AHC- Ottomans conquer europe

Also Italy is historically horrible terrain to conquer and control, the French who were closer and had more resources struggled, the Ottomans could very easily bankrupt themselves trying.

To be fair to France, they had rivals for the prize in the form of the Habsburgs and the Papacy (whose influence was well beyond it's territorial size), and Castile/Aragon did hold quite a bit of Italy for a long time.
 
The Ottomans claimed Khilafah in 1326 if I have my years correct. They then solidified this claim in around 1518 following the conquest of the Mamluks and the defeat and humbling of Shah Is'mail at Chalidran. The reason it was solidified is that the last Abbasid Caliph (Al-Muwattakil III) was removed from his throne following the fall of the Burji dynasty who were the Abbasid patrons, and since the Ottomans had claimed the title when it invaded Europe, found it in their interest to remove any potential claimant.

Also the revolt, how will such a revolt be supported by the Ottomans so throughly if the Ottomans do not first have mastery over the Mediterranean?

The revolt occurs OTL between 1569-1571, and a great deal of Aben Humeya's troops were supplied by the Ottomans. I assume all it would take is for him not to get assassinated right before battle and some luck and the revolt would be at least successful in taking back the city of Granada. After that he could declare allegiance to the Ottomans as some kind of vassal/client state as the Crimean Khanate was.
 
To be fair to France, they had rivals for the prize in the form of the Habsburgs and the Papacy (whose influence was well beyond it's territorial size), and Castile/Aragon did hold quite a bit of Italy for a long time.

And Venice.

Venice on its own held out against France, the HRE and the Pope (and nominally Spain) for 2 years during the league of Cambrai. Not that it was a great success, but hold out they did.
 
The Ottomans' biggest problem iOTL was that every time they tried to invade Austria/Hungary, they started from Constantinople, so by the time the army got to the border, the campaigning season was mostly over.

What they need to do is build up supply bases and infrastructure in the Balkans so they can move forward from there, not from Constantinople.

Then, when they take Vienna, build THAT up as a forward base for e.g. Poland, Bavaria, Saxony, etc.

I never did understand why they did it the hard way like they did.

Neither do I. Maybe someone else does and will post the answer for us.
 
Neither do I. Maybe someone else does and will post the answer for us.

All roads and sea ways lead to Constantinople if you want to run the empire you need to base yourself there which means you cannot be with the army if it is forward deployed for a long time. That means you either really trust the guy you leave in charge of the Capital not to seize power and cut you off from supplies or you really trust the guy you put in charge of the army not to either seize power and take over Rumelia or go for the biggy and march on your Capital. Trust was in short supply in the Ottoman regime.
 
All roads and sea ways lead to Constantinople if you want to run the empire you need to base yourself there which means you cannot be with the army if it is forward deployed for a long time. That means you either really trust the guy you leave in charge of the Capital not to seize power and cut you off from supplies or you really trust the guy you put in charge of the army not to either seize power and take over Rumelia or go for the biggy and march on your Capital. Trust was in short supply in the Ottoman regime.

Trust really was the biggest issue. The Ottoman dynasty sent all other prestigious Turkish families to the Balkans to basically rule as feudal lords (Timariots) to keep them away from stealing the throne. This system of governance stunted most urbanisation/building of infrastructure in the European half of the Ottoman Empire and meant the Balkans really was the limit of its expansion (at least by land).
 
All roads and sea ways lead to Constantinople if you want to run the empire you need to base yourself there which means you cannot be with the army if it is forward deployed for a long time. That means you either really trust the guy you leave in charge of the Capital not to seize power and cut you off from supplies or you really trust the guy you put in charge of the army not to either seize power and take over Rumelia or go for the biggy and march on your Capital. Trust was in short supply in the Ottoman regime.

Would it be possible to let some local lord take an army and conquer as a vassal state or something? Then you only trust him to run his part of the empire, and he can always expand toward Europe instead of toward Istanbul (or Constantinople, whatever you prefer).
 
Would it be possible to let some local lord take an army and conquer as a vassal state or something? Then you only trust him to run his part of the empire, and he can always expand toward Europe instead of toward Istanbul (or Constantinople, whatever you prefer).

Why would he do that if he could take the easy way of launching a civil war and placing a different man on the throne who would be a puppet or taking it himself. Because any army large enough to take Vienna would be strong enough to take Constantinople.
 
Why would he do that if he could take the easy way of launching a civil war and placing a different man on the throne who would be a puppet or taking it himself. Because any army large enough to take Vienna would be strong enough to take Constantinople.


Is that really true? Istanbul (I used this one cause it's shorter to spell) is famed for its defensible position. It has survived incredible odds and amazing arrays of opponents from the Sassanids/Avars, Umayyads, Ottomans, etc...
 
Is that really true? Istanbul (I used this one cause it's shorter to spell) is famed for its defensible position. It has survived incredible odds and amazing arrays of opponents from the Sassanids/Avars, Umayyads, Ottomans, etc...

I assume that the army needed to conquer the Hapsburgs needs to be at least 100000 strong with guns needed to breach fortifications along with it. In any time when the Ottomans are trying to invade Europe further than the Balkans then the cannon tech has certainly developed enough where the walls of the city are now much more vulnerable than any time in the past.
 
Would it be possible to let some local lord take an army and conquer as a vassal state or something? Then you only trust him to run his part of the empire, and he can always expand toward Europe instead of toward Istanbul (or Constantinople, whatever you prefer).

Why would he do that if he could take the easy way of launching a civil war and placing a different man on the throne who would be a puppet or taking it himself. Because any army large enough to take Vienna would be strong enough to take Constantinople.

Is that really true? Istanbul (I used this one cause it's shorter to spell) is famed for its defensible position. It has survived incredible odds and amazing arrays of opponents from the Sassanids/Avars, Umayyads, Ottomans, etc...

Essentially what happens in the later Ottoman Empire is a series of rebellions by local military commanders and governors aimed not at bringing the central government down but being troublesome enough that they are bribed with high office in the Capital or a more senior provincial posting to stop. Whereupon they were often sent out from Constantinople because some other guy had had exactly the same idea and needed to be put down.

Thus the problem with an even stronger provincial command is the one outlined by Legofan and while as John7755 points out Constantinople was in a strong defensive position the Ottomans knew very well that they had developed the technology to overcome those defences. Besides even if the army was not strong enough to break in to the Capital then the fact that it could invest it would secure whichever rebellions Pasha first pulled it off a very substantial office indeed and he would likely point out as new Grand Vizier the folly of similar equipping anyone else.
 
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