RUSSIA, TURKEY, AND ENGLAND; OR, THE EASTERN QUESTION.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 998, 6 September 1877, Page 3

RUSSIA, TURKEY, AND ENGLAND; OR, THE EASTERN QUESTION.

(from the press.) THE RISE OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.

In the middle of the thirteenth century we behold Ertoghrul Emir of Saguta; for such was the modest title with which Ertoghrul and his two successors were satisfied. His little principality soon enlarged itself under Ids able and warlike administration, chiefly at the expense of the Byzantine Empire—now in its decline. -Brave men were in those warlike times drawn rapidly, and in large numbers, to the standards of able generals, and by the aid of such reinforcements as his fame attracted Ertoghrul extended his dominions, as we have said, and bequeathed them to his son Othmau, or Osman, from whom the Turks are called Osmanli, or Ottoman Turks. Othman, at the beginning of the fourteenth century, made himself independent of the Sultans of Iconium, and added considerably to his possessions, capturing Brusa and Nicomedia, principal cities of Asia Minor. In the reign of his son Orchan, the Ottoman first obtained a footing in Europe. In consequence of internal divisions in the Byzantine Empire, Cantacuzcne was induced to invite Orchan, who had married the Christian Emperor’s daughter Theodora, to help him against his other son-in-law, John Balocologus —and thus came about the passage of the Ottomans into Europe, “ The last and fatal stroke in the fall of the Roman Empire.” The Turks seized Gallipolis and Tzympe, which they continued to hold in spite of the remonstrance of their ally. The footing thus obtained was made the base for further operations in the reign of Orchan’s son, Amurath the First, during whose reign the Ottoman dominion became a real thing in Europe. In 1360 he crossed the Hellespont, and commenced those European wars offcouqucst, which were terminated only by his death in 1389, at Kossova. He captured 'Adrianople, which thenceforward became the capital of European Turkey until the fall of Constantinople seventy years later. Philipopolis next fell before him. Thence marching to the north of the Balkans, probably through the Schipka Pass, the passage of which is fiercely disputed in the present war, he routed the Slavonians of Bosnia and Servia. At this point a determined effort was made to expel the Ottoman power from Europe. Hungary, Wallachia, Servia, and Bosnia combined with this object, but were terribly defeated at Marizza. After a period of comparative peace, the whole of the provinces north of the Balkans, with Hungary, rose again to free themselves from the power of the Ottoman ; but on the Flodden Field of Servia, at Kossova in 1389, were utterly crushed. Here Amurath, who was the first Ottoman ruler who bore the title of Sultan, w r as assassinated by a Servian nobleman, and was succeeded by Bajazet, who continued to extend the rapidly increasing empire of the Turks in Europe. The combined armies of western Christendom, under Sigismund, King of Hungary, and Count de Hevers, of France, were defeated with terrible slaughter at Nicopolie. Both Christians and Turks suffered

