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Jan 1, 1300
Osman 1 founds the Ottoman Empire
Osman 1 founds the Ottoman Empire in Anatolia. The Ottomans' ancestors fled to Anatolia from Central Asia when the Mongols invaded the area. They were known as ghazis and fought against both the Mongols and the Byzantine Christians. By 1300 the Ottomans had taken a significant amount of Byzantine territory in Anatolia, but they lacked seige equipment to take larger cities. -
Jan 1, 1354
Orkhan establishes a European base at Gallipoli
Gallipoli, a pensinsula on the European side of the Dardanelles Straight, was an perfect staging area for future Ottoman invasions of Europe. -
Jan 1, 1382
Ottoman victory at Kosovo
The Ottoman victory at Kosovo ended Serbian influence in the Balkans, leaving the Ottomans and the weakened Byzantine Empire as the only two significant powers in Southeastern Europe. -
Jan 1, 1396
Battle of Nicopolis
The Battle of Nicopolis was fought between the Ottoman Empire and an assortment of European states including France, the Holy Roman Empire, Hungary, and others. Along with the Crusade of Varna in 1444, it is considered one of the last large-scale crusades of the Middle Ages. The Battle of Nicopolis (also referred to as the Crusade of Nicopolis) was intended to put a stop to Ottoman expansion in Europe, but ended in complete defeat for the Europeans. -
Jan 1, 1402
Battle of Ankara
The Battle of Ankara took place between the Ottoman Empire and the Timurid Empire when the Timurids invaded from the East. The Ottoman Sultan Bayezid 1 was taken prisoner. This battle and the ensuing events acted to distract the Ottomans from European concerns and delayed further expansion into Christian land. -
Period: Jan 1, 1402 to Jan 1, 1413
Interregnum/Civil War
After Bayezid 1 was taken prisoner by the Timurids, his sons fought over the throne. Eventually Mehmed 1 would end the civil war, but the Empire completely halted its operations in Europe during the conflict and some Ottoman territories in the Balkans were termporarily lost. -
Jan 1, 1432
Creation of the Janissaries & the devsirme system
Murad II created the Janissaries and the devsirme system in an attempt to counteract the power that Ottoman nobles had gained during the Interregnum. The Janissaries were made up primarily of Christian slaves who were taken as young children and trained as elite warriors. The devsirme system was a policy which allowed people to follow religions other than Sunni Islam, but they would be required to pay a tax. -
Nov 10, 1444
Battle of Varna
The Battle (or Crusade) of Varna was the second major European attempt to halt Ottoman expansion in Europe. Mainly Polish and Hungarian forces were again defeated by the Ottomans at Varna, effectively ending the crusade and allowing for continued expansion into Christian lands. The Albanians under Skanderbeg continued to fight the Ottomans despite the end of the crusade. -
Period: Jan 1, 1453 to Jan 1, 1566
Ottoman expansion
This period of time saw Ottoman expansion in Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The Ottoman Empire was seen as a siginificant threat by all Europeans and the Ottoman ruling class viewed themselves as above the Europeans. -
May 29, 1453
Ottomans capture Byzantium
The Ottoman conquest of Byzantium and the effective end of the Byzantine Empire was a shock to the Christian world. Byzantium was the center of the Orthodox Catholic Church and Christian thought, and its loss was very significant for the rest of Christian Europe. -
May 29, 1453
Implementation of the Millet system
After capturing Byzantium, Mehmed II implemented the millet system. This meant that religions other than Sunni Islam would keep thier autonomy and have the ability to enforce their own laws. This was important because it allowed the Ottomans to maintain peace in its mostly Christian territories in Europe. -
May 29, 1453
Mehmed II claims the title of Ceasar of Rome
Mehmed's claim was not recognized by the rest of Europe. His claim was based on the transfer of the seat of Roman power to Byzantium in the 4th Century AD after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Since Byzantium was now in Ottoman hands, he viewed the Ottoman Empire as the de facto successor to the Roman Empire. -
May 29, 1453
Transformation of the Hagia Sophia
After the conquest of Byzantium, Mehmed II transformed the Hagia Sophia (Christian cathedral) into a mosque. -
