One of the major things that also contributed to the downfall of the Ottoman empire was the economic deterioration. Money problems within the empire as well as international trade losses troubled the economy greatly. The loss of the trade routes in the Ottoman empire gradually but directly effected the Ottoman decline. In the beginning, external trade played a very small part in the economics of the Ottoman empire . Since the empire was so huge, extending over large areas, the empire was self-sufficient and did not need much from the outside world. Capitulations were one of the factors that brought economic decline and the fall of the Empire. Capitulations were a system of trade agreements that gave certain economic privileges to foreign importers and exporters. The Capitulations destructed the economy only when other countries profited from the Capitulations and when this created an unequal exchange (The Fall of the Ottoman Empire 5). The most critical Capitulation was the one Suleyman settled with France in 1536. Suleyman gave France many privileges and put very little or no taxes on the imports and exports that came to and from France (The Fall of the Ottoman Empire 6). In later years, These privileges that France had, eventually, served as models for those granted to England, Holland, and other countries. Basically, the Ottoman Empire gave international-trade privileges to other countries. Gradually, as the rest of the world became stronger, they took advantage of the trade the Ottoman Empire had to offer. They , slowly , laid higher taxes on the Ottoman Empire, while the Ottoman Empire laid little taxes on them. Then the outside world became much stronger and the Ottoman Empire became weaker---and it was in serious debt. To total the fall of the trade economy, in 1838, there was a commercial agreement with England which established an example of a Capitulation that was aimed at colonizing and controlling the Ottoman economy (The Fall of the Ottoman Empire 6). The agreement damaged the Empire’s efforts towards economic development. It created a huge debt, bankruptcy, and obtained all the internal income that would normally go to the Ottoman Empire (The Fall of the Ottoman Empire 6). Before, the goods of India, Sind, and China used to come to Suez, and were distributed by Muslims to all over the world (The Fall of the Ottoman Empire 3). Later on, goods were carried on Portugese, Dutch, and English ships to Frangistan, and were spread all over the world from there. Then, they brought what they didn’t need to Istanbul and other Islamic lands and sold it for five times the price, thus earning much money---bankrupting the Ottoman treasury.

    From 1590 the Ottoman budget showed large deficits. The income of the empire calculated in gold fell from 5.8 million in 1567 to 2.5 million in 1597. To take care of this problem, sultans found it necessary to raise taxes permanently. Also, the army required an abundance of money continuously. To keep a large regular army, expenses were high. For example, when the Ottoman military captured Cyprus in 1571, a strong Christian alliance was created. The strong allied fleet, under the command of Don John of Austria, defeated the Ottoman fleet at Lepanto (Inalcik 41). The war fleet of two hundred galleys were built to replace the ships that were destroyed at Lepanto: that alone cost 1.2 million in gold each year (The Fall of the Ottoman Empire 6).

Since the empire was so huge, and because other countries around the Ottoman empire posed great threats to the empire, the Ottoman empire had to adopt a more defensive, permanent and numerous army. This quickly formed a terrible burden on the economy. Later, sultans were always trying to gather money for the special treasury created for the army. Again, they increased taxes. Since a great portion of the Ottoman income came from the fiefs, the loss of lands from defeats greatly weakened the Ottoman treasury (The Fall of the Ottoman Empire 3).

The raising of taxes became more and more difficult. When these later sultans saw that the empire was in desperate need of money, they had a desire to collect and build up the maximum wealth as quickly as possible. The burden of the taxes and the enforced collection created many revolts. The eighteenth and nineteenth century was a period of economic crisis for the empire. In the late 1700s, because of inflation, the value of one Ottoman piastre fell by about 500% (Zurcher 45). In the early 1800s, the salaries of the people were so low that the people complained and revolted frequently (Zurcher 45). In 1826, even more money was given to the army from tax-farms, confiscated property, and religious services that were brought under government control ( Jelavich, B. 144 ). All of these things not only put the economy of the Ottoman Empire in great danger, but the uprisings and the many revolts created instability, and the internal political order of the Empire was deteriorating.

