Xen
Banned
The Ottoman Empire has been a particularly popular subject of late, its history is rich and fascinating and like all nations it past and present it has its up side and its dark side. One of the most tragic things about the Empire is it did not advance with the rest of Europe. By the nineteenth century the Ottoman's were seeminlgy always at war with Russia, although the Ottoman Armies fought hard, the Russian's had the upper hand. Once to keep the Russians from taking control of Eastern Europe, Britain and France had to intervene, that was the Crimean War. A generation later Russia and the Ottomans were at war again, only this time the Ottomans would not receive help from Europe. They had improved technological wise since the Crimean War, but the Russians still had the upperhand and nearly took Constantinople, and would have had the British not stepped in.
So what is my POD? What if Europe and Russia had agreed to partition the Ottoman Empire. Its not impossible to think of, the British had the major concern over losing the Suez and a land route to India, they also had a concern over Russia controlling the straights.
Austria was concerned over Slavic nationalism and Russian influence in the Balkans. Russia wanted to take Constantinople for Christianity since it fell in 1453, and saw themselves as heir to the Byzantine Empire.
Germany was concerned about its influence in Europe and building an Empire, while France was still reeling from the Franco-Prussian War. Spain is too weak and concerned about its domestic affairs to get involved, and Italy doesnt have the power to have a whole lot of say, but they are emerging.
Russian papers printed off stories of how cruel the Ottomans were treating the Christians in the Balkans and throughout its Empire. This was printed in the rest of Europe, but it did not have the same effect as it did in Russia. Now we will have Europe act the same way as Russia to these stories, making it difficult for any government to declare war on Russia and enjoy the support of its people. After the failure of the London Conference, the great powers of Europe meet in Paris. It is a meeting in which they address the concerns they have over the Eastern Question, it is also a meeting in which the Ottomans are snubbed. A compromise is reached and the Russians are given the green light by Europe.
The Russian's laid seige to Constantinople, taking the city in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. The Sultan and his government fled the capital to Ankara. The Russian's crossed the striaght and took control of both sides of the Bosphorus leading to the Ottoman's surrendor.
The bulk of the Ottoman Empire was partitioned according to the terms of the concert of Paris.
- Palestine, Egypt, southern Iraq and a small piece of Anatolia (just south of the Bosphorus) became part of the British Empire
- Lebanon and Antioch was partitioned by the French and German Empires
- Italy got Albania
- Russia got Constantinople
- Austria got Bosnia and a small bit of Russian Poland
- Greece more than doubled in size, growing to its present day borders and including Thrace and Macedonia
- Serbia, Herzegovina and Montenegro was formed into the Kingdom of Serbia
- Wallachia and Bessarabia was united as the Kingdom of Rumania under a Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen King
- Bulgaria became a Kingdom under a German prince
- Hejaz became independent
The Ottoman Empire became isolationist and conservative. A flood of its Turkish/Muslim citizens flooded across the straights. Most resettled in Anatolia, thousands went to Cyprus to start a new life or resettled on one of the Aegean islands.
The Concert of Paris had hoped it solved the Eastern question, and by sacraficing the Ottoman Empire it had bought a new period of peace.
Greeks who had went to America found themselves coming back home to settle in Thrace where they were given land by the Greek government in Athens. The city of Adrianople had become a bustling metropolice, and had been breifly rumored to be the new capital. Constantinople in a few short years had become almost entirely ethnicly Russian. It was in Constantinople where Alexander II wrote the Constitution of Russia in 1882, restricting the powers of the Monarch, and creating a powerful Duma.
So what is my POD? What if Europe and Russia had agreed to partition the Ottoman Empire. Its not impossible to think of, the British had the major concern over losing the Suez and a land route to India, they also had a concern over Russia controlling the straights.
Austria was concerned over Slavic nationalism and Russian influence in the Balkans. Russia wanted to take Constantinople for Christianity since it fell in 1453, and saw themselves as heir to the Byzantine Empire.
Germany was concerned about its influence in Europe and building an Empire, while France was still reeling from the Franco-Prussian War. Spain is too weak and concerned about its domestic affairs to get involved, and Italy doesnt have the power to have a whole lot of say, but they are emerging.
Russian papers printed off stories of how cruel the Ottomans were treating the Christians in the Balkans and throughout its Empire. This was printed in the rest of Europe, but it did not have the same effect as it did in Russia. Now we will have Europe act the same way as Russia to these stories, making it difficult for any government to declare war on Russia and enjoy the support of its people. After the failure of the London Conference, the great powers of Europe meet in Paris. It is a meeting in which they address the concerns they have over the Eastern Question, it is also a meeting in which the Ottomans are snubbed. A compromise is reached and the Russians are given the green light by Europe.
The Russian's laid seige to Constantinople, taking the city in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. The Sultan and his government fled the capital to Ankara. The Russian's crossed the striaght and took control of both sides of the Bosphorus leading to the Ottoman's surrendor.
The bulk of the Ottoman Empire was partitioned according to the terms of the concert of Paris.
- Palestine, Egypt, southern Iraq and a small piece of Anatolia (just south of the Bosphorus) became part of the British Empire
- Lebanon and Antioch was partitioned by the French and German Empires
- Italy got Albania
- Russia got Constantinople
- Austria got Bosnia and a small bit of Russian Poland
- Greece more than doubled in size, growing to its present day borders and including Thrace and Macedonia
- Serbia, Herzegovina and Montenegro was formed into the Kingdom of Serbia
- Wallachia and Bessarabia was united as the Kingdom of Rumania under a Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen King
- Bulgaria became a Kingdom under a German prince
- Hejaz became independent
The Ottoman Empire became isolationist and conservative. A flood of its Turkish/Muslim citizens flooded across the straights. Most resettled in Anatolia, thousands went to Cyprus to start a new life or resettled on one of the Aegean islands.
The Concert of Paris had hoped it solved the Eastern question, and by sacraficing the Ottoman Empire it had bought a new period of peace.
Greeks who had went to America found themselves coming back home to settle in Thrace where they were given land by the Greek government in Athens. The city of Adrianople had become a bustling metropolice, and had been breifly rumored to be the new capital. Constantinople in a few short years had become almost entirely ethnicly Russian. It was in Constantinople where Alexander II wrote the Constitution of Russia in 1882, restricting the powers of the Monarch, and creating a powerful Duma.
I use Photoshop 7.0 - especially the eyedropper, rubber stamp, and paint-brush tools. If I had more time (I'm working on a project due tomorrow) I'd try to make one that was more polished, a little less rough around the edges.
