Yes, I do believe that the Ottoman Empire has to be blamed for all the chaos that ensued in the Balkans and the Middle East.
While the Balkan states were already in dispute to get power and domination, the Ottomans took Adrianople in 1362. This was seen as the beginning of their annexation. Consequently, Serbia, Bulgaria, Constantinople, Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Montenegro were conquered in the years 1389, 1396, 1453, 1463, 1482, and 1499 respectively. Furthermore, Hungary