AHC: Ottomanwank

With a POD of an Ottoman capture of Vienna in 1683, have the Ottomans spread as far into Europe as you deem possible by 1900. The Battle of 1683 is seen by many historians as a decisive moment in the Ottoman wars in Europe from which they never recovered. So I think it makes for an especially interesting POD for this challenge. If you're feeling up for it, have the Ottomans reach the Channel.
 
There is no way the Ottomans will be able to expand much further than Vienna, let alone conquer the entirety of France, Italy, and the HRE. They are, at this point in time, already very stretched to their limits, and most likely would stop for the time being after conquering Vienna and digest their gains.
 
I dont think its possible,they were already at their logistical limit by that point,the truth is that the ottoman empire really did expand as far as it could in every possible direction while staying functional,any further and even france my start reconsidering its quiet approval.
 

Deleted member 67076

Most of Europe is off limits. Too populated, to far away from their power base, and too strong to digest. I mean at best you can get Italy, but that's a very hard pill to swallow. Rest of the world is easier.

This can be done if you have Osman II survive and eliminate the Janissaries (and other slave soldiers such as the Mamluks). With this it will be much easier to fix the structural problems and mismanagement of the provinces as well as implementing the needed reforms to keep pace with Europe. Basically, a Tanzimat 2 centuries earlier, with the added caveat of having Egypt be fully integrated, rather than a 'state within a state'.

I believe it'd be easiest for the Ottomans to expand in Africa. They could, should there be a scramble for Africa expand across most of the eastern Sahara and Sahel. OTL the Egyptians captured Sudan and even bits of northern Uganda and the Ottomans had influence around Eritrea. Here they can take that, perhaps have influence over the Great Lakes states (why would they want to rule them I have no idea), Bornu and the Sahelian states of Northern Nigeria.

Following that, the Ottomans could take more of Persia, the Gulf and the Caucus- Azerbaijan, Georgia, Basra, the Gulf states; perhaps even Oman.

This is of course being extremely optimistic.
 
Attempts to take persia were futile even during the time of suleiman the magnificent so i dont expect that to change.

Going the northern rout brings conflict with russia so thats a dead end.

The only place left is to compleatly subjugate arabia,while that might be good for prestige its all the ottomans are likely to get,and it will probably cause even more problems with the rise of arab nationalism.
 
Honestly, OTL is an Ottoman wank. They restored the Eastern Roman Empire plus some more on top of that, and lasted for over 600 years. How many other states can claim to have done something so impressive? Going much further than this just starts to get super unlikely. It's a miracle they accomplished what they did.
 
This is too late for a real ottoman wank, we'd have to go back to the time of Suleiman or even mehmed the conqueror to give give the ottomans a chance to get farther in Europe. The ottoman armies had already been declining in comparison to their european counterparts, just look at the second battle of mohacs for proof. Plus their military leaders just werent up to par especially compared to Eugen of Savoy
 
I don't get all the negativity and 'Nah, the Ottomans couldn't have done more'. Maybe not after the fall of Vienna, but the earlier the Ottomans get on a roll the greater their relative advantage is over all comers. Avoid the interregnum, have the invasion of Naples go smoother, turn the Venetians into a vassal state/Ottoman province that facilitates trade and economic vigor throughout the Empire's holdings, have Timur die early on during the invasion of the Ottomans resulting in a rout of the invasion forces and a hijacking of Timurid vassal states deep into Mesopotamia as the state falls into anarchy. Maybe conquer Morocco and introduce the corsairs into the Caribbean on Ottoman terms resulting a predominantly Islamic Caribbean piracy movement that nominally adheres to the Sultan, giving the Ottomans more money and denying the Spanish their New World profits. Go early enough and you could likely hijack several Spanish settlements such as Florida, Colombia, and Venezuela or at the very least deny them to the Spanish by razing and slaving.

You guys need some more creativity.
 
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