4.3.1 The battle for power in the Middle East About 1200 CE, the Middle East was made up of a series of states competing for dominance. The major powers Persia and Byzantium were being affected by a variety of new forces. To understand the success of the Ottomans in dominating this area, it is important to look at both of these older powers, as well as some of the forces that helped to destabilise the region. In the fourth century, the Roman Empire was divided in half and Constantinople became the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. This empire was known as the Byzantine Empire (from Byzantium, the old name for Constantinople). Based in modern-day Iran, the Persian Empire had existed in various forms for over a thousand years. A series of wars between these two empires significantly weakened both of their armies and left them vulnerable to outside forces. The situation in the region was changing, driven by a number of factors. The spread of Islam and its impact on the Middle East has already been examined. Other factors included: • Venetians . Venice is an island city in the north-east of Italy. A flourishing trade was developing between western Europe and China and India in the east. Due to the city’s importance on this trade route, Venice found itself under constant threat of foreign invasion. • Crusaders . The Crusades were a series of wars initiated by the European Christian Church, which wanted to reclaim the Holy Land that was under Islamic rule. To start the First Crusade, Pope Urban II called for support by citing violent acts committed by some Muslim groups. Soldiers in France and Germany responded to Pope Urban’s call and left Europe to help defend Constantinople and reclaim other territories. As well as fighting to take the Holy Land from the Muslims, the Crusaders took the opportunity to attack Jews and Orthodox Christians.
SOURCE2 A map of major trade routes in the Middle East around 1200 CE
Key
Tunis
City
Buda
Azov
Land route
Sea route
Osijek
Venice
0
250
500 750
Belgrade
kilometres
Genoa
BLACK SEA
Dubrovnik
Sinope
Edirne
Constantinople
Trebizond
Naples
Salonika
Tokat
Bursa
Ankara
Palermo
Tabriz
Athens
Adana
Siracusa
Tunis
Aleppo
Rhodes
To China and India
Crete
Tripoli
Cyprus
Beirut
Damascus
Baghdad
Tripoli
Alexandria
To India
To Mecca and Medina
To East Africa
Source: Map drawn by Spatial Vision.
Jacaranda Humanities Alive 8 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator