no great history of ethnic tension even though there was a history of massively complicated ethnic and confessional coexistence so the task of the historians in the one nine hundred ninety s. Was to combat the stereotype and in combating the stereotype. It was easy to create another stereotype which is the Ottoman Empire had been this wonderfully Peaceful Place in where jews and christians and muslims had sort of loved one another. In the light of the violence and chaos that followed the Ottoman Empire felt like a golden age but in reality it was marked by great social inequality. Muslims were subordinate to muslims they had to pay a special tax werent allowed to carry arms and werent allowed to engage in missionary work. Orthodox christians armenian catholics and jews were members of minutes a word with arabic roots meaning religious Community Every millet had its own clergy responsible not only for religious but also for secular matters thanks to these millets Christians Jews and muslims were able to live side by side without mixing throughout the empire from the balkans to anatolia from the lebanese mountains to the holy land it was an imperfect system but it had its advantages it gave the empire stability for more than four centuries. This order was accepted as long as the identity of the subjugated peoples was based exclusively on their religion. The minute you start getting a political world this system is going to break down and that is what happens in the Nineteenth Century and that is the great conundrum for the empire how to adapt this system of government that sort of functioned in a prepolitical world for political world. This new political world was based on the ideals of the french revolution on the peoples new desire for freedom and independence it shook the foundations of the empire. The greeks were the first to rebel against the ottoman shackles unrest began in eighteen twenty one and it soon resulted in a war of independence. Back in upon a man as greek sense of identity existed before the start of the Nineteenth Century it was based on the legacy of ancient greece and on the Greek Orthodox religion in particular getting hysterical. After the uprising in greece the Orthodox Christians in the empire saw themselves as one people with a common language and history as a greek nation that wanted an independent state. It was an example for the other minorities in the Ottoman Empire and one that had huge explosive power. The empires enemies were aware of this. Under the pretext of wanting to protect christians who were being oppressed in this muslim empire france Great Britain and russia supported the greek separatists. They all fancied autumn and territories in europe and in asia greece was a strategic significance thanks to its Central Location on the mediterranean particularly for russia which wanted to control shipping routes in the mediterranean sea. Theres a bit of an excess now my face is we mustnt forget that the foreign powers in the region were rivals the interests of france Great Britain and russia were frequently in conflict to have these palaces were always teaming up against the third greece was the location where these complex played out in particular with regard to the interests of Great Britain the major naval power in the Eastern Mediterranean and the interests of russia which was seeking to establish itself them up with you know actual law and story here. In eight hundred twenty nine france britain and russia convened in london to negotiate greeces independence. This independence cut a big hole in the Ottoman Empire. Nice gift to me to get a kick out with the ad this time the Ottoman Empire ruled the end time middle east it was a vast realm of the loss of continental greece and the peloponnese was not particularly significant from a territorial perspective but it had a powerful symbolic in fact almost a humane relatively it treated the rebellions that characterize the end time Nineteenth Century and would lead to the loss of the balkans they like this or yes yet it created a huge tumor that still resonates in turkish history. As a matter that after. The spark quickly spread encouraged by russia the serbs and romanians rose up achieving autonomy. They were still part of the Ottoman Empire but they were on their way to independence. How could this tide be stopped. In eight hundred thirty nine sounds an abdul majeed initiated a hit or two unseen reform process the tanzim at it promised Freedom Security and legal and fiscal equality for all ottoman subjects muslims a non muslims alike. As if it were still possible to create an ottoman citizen who was attached to the empire. I dont think that the imperial bureaucrats were aware of just how far reaching the desire for emancipation was with us and it was the transition from a purely religious to a National Identity with the century religious group became a National Unit thats far competent to tell National Exit in the languages serbian belgariad greek amini and on which these faith communities were based accelerate at this nationalisation process set up the closest and last in a position. Little by little the ottoman millets were transformed into nations nations whose foundations were religious identity and language the balkans remain shaped by these factors today. In bosnia a slavic people