Rise and Fall of the Ottoman Empire

One empire survived six hundred years and absolutely terrified the West. The Ottoman Empire

started as a small group of nomads under Osman and exploded into a superpower spanning

three continents. They didn't just fight; they changed the game. New Sultans were

legally required to strangle their own brothers to stop civil wars, and they built an

elite army called Janissaries by recruiting boys from conquered Christian families. They toppled Constantinople

and threatened Vienna, but eventually became the Sick Man of Europe. It took a World

War to finally dissolve the dynasty that created modern Turkey.