"Turkish Empire" redirects here.

For empires with Turkic origins, see List of Turkic dynasties and
countries.

The Ottoman Empire (/ˈɒtəmən/; Ottoman Turkish: ‫دولت عليه عثمانيه‬, Devlet-i ʿAlīye-i ʿOsmānīye,
literally "The Exalted Ottoman State"; Modern Turkish: Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti),
historically known in Western Europe as the Turkish Empire[8] or simply Turkey,[9] was a state that
controlled much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia and North Africa between the 14th and early
20th centuries. It was founded at the end of the 13th century in northwestern Anatolia in the town
of Söğüt (modern-day Bilecik Province) by the Oghuz Turkish tribal leader Osman I.[10] After 1354, the
Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans, the Ottoman beylikwas
transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the
1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror.[11]

During the 16th and 17th centuries, at the height of its power under the reign of Suleiman the
Magnificent,[12] the Ottoman Empire was a multinational, multilingual empire controlling most of
Southeast Europe, parts of Central Europe, Western Asia, parts of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus,
North Africa and the Horn of Africa.[13]At the beginning of the 17th century, the empire contained 32
provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire,
while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries.[note 6]

With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, the Ottoman
Empire was at the centre of interactions between the Eastern and Western worlds for six centuries.
While the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of
Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic
historians.[14] The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society and military
throughout the 17th and much of the 18th century.[15] However, during a long period of peace from
1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals,
the Habsburg and Russian empires.[16] The Ottomans consequently suffered severe military defeats in
the late 18th and early 19th centuries, which prompted them to initiate a comprehensive process of
reform and modernisation known as the Tanzimat. Thus, over the course of the 19th century, the
Ottoman state became vastly more powerful and organised, despite suffering further territorial
losses, especially in the Balkans, where a number of new states emerged.[17] The empire allied
with Germany in the early 20th century, hoping to escape from the diplomatic isolation which had
contributed to its recent territorial losses, and thus joined World War I on the side of the Central
Powers.[18] While the Empire was able to largely hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling
with internal dissent, especially with the Arab Revolt in its Arabian holdings. During this time,
atrocities were committed by the Young Turkgovernment against
the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks.[19]

The Empire's defeat and the occupation of part of its territory by the Allied Powers in the aftermath
of World War I resulted in its partitioning and the loss of its Middle Eastern territories, which
were divided between the United Kingdom and France. The successful Turkish War of
Independence against the occupying Allies led to the emergence of the Republic of Turkey in the
Anatolian heartland and the abolition of the Ottoman monarchy.[20]
Main article: Names of the Ottoman Empire

The word Ottoman is a historical anglicisation of the name of Osman I, the founder of the Empire and
of the ruling House of Osman (also known as the Ottoman dynasty). Osman's name in turn was the
Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān (‫)عثمان‬. In Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to
as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye (‫)دولت عليه عثمانيه‬,[21] (literally "The Supreme Ottoman State") or
alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti (‫)عثمانلى دولتى‬. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı
İmparatorluğu ("The Ottoman Empire") or Osmanlı Devleti ("The Ottoman State").

The Turkish word for "Ottoman" (Osmanlı) originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the
fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empire's military-
administrative elite. In contrast, the term "Turk" (Türk) was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant
and tribal population, and was seen as a disparaging term when applied to urban, educated
individuals.[22] In the early modern period, an educated urban-dwelling Turkish-speaker who was not
a member of the military-administrative class would refer to himself neither as an Osmanlınor as
a Türk, but rather as a Rūmī (‫)رومى‬, or "Roman", meaning an inhabitant of the territory of the
former Byzantine Empire in the Balkans and Anatolia. The term Rūmī was also used to refer to
Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond.[23]

In Western Europe, the two names "Ottoman Empire" and "Turkey" were often used
interchangeably, with "Turkey" being increasingly favoured both in formal and informal situations.
This dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish
government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms
"Turkey", "Turks", and "Turkish" when referring to the Ottomans, due to the empire's multinational
character.[9]