Classical Ottoman Decline

The Ottoman Empire's success in campaigns was traditionally attributed to the direct presence of their Sultans on the battlefield. Major victories at Constantinople, Chaldiran, and Mohacs were achieved under the direct command of the Sultan, enhancing their status as a gazi warrior and ensuring unity among the troops.

However, this changed after the death of Suleiman The Magnificent. His successor, Selim II, marked a shift in leadership style, with the Sultan's direct involvement in campaigns becoming less frequent. This led to a weakening of the Ottoman army due to internal disagreements among commanders.

This process is known as the sedentarization of the Sultans. The shift in leadership style also had implications for the role of women in politics. Prior to Suleiman The Magnificent's reign, the Sultan's consorts were kept away from the center of politics.

However, Suleiman's marriage to Roxelana in 1530 brought her into the political fold, setting a precedent for other consorts. This allowed advisors to influence the Sultan through his wife, leading to lobbying behind closed doors and a decrease in transparency.

Another significant change in Ottoman governance was the method of succession. After Mehmed II made fratricide the official legal mechanism for dynastic succession in 1453, all Sultans up to Suleiman killed their brothers.

However, this practice was not followed by Suleiman I, Selim II, Ahmed I, and Murad III. This undermined the meritocracy at the top of the Ottoman state. Despite this, the practice was not completely eradicated, as evidenced by Mehmed III's bloody fratricide in 1595, where he slaughtered his 17 brothers.

Another key change to Ottoman governance was how the empire was run internally. Typically, it had been customary since the reign of Mehmed II for the Sultan to afford the Janissary Corps a pay rise when gaining the throne – think of it almost as an inflation adjustment.

However, in 1566, upon the death of Suleiman, the elite troops took it upon themselves to go a step further, blocking Selim II’s entrance to Topkapi palace, the seat of the Ottoman government, until he granted their wishes.

In the end, Selim II was forced to yield, allowing the Janissaries to marry and enroll their sons in the Corps, leading state pensions to balloon and undermining the meritocracy upon which the Corps was supposed to be founded.

However, it didn’t stop there. According to Mustafa Ali, a court advisor and historian, Selim II undermined state meritocracy at all levels by returkifying the Ottoman administration.

Although modern historians dispute Ali’s account, labeling him as a disgruntled civil servant, there is certainly evidence of some erosion of meritocracy. While in 1560, two-thirds of Sanjak Beys had served in more junior roles, that number decreased to only one-quarter by 1610, showing a decrease in meritocratic promotion.

Perhaps the most obvious change to the Ottomans was one that was immediately ostensible because of its territorial nature. Along the Habsburg frontier, the fortifications of the Viennese Aulic War Council after the threat to Vienna in 1532 made it far more difficult for the Ottomans to defend its territory.

The Europeans built forts along their 117-mile border in the new trace Italian style and manned them with a new type of soldier: the tercio. This marked the first time the Austrian Habsburgs could field professional elite troops against the Ottomans. This process of gradual militaristic improvement is more broadly known as the ‘European Military Revolution.’

The Ottoman Sultans valued titles and recognition to consolidate and showcase their authority. After seizing Constantinople in 1453, they assumed the title of 'Caesar' or 'Kayser' in Turkish. By subjugating the Mamluks in 1517, they adopted the title 'Caliph,' positioning the Ottoman ruler as the spiritual leader of the Sunni Muslim world.

In their diplomatic dealings, especially with the Austrian Habsburgs, various treaties like the Treaty of Constantinople in 1533 and the Treaty of Adrianople in 1547 were signed. These agreements primarily set peace terms and borders, not necessarily establishing a hierarchy between the two powers.

However, the relationship between the Habsburgs and Ottomans underwent a noticeable change during the Long War from 1593 to 1606. This prolonged conflict saw no decisive victor and inflicted heavy losses on both sides. The war's aftermath was the Treaty of Zsitvatorok in 1606, which notably acknowledged the ceremonial equality between the Habsburgs and the Ottomans, representing a shift from any perceived superiority the Ottomans might have held in earlier decades.

While this treaty hinted at a shift in the balance of power, it's crucial to understand that the Ottoman Empire remained a formidable force and continued to play a significant role in global politics for centuries thereafter.

To add trouble to an already failing empire, the accession of Mustafa I to the throne in 1617 posed particular problems to the empire. After the death of Ahmed I, there were two contenders for the throne. The obvious choice was Osman The Young, who was Ahmed’s son. However, without a living mother to petition for him at court, he could not lobby influential Viziers and Janissaries to support his bid for the throne. As a result, Mustafa I convinced the Viziers that he, Ahmed’s brother, should take the throne.

However, it was not a happy ascendancy. First, questions were raised about Mustafa’s credentials due to the unusual nature of his succession and the fact that he didn’t commit fratricide. Additionally, those closest to the Sultan claimed that he was mad and that his advisors were using him as a puppet soldier. Since historians fiercely debate these claims, we may never know the truth about Mustafa. Nevertheless, it was a clear contributor to Ottoman instability.

To compound the difficulty brought about by Mustafa the Mad, after upsetting the Janissary Corps less than a year into his reign, he was deposed in favor of his nephew, Osman II.

This further proved to cause problems, with Osman the Young’s inexperience costing the Ottomans their chance of victory at the Battle of Khotyn in 1621, losing to a Polish-Lithuanian force with significantly inferior numbers. This further undermined the influence of Osman, leading to him being deposed again in favor of Mustafa in 1622.

The overall impact of these sudden changes in Ottoman power showed how vulnerable the Ottoman state was, further cementing its decline.

Meanwhile, increased Christian unity because of the influence of the Holy League meant that the Ottomans could not gain other victories toward their military objectives.

However, the Ottomans made one last attempt at European domination. After losing at Khotyn, the Ottomans rebuilt their military infrastructure to make another attempt at Vienna. This included rebuilding key roads and restructuring the army.

Even this couldn’t lead to an Ottoman victory. Upon leaving Constantinople, the Ottomans had 170,000 men. This was reduced to 150,000 through disease and attritional attacks by the time the Ottomans reached the gates of the city.

This force initially couldn’t believe its luck when it met a force of less than 20,000 at the city gates. However, the Ottomans largely ignored a relief force of 74,000 troops and single-mindedly focused on taking the city, leading to their eventual loss.

Despite again possessing another significant material advantage, the humiliating loss at Vienna proved to majorly undermine Ottoman power. This led to the signing of the Treaty of Karlowitz with the Austrian Habsburgs in 1699 after another loss for the Ottomans at the hands of the Holy League during the Battle of Zenta.

The treaty acknowledged Austrian territorial gains and cemented public knowledge of the Ottoman decline. The overall impact was that the Ottomans had ceased to be 'the present terror of the world'.