    A third crucial reason for the decline of the Ottoman Empire was the lack of political order and control in the later years of the Ottoman Empire. The great size of the Ottoman Empire made it harder to govern in distant areas. Because of the various problems and the lack of respect given to the unqualified sultans, many of the local governors ruled with personal interests and not for the interest of the people. Since many of the surrounding countries (such as Britain and Russia) were rising and becoming more powerful, the outside world posed many threats to the Ottoman areas. Furthermore, the means of transportation and communication at that time was not compatible with the size of the empire and , therefore, the Ottoman Empire was too big to defend. Also, financial and economic problems caused chaos throughout the Empire, slowly deteriorating the internal political order and control that the Sultans once held. Internal revolts reduced the army’s fighting strength so that they weren’t able to fight foreign armies. Revolts became very frequent within the empire. Because the Janissaries, who were relied upon to establish security in the Ottoman Empire, were underpaid, they became a threat. They posed a great danger at a time when the Empire was involved in crucial wars on its borders. For example, Janissary General Abdul Halim Kara Yaziji revolted in Upper Syria; he attacked the governors of Damascus in the south and Baghdad in the east and defeated them. He died in a battle and his brother carried on after him. The Sultan sent for him and his janissary followers and pressured them with great difficulty to fight the Austrians who tried to take over areas near Buda. Finally, these janissary rebels went to fight and died for their country. There were many other janissary revolts. However, they lasted until 1826, when it finally became possible to get rid of the rebelling janissaries (The Fall of the Ottoman Empire 9). Nevertheless, other risings and revolts continued. The Kurd leader, Janbulad, governor of Klis near Aleppo, revolted. Prince Fakhruddin, the Druse governor in Lebanon revolted, as well. After the Sultan took care of other problems in Eastern Europe, he sent an army against Janbulad, who was defeated, but went to Prince Fakruddin who gave him shelter (Mahmud 256 ). The Druses had the advantage of their native hills and resisted the Sultan’s forces effectively (Mahmud 256 ). With some difficulty, other minor risings in Asia Minor were put down.

    The European nations began to rise and gain power. The Ottomans fought them back with various fortunes. Russia allied with the Christian nations against the Ottomans (Mahmud 254 ). The balance of powers were all against the Ottomans; then, the Ottomans began to lose battles and, gradually, became weaker. In the Ottoman Empire, there were two fronts, one in the east and another in the west, with Istanbul in the center. In one season, a full military group could not be mounted on more than one front, leaving the other front undefended. This was dangerous, since surrounding countries were becoming more and more powerful. Many times the surrounding countries aimed at controlling the trade routes before they planned to take over Ottoman lands. The other powers knew that when the trade routes were taken over, the lands of the Ottoman Empire would then be easier to capture and vice versa. This is because once an opposing power establishes itself in the middle or by the Ottoman Empire, it is easier for them to gradually take over other areas in the Empire. Under the reign of Suleyman, the Ottomans controlled the eastern Mediterranean trade routes as well as the very important routes of Europe. Then, the Europeans expanded overseas, reaching America by crossing the Atlantic, and Asia by going around the Cape of Good Hope, and passing through the Straits of Magellan into the Pacific Ocean. This created many dangerous threats to the Islamic countries. Confusion resulted from the Europeans establishing themselves on the coasts of America, India, and the Persian Gulf. Many Ottoman observers, such as Omar Talip saw the danger of this. He stated that the Ottoman Empire must seize the shores of Yemen and the trade passing that way; or otherwise before very long, the Europeans will rule over the lands of Islam. The Ottomans were not successful in preventing the Portugese expansion in the Indian Ocean. The Ottomans still controlled the northern trade route. However, since Russia took Kazan (1552) and Astrakhan (1556), this route was in danger too. To work against this, The sultan tried to join the rivers Don and Volga by a canal dug at the point where they were nearest to each other, so that the route would be easier to protect. Protected by an army of thirteen thousand men, six thousand workers set out to work. The project had to be abandoned because of the terrible winter and the lack of technology at that time. Finally, the Ottomans lost the northern trade. Thus, foreign armies targeted Ottoman lands and started to take them over. The Ottoman empire lost one province after another until the empire greatly reduced. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the weak Ottoman government could neither control rebellious governors nor defeat foreign armies. There was a decline of toleration, a breakdown of law and order, and endless instability throughout the entire Empire.

    By the end of the eighteenth century there was nothing left of the Empire but uncultivated land, poor villages, and a large number of unemployed peasants. As every prosperous Empire had eventually declined---the prosperous Ottoman Empire had declined, as well. The lack of values that the later leaders held, the poor economic decisions, and the lack of political order and control were three things that led to the decline of this Empire but , indeed , were not the only things that led to the decline. After Suleyman’s death, the gradual decline of the Ottoman Empire began, finally ending completely three hundred years later in 1924 when Kemal Ataturk abolished the Muslim caliphate and founded the Republic of Turkey.

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