sharing the same slavic language split into opposing nations Orthodox Christians declared themselves to be serbs whereupon muslims demanded their own identity not serbs or ottomans but bosniaks. The rebellion broke out among serbian peasants in rural bosnia in one thousand nine hundred eighty five it heightened the break between the peoples. The land owning class and tend to be muslim the peasants tend to be orthodox and so a peasant revolt can be read as a class revolt and it can be read as an ethnic revolt if youre a nationalist historian you read the events of eight hundred seventy five in heads of governors a nationalist revolt. When you read the correspondence of the time its both ok there this is a region that suffers from in demick starvation. The climate is very precarious. There is a bad harvest now was and so is it is that an ethnic revolt or is it not an ethnic revolt its both at the same time. Christian peasants took up arms all across the balkans irregular ottoman soldiers. Brutally put down the results they committed countless massacres in bulgaria recorded in the western press. Europe took the side of the christians in the Ottoman Empire the turks were painted as being the bad side and were accused of terrible atrocities while no mention was made of what was being done to muslim groups in the balkans. The situation came to a head in eight hundred seventy six the bosnian revolt had become the crisis in the east the ottoman power was faltering. The ruling Sultan Abdul Aziz in is the middle was overthrown. His successor were at the fifth was considered insane. In august eight hundred seventy six his brother abdul hamid the second came to power. He received the sort of the founder of the dynasty in the arab sultan mosque he was thirty four years old when he became the thirty fourth ottoman sultan. Because. Of the Sultan Abdul Hamid who was the last stand when the empire started crumbling as a result of the nationalist efforts particularly in the balkans and under the. Pressure of the major powers he tried playing a new convert. Convert he was seen as a liberal who would give the empire a constitution this dream had been there for several years and the liberal ottomans believed that this would solve all the empires problems they trusted hed be able to prevent an intervention by the major powers. Abdulhamid made the liberals dream come true there was to be a constitution and elections a parliament. The equality of all subjects of muslims and non muslims alike was left untouched. Did he believe he could stem the nationalist tide in the balkans and the call of the european powers for reforms this way. His illusions were short lived in april eighteenth seventy seven russia declared war. A little over the big problem of the Ottoman Empire was russia which wanted to break it to. Russia so itself as a protector of the slanders particularly the balkan war. There was a sizeable turn Slavic Movement that had a big influence on the russian leadership does so yesterday for example dreamed of constantinople being conquered so it could become. The city of zones. Yes it was the major confrontation. Christianity versus islam and pen slav ism versus the Ottoman Empire. A lot was at stake. You know also. The turks were defeated in just a few weeks russia plan to break up the empire but neither france nor britain nor austria hungary wanted to allow russia to get all the spoils for itself. I mean june eight hundred Seventy Eight the major european powers convened at a congress in berlin the ottomans were represented too as observers they were allowed no say in the negotiations. The big hagel began. As the victorious power russia claimed territories in the coca. It chief the formation of a new christian state garia. It was officially part of the Ottoman Empire but in reality russia had to say that remaining in montenegro and serbia finally achieved independence. Was the end herzegovina was austriahungary is counterweight to the russian influence in the balkans abdulhamid empire lost more than two hundred thousand square kilometers in europe. The real story of the whole epoch its not only the story of the loss of ottoman territory but is therefore the story of the loss of homes of autumn and muslims and its the story of the displacement of millions of people and often very very violent displacement and when to people start thinking about refugees as an International Problem and what we can see is that the crisis of eight hundred seventy six to Seventy Eight maybe together with the early expansion of the russian empire around the black sea which would also created hundreds of thousands of muslim refugees this is the beginning of the modern age of the refugee. After the war and the humiliation in berlin abdulhamid liberal into mexico was over he got rid of the constitution of eight hundred seventy six and now ruled alone as a despot albeit an unlighted one Sultan Abdul Hamid still wanted to save the empire. He wanted to add the achievements of the west to oriental civilization he sent under his reign the army and ministration the judicial system trade and infrastructure all modernized. Education was prioritized military academies and medical and legal faculties were established throughout the empire. In eighteen eighty eight passengers enjoyed their first journey on the Orient