Post by lordroel on Jan 5, 2017 15:55:33 GMT
What if: Constantinople did not fall to the Ottomans (1453)
In 1453, the fortified city of Constantinople fell after a seven week siege. The victor was an Ottoman General, Sultan Mehmet II. The conquest of Constantinople had been attempted numerous times for more 700 years, and, from the growing Islamic world perspective, it had been a long sought-after event, because the Christian city of Constantinople, with its “Roman” emperor, was a thorn in the side of Muslim expansion.
The fall of Constantinople can be viewed as either being an inevitable consequence of the rising Islamic world and declining Roman Catholic empire or it can be viewed as a key event that allowed Islamic law and religion to advance firmly up against the European continent. In either case, the fall of Constantinople is a key event that defines the Euro-Middle East border, what if Constantinople had survived:
Constantinople might have survived to present day as a bastion of Christianity on the edge of the Middle Eastern/ Islamic world.
The Ottoman Empire was an Islamic state and was north of Constantinople. But if Christian forces had held out, then the Ottoman Empire might have changed significantly and the hole series of countries we have today might be radically different and perhaps even more unified. Islamic law and rule might end abruptly at the Bosphorus as well. We might not have had the Serbian-Croatian war (which you may remember was largely along Islamic-Christian cultural value conflict lines).
But instead the meager support Constantinople gained was not quite enough (but it was close) and today Constantinople is Istanbul.
The Islamic religion might not be as large and growing today as it is.
Taking Constantinople was a heralded event for Muslims. It had been pre-ordained and predicted as well. The earlier failed attempts to take it had undermined the credibility of the religion itself. So if this latest (1453) siege had failed then it could have had very negative effects on continue expansion is Islam. Of course, followers of the Islamic faith should disagree with this opinion and I respect that. This is just my “what if” pontification.” Islam might have attacked again the next year or a few years later. And Constantinople had to fail eventually unless some significant benefactor came along.
The entire eastern European continent might have been stronger and more cohesive than it is today.
Today’s fractured Asiatic coast and inland countries might have risen from the Middle Ages as a country as distinct and unified as Italy is today. Italy itself did not emerge as a country until the mid-1800’s. But such unification was largely possible because it had a single faith and a largely similar culture. Imagine if Christian faith had been pervasive all the way down to Constantinople.
I suspect that most Americans know very little about the fall of Constantinople, the rise of Istanbul and really anything about what Turkey is nor what its history is.
The good news about the fall of Constantinople was the tolerance of the conqueror, Mehmet. The result is a city that is tolerant and loving to this day.
In 1453, the fortified city of Constantinople fell after a seven week siege. The victor was an Ottoman General, Sultan Mehmet II. The conquest of Constantinople had been attempted numerous times for more 700 years, and, from the growing Islamic world perspective, it had been a long sought-after event, because the Christian city of Constantinople, with its “Roman” emperor, was a thorn in the side of Muslim expansion.
The fall of Constantinople can be viewed as either being an inevitable consequence of the rising Islamic world and declining Roman Catholic empire or it can be viewed as a key event that allowed Islamic law and religion to advance firmly up against the European continent. In either case, the fall of Constantinople is a key event that defines the Euro-Middle East border, what if Constantinople had survived:
Constantinople might have survived to present day as a bastion of Christianity on the edge of the Middle Eastern/ Islamic world.
The Ottoman Empire was an Islamic state and was north of Constantinople. But if Christian forces had held out, then the Ottoman Empire might have changed significantly and the hole series of countries we have today might be radically different and perhaps even more unified. Islamic law and rule might end abruptly at the Bosphorus as well. We might not have had the Serbian-Croatian war (which you may remember was largely along Islamic-Christian cultural value conflict lines).
But instead the meager support Constantinople gained was not quite enough (but it was close) and today Constantinople is Istanbul.
The Islamic religion might not be as large and growing today as it is.
Taking Constantinople was a heralded event for Muslims. It had been pre-ordained and predicted as well. The earlier failed attempts to take it had undermined the credibility of the religion itself. So if this latest (1453) siege had failed then it could have had very negative effects on continue expansion is Islam. Of course, followers of the Islamic faith should disagree with this opinion and I respect that. This is just my “what if” pontification.” Islam might have attacked again the next year or a few years later. And Constantinople had to fail eventually unless some significant benefactor came along.
The entire eastern European continent might have been stronger and more cohesive than it is today.
Today’s fractured Asiatic coast and inland countries might have risen from the Middle Ages as a country as distinct and unified as Italy is today. Italy itself did not emerge as a country until the mid-1800’s. But such unification was largely possible because it had a single faith and a largely similar culture. Imagine if Christian faith had been pervasive all the way down to Constantinople.
I suspect that most Americans know very little about the fall of Constantinople, the rise of Istanbul and really anything about what Turkey is nor what its history is.
The good news about the fall of Constantinople was the tolerance of the conqueror, Mehmet. The result is a city that is tolerant and loving to this day.