Ottoman Empire (jan 1, 1299 – nov 1, 1922)
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By the late 1290s Anatolia had fragmented into many independent states ruled by Islamic warlords. One of these rulers was named Osman I and after a supposed dream of creating an empire, Osman began to conquer various Byzantine towns near Constantinople and soon expand his territory over the other Islamic states.
Then, by the 1450s, the Ottoman Turks had invaded the majority of Anatolia, Greece, and Bulgaria, ending Byzantine rule over the Balkan peninsular. It was in 1453, however, when the Turks finally breached the fortified walls of Constantinople and captured the city, bringing the thousand-year-old rule of the Byzantines to an end, and some would argue the last flame of the original Roman Empire. The Ottoman Sultan Mehmed renamed the city Istanbul, meaning "city of Islam." This significant victory established the Ottoman forces as a powerful empire, with Istanbul becoming a center of trade and culture in the Islamic world.
Over the next few centuries, the Ottoman Empire would grow to cover two million square miles and stretch over three continents by the 1600s.
Following this, the Empire went on to suffer many attacks and losses from battles with European nations. Countries including Austria, Hungary, and especially the expanding Russian Empire had managed to take portions of land away from the Ottomans in a succeeding series of wars.
Eventually, it was after the First World War when the Ottomans finally fell. Due to them being part of the Central Powers and losing to the Allies, the Ottoman Empire was dismantled and it's former territory in the Middle East was divided up into colonies that belonged to either Britain or France, with the exception of Turkey which became it's own country.
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