greatly in this battle, and Bajazct was enraged as he rode over the field of battle to find how dearly it had cost him. He took a terrible revenge, directing the massacre of thousands of his prisoners. In this ho was, however, following the example of the Christian host, the leaders of which had before the battle massacred all the Mahomedan prisoners which they had captured in the first part of the campaign. The slaughter was continued until the avarice of the barbarian prevailed over his thirst for blood. His efforts to capture Constantinople were frustrated by the arrival of Timour or Tamerlane, the Tartar, upon the scene. He defeated the terrible Bajazct at the battle of Angora, and broke up his vast Empire; and it appeared that the dominion which had advanced so rapidly was about to fall to pieces under the severe blow given at the field of Angora. After the withdrawal of Timour, and the death of Bajazet, which followed very closely upon the former event, the Empire was divided for a time under several independent rulers. But Mahomet the First skilfully welded the pieces of the broken Empire together, and handed on to his son Amurath the Second a united Ottoman dominion. The reign of this Prince is chiefly remarkable for the invasion of the Ottoman territory by Hunyades, a celebrated Hungarian leader, illegitimate son of Sigismund, who forced the passage of the Balkans, and defeated the Turks in several pitched battles. But in the end Amurath, who was as brave as he was prudent, prevailed, and subdued the provinces of Servia and Bosnia, and left his son Mahomet 11. to capture Constantinople in 1453, Mahomet ll.—called the Conqueror —well deserves the name, for he added the Peloponnessus, the Crimea, Sinope, Trebizond, and south of Asia Minor to his dominions, as well as finally completing the conquest of the provinces north of the Balkans, including Herzegovina, which have since his time remained portions of the Ottoman Empire. Bajazct 11. added nothing ; but in his reign Ivan 111. of Russia made a communication to him respecting the treatment of some Russian merchants at Constantinople. This was the first intercourse between two powers that were destined to exercise so much influence over each other. Selim, the inflexible, succeeded Bajazet, and added Diabeker, Syria, and Egypt to his dominions. Ho also obtained the transfer of the Caliphate from Mahommed the 12th Caliph, and the symbols of that transfer- the sword, mantle, and sacred standard of the prophet. Thus the Sultans of Turkey became not only temporal rulers, ruling the Ottoman Empire, but also spiritual rulers, controlling the spiritual allegiance of the whole of the Mahommedan world which professed the Sunnite form of that faith. This is an important element in the Sultan’s power, as it enables him, when the faith is endangered, to demand the assistance of millions of Mahommedans who are not members of the Ottoman Empire. During the reign of Solyman, the law-giver or the magnificent, who succeeded Selim, Turkey reached the zenith of her greatness and glory. Solyman was contemporary with Henry the VIII., Edward VI., Mary and Elizabeth, of England, and also with Ivan IV. of Russia, in whose reign Russian and Turk crossed swords for the first time. Solyman deserves all the praise which has been bestowed by both Mahommedan and Christian writers. At the capture of Rhodes, after a brave and prolonged defence, Solyman granted most honorable terms to the knights and the citizens —the former were to carry off their arms and property in their own galleys, or to be supplied with transports by the Turks if they were required ; the citizens were to have the free exercise of their religion, and were otherwise favorably treated. The Sultan requested an interview with the Grand Master of the Order, and showed the old man all honor, saying to his Vizier—“lt is not without regret that I force this brave man from his home in his old age.” To this day the Turks treat the memory of their brave foemen with respect, the escutcheons of the Knights of St, John, who fought against Solyman, still decorate the city of Rhodes. At the terrible battle of Mohacz in 1526, where nearly 30,000 Hungarians were slain, among whom was their brave King Louis, the Sultan exclaimed, on hearing of his royal brother’s fate:—

“ May Allah be merciful to him, and punish those who misled his inexperience. I came indeed in arms against him, but it was not my wish that he should thus lie cut off while he had scarcely tasted of the sweets of life and royalty.” These quotations illustrate the character of the greatest of Turkey’s Sultans, The siege of Vienna in Solyman’s reign is remarkable, as it was there that a bound was first set to the advancing wave of Ottoman conquest. Here in 1529, “ the tide of Turkish conquest in Central Europe had now set its mark. The wave once again dashed as far, but only to be again broken, and then to recede for ever.” From the time of Solyman, the great power which had been built up began to decline, and that decline is intimately connected with the growth of Russia, so that at this point it will be appropriate to sketch the founding and advance of the latter power, until, in the reign of Ivan the Terrible, Russia and Turkey first came into warlike relations. Before doing so we will just indicate the immense extent of the Ottoman territory at this time, during the reign of Solyman I. Tire whole of the Turkish Empire was divided by Solyman into twenty-one governments, which were 1, Roumelia, which then included all European Turkey south of the Danube, inclusive of Greece. 2. The islands of the Archipelago. 3. Algiers and its territory in Africa. 1. Tripoli on the same continent. 5. Ofeu, in Western Hungary. 6. Temeswar, including Transylvania, and Eastern Hungary. 7. Anatolia, the north of Asia Minor. 8. Caramania, the southern portion of Asia Minor. 9. Roum, which includes Poutus and part of Cappadocia. 10. Soulkadr, near the east of Mount Taurus. 11. Trobizond. 12. Diobekr. 13. Van, part of Armenia and Kurdistan. 14. Aleppo. 15. Damascus (Syria and Palestine, are covered by these names.) 16. Egypt. 17. Mecca and Medina. 18. Yemen and Aden. 19. Bagdad. 20. Mosul. 21. Bassorah. These three last included all the conquests which had been made from the Persians in Mesopotamia and the adjacent regions in the south. The Eastern boundary of the Turkish Empire in this direction being formed by the Tigris and the Euphrates (after its junction with the Tigris). The above particulars will enable any person who will take but a glance at a good map to see the immense extent of country which now acknowledged the temporal sway of the Ottoman Sultan. All this had been acquired in the comparatively short space of 250 years. Gradually these vast proportions have been diminished. To a considerable extentthis has been brought about by the action of Russia.