Pax Ottomania - A TL

KCammy

Banned
I've had this idea for some time, though the title was inspired by this -

Pax Ottomana, 1500

This timeline will include: A fully westernized Ottoman Empire, into which Western, Christian influences seep into over time.
A superpower Ottoman Empire, stretching from the Austrian Border, to the Indus Valley, to Casablanca, to Eritrea.

So without further ado;
PAX OTTOMANIA
CHAPTER 1 - THREAT FROM THE... SOUTH?

"No doubt they will be trouble. They will look to our growing power, and they will be envious. They will look at the city of the worlds desire. Our City!" Mehmed proudly proclaimed out into the street from the room in his temporary accomodation. The city of Constantinople lay sprawled out before him. The sun peeked over the hills in the distance, and gave the Turkish flag flying over the capture cathedral an especially impressive look.
He turned back and gave Zaganos Pasha a reassuring look. The impressive looking Albanian General towered above him, such that the Sultan was constantly uneasy around him. His thich black hair, his booming voice, and round, rolled consonants.
"Yes, sir. Who exactly, if you don't mind me asking, sire?" He asked, with an upward infliction.
"The Mamluks, Pasha, The Mamluks. They are a force to be reckoned with. They are also in possesion of the Holy Land. A turbulent, and also important region. Holy to three faiths. It was thinking of this that gave me an idea. If they were somehow to grow more powerful than us, then this region may become theirs. Not directly, perhalps through vassalisation, or as part of a sphere of influence. Maybe that's not a plausable scenario, maybe I'm paranoid. But what might trigger this? Us. I have a dream, of a huge empire, the Ottoman Empire! But they are in the way. I may not see my ambitions carried out, but sooner or later they will be in the way, trying to counteract our growing power..." By the time he was finished, Mehmed has his arms open, as if waiting to give his general a crushing embrace. And the nauseating look on his face...
"And your proposal, sir? You said you had an offer?" Zaganos questioned. He looked annoyed.
"Yes.... Zaganos.... You used to be a Christian, did you not?" The question came out of the blue. It seemed quite irrelevant. And Mehmed could tell he thought so, as his puffy cheeks crinkled, into an annoyed, although inquisitive look. All to Mehmed's concealed amusement.
"Excuse me, sir?"
"You were a Christian, no?"
"Well... Yes. Why do you ask? I have spurned the path of righteousness! Torture me not! I am Muslim! I have cast out my sins!" This was all, again, to Mehmed's amusement. He was not as devout a Muslim as one could be, and found Zaganos' sudden Scriptural tone the most amusing part of his meeting with him so far! (Am I overusing "Amused" and "Amusing?") In fact, he would come to marry a christian!1
"It's alright. But you and I have both seen how devoutly people attach themselves to their faiths. We... I could use that to my advantage. Provoke a war of faith before they become too much of a threat to my designs on that area. How? Recruit the Byzantines into our ranks. Into the Janissaries. If we encourage them to cultivate their Christianity, then we could edge them into a war over it. They see us using "heathens" to carry out our dirty work, then our relations go south. Of coarse, this will not be an overnight thing, they won't just hop into a war over it like that! No, we need to conquer as fast as we can through the Balkans. Thunder into Europe!2 We will become a major power in the coming decades. We need to build up a huge army, to rival the Mamluks, as they are many, and we are few!3 And we will not convert, but pacify the Christians of Europe! And hopefully from that, they will not be so rebellious. And of coarse it is just one more reason for the rest of the Muslim world to go to war with us! The next century will see us rise to such power. Will you help me Zaganos? With all of my generals, and advisors?"
Zaganos looked severe, and Mehmed could tell he wasn't taking him seriously. He followed the "true faith" more ardently than he did, and did not like the thought of sympathising with Christians, the group, which of coarse, he was descended from. But he was a trustworthy general. He would help him, hopefully.
"I shall think about it." And with that, Zaganos exited.
Mehmed turned to the window, and leaned out. And roared out into the street; "Pax Ottomania will come!"4

