Some Reflections on the Decline of the Ottoman Empire
Author(s)
Lewis, Bernard
Abstract
The decline of the Ottoman Empire has long been a subject of intense interest. This article broadly classifies and enumerates some of the main factors and processes which led to, were part of, or resulted from the decline of the Ottoman Empire. Three main groups of factors are discussed: factors related to government, factors related to economic and social life, and factors related to moral, cultural, and intellectual change. It is concluded that by its end, the Ottoman Empire had remained or reverted to a medieval state which could not survive in the modern world.
