You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly. You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
alternatehistory.com
TLIAW- Kayser-i Rum
...The Rise of the Ottomans had been an remarkable affair, unprecedented in its speed and ferocity. 200 years ago, a man by the name of Osman led several Turkish clans to settle in the corner of northeastern Anatolia. In a mere 3 generations, the Ottomans were built up from tiny beylik to a world power. His son Orhan increased the size of his domains several fold, and his son, Murad, built an empire spanning from the Danube to Aydin, from Kosovo to Kastamonu. They had managed to subdue and vassalize the once great remnant of Rome, the Byzantine Empire. The Empire, now reduced to a tiny bit of Thrace, the Morea and its capital city, Constantinople was ripe for conquest. In the thousand years since it has been built, the city has withstood siege after siege, battle after battle, protected by the mighty Theodosian walls. The heirs of Osman sought to change that, to finish what the Umayyads started. Beginning in 1390, the Ottoman Empire began to prepare for the inevitable. Constantinople was blockaded, while the Ottoman army prepared for war.
In a false glimmer of hope, the forces of Christendom launched a last ditch attempt to rescue the dying empire. Genoa, Venice, Hungary, Wallachia, France, the ‘Holy’ Roman Empire and the tattered remains of the Second Bulgarian Empire banded together to send an expeditionary force against the ‘Turkish Menace”. In 1396, the Final Crusade was repulsed with heavy losses on part of the Crusading forces. (Among them was Sigismund, king of Hungary), and with his death Hungary was plunged into chaos until a new king was chosen. With this the last significant threat to Ottoman domination was ended. All other annoyances were put down; Bulgaria, the thorn in the Ottoman side since the days of Murad had lost their capital and was too weak to stop them, Hungary was in chaos after the death of their childless king, and the Italians and the Franks simply left when they foresaw they could not win. With this, the Ottomans could finally turn all their attention on Constantinople.
No more crusades. No more bailouts. No distractions this time.
As no power able to stop them and the miniscule ‘empire’ unable to stop them, the Byzantines’ impressive streak of luck had finally ran out. In 1403, the last flame of the Roman Empire was snuffed out after a 3 months siege. Although they fought valiantly, the Romans were simply too outmanned, outgunned and outmatched. The Empire of Rome now belonged to the Dar Al-Islam...