The Ottoman Empire Declines

By 1600 A.D. the Ottoman Empire had reached its height. Istanbul was among the most prosperous and beautiful cities on Earth. They had conquered vast stretches of territory, and had learned to rule it successfully.

From this point on, the empire gradually began to decline. In 1683 King John II Sobieski from Poland lead his armies in defeating the armies of the Ottomans in Vienna. This crushing defeat marked the end of the expansion of the Ottoman Empire.

In 1856 Sultan Abdul-Mejid I attempted to reform his empire, in an effort to save it. He issued a decree known as the Hatt-I Humayun. This decree granted the rights of citizenship to everyone living within the empire, and attempted to create more freedoms for all his people, while improving economic growth.

These efforts were unsuccessful, and eventually lead to his son being overthrown. Within just a few years the Ottoman Empire would collapse.