Chapter 1 - The Fall of the Ottoman Empire
Mehmet Ali Pasha, the executioner of the Ottoman Empire and first sultan of the Aghayid Sultanate.
The seeds of the Ottoman collapse of 1836/1838 were sown surprisingly, not by the century of decline and stagnation that preceded the ascension of Mahmud II, but in his reign itself. Faced with rebellions by religious minorities and ambitious beys all over the empire, he turned to Mehmet Ali Pasha in Egypt to assist in dealing with the Greek rebellion by making him the governor of Morea. The rebels here were a particularly dangerous threat due to the sympathy the Greeks commanded in Europe.
Mehmet sent his son, Ibrahim Pasha to Morea in response along with 30,000 men. By 1827, Ibrahim had decisively defeated the Greek rebels. A European congress was called to discuss what to do about the Greek situation, but the conservative monarchies of Europe were swayed by Metternich’s arguments for not intervening, and Britain was unwilling to go it alone. Altogether, it had been a good war for both the Ottomans and Mehmet Ali. The other Christian minorities of the empire had been cowed, and were unwilling to stand against the sultan, and Mehmet Ali had gained land in Europe, that could be used as a future base of expansion.
Meanwhile, there was trouble brewing between Mahmud II and Mehmet Ali. Ali had been promised half of Syria for his efforts against the Greek rebels, but Mahmud refused to give him this, citing the lack of help from Ali in supressing the revolt outside of Morea, and accusing him of acting only in self-interest as opposed to the good of the Empire. These tensions lead to war in 1836. Most of the European powers were eager to defend the Ottoman Empire as a bulwark against Russia, but France had worked out a diplomatic deal. If the Ottoman Empire collapsed, the Russians would only help themselves to Silistra and the Danubian principalities, and this would be balanced by an Austrian takeover of Bosnia and Serbia.
European expectations were somewhat dampened by the stalemate at the battle of Ceyhan, where the 2nd Ottoman army lead by Hafiz Pasha and Helmut von Moltke held off Ali’s army, though suffered heavy casualties doing so. However, the new expectations that this would be a slow war were smashed at the battle of Methoni. Mahmud II had lead an army here to stop Ibrahim’s invasion of the Balkans, but was too slow to trap him on one of the chokepoints of the Greek coast. He paid for this by having 30% of his army killed, and another 40% defecting. Mahmud himself fled to Kostantiniyye, where he was assassinated after another severe defeat at the Battle of Adana.
The Ottomans were now in crisis. The only heir left was the fourteen year old Abdulmecid. He tried to rally support to himself, but too few were willing to support the boy, especially when Mehmet Ali and Ibrahim were closing in. The Ottomans didn’t even have any significant armies to stop them with. So the Grand Vizier, Hussain Pasha, simply offered the throne to Mehmet Ali which of course he accepted. He could now look back on two years well spend. He had gained most of the old Ottoman Empire, with the exception of the lands in the Balkans promised to Austria and Russia in return for non-intervention. He could now set to the task of integrating his new conquests with the rest of his lands, which promised to be a hard task, even if most of the people accepted his rule as there was no other alternative, and claimed the Caliphate too, though many Muslims viewed him as not being legitimate enough.
Abdulmecid on the other hand, sailed off to exile in Britain. His British hosts had much to be angry about in this new turn of events, just like him. Europe had worked against them in both Greece and the Oriental crisis, Britain had lost an ally, and they were feeling rather isolated from the other great powers after their disagreements. They could at least take some consolation in the fact that the new Aghayid state, as it was starting to be known as, could serve as a bulwark against Russia as well as its predecessor did.
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This is my first timeline, but for the love of god, please don't be gentle. I need comments, criticisms, but preferably not any hate mail. Its the only way i'll get better at this...
Mehmet Ali Pasha, the executioner of the Ottoman Empire and first sultan of the Aghayid Sultanate.
The seeds of the Ottoman collapse of 1836/1838 were sown surprisingly, not by the century of decline and stagnation that preceded the ascension of Mahmud II, but in his reign itself. Faced with rebellions by religious minorities and ambitious beys all over the empire, he turned to Mehmet Ali Pasha in Egypt to assist in dealing with the Greek rebellion by making him the governor of Morea. The rebels here were a particularly dangerous threat due to the sympathy the Greeks commanded in Europe.
Mehmet sent his son, Ibrahim Pasha to Morea in response along with 30,000 men. By 1827, Ibrahim had decisively defeated the Greek rebels. A European congress was called to discuss what to do about the Greek situation, but the conservative monarchies of Europe were swayed by Metternich’s arguments for not intervening, and Britain was unwilling to go it alone. Altogether, it had been a good war for both the Ottomans and Mehmet Ali. The other Christian minorities of the empire had been cowed, and were unwilling to stand against the sultan, and Mehmet Ali had gained land in Europe, that could be used as a future base of expansion.
Meanwhile, there was trouble brewing between Mahmud II and Mehmet Ali. Ali had been promised half of Syria for his efforts against the Greek rebels, but Mahmud refused to give him this, citing the lack of help from Ali in supressing the revolt outside of Morea, and accusing him of acting only in self-interest as opposed to the good of the Empire. These tensions lead to war in 1836. Most of the European powers were eager to defend the Ottoman Empire as a bulwark against Russia, but France had worked out a diplomatic deal. If the Ottoman Empire collapsed, the Russians would only help themselves to Silistra and the Danubian principalities, and this would be balanced by an Austrian takeover of Bosnia and Serbia.
European expectations were somewhat dampened by the stalemate at the battle of Ceyhan, where the 2nd Ottoman army lead by Hafiz Pasha and Helmut von Moltke held off Ali’s army, though suffered heavy casualties doing so. However, the new expectations that this would be a slow war were smashed at the battle of Methoni. Mahmud II had lead an army here to stop Ibrahim’s invasion of the Balkans, but was too slow to trap him on one of the chokepoints of the Greek coast. He paid for this by having 30% of his army killed, and another 40% defecting. Mahmud himself fled to Kostantiniyye, where he was assassinated after another severe defeat at the Battle of Adana.
The Ottomans were now in crisis. The only heir left was the fourteen year old Abdulmecid. He tried to rally support to himself, but too few were willing to support the boy, especially when Mehmet Ali and Ibrahim were closing in. The Ottomans didn’t even have any significant armies to stop them with. So the Grand Vizier, Hussain Pasha, simply offered the throne to Mehmet Ali which of course he accepted. He could now look back on two years well spend. He had gained most of the old Ottoman Empire, with the exception of the lands in the Balkans promised to Austria and Russia in return for non-intervention. He could now set to the task of integrating his new conquests with the rest of his lands, which promised to be a hard task, even if most of the people accepted his rule as there was no other alternative, and claimed the Caliphate too, though many Muslims viewed him as not being legitimate enough.
Abdulmecid on the other hand, sailed off to exile in Britain. His British hosts had much to be angry about in this new turn of events, just like him. Europe had worked against them in both Greece and the Oriental crisis, Britain had lost an ally, and they were feeling rather isolated from the other great powers after their disagreements. They could at least take some consolation in the fact that the new Aghayid state, as it was starting to be known as, could serve as a bulwark against Russia as well as its predecessor did.
________________________________________________
This is my first timeline, but for the love of god, please don't be gentle. I need comments, criticisms, but preferably not any hate mail. Its the only way i'll get better at this...
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