First Ottoman-Venetian War, 1463: Ottoman Empire

Transcription

1 First Ottoman-Venetian War, 1463: Ottoman Empire Staff Chair: Lance Yau Vice Chair: Dylan Tovey Secretary: Crisis Manager: Andrew Mezzi Crisis Analysts: Alex Chilton, Maha Akbar, Jurry Bajwah Introduction Fresh off their victory against the Byzantines in 1453, the Ottomans under Sultan Mehmed II have established themselves as the preeminent power in Europe and the Muslim world. With complete control over the Sea of Marmara, the gateway between Europe and the East, the Ottoman Empire now controls one of the most important outlets of the Silk Road, the trade route between Europe, India, and China. Now, the Republic of Venice, which controls a trading empire backed by the most powerful navy in Europe, feels threatened by the Ottoman s newfound strength. Now, amid rising tensions between the two dominant empires of the Eastern Mediterranean, an Ottoman slave has fled to the Venetian fort of Coron in Greece and converted to Christianity, and the Venetians have granted him asylum. Now, with of the city-state s refusal to turn over the fugitive, the Ottomans have attacked Coron. The two great empires of the Eastern Mediterranean are now at war. History The Turkish tribes first arrived in the Middle East in the eleventh century, establishing the Seljuk Empire in modern-day Iran and Iraq. In the following decades, the Seljuks expanded west and south, fighting wars against the Byzantines, culminating in the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, where the Eastern Roman army was decisively beaten and the Seljuks cemented their control over the Anatolian Plateau. However, the Seljuk conquests proved short-lived. The Mongol Empire

2 invaded in the thirteenth century and the Seljuks disintegrated. Turkish tribes throughout Anatolia established small kingdoms known as beyliks, each ruled by a bey. One of these, the Beylik of Osmanoğulları, was ruled by Osman Ghazi. With the Beylik of Germiyanoğulları, one of the most powerful in Anatolia, to the east, Osman s options for expansion were limited to the Byzantine Empire, still weakened from the Fourth Crusade a century earlier. With the goal of expanding the frontiers of the Islamic world, Osman and his successor Orhan fought wars with the Byzantines, and while the Ottoman Beys could not breach the walls of Constantinople itself, they conquered the Byzantine countryside until only a few isolated cities remained under Eastern Roman control. Orhan s son Murad I continued to expand the beylik. Adrianople, a major Byzantine city, fell in Renamed Edirne, it became the new Ottoman capital. The Ottomans continued to expand south into Europe and east into Anatolia. When they conquered a territory, they allowed the local customs, rulers, and political structures to remain in place, knowing that their territory would be easier to manage that way. Fearful of the Ottomans, the Karamanid Emirate in southern Anatolia and Christian states in Europe, such as Serbia and Bosnia, formed an alliance against the Ottomans. This alliance inspired vassals throughout Anatolia to rise up against the Ottoman Sultanate, forcing Bayezid to return from the European front to put down rebellions. Meanwhile, Balkan vassals, supported by the Byzantines and Hungarians, rose up as well. However, these revolts were all in vain. Bayezid easily crushed them and reasserted his authority. He then proceeded to attack and defeat Karaman as well, removing the eastern threat. While Bayezid was distracted, the Pope declared a crusade. Led by Hungary, the Crusade met with some initial success, but was quickly repulsed in the Battle of Nicopolis in The Christian world was defeated and the Caliph, the head of Sunni Islam, crowned Bayezid Sultan. Despite all this, the new Sultanate was still not fully secure. Timur, the Khan of the Timurid Empire, invaded. Ottoman vassals sided with him, and Bayezid was killed. This defeat turned out to only be a temporary setback for the Ottoman Sultanate. Following

3 Bayezid s death, his third son Mehmed defeated his three other sons, Mûsa, İsa, and Süleyman in a civil war known as the Interregnum. He and his successor Murad II then proceeded to reconquer the once again independent Anatolian beyliks. Murad also fought a short war with the Republic of Venice that ended in a stalemate, where Venice accepted the Ottoman Sultanate s advances in the Balkans while the Ottomans accepted Venice s commercial dominance in the Mediterranean. Finally, Murad began to reform the Ottoman government set up by his successors. He began replacing previously independent vassals with an organized bureaucracy and instituted the the devşirme system, where Christian children were taken from the Balkans, converted to Islam, and trained to be Janissaries, or elite soldiers for the Sultan. After a life of conquering, Murad abdicated the throne to his young son Mehmed II. Taking advantage of this, the Pope declared another crusade to push the Ottomans out of Europe. Murad returned to lead the Ottoman army and defeated the Crusaders in the Battle of Varna. Following the defeat, Murad crushed the Ottomans remaining foes in the Balkans, as well as many vassals, who he replaced with governors. These appointments greatly increased the powers of the Janissaries, often at the expense of the Turkish nobility. Murad died in 1451, and Mehmed II became Sultan once again. With the support of the Janissaries, he set his sights on Constantinople, determined to conquer the city for the Ottoman Sultanate once and for all. On April 6, 1453, the Ottomans began their siege and on May 29, they took the city. The fall of what was once the richest and most powerful city in the world shook Europe. With Constantinople, the Ottomans now controlled one of the most important places in the Silk Road. Composition of the Committee Mahmud Pasha Angelović is the Grand Vizier, responsible for the administration of the Ottoman Empire. Osman Çelebi, the Defterdar, is responsible for managing the empire s economy and finances. Saatçi Halife, the Reis ül-küttab, is responsible for the empire s relations with other countries. Turahanoğlu Ömer Bey is the highest-ranking general in the empire, responsible for the leading the Ottoman army. Süleyman Baltaoğlu is the highest-ranking admiral in the empire, responsible for leading the Ottoman fleet. Hass Murad Pasha is an Ottoman general in Greece who is popular and influential with the Greek peasantry.