Express a stand will to paris in just three days travel is flooded in and with them their western fashions and influences. The storm is down to constantinople was a magical and in the second half of the Nineteenth Century a completely modern city and sitting there not durham its rain was despite the oppression and autocracy put for the people of it is done though you can see that around that period our palace hotel sorry about hot stayed there a couple of times pleased as a new social class full and knew that. The. Middle class dressed in suits and ties as a product of this maternity it comprised old those who were benefiting from the survival of the amateur that all. The europeans were also interested in the continued existence of the Ottoman Empire france and Great Britain in particular had invested in trade in Railway Companies and in mines a kind of central bank was established when the Imperial Ottoman Bank was set up with french and british capital. A leading position that was further enhanced by the. Generation system treaties dating from the sixteenth century that gave the europeans significant privileges such as the freedom to trade and Tax Exemptions in the Ottoman Empire. In the Nineteenth Century the special rights were granted to all western powers which made them untouchable. It was a comprehensive chanter which gave all foreign nationals the right to trade freely without informing the ottoman or thora ts thanks to the capitulation was asking to repay so that. They enjoyed immunity and extraterritoriality almost a colonial privilege in fact p. D. F. Quest read yet. These capitulations are a violation of our rights Sultan Abdul Hamid but what could he do his scope for action was limited when he came to power the state was bankrupt and unable to services dents on the french and british markets. In one thousand nine hundred one his power was further curtailed by the formation of a special administration for state debts sit on this consortium that the right to lay its hands on all state income as was necessary to keep the empire solvent and to guarantee the repayment of debts who was an encroachment on the empires fiscal sovereignty didnt our pm. Read it sitting at there was a lot of complaining and bitterness. And yet. The bottom line was that the already and wasnt able to modernize following the western example without outside stimulus you know you know if this resulted in an inferiority complex thats still tangible in turkey today you know youd think youd go. In this race mix of love and hate for the west or looks down on man moving day over to the new we love it we want to be like it to get rid of a roman societal model at the top of the bed today are. The things. For a long time france and britain were the guarantors of stability in the Ottoman Empire towards the end of the Nineteenth Century however their priorities changed european imperialism had reached its climax it needed new resources and new markets after conquering ottoman algeria france invaded tunisia in one thousand nine hundred one. The following year Great Britain occupied egypt the suez canal brought it closer to its colonial empire in india the ottomans saw it as a betrayal before one power that had hit the two stood on the sidelines it was an opportunity to join the conversation. In one thousand nine hundred nine Kaiser Vilhelm the second went to istanbul for a state visit. Where he was received with great pomp and circumstance beisel time abdulhamid. As a symbol of their New Friendship the two rulers hatched plans for a new row a line. It was to run from burlington to baghdad to mesopotamia to the persian gulf and its oil fields on the doorstep of the british area of influence. The kaiser later in gauged in further symbolic actions during a trip to the holy land in damascus he officially declared himself a friend and protector of the muslim peoples. He said also overweight the germans knew how to benefit from the fact that they were new on this stage as a power worker that had never acted against ottoman interests before they had never participated in the exploitation of ottoman resources. In fact and this is often forgotten they came out in favor of muslims who resort to the yemenis you know. A clever political move at a time when Sultan Abdul Hamid was putting islam center stage politically and strategically. The ottomans are very concerned that the experience of the balkans the development of a distinct National Identity based about religion history not be replicated in the arab world balkanization meant the partition of the secession of whole territories in which the author of an empire depended as a global strength. Where the same forces to be unleashed in the arab world than the ottomans we reduced to the lands of the turks and they wish to fight that at all costs likely to have meat at the time it knew that the empire could lose the balkan sooner or later about whereupon the retreat to asia minor barely more than anatolia would have been unavoidable going to turkey put it in a couple of knots why it was important to protect the hot coal to the turkish coal of the employer from the muslim three. But in case anything who could that be because the albanians the kurds and the arabs it is a hot. Abdul hamid was not just a worldly leader he was also a colleague a spiritual leader of