The byzantine-ottoman war was a continuous conflict that was experienced between the Ottoman Turks and the Byzantines. The war finally ended with the destruction of the Byzantine Empire and the rise of the Ottoman Empire. It started in the year one thousand two hundred and four when the capital of Byzantine known as Constantinople was sacked and occupied by the fourth Crusaders. The empire was united under the Emperor Constantine who converted the empire to Christianity. The empire lasted for a millennium with Christian power which later on led to its decline, and it is being remembered as the Great Schism. The downfall was as a result of the splitting of the Roman Catholic Church of Italy and the Greek Orthodox Church of Constantinople which led to the kingdom being attacked by many European kingdoms. The other series of events that led to the fall Byzantine Empire included the collapse of the Western Roman Empire that took place in the fifth century. Another one was the rise of Islam which gave the Arabs the morale and the desire to take over from the empire. The major event was the rise of the Ottomans. The first leader of the Ottoman attracted the Ghazi warriors and collaborated with the minority of Asia. The ottoman after a lot of struggle took over the territory in the year fourteen fifty-three after the fall of Constantinople (Ochsenwald, et al, pp. 56).
According to history early politics, the eastern Mediterranean was majorly dominated by the Byzantine and Ottoman empires. These two empires had some similarities and common customs. Both of them had highly centralized multiethnic polities, Constantinople governed both the empires and kept the ambitions of the Byzantine empire throughout their history. When it comes to religion, the Ottoman Empire was founded on Muslim culture while the empire of Byzantine was founded on Christianity. The empire of Byzantine was said to be the most corrupt and luxurious empire among the kingdoms in Europe. These issues of corruption and luxury were the main things were the ones that led to the downfall and hate from many kingdoms. After the seventh century, Byzantium became a medieval state that had a history that was closely entwined Middle Ages’ culture and politics, for instance, the Crusaders and the spread of ancient Greek philosophy to the Muslims and the west. The history of the Ottoman Empire extends the early modern and the current periods after a short and late medieval phase; the condition made the issue of about modernity directly relevant to the Ottomans in ways that are not related to Byzantium. The Byzantium went through a period of change that took place between the fourth and seventh century. The transformation changed the empire completely into a Christian and medieval society. One of the main turning points was the attack on the capital city Constantinople, and the next thing that followed was the introduction of Christianity as the only religion in the empire. These two empires had similarities and difference (Ochsenwald, et al, pp. 107).
The empire of Ottoman Empire was founded by a series of attacks on the fighting for the rights of the Islamic faith which was being interfered with by the Byzantine Empire. The empire was ruled by Osman and his successor during the fourteenth century expanded into Christian lands. The conquering of the empire left the surviving princes with no option but to pay tribute to the Ottoman Empire. The Christian soldiers were made to join the Ottoman Empire in helping them conquering other kingdoms. The soldiers were not forced to change their religion, though; they were allowed to fight alongside the Ottoman soldiers but as Christians. The Empire conquered the current areas like Greece, Romania, Bosnia it bypassed the capital of Byzantine’s Constantinople. Some efforts were made by Byzantine emperors to reunite the kingdoms to take over. Just like any other current empires, the success of the Ottoman was due to power, strength, size, and the good economy. The empire had the desire to expand and increase its popularity. The empire was able to gain its popularity among the people after conquering Byzantine because unlike their rivals the Byzantine they let the people and the soldiers of the Orthodox Church keep their autonomy and land. The only obligation they were entitled to be to accept the authority of Ottoman. Due to the bad reputation that the Western Europe kingdoms which later was changed to Byzantine Empire had, a lot of orthodox followers agreed to follow the rules of the Ottoman. The only obstacle the Ottoman Empire faced was the resistance from Albania which hindered it from expanding to the Italian peninsula. The empire flourished economically because it took control over the major trade routes that existed between Europe and Asia and the effective sultans they had. After this, they were able to expand their period of rule. As the Ottoman Empire was celebrating their conquest and victory as they expanded their territory, the empire of Byzantine collapsed completely (Ochsenwald, et al, pp. 200).
Work cited
Ochsenwald, W & Fisher, S.N. The Middle East: A History, (7th Edition) (McGraw-Hill, 2010) ISBN: 978-0073385624