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Ottoman Empire

1299 CE – 1922 CE

Six centuries from a frontier principality to a empire spanning three continents, until its dissolution after the First World War.

1102 events · 1399 people · 2 eras

Key events

1. Black Death1346 CE
   The Black Death was a plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the most fatal pandemics in human history, leading to the death of up to 50 million people, or 50% of Europe's 14th-century population. The disease is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis and is spread by fleas and through the air. One of the most significant events in European history, the Black Death had far-reaching population, economic, and cultural effects. It was the beginning of the second plague pandemic. The plague created religious, social, and economic upheavals, with profound effects on the course of European history.
2. Battle of Ankara1402 CE
   The Battle of Ankara or Angora was fought on 28 July 1402, at the Çubuk plain near Ankara, between the forces of Timur and the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I. The battle was a major victory for Timur, leading to the Ottoman Interregnum.
3. Battle of Varna1444 CE
   The Battle of Varna took place on 10 November 1444 near Varna in what is today eastern Bulgaria. The Ottoman army under Sultan Murad II defeated the Crusaders commanded by King Władysław III of Poland and Hungary, John Hunyadi and Mircea II of Wallachia. It was the final battle of the unsuccessful Crusade of Varna, a last-ditch effort to prevent further Ottoman expansion into the Balkans.
4. Fall of Constantinople1453 CE
   The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of Constantinople, the capital city of the Byzantine Empire, by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 53-day siege which had begun on 6 April.
5. Caucasian War1763 CE
   The Caucasian War or the Caucasus War was a 19th-century military conflict between the Russian Empire and various peoples of the North Caucasus who resisted subjugation during the Russian conquest of the Caucasus. It consisted of a series of military actions waged by the Russian Imperial Army and Cossack settlers against the native inhabitants such as the Adyghe, Abazins, Ubykhs, Chechens, Dagestanis as the Tsars sought to expand.
6. Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca1774 CE
   The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca, formerly often written Kuchuk-Kainarji, was a peace treaty signed on 21 July [O.S. 10 July] 1774, in Küçük Kaynarca between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, ending the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 with major concessions to Russia. The concessions to Russia were not merely territorial; not only was the Crimean Khanate effectively ceded to Russia, but Russia also gained the right to construct a Russian Orthodox church in Constantinople, claiming to be the protector of the Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire. This was a pretext for frequent and numerous interventions in the decades to follow. Ottoman Christians started to feel more empowered as European and Christian powers demonstrated their rising influence and political power. Access to Europe's political networks, markets and educational institutions created a class privilege for Ottoman Christians, and scholars often regard the treaty as a turning point for relations between Ottoman Christians and the European nations.
7. Battle of the Pyramids1798 CE
   The Battle of the Pyramids, also known as the Battle of Embabeh, was fought on 21 July 1798 during the French invasion of Egypt and Syria. Occurring near the village of Embabeh, Ottoman Egypt, the battle was named by Napoleon after the distant Great Pyramid of Giza.
8. Battle of the Nile1798 CE
   The Battle of the Nile was fought between the Royal Navy and the French Navy at Aboukir Bay in Egypt between 1 and 3 August 1798. It was the climax of the Mediterranean campaign of 1798, which had started three months earlier after a large French fleet sailed from Toulon to Alexandria carrying an expeditionary force under Napoleon. A British fleet, led by Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson, decisively defeated a French fleet under Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers, which had escorted Napoleon's army to Egypt.
9. French invasion of Egypt and Syria1798 CE
   The French invasion of Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was a military expedition to Ottoman-held Egypt and Syria led by Napoleon Bonaparte during the French Revolutionary Wars. The campaign aimed to undermine British trade routes, expand French influence, and establish a scientific and administrative presence in Egypt. Napoleon also sought to sever Britain's connection to its colonial holdings in India, with the long-term ambition of challenging British dominance in the region.
10. Crimean War1853 CE
    The Crimean War was fought between Russia and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom, and Sardinia from October 1853 to February 1856. Geopolitical causes of the war included the Eastern question, the expansion of Russia in the preceding Russo-Turkish wars, and the British and French preference to preserve the Ottoman Empire to maintain the balance of power in the Concert of Europe.
11. Treaty of San Stefano1878 CE
    The 1878 Treaty of San Stefano was a treaty between the Russian and Ottoman empires at the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. It was signed at San Stefano, then a village west of Constantinople, on 3 March [O.S. 19 February] 1878 by Count Nicholas Pavlovich Ignatiev and Aleksandr Nelidov on behalf of the Russian Empire and by Foreign Minister Saffet Pasha and Ambassador to Germany Sadullah Pasha on behalf of the Ottoman Empire.
12. Treaty of Bucharest1913 CE
    The Treaty of Bucharest was concluded on 10 August 1913, by the delegates of Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro and Greece. The Treaty was concluded in the aftermath of the Second Balkan War and amended the previous Treaty of London, which ended the First Balkan War. About one month later, the Bulgarians signed a separate border treaty with the Ottomans, who had regained some territory west of the Enos-Midia Line during the second war.

Notable people

• Napoleon1769 CE – 1821 CE
• Winston Churchill1874 CE – 1965 CE
• Mustafa Kemal Atatürk1881 CE – 1938 CE
• Genghis Khan1162 CE – 1227 CE
• Louis XIV of France1638 CE – 1715 CE
• Recep Tayyip Erdoğan1954 CE –
• Peter the Great1672 CE – 1725 CE
• Saddam Hussein1937 CE – 2006 CE
• Timur1336 CE – 1405 CE
• Suleiman the Magnificent1494 CE – 1566 CE
• Catherine II of Russia1729 CE – 1796 CE
• Nicholas II of Russia1868 CE – 1918 CE

Cultural works

Eras spanning this view

Related atlas views

• Byzantine Empire

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Events from Wikipedia/Wikidata (CC-BY-SA); base map © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); era boundaries are a hand-curated set in v1. Spotted a mistake? Email [email protected].