END OF CHAPTER 1
1 - That is OTL.
2 - At the speed they did in OTL, is what I/he means.
3 - I think....
4 - Closest English enquivelant... :D

I hope I have not overdone the reasons for the first trickle of Western influences. Maybe I should be more subtle. Maybe I'm not very good at this AH stuff! :eek:

Anyhoo, I would greatly apprieciate any feedback, in any form, especially on;

A - The plausability of the scenario.
B - The historical accuracy of the OTL stuff.
C - The storytelling, or quality of writing.
D - Most of all, if you want more!(?) :confused:

Again, my first Timeline, and it's probably horrific. Thanks. :eek:
 
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Don Grey

Banned
The idea is intresting though strange at the same time as i cant fully understand what your trying to do with this "western influence" thing? Plus your writing style could be better to put it politely and it seem very incoherent even though it was very short. I can see your trying to do it like a book but that is actualy more difficult. Because there is a diffrence when doing a ATL where you narrate everything then one where you have to put in dialogues for everyone.

Its basicaly a very very short fiction noval. It takes some real writing talent and creativity to come out with proper dialogues(that would fit the era) while at the same time trying to non-directly narrate events.
 

KCammy

Banned
The idea is intresting though strange at the same time as i cant fully understand what your trying to do with this "western influence" thing? Plus your writing style could be better to put it politely and it seem very incoherent even though it was very short. I can see your trying to do it like a book but that is actualy more difficult. Because there is a diffrence when doing a ATL where you narrate everything then one where you have to put in dialogues for everyone.

Its basicaly a very very short fiction noval. It takes some real writing talent and creativity to come out with proper dialogues(that would fit the era) while at the same time trying to non-directly narrate events.

Well I want a westernized OE, to avoid its political stagnation.

And what about the "incoherent" part? Reading it back to myself it seemed fine.

Thanks for your feedback. :)
 
It's an interesting start as before conquering the Mamluks and adopting the Caliph mantel, the Ottomans were a lot more unorthodox religiously. It's not like the Ottomans had an overwhelming Muslim majority at this time.
 

KCammy

Banned
The shit will hit the fan.

Please make more :p

Here you go!

PAX OTTOMANIA
CHAPTER 2:

THE SHIT WILL HIT THE FAN
:)D)

1453

"Rise!" The angry seargant[1] shouted into the barracks. The soldiers, fully clad in janissary uniform forced themselves onto their feet, to the discomfort and displeasure of some. Again, he screamed. "He will be here in ten minutes, no more, no less, and I want you to sort every detail about your sorry selfs! Cagatay! Your feather is crooked! Sort it now! Ozker! What on Earth is that stain!?! Get it out!"

As he left the dorm with his robe tail trailing in mid-air, and slamming the door behind him, he swore he could hear one of the soldiers mutter after him; "Arse... Give us an hours warning, arse..."

Back inside, with Ozker scrubbing furiously at his robe, and Cagaty trying to prop the feather atop his hat with a long splinter of wood, the first of the "new recruits," a Mr. Filippos Mola[2] cleaning off a shining, cheap brass crucifix. He did not know it, but he was the first in a new wave of such recruits.

"Rise!" Came the angry shout of the seargant.[1] "For Sultan Mehmed the second, of the Ottoman Empire! Sultan of Anatolia, Constantinople, and the Ottoman Greek lands! Για το σουλτάνο Mehmed η δεύτερη, της οθωμανικής αυτοκρατορίας! Σουλτάνος της Ανατολίας, Κωνσταντινούπολης, και των οθωμανικών ελληνικών εδαφώv![3]"

And Mehmed entered, in full "royal regalia"; with the ridiculously huge crown and a flattering silky red robe, trailing behind him on the floor. The floorboards creaked uneasily as the Sultan strode through the beds, lined up against the wall either side. He smirked a little. They were each so still, looking directly opposite them, faces frozen as if time had stopped. And then he came to the Greek. The little brass cross dangled from his kneck, and could see the beds and janissaries behind him, with a gold tinge.

