AHC: Give the Ottomans a less tough time in the 19th century

most of us do know that, during the 19th century, the balkan territories of the Ottoman Empire would give in to various armed rebel groups of the ethnic-independentist type, leading to the creation (or re-creation) of various nations such as Bosnia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Albania.
So, the challenge here is to breath some fortune to the Ottomans, allowing them to hold on for a few more territories like Albania, Macedonia, Southern and Eastern Bulgaria, and possibly (but more hardly) Bosnia and Northern Greece, either through tactical military victories or loyalty of some ethnic groups.
 
This question has been discussed a bunch of times in the past on this forum. Why not try searching in Google? Try this input and look at the threads before 2012 (the 6th link is particularly detailed) Get back to us if you have questions or want more discussion.
 
This question has been discussed a bunch of times in the past on this forum. Why not try searching in Google? Try this input and look at the threads before 2012 (the 6th link is particularly detailed) Get back to us if you have questions or want more discussion.

Can you provide me links to such threads?
And i haven't necessarily stated that the russo-turkish war should be a PoD.
 
I'll simply quote a, slightly edited, post I made in a similar thread a couple of months back.

Selim III is often one of my go-to guys for improving the Ottoman Empire so let's use him. Looking back at how previous reforming movements had been stymied he realises at the start of the century that he needs to strengthen his position so quietly speeds up and expands the formation of the nizam-i djedid units. Tensions come to a head in 1804 when the First Serbian Uprising is triggered by the tyrannical actions of the local renegade Janissary commander who had murdered the local Vizier in 1801 and effectively ruled the Sanjak independently of Constantinople. Enraged Selim uses these actions and outcome to press for reintroducing more discipline into the Janissaries, when the Janissaries, who were already restive about his reforms, refuse the Sultan uses it as an excuse to engineer his own version of the Auspicious Incident killing the leading mutineers and forcibly disbanding the corps. Having fewer troops and less time to reform however whilst the Janissaries in the capital are crushed it then takes a year or two to finish off the remaining units and bring rebel provinces back under control, plus another year or two to subdue Serbia after that. With his position now secure Selim can continue his reforms in a somewhat more secure position.

Assuming that the Greek War of Independence still occurs the nizam-i djedid should be able to successfully crush it pretty quickly, and by using well disciplined troops rather than irregular bashi-bazouk units avoid most of the massacres and back actions that engendered European sympathy for the rebels. Depending on how quickly things are nipped in the bud this could potentially head off the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829, or if it still goes ahead perhaps see a different outcome such as a draw. Having stood up to a European power, even if it is just Russia, provides a prestige boost for the Empire and reaffirms the strengths of the reforms. Smarting from the defeat the Russians come back in 1850s and their large armies are initially successful before being halted by the Ottomans, the Western Allies fearing that increasing weight of Russian troops could see the Ottomans collapse decide to intervene and the resulting Crimean War goes mostly as in our timeline. The peace settlement however is slightly different - Moldavia and Wallachia are joined together as the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia under a cadet branch of the Habsburgs, like Belgium they are forced to declare perpetual neutrality with their independence guaranteed by the Ottoman Empire and the other Powers; Russia receives what would become the Bessarabia Governorate to help them save face, the United Principalities in turn get Northern Dobruja for access to the Black Sea. With Russia's land access to the Balkans now effectively cut off and a treaty with the Austrian Empire definitively settling the borders as along the Danube, the Sava river, and the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia and Kingdom of Dalmatia as in our timeline the Ottoman Empire now has the rest of the century to continue reforming and modernising mostly in peace.
 
Can you provide me links to such threads?
And i haven't necessarily stated that the russo-turkish war should be a PoD.

Click on "this input" in my prior post and it will take you to a list of google links, many of which deal with helping the Ottomans do better through the 19th century. There are a bunch on the first page and it shouldn't be too hard to go through them. I went through all the relevant pages myself. There's tons of good discussion. Anything I say before you read it would just be a rehash.

I didn't say that the Russo-Turkish war should be the POD either? TBH though if you want more than that PoD, you're kinda out of luck. Abdul was this forums only Ottoman expert and he was banned in 2011. He had the 1877 war as the subject of his TL/Book so that was commented on extensively but the only other POD in the 19th century discussed was brief mentions of Selim III managing to crush the jannisaries instead of being murdered (he did also comment a lot on the Ottomans surviving WW1 but that's in the 20th century). You might get some comments by other people but I'm not very confident in the quality of info (sorry Simon).
 

The extreme brutality in suppressing uprisings was very intentional - a feature, not a bug, of the late Ottoman system. Massacres, enslavement etc. by Ottoman troops were not just grudgingly tolerated; they were explicitly allowed and ordered by the highest authorities. Avoiding that would require major changes in the field of political will, not just discipline.

Still, getting rid of the Janissaries and certain provincial strongmen would really help a lot. To start with, Selim III ought to avoid two major and unnecessary mistakes: executing Prince Mavrogenes of Wallachia and permitting the Janissaries to take over central Serbia. Instead of killing a loyal and powerful asset and disrupting his own reforms, he could use both as allies against the reactionary rebels of Vidin and the Janissary threat.

From there on there may be enough time to crush the other ayans and (maybe) prevent the Greek revolution through further reforms.
 
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