Justin McCarthy

Here, historian Justin McCarthy tells the story of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and how this changed the lives of Slavs, Turks, Greeks, Arabs, and Armenians. The history has striking parallels, as well as direct links, to the crises in the Balkans today. For six centuries the Ottoman Empire united a diverse array of religious and ethnic groups, but its dissolution into distinct states left a tradition of nationalism and ethnic enmity in much of the Balkans and Middle East. In particular, the majority of the Muslim population of the Ottoman Balkans would never be integrated into the new states, as the 'national' characters of these states depended in part on the elimination of 'outsiders'. The new map of the Balkans and Middle East, which was largely the product of the victorious Allies after World War I, made little concession to practical concerns, such as access to seaports, or the rights of minorities. Only the Turkish Republic was able to thwart the plans of the conquerors by defeating military incursion. Ideal for undergraduates in history and political science, "The Ottoman Peoples and the End of Empire" provides the historical background to one of the central conflicts of our time.

Justin McCarthy's introductory survey traces the whole history of the Ottoman Turks from their obscure beginnings in central Asia, through the establishment and rise of the Ottoman Empire to its collapse after World War One under the pressures of nationalism. Vividly illustrated with many maps, this introductory overview is designed for non-specialists but is written with great authority and with access to original sources. It fills an important gap for an authoritative but accessible account of the rise of one of the world's great civilizations.