Mehmed lapsed into Greek; "You, son, are my favorite...."
_____________________________________________________________

1456

Sultan Inal of the Mamluk Sultanate sat opposite Mehmed at the dining table. Until now, the only words spoken between them were solely diplomatic.

"I appear to be a little short on wine..." Inal muttered, in a harsh Arabic tone. Mehmed signalled to one of the servants in the corner, tending to a wilting plant. The servant stumbled over to the other end of the table, leaned over other members of the Ottoman royal family, all gathered round the long table, deep in conversation with others of the same family, and Mamluk diplomats. "Your wine sir." he said, before trotting off back to the plant. The candle light flickered in the silence between the two men. "You did notice, he had a crucifix...." Inal said icily. "Maybe you should fire the heathen..." Mehmed's mouth raised itself at the side, and his cheeked cringed. "In the palace of Mehmed Osman, christians are treated as muslims. Not bad company either. Some of my best friends, servants, and... Eh.... Soldiers are what you might call.... Heathen." They did not talk again the entire night. All conversation and communication was handled by the diplomats.

_____________________________________________________________

Later then evening.... :D

"They speak bad of you... The foreighn diplomats." The Ottoman diplomat said, every inch of his being frightened to the core. Would the Sultan harm the messenger? "They say that if we cannot even beat the Serb primitives we are good as dead if we even think of provoking a war. And apparantly they are right." He stood silent in the gloomy hallway, and let it sink in. Mehmed replied a few seconds later, stunned; "Excuse me? What about our campaigns against Athens and Albania? Morea? What of them?" Frightened by his suddenly angry tone, the diplomat shrunk back a little, and winced before answering; "Well, they seem to see them as Minor." This time Mehmed hushed himself before saying anything. He gave a little sigh. "I mean, as if Serbia wasn't minor enough. What do you suggest? Sir?" When the sultan did not reply, the diplomat continued. "I also overheard Inal talking to one of the diplomats. He let his tongue slip, and apparently there are troops stationed near the border. A lot. I advise you let them be this once. We are not strong enough yet."

"We are equals. Our army is smaller, but better. Quality over quantity, no? We will march on Belgrade again. One year from now, give the troops time to rest, the army must be exhausted. "And then?" The confused diplomat asked. "I doubt I will see egypt as part of the Ottoman empire in my lifetime, to put it lightly." Came the sombre reply from Mehmed.

_____________________________________________________________

One year later, the Ottoman armies marched victoriously on Belgrade, although at a great cost. A huge loss of manpower. The Ottomans managed to, with a large amount of bias and propaganda, hide this largely from the Mamluks. And finding a lack of soldiers, yet more christians were recruited into the Ottoman army. The growing equality of the Christians in the Empire, even meant they had regional representatives, in some cases. The Ottomans had taken the first few steps towards Westernisation. However, very soon, it would seem to most Ottoman citizens that the Arab world would turn against them as this continued. But, as it turned out, Mehmed was already searching for a European Ally... But the Mamluk threat was no doubt there. There was a popular phrase used at this time, and the closest English equivelant might be; "The shit will hit the fan..." Would it?

END OF CHAPTER 2

Thoughts? Was this improved from the first? Maybe not. But I'd like to hear what you think. And who should this Western ally be? Castille? I think not, they're going throught the reconquista. France? Might Aragon or Portugal ally against Castille, by using the OE to their advantage? Maybe their too narrowminded.

Feedback and comments would be much appreicated.
 
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KCammy

Banned
By the way, do you think I should do a map of the TL every so often? Nothing fancy, I mean.
 
Why would Muslims convert to Christianity after defeating a Christian state?

One would think if this was a sign, it was a sign Islam was superior.
 

KCammy

Banned
Why would Muslims convert to Christianity after defeating a Christian state?

One would think if this was a sign, it was a sign Islam was superior.

Huge losses, and remember only 10% of the Muslim population. I might edit it to say 5% if thats more like it.
 

KCammy

Banned
Agreed. KCammy I think you need to do more researches.

And also maybe an earlier PoD. How about during Beyezit's era ?
It's no biggy, I'll just edit out the bit where it says that some Muslims converted. ( If I still have the option...)
 
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