the sunni faithful this on i went back to the sixteenth century when the holy sites of mecca and medina were conquered by the ottomans. Abdulhamid was to use this role to make islam the new foundation of his empire a realm with a new direction whose population was now three quarters muslim. In one thousand nine hundred in honor of his anniversary in office abdul hamid began with the construction of the Hejaz Railway from istanbul to mecca it portrayed the ottomans as the guardians of pilgrimage transcending their imperial borders. The caliphs policies lunch we played out within the Ottoman Empire syria palestine mesopotamia the jazz yemen the sultans attention had returned to the long neglected arab provinces. The railway brought them closer to the center of the empire schools and academies were opened the local elites were encouraged incorporated into the army and administration. Even though calls for autonomy and cultural renewable making themselves heard in beirut and damascus the arab provinces remained loyal to the empire. In eastern anatolia meanwhile one christian minority was pursuing nationalists goals the armenians scattered across the ottoman russian and persian empire as they focused on their religion their language and that ancient history the ottomans surratt is a threat at the heart of what they viewed as the core of their identity anatolian turkish muslim. Rebellion broke out in sas on in one thousand nine hundred four the armenian population was massacred in retribution it was a present to the genocide of nine hundred fifteen. Seven love this massacre and mocked the says iraq in the empires history not just that of the Nineteenth Century but overall. It was suddenly legitimate to massacre a population with impunity i think the idea of ethnic homogenize ation was already in peoples heads that theres a clear indicator of that two hundred thousand victims from a population of half a million wasnt exactly trivial. On the to. The state wanted to move the demographic lines and at the same time shaped the collective a minion memory in a traumatic men were sick good luck to london to prevent further protests and demands put through the war looked up to caucus to show and would get to heaven because. Europe was outraged caricature was in the press nicknamed abdulhamid the red sultan a bloodthirsty butcher. But european governments didnt get involved the armenians who had officially been under their protection since the burning congress were left to their fate. The empire reoriented itself towards anatolia and asia minor in the balkans meanwhile its collapse was fast approaching serbian greek and belgariad nationalists clashed in its last european territory in macedonia. That and you know in a cost i think it was greek nationalism had expansionist governments towards macedonia images of the ancient macedonia of king philip and alexander the great were constantly evoked that was a part of greek nationalism right from the start of the bow garion nationalist movement also gained in strength in the second half of the Nineteenth Century. To lay claim to macedonia while serbian nationalists demanded part of modern macedonia then the local movements they all behaved as if the Ottoman Empire didnt take list. Of the let it the way it was curiously the different christian nationalist movements for what it means brutally against each other as modern against the ruling Ottoman Empire that is but the kratos is the video here its a process is the first thing to say its not like everybody submit discovers they were greek or bulk ariel turkish all along so they want to prove that it theyre the Orthodox Christians of macedonia up recall that they are bulgarian and that is a struggle that takes a long time it takes decades and its forced out in schools and in churches. And in the press. By nineteen zero five nineteen zero six its become very very volatile and a lot of this is a greek opal garion war that is taking place under the eyes of the ottoman officials. Now then at that point of course there is another question that emerges wichita which is the question of almost instantly most lives or do they have a national allegiance. The answer comes from the ranks of the ottoman army on the third of july ninth you know its a group of young offices mutinied in testimony like all the ottoman troops they were muslim they were members of the committee of union and progress the largest opposition to the sultan they proclaimed that turkish identity. Humiliated by the defeats and the successive retreat of the empire they wanted to put an end to abdulhamid so thora tarion regime and save the empire. Calling themselves the young turks within three weeks theyd set the balkans on fire the sultan was under pressure to act on the twenty third of July Abdul Hamid had to reinstate the liberal constitution of eight hundred seventy six which he had set aside in eight hundred Seventy Eight the mood was euphoric i hit the two unknown feeding of freedom and fraternity. In a famous speech and the passion one of the revolutionary leaders said were all brothers there are no bulgarians greeks remain eons old jews in our empire were proud to be ottomans. Pucks a city that was little paradoxical aspect of this Young Turk Movement was that it emerged to save the Ottoman Empire but in reality it gave all those