Episode 4: Stumble and Struggle

The Ottomans are blindsided by the Christian states of the Balkans while still fighting a war against Italy, and the Great Powers don’t seem to care to much about maintaining the old balance of power.BibliographyThe Young Turks: The Committee of Union and Progress in Turkish Politics, 1908-14, Feroz AhmadThe Emergence of Modern Turkey; Third Edition, Bernard LewisThe Ottoman Endgame: War, Revolution, and the Making of the Modern Middle East, 1908-1923, Sean McMeekinThe Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East, Eugene RoganThe Decline and Fall of the Ottoman Empire, Alan PalmerThe Balkans: Nationalism, War, and the Great Powers, 1804-1999, Misha GlennyA History of the Balkans, Ferdinand SchevillThe Serbs: The Guardians of the Gate, R.G.D. Laffan

The History of the Balkans from 1876 to 1912

The history of the Ottoman Balkans, from the 18th century up to the 1870s.

Italy declares war on the Ottomans while the CUP struggles to survive.

We look at the history of Libya between the end of the Qaramanli Dynasty in 1835 and the Tripolitanian War in 1911.

In this episode we backtrack the narrative two centuries to when the Qaramanli Dynasty came to power in Tripoli, and how they engaged in a campaign of piracy that eventually lead to their demise.  BibliographyCaptives: Britain, Empire, and the World, 1600-1850, Linda ColleyLibya, John WrightNorth Africa 1800-1900: A Survey from the Nile Valley to the Atlantic, Magali MorsyA History of Modern Libya, Dirk VandewallePower, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East 1776-Present, Michael B. OrenThomas Jefferson’s Quran: Islam and the Founders, Denise A. SpellbergThomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates, Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger

The Committee of Union and Progress try to re-establish their authority over the Ottoman Empire, but they are having difficulty holding their own ranks together, all the while trying to tame the army.

The Arabian origins of Islam, and its rise.

In this episode we look at the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, and the attempted counter revolution of 1909

The Young Turks organize for their plot against the Sultan.