Histoire de l'Empire Ottoman - 1855

1 strong volume in-4 half grief and percaline, all slices golden, vii-528 pages - Slight wear on the back, insolated boards, light foxing and scattered mainly on the first pages, 4 missing snakes, 1 torn, 1 minor tear at the bottom 4 first pages (false title) - Nice copy.
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History: birth, expansion, and decline of the Empire;
Politics: the functioning of the sultanate and international relations;
geographical: description of the territories;
religious and social: Muslims, Christians, Greeks, Armenians, etc.;
Franco-Ottoman: importance of relations between France and the Ottoman Empire.

2. Before the Ottomans: the ancient and Byzantine East

3. Osman and the birth of Ottoman power
The story then focuses on Osman I, founder of the Ottoman dynasty.

Originally, the Ottomans were only a small power installed in western Anatolia. Their geographical location is however extremely favorable: they are close to the Byzantine territories.

How the first Ottoman sovereigns used:

the war;
the wedding rings;
the divisions of neighboring powers;
the installation of Turkish populations in conquered territories.
The principality is gradually becoming a powerful state.

4. Expansion in the Balkans

The Ottomans notably took Gallipoli, then Andrinople (Edirne), which became a major center of their power.

They then progress in the Balkans and gradually submit:

Bulgaria;
Serbia;
a part of Greece;
Bosnia;
several other Balkan territories.
Lavallée insists on the wars against the European Christian powers.


5. Bayezid I and the Battle of Ankara
The reign of Bayezid I (Bajazet) is an essential moment for Lavallée.

Bayezid pursues a policy of extremely rapid expansion.

But his ambition leads him to confront Tamerlan (Timur).

In 1402, the Ottomans were defeated at the Battle of Ankara.

Bayezid was captured and the Ottoman state then went through a serious crisis.

The sons of Bayezid compete for power: this is the period known as the Ottoman interregnum.

6. The reconstruction of the Empire
After this crisis, the Ottomans restored their power.

Sultans such as Mehmed I and Murad II gradually reunified the Ottoman territories.

Murad II resumes the offensive in the Balkans.

7. The conquest of Constantinople in 1453
Mehmed II, called by Lavallée "Mahomet II", ascended the throne and decided to conquer Constantinople.

In 1453, after a famous siege, the Ottomans took the city.

The Byzantine Empire disappears and the Ottoman Empire becomes a great imperial power.

Constantinople became the political center of the Ottoman state.

8. Expansion after Constantinople
After 1453, the Ottomans continued their expansion.

They are consolidating their control over:

Anatolia;
the Balkans;
the Black Sea;
a part of the Mediterranean.
Lavallée also describes the conflicting relations with Venice, which was then one of the major commercial and maritime powers in the Mediterranean.

The Empire is gradually becoming a European as well as an Asian power.

9. Suleiman the Magnificent: the climax
The reign of Suleiman I (1520-1566) occupies a central place in the story told by Lavallée.

Under Suleiman, the Empire reached an exceptional power.

He leads campaigns in:

Hungary;
Austria;
Iraq;
Syria;
Mediterranean.
The Ottomans took Belgrade and Buda, threatened Vienna and developed a powerful fleet.

It was also during this period that the Empire became a major diplomatic power in Europe.

10. Relations between France and the Ottomans

11. The Ottoman political system
Lavallée does not only tell the story of wars.

How the Empire works.

to the sultan;
to the Grand Vizier;
to the Divan ;
to the Janissaries;
to the sipahis;
to the ulema;
to the Mufti ;
to pashas and governors.

12. Religions and populations

Turks;
Arabs;
Greeks;
Armenians;
Slavs;
Albanians;
populations juives;
diverse Christian and Muslim populations.
This diversity is essential to understand the political difficulties of the Empire in the 19th century.

13. The beginning of decline

aff weakened authority of the sultan;
corruption and administrative rivalries;
interventions by the janissaries;
financial difficulties;
provincial revolts;
military problems;
increasing competition from European powers.
The Empire nevertheless continued to exist for several centuries.

14. The XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries

austria;
Russia;
Venice;
Poland.
Russia gradually becomes one of the Empire's main adversaries.

15. The reforms of the Empire
In the 19th century, the Ottomans become aware of their military and administrative lag.

16. Nationalisms and the Christian question

The Christian peoples of the Balkans progressively claim more autonomy and then independence.

The Greek question occupies an important place.
Other Balkan peoples then follow similar trajectories.

The Empire gradually lost European territories.

17. Russia and the “question of the Orient”
Russia appears as one of the main adversaries of the Ottoman Empire.

Because the disappearance or weakening of the Ottoman Empire could completely modify the European balance.

This is what is called the question of the Orient.

France, Britain, Austria and Russia each have different interests in the region.

18. The Crimean War
The book is particularly interesting because it was published in 1855, during the Crimean War.

The war mainly pitted Russia against the Ottoman Empire, supported by France, Great Britain and the Kingdom of Sardinia.

19. The description of Turkey
The last part of the work is no longer limited to political history.

The Ottoman Empire was born as a conquering military power, reached its peak with the great sultans of the 15th and 16th centuries, then gradually weakened due to its internal problems and the rise of European powers.