Changes

===Tolerance===

===Tolerance===

When the empire was growing it adopted a policy toward Christians and Jews, and toward various ethnic groups.  They would all be tolerated and have a degree of self government, provided they acknowledged the empire and non-Muslims paid a tax. This was the "millet" system and created a segregated  second-class status for minorities.  Because of the increased activities of Protestant missionaries, a Protestant millet was set up in 1850, which allowed for the creation of schools and colleges aimed at non-Muslims.

When the empire was growing it adopted a policy toward Christians and Jews, and toward various ethnic groups.  They would all be tolerated and have a degree of self-government, provided they acknowledged the empire and non-Muslims paid a tax. This was the "millet" system and created a segregated  second-class status for minorities.  Because of the increased activities of Protestant missionaries, a Protestant millet was set up in 1850, which allowed for the creation of schools and colleges aimed at non-Muslims.

===Janissaries===

===Janissaries===

A special military cadre of '''Janissaries''' was created as an imperial force totally loyal to the Empire. They were a highly trained, disciplined, military force founded in the 1360s as a select bodyguard drawn from the fittest Christian prisoners, youthful soldiers, and slaves from throughout the Ottoman Empire. By 1600 all new recruits were Muslim volunteers.  

A special military cadre of '''Janissaries''' was created as an imperial force totally loyal to the Empire. They were a highly trained, disciplined, military force founded in the 1360s as a select bodyguard drawn from the fittest Christian prisoners, youthful soldiers, and slaves from throughout the Ottoman Empire. By 1600 all new recruits were Muslim volunteers.  

In 1860 fighting between Christians and Druze in central Mount Lebanon led to intervention by the European powers to establish the Beirut Committee, under the chairmanship of Ottoman foreign minister Fuad Pasha and comprised of representatives from Britain, France, Russia, Austria, and Prussia, to resolve the conflict. Britain identified the weaknesses of the administration of the Porte in Lebanon to be corruption, strategic isolation, and lack of communication between the Ottoman bureaucracy and the local Arab population, but no serious reforms were undertaken.

In 1860 fighting between Christians and Druze in central Mount Lebanon led to intervention by the European powers to establish the Beirut Committee, under the chairmanship of Ottoman foreign minister Fuad Pasha and comprised of representatives from Britain, France, Russia, Austria, and Prussia, to resolve the conflict. Britain identified the weaknesses of the administration of the Porte in Lebanon to be corruption, strategic isolation, and lack of communication between the Ottoman bureaucracy and the local Arab population, but no serious reforms were undertaken.

===Bulgarian massacres===

===Bulgarian massacres===

The "Bulgarian Horrors" were systematic massacres of thousands of Bulgarian Christians by Ottoman forces in 1876-77. In Britain Liberal leader [[William Ewart Gladstone]] exploited the horror to embarrass the Conservative government of [[Benjamin Disraeli]], who tried to prop up the Ottoman regime as a counter-weight to Russia.  Meanwhile in 1882 the British seized effective control over Egypt and the Suez Canal; Egypt nominally still belonged to the Ottoman Empire but the reality was that the Empire was crumbling.

The "Bulgarian Horrors" were systematic massacres of thousands of Bulgarian Christians by Ottoman forces in 1876-77. In Britain Liberal leader [[William Ewart Gladstone]] exploited the horror to embarrass the Conservative government of [[Benjamin Disraeli]], who tried to prop up the Ottoman regime as a counter-weight to Russia.  Meanwhile, in 1882 the British seized effective control over Egypt and the Suez Canal; Egypt nominally still belonged to the Ottoman Empire but the reality was that the Empire was crumbling.

===Armenians===

===Armenians===

The British expected easy victories, and sent armies into Mesopotamia (Iraq), which were badly defeated, and landed at Gallipoli in order to capture Istanbul, but failed badly in 1915.  However, the British were successful in moving from Egypt to conquer Palestine, using the aid of Arab nationalists stirred up by British officer Lawrence of Arabia ([[T.E. Lawrence]]).

The British expected easy victories, and sent armies into Mesopotamia (Iraq), which were badly defeated, and landed at Gallipoli in order to capture Istanbul, but failed badly in 1915.  However, the British were successful in moving from Egypt to conquer Palestine, using the aid of Arab nationalists stirred up by British officer Lawrence of Arabia ([[T.E. Lawrence]]).

[[Winston Churchill]] and other top British leaders envisioned an operation in which they placed their strength against Ottoman weakness. Instead of engaging a feeble opponent, however, the British faced the best-trained and best-led divisions in the Ottoman army and were up against the most heavily fortified and well-prepared positions in the Ottoman Empire. In command and control the Ottoman army performed well at all levels, and Ottoman soldiers proved to be effective fighters on the defensive. The Germans, furthermore, provided very talented generals and senior staff members to aid and help direct the Ottoman effort. As a result the Ottoman army fought the British to a stalemate, leading the British to abandon the campaign.<ref>Edward J. Erickson, "Strength Against Weakness: Ottoman Military Effectiveness At Gallipoli, 1915." ''Journal Of Military History'' 2001 65(4): 981-1011</ref>

[[Winston Churchill]] and other top British leaders envisioned an operation in which they placed their strength against Ottoman weakness. Instead of engaging a feeble opponent, however, the British faced the best-trained and best-led divisions in the Ottoman army and were up against the most heavily fortified and well-prepared positions in the Ottoman Empire. In command and control the Ottoman army performed well at all levels, and Ottoman soldiers proved to be effective fighters on the defensive. The Germans, furthermore, provided very talented generals and senior staff members to aid and help direct the Ottoman effort. As a result, the Ottoman army fought the British to a stalemate, leading the British to abandon the campaign.<ref>Edward J. Erickson, "Strength Against Weakness: Ottoman Military Effectiveness At Gallipoli, 1915." ''Journal Of Military History'' 2001 65(4): 981-1011</ref>

The secret wartime Sykes-Picot Agreement in 1916 was a plan for Russian, British, and French administration of dismembered Ottoman lands in the Middle East and Central Asia.  Russia dropped out but at the 1919 [[Paris Peace Conference]] much of the territory of the Ottoman Empire was placed under British and French control, while [[Mustafa Kemal Ataturk]] led a revolution and established the secular nation of [[Turkey]].

The secret wartime Sykes-Picot Agreement in 1916 was a plan for Russian, British, and French administration of dismembered Ottoman lands in the Middle East and Central Asia.  Russia dropped out but at the 1919 [[Paris Peace Conference]] much of the territory of the Ottoman Empire was placed under British and French control, while [[Mustafa Kemal Ataturk]] led a revolution and established the secular nation of [[Turkey]].