4 Dionysius I is the Patriarch of Constantinople, the head of the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is friendly towards the Ottomans and extremely influential among the largely Orthodox Ottoman subjects in Europe. Calğar is the Kızlar Agha, or Chief Eunuch of the Sultan s harem. He also is assumed to have significant intelligence assets under his control Hüma Hatun is Sultan Mehmed II s mother ( Valide sultan) a traditionally influential role within the Ottoman court. Molla Hüsrev is Şeyhülislam, the supreme authority on Islam within the Ottoman Court. Bayezid II is Crown Prince of the Ottoman Empire. Osman: Is the current leader (A ğa) of the Janissaries, the Sultan s personal guards and elite shock troops. Structure of Debate and Rules of Procedure Crisis committees at ClarkMUN operate continually. Instead of debating a distinct topic area laid out in advance in the background guide, these committees will focus on a broader political, economic, social, and military crises, reacting to their twists and turns through several committee sessions. Joint crisis committees are interconnected and have dedicated crisis staffs in addition to their dais staffs, coordinating events to respond to the decisions delegates make and constantly challenging the committee. Delegates represent characters by taking on the personas of political leaders, military commanders, and cabinet members. Representing an individual differs greatly from representing a delegate to the United Nations; for instance, if one s character is a real person, it is crucial to research his or her perspective on the conflict as one would research a state s policy. This information will not only guide delegates through their debate but also add personality and flair to the experience. If the assigned character is fictional or only loosely based on a real figure, delegates have the unique and fun opportunity to develop their own personality within the within the bounds of realism. Unlike traditional committees, crisis committees do not operate according to standard parliamentary procedure. Instead of a speakers list, most of debate will be conducted through moderated caucuses, allowing for a free flow of ideas and efficient progress. Delegates are also encouraged to motion to enter unmoderated caucus when they think it would be beneficial for the committee. An unmoderated caucus can be no longer than twenty minutes, but delegates are encouraged to select shorter times and utilize them sparingly. Voting on decisions and other actions taken by the committee is conducted by the chair, but he or she will be granted greater discretion than in a traditional committee; although the chair entrusts his or her cabinet with making decisions in his or her name, he or she holds ultimate veto power over all actions of the committee. Perhaps the most important divergence of crisis committees from their traditional counterparts is the role of the crisis staff. In addition to voicing concerns verbally in the committee room, individual delegates can also conduct private affairs through liaisons with the crisis room, adding a new and exciting dimension to the committee. Each delegate has a great deal of agency, and

5 each is responsible for exercising this power through communication with the crisis staff and with the other delegates. We intend to simulate the leadership of the Ottoman Empire in such a way as to provide delegates an opportunity to see their actions and decisions through to the end. Delegates will be informed of steps forward in time and are encouraged to think big due to the fact that months are passing during the course of committee sessions as opposed to hours. Delegates must suspend their disbelief for the committee sessions; delegates should defer to this background guide as opposed to historical accuracy. If you have any questions on this topic, feel free to contact your chair. This crisis committee represents a national government of sorts with delegates portraying specific individuals within the upper echelons of the leadership. Delegates must work together to further the interests of the committee, but first and foremost must stay true to their character and creatively use their specific portfolio powers to have a unique impact on the committee. Unlike normal Model United Nations committees, the goal of a crisis committee is not to pass resolutions. Delegates instead write directives to address pressing crises in committee. Directives are policy decisions that will result in a specific action being taken by an institution under the committee s control. Crisis staff will determine the feasibility of each directive upon receipt. Directives may be drafted by any member of the committee, and are then submitted to the chair. If a delegate motions to introduce new directives, and the committee passes this motion, each submitted directive is read by the chair as well as being typed and projected. The submitter of each directive has the opportunity to speak briefly on his or her proposal after it has been read. After all submitted directives have been introduced, the committee enters into a moderated caucus on those directives specifically. Delegates may motion to enter voting procedure when they feel the directives have been sufficiently discussed. Directives are then passed by a simple majority vote, though wider agreement is encouraged if at all possible. In some situations, delegates may wish to enact personal directives without the knowledge of the committee as a whole, and this is permitted for actions under each delegate s individual control. A delegate representing the head of an intelligence agency, for example, would be allowed to individually contact informants to request information about a certain event. Such directives are submitted in the same manner as other directives, but must be clearly marked as confidential. In this case, they will be passed in secret and not shared with the committee. Delegates will also be notified of the results of these secret actions in a discreet manner. If the chair feels that a delegate does not in fact have the power to unilaterally take a requested action, the directive is returned to its submitter and can either be resubmitted as a general directive or discarded. Delegates may also choose to send out press releases to the world at large, as well as private communiqués to specific delegates or committees. These will be introduced and discussed concurrently with directives and are passed in the same manner. Please bear in mind the specific portfolio powers that may entail general communication and communication to specific bodies and individuals.

6 Works Cited and Further Reading Baldwin, Marshall W. Crusades. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, Web. 28 July < Cassiodorus. The Letters of Cassiodorus. Project Gutenberg. Trans. Thomas Hodgkin. Project Gutenberg, 15 June Web. 28 July < Crowley, Roger. City of Fortune: How Venice Ruled the Seas. New York: Random House, Print. Kohl, Benjamin G., Andrea Mozzato, and Monique O'Connell. The Rulers of Venice, The Rulers of Venice, American Council of Learned Societies, Web. 2 August < Shaw, Stanford Jay. Ottoman Empire. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, Web. 2 August < Wilde, Robert. The History of Venice. About.com. About, Inc., 6 June Web. 28 July <