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Well, we are taking about an empire that gave birth to 60 countries. Euro is 44 countries. USA is 50 states. I am afraid many other languages were also lost in
by cenkozan 7y ago
Well, we are taking about an empire that gave birth to 60 countries. Euro is 44 countries. USA is 50 states. I am afraid many other languages were also lost in that amount of time ottomans were in power.
- caiobegotti 7y agoI beg your pardon for the discordance on a tiny detail but "gave birth to 60 countries" is exactly the kind of arrogant imperial mindset behind "ottoman empire" or any other empire for that matter. Those nations existed before such empire, they were a combination of multiple things just loosely held together (if held together at all of course), including their languages, which has a heavy weight in national identities formation. The empire was simply comprised of those already existing nations, it did not give birth to anything.
- freddex 7y agoI agree up to a point: There were peoples with their distinct cultures that the Ottomans conquered, the most prominent example being the Balkans. However, "nation" is an 18th/19th century idea. The notion that distinct peoples should form distinct and independent units of state called nations was no driving force in the medieval and early modern period, in which we see the forming of multi-national empires. I think you refer to this as well, I just wouldn't use the word 'nation' in the same way.