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For those that don't know, Turkey (Ottoman Empire) ruled for over 600 years over a very large empire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire https://en.wi

For those that don't know, Turkey (Ottoman Empire) ruled for over 600 years over a very large empire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire Quite a few times they tried taking over proper Europe, like Italy (Pope was there) and Austria. They ruled the Balkans, Northern Africa, Saudi Arabia, Caucasus etc etc. They didn't invest anything in occupied areas but didn't directly force conversions to Islam. Conversions had a lot of benefits of course so quite a few people did over the centuries. Eventually Russia and European powers did them in, empire was rotting for centuries... (Turkey's Erdogan is now trying to be the Sunni leader, only to be opposed by Saudi Arabia, which was pwnd by the Turks for centuries.)

dsfyu404ed 8y ago
>Eventually Russia and European powers did them in, empire was rotting for centuries... The Russian winter is the only major European power that has never lost a war.
- onetimemanytime 8y ago
  True, but they actually they fought mostly around the Black Sea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Russo-Turkish_wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Russo-Turkish_w... Several times both sides had allies...and eventually Russia helped the Balkan Orthodox states claim independence from the Ottomans. Death by a thousand cuts, but 600+ years is impressive.
  - dsfyu404ed 8y ago
    Yeah, it was definitely a long slow decline. I prefer not to let facts get in the way of my jokes though. IIRC they got pwned pretty good by the Russian winter (well, the post-winter mud season) at some point in the 1500s(?) though.
theboywho 8y ago
The Ottoman Empire did not rule North Africa since they were never capable of conquering Morocco, they only got Algeria to join the empire since algeria was looking for protection from Spain.
- onetimemanytime 8y ago
  OK, all but one. Algeria or any other "Algeria" would have no chance against the Ottoman army. They kept coming and coming and coming...
coldtea 8y ago
>but didn't directly force conversions to Islam Well, not for the general population. But they did it lots of times... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janissaries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janissaries "They began as an elite corps of slaves made up of kidnapped young Christian boys who were converted to Islam"
- vertline3 8y ago
  Also I think there was an extra tax for other abrahamic, and if you married into you had to convert.
danans 8y ago
As an aside (while I'm enjoying my morning cuppa), the Ottomans, via their control of the world coffee trade in the 1600s, served as the conduit through which Europe and India learned of, and began drinking coffee, both around the same time. The full story is quite interesting, involving people risking death to subvert Ottoman attempts to protect their coffee monopoly's "Intellectual Property", which was fertile non-roasted coffee beans.
thstart 8y ago
Didn’t force the Islam? You Sir are severely misinformed or you spread disinformation.

dsfyu404ed 8y ago

>Eventually Russia and European powers did them in, empire was rotting for centuries... The Russian winter is the only major European power that has never lost a war.

onetimemanytime 8y ago
True, but they actually they fought mostly around the Black Sea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Russo-Turkish_wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Russo-Turkish_w... Several times both sides had allies...and eventually Russia helped the Balkan Orthodox states claim independence from the Ottomans. Death by a thousand cuts, but 600+ years is impressive.
- dsfyu404ed 8y ago
  Yeah, it was definitely a long slow decline. I prefer not to let facts get in the way of my jokes though. IIRC they got pwned pretty good by the Russian winter (well, the post-winter mud season) at some point in the 1500s(?) though.

theboywho 8y ago

The Ottoman Empire did not rule North Africa since they were never capable of conquering Morocco, they only got Algeria to join the empire since algeria was looking for protection from Spain.

onetimemanytime 8y ago
OK, all but one. Algeria or any other "Algeria" would have no chance against the Ottoman army. They kept coming and coming and coming...

coldtea 8y ago

>but didn't directly force conversions to Islam Well, not for the general population. But they did it lots of times... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janissaries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janissaries "They began as an elite corps of slaves made up of kidnapped young Christian boys who were converted to Islam"

vertline3 8y ago
Also I think there was an extra tax for other abrahamic, and if you married into you had to convert.

danans 8y ago

As an aside (while I'm enjoying my morning cuppa), the Ottomans, via their control of the world coffee trade in the 1600s, served as the conduit through which Europe and India learned of, and began drinking coffee, both around the same time. The full story is quite interesting, involving people risking death to subvert Ottoman attempts to protect their coffee monopoly's "Intellectual Property", which was fertile non-roasted coffee beans.

thstart 8y ago

Didn’t force the Islam? You Sir are severely misinformed or you spread disinformation.