The Ottoman Peoples and the End of Empire

by Justin A. McCarthy

This book examines the collapse of the Ottoman Empire which changed the lives of Slavs, Turks, Greeks, Arabs, and Armenians. For six centuries the Ottoman Empire united a diverse array of religious and ethnic groups, but its dissolution into distinct states left a tradition of nationalism and ethnic enmity in much of the Balkans and Middle East which directly links to crises in the region today.
The new map of the Balkans and Middle East, which was largely the product of the victorious Allies after Word War I, made little concession to practical concerns such as access to seaports, or the rights of minorities. In particular the majority of the Muslim population of the Ottoman Balkans would never be integrated into the new states as the "national" character of these states depended, in part, on the elimination of what they considered "outsiders". Only the Turkish Republic was able to thwart the plans of the conquerors by defeating military incursion.

Genres: History

248 pages, Paperback

First published February 2, 2001

About the author

American demographer, professor of history.

His area of expertise is the history of the late Ottoman Empire.

McCarthy has attracted most attention for his views on the Armenian Genocide, occurring during the waning years of the Ottoman Empire. Most genocide scholars label these massacres as genocide, but McCarthy views them as part of a civil war, triggered by World War I, in which equally large numbers of Armenians and non-Armenians died.

Reviews

[Omar Taufik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book could be described as a wonderfully written demographic history of the Balkans and Middle East .. from the early nineteenth to early twentieth century which is the period when that area was ruled by the late Ottoman Empire .. the last century in the life of the six century life of the empire.
This last century is a crucial century in Middle East / Balkan history which sets the foundation to all the various changes and conflicts that happened afterwards to this very day in the twenty first century.
This is what the author does, he displays the empire at the beginning of that period with it's religious/ethnic diversity assigning it a record in tolerance compared to other empires in history. The empire attempted to reform in order to survive surrounded by external threat (imperialism) and facing internal threat (nationalism). After a century of struggling with both threats, the empire finally collapses.
The book tells us the story of the people in this long and painful process .. their relationship with the state with it's reforms .. their relationship with each other as diverse ethnic/religious groups which paid a massive price of human life and welfare as a result of the madness and greed of nationalistic ideologies and great European powers interests in the area ..
The author demonstrated great knowledge and expertise in the field with interesting analysis and opinions distributed throughout his chapters that were although not long but were full of useful and relevant information.

A strong recommendation for readers interested in the history of the area and it's people during the end of the Ottoman Empire along with the resulting events in the following aftermath under the mandates and the various successor nation states.

[Veysel Doğan · Rating 5 out of 5]

you will know real ottomans pozition on the world with this book