Period: Jan 1, 1463 to Jan 1, 1479
Ottoman - Venetian War
Fought between the Republic of Venice (and allies) and the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman - Venetian War represented a continuation of the trend of failed European attempts to end Ottoman expansion, although Venetian reasoning was more economic than religious. This war marked the beginning of Ottoman naval supremacy in the Agean Sea and the beginning of the decline of Venice. -
Period: Jan 1, 1466 to Jan 1, 1478
Albanian Resistance
Under Skanderbeg Albania was able to fight back the Ottomans with help from Italy, making further Ottoman expansion in Europe difficult. Albania fought alongside the Venetians in the Venitian - Ottoman War, during which Skanderbed died. Albania failed to find another leader of similar quality and fell to the Ottomans in 1478. -
Period: Jan 1, 1512 to Jan 1, 1520
Sultan Selim I expands in the Middle East and Egypt
Ottoman expansion in the Middle East represented a step away from Christian Europe, but the Ottomans were soon competing against Christian colonial powers for control of trade in the Indian Ocean. -
Jan 1, 1521
Suleiman the Magnificent's Conquest of Belgrade
With the capture of Belgrade Suleiman completed the conquest of Serbia and reaffirmed the Ottoman's focus on Europe. -
Jan 1, 1526
Ottoman rule in Hungary
After defeating Louis II of Hungary at the Battle of Mohacs, Suleiman set up Ottoman rule in Hungary. However, the Ottomans would not control all of modern-day Hungary until about 1541. This created (even more) tension in Europe because it brought Ottoman borders uncomfortably close to those of Habsburg Austria's. -
Jan 1, 1529
Seige of Vienna
The Ottomans failed to capture Vienna in the seige, leading to the Ottomans once again moving their sights away from Europe to focus instead on Asia and North Africa. -
Jan 1, 1533
Barbarossa named Admiral-in-Chief
Barbarossa was placed in charge of the Ottoman navy, which was actively fighting the Spanish. This more interesting than significant, but I think it's funny that he's known as a pirate instead of an Ottoman admiral. -
Jan 1, 1536
French alliance
The French and Ottomans entered into an alliance to combat the mutual threat of the Habsburgs. This was the first time that a European power entered into an alliance with the Ottomans. -
Jan 1, 1554
Naval defeat in the Red Sea
The Portuguese defeat of the Ottoman navy in the Red Sea began a series of events that led to European control of much of Eastern Asia and India. -
Jan 1, 1566
Death of Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman's death began a period of revolts and stagnation in the Ottoman Empire lasting until 1683. -
Period: Jan 1, 1566 to
Revolts and Stagnation
A series of weak Sultans and conservativism led to a long period of revolts and stagnation in the Ottoman Empire. -
Treaty of Zsitvatorok
Althought the Ottomans managed to end a war against the Habsburgs with minimal territorial losses, the Treaty of Zsitvatorok showed the rest of Europe that the Ottomans could be defeated. -
Battle of Vienna
Although the Ottoman Empire had faced a long period of stagnation, it managed to stay a significant power in Europe throughout the 17th century. Ottoman defeat in the Battle of Vienna marked the end of expansion in Europe and allowed Europeans (primarily the Habsburgs and Russia) to expand into Ottoman territory in the future. -
Period: to
Ottoman decline
This time period saw many wars between Europeans and the Ottoman Empire, most of which ended in losses for the Ottoman Empire. By 1812 the Ottomans had lost most of their land north of the Danube River along with their territories along the north coast of the Black Sea. Furthermore, the Ottomans had begun to allow Christian powers to intervene on behalf of the Empire's Christian subjects. -
Period: to
The Tanzimat Reforms
By this point in time Christian states in Europe had comepletely suprassed the Ottoman Empire. The Tanzimat Reforms were an attempt to Westernize the Ottoman Empire and preserve the Ottoman state. -
The Ottoman Constitution
The Tanzimat Reforms culminated in the creation of an Ottoman Constitution, ending the gradual loss of power by the Sultans. -
World War 1
Ottoman losses during World War 1 created the borders of modern-day Turkey. The Ottoman Empire was soon dissolved and the Republic of Turkey was internationally recognized in 1923. The Ottoman Caliphate was officially dissolved in 1924.