rebellious forces in the empire more of a voice that was unique this explain me the young turks quickly recognize this paradox. So nuts why they initially said were going to preserve the Ottoman Empire and well respect the demands of the non muslims at the turkish island has to be dominant in the empire hes going to mean itll keep. The patriotic young turks gradually became nationalist to wholemeal this or that the structure of. The nationalist wave that had been triggered a century ago during greece had finally arrived in the hont core of the Ottoman Empire it was close to the end. In the ensuing chaos bound garia egged on by russia declared its independence. Austria hungary unexposed the i had to go vina. The ottomans were defeated. The balkans were just waiting for a sign to turn against the porta completely. It came from libyan tripoli tanya italy had set its sights on this last ottoman province on the african continent. Rome took the offensive in september one thousand eleven the ottoman army resisted but was unable to help the italian advance. The occupation of libya revealed the weakness of the Ottoman Empire this encourage serbia and montenegro greece and vulgar area to form the balkan league. In october one nine hundred twelve they declared war on the empire albanian messines joined. The ottoman army already weaken from libya was destroyed. Tesler nicking the city of the one thousand eight revolution was occupied by greek troops. And the second it was seen as a humiliation is that the city fell without resistance because the ottoman army was too weak in the question it was a w merely a shoot that this was repeated as a d. N. Not far from is done in dubious of stimulus for. The balkan nations had defeated the Ottoman Empire. What was to become. Of ottoman macedonia. Bulgaria had different ambitions from greece and serbia and they were all against the albanians a new war broke out this time between the parties that it only recently been allies it was no longer a war of liberation by the people against their oppressors now it was a war between nations they all fought for themselves and were prepared to destroy only others all those who spoke a different language or had a different face. Entire villages were massacred people were displaced raped and forcibly converted areas were to be cleansed with all means possible. More than four hundred thousand people were forcibly moved most of the muslims. It means the beginning of what we would call ethnic cleansing what i think you have in the nine hundred ninety s. Is an example of something that starts in the late Nineteenth Century and explodes in the early twentieth and that is the way in which weak states. Deploy violence against ethnic populations either through their own soldiers or more usually through paramilitary units with which they have a close in direct relationship and these paramilitary units they then outsource a kind of Political Violence in order to engineer some new facts on the ground and that relationship between the state and the paramilitaries in order in a sense for nationalist go that goes back. That goes back to the balkan wars. The drawing of the borders fuelled brutal behavior and the nine hundred thirteen peace treaty sparked off another round of conflicts. And independent albania was created but its borders were disputed kosovo the site of the albanian rebellion was given to serbia. It was a victory steeped in symbolism the serbs saw this is compensation for their humiliation at the hands of the ottomans at the battle of the kosovo field in thirteen eighty nine the ottomans victory had come to symbolize their rule over the balkans. In one thousand nine hundred nine Slobodan Milosevic yugoslavias serbian president evoked a new serbian nationalism on the six hundredth anniversary of this battle. It was the start of the wars that would tear former yugoslavia apart the last took place in kosovo in one thousand nine hundred eight. A war ended driving the albanians out of territory claim. For once and for all. In two thousand and three kosovo became the last states to it being created in europe. The history of the Ottoman Empire in europe had ended in one thousand nine hundred eighteen. The rest of the story was to be played out in the middle east and the impending First World War would excel or. Kickoff life we take football personally. Europes first african soccer coach sunday only say is a former bonus league a star who is now coaching a ducks Second Division club. But how come hes the only african coaching a european supply. What does a football loving country need to reach its goals. Well tell you how german soccer made it back to the top. In our web special w dot com. Football made in germany. Quadriga and the International Talk show. Openings. Arguments analysis. For journalists discuss the topic of the week. Quadriga on. Meet the germans new and surprising aspects of noise and culture in germany. Us american good news it takes a look at germany it is increasing at the traditions every day lives and language just a lot of. Young good. Looking guy a d w dot com the germans. The leader of catalonia push them on has ruled out holding fresh elections in the spanish region the decision extends the political deadlock with madrid over the regions push for independence. Spains senate is expect