The Late Ottoman Empire
Learn about the late Ottoman Empire — its long decline, reform attempts, World War I entry, and collapse that reshaped the modern Middle East.
The late Ottoman Empire (c. 1800–1922) was the story of a once-great power struggling to modernize while fending off European encroachment and internal nationalist movements. Known as 'the Sick Man of Europe,' the empire's long decline reshaped the political geography of the Middle East, the Balkans, and North Africa.
The Tanzimat reforms (1839–1876) attempted to modernize the empire along European lines — introducing equality before the law, secular education, and limited representative government. But reform was resisted by conservative religious authorities and was too slow to prevent the loss of territories. Greece, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria gained independence in the 19th century. France took Algeria and Tunisia; Britain took Egypt and Cyprus.
The empire's fateful decision to enter World War I on the side of the Central Powers sealed its fate. Military defeat, the Armenian Genocide (1915–1916), and the Arab Revolt shattered what remained. The postwar settlement — the Sykes-Picot Agreement and the mandate system — carved the empire's Arab territories into British and French spheres of influence, creating the artificial borders that still define the Middle East. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's Turkish nationalist movement abolished the sultanate in 1922, ending over six centuries of Ottoman rule.