The Ottoman Empire had begun as one of the small states in
the Turkish region. It had emerged in the regions of the Asia
Minor during the time of the breakdown of the empire and the
rule of the Seljuk Turks. It was at the same time that the
Ottoman Turks had begun to take in from the other states. It
was during the reign of the Muhammad II (1451 – 1481), they
had ended all the rule of all the remaining Turkish dynasties.
The earliest phase of the expansion of the Ottoman Empire
had begun during the rule of the Osman I. Orkhan, Murad I
and Beyazid I – all of these at the expense of the Byzantine
Empire along with Serbia and Bulgaria.
The Ottoman Empire witnessed several moments of historical
importance. It experienced both the rise as well as the fall of
the same as the centuries passed by. The World War II had
represented quite a unique and exceptional event during which
the experience of suffering in the war had become quite
common. The entire devastation of the cities along with the
slaughtering of the civilians had simply abolished the distinction
between the rear as well as the front line. The World War
became more familiar and was accepted as the natural part of
the social as well as that of the political life. The history of the
Ottoman Empire demonstrates the common experiences of the
Central, Western as well as the Southeast Europe and puts
them in perspective of the brutality shown by the Balkans.
