Ottoman Empire (1299–1922)

The Ottoman Empire — from a small principality in northwestern Anatolia to a world empire that stretched from Vienna to Yemen, from Algeria to the Caspian Sea — was one of the most powerful dynasties in history for over 600 years.

Osman I (1299) founded the principality that would bear his name. Mehmed II "Fatih" (the Conqueror) took Constantinople in 1453 — the event that ended the Middle Ages and ushered in a new era. The city was renamed İstanbul and became the capital of the expanding empire.

The Golden Age under Süleyman the Magnificent (1520–1566) saw the greatest expansion of the empire: the siege of Vienna (1529), control over the holy sites of Islam, groundbreaking legal reforms, and a cultural flourishing with architect Mimar Sinan (Süleymaniye Mosque, Selimiye Mosque — masterpieces of Islamic architecture).

The slow decline from the 17th century — military defeats, economic decay, nationalist movements in the Balkans — led to the empire being referred to as the "Sick Man of the Bosporus." In the First World War, the Ottoman Empire fought alongside the Central Powers and lost. The Gallipoli Campaign (1915) — a bloody, ultimately failed Allied attack on the Dardanelles — became the founding legend of modern Turkey. There, the young officer Mustafa Kemal distinguished himself.