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Janissaries
[[File:Suleiman1.jpg|thumb|250px|right]]
[[File:Suleiman1.jpg|thumb|250px|right]]
===Tolerance===
When the empire was growing it adopted a policy toward Christians and Jews, and towrad various ethnic groups. They would all be tolerated and have a degree of self government, provided they acknowledged the empire and non-Moslems paid a tax.
===Janissaries===
A special military cadre of '''Janissaries''' was created as an imperial force. 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 Moslem volunteers.
===Threat to Europe===
[[Suleiman|Suleiman the Magnificent]] reigned 1520–1566 and expanded into Europe, capturing Belgrade and Buda (Budapest) and threatening--but failing--to capture Vienna. His reign marked the high point of Ottoman prowess.
[[Suleiman|Suleiman the Magnificent]] reigned 1520–1566 and expanded into Europe, capturing Belgrade and Buda (Budapest) and threatening--but failing--to capture Vienna. His reign marked the high point of Ottoman prowess.
For many years the prevailing interpretation of the decline and collapse of the empire focused on internal failures. The Ottoman Empire originally had benefited from a series of energetic sultans to reach an apogee by 1600, but subsequent leadership failed and a combination of decadent sultans, manipulative harem women, and corrupt bureaucrats and military officials set in motion a long and steady decline that dragged on over the next 320 years until the final collapse in the aftermath of World War I. Efforts to ged rid of old power centers (such as the Jansinaries) and instead adopt modern European methods and technology bought a little time, and could not prevent the seizure of Egypt by the British. he rise of ethnic or language-based nationalism after 1800 meant that one group after another wanted out, starting with the Slavs and the Greeks. Finally the Arabs and the Turks themselves wanted out, and after the poor performance in the World War, no one wanted in. Instead of its historic toplerance the Empire became a killing machine, most notioriosly with the genocide of the Armenians 1890-1915. More recently historians have emphasized the tolerance and flexibility of the Empire as explanations of why it lasted so long. They acknowledge the weaknesses
For many years the prevailing interpretation of the decline and collapse of the empire focused on internal failures. The Ottoman Empire originally had benefited from a series of energetic sultans to reach an apogee by 1600, but subsequent leadership failed and a combination of decadent sultans, manipulative harem women, and corrupt bureaucrats and military officials set in motion a long and steady decline that dragged on over the next 320 years until the final collapse in the aftermath of World War I. Efforts to ged rid of old power centers (such as the Jansinaries) and instead adopt modern European methods and technology bought a little time, and could not prevent the seizure of Egypt by the British. he rise of ethnic or language-based nationalism after 1800 meant that one group after another wanted out, starting with the Slavs and the Greeks. Finally the Arabs and the Turks themselves wanted out, and after the poor performance in the World War, no one wanted in. Instead of its historic toplerance the Empire became a killing machine, most notioriosly with the genocide of the Armenians 1890-1915. More recently historians have emphasized the tolerance and flexibility of the Empire as explanations of why it lasted so long. They acknowledge the weaknesses
===Destruction of the Janissaries===
By 1800, the Janissaries, over 100,000 strong, had become politically powerful but were ill-disciplined and badly outmatched by European armies. Many had become local businessmen and had lost their military skills. In 1807 Sultan Selim III angered the Janissaries by attempting to modernize the army along European lines; they revolted and overthrew him and were now a negative force. The solution was to dissolve the units and kill the leaders, which was done by a massacre organized by the sultan in 1826 and performed by artillery units loyal to the sultan.
===Holy Places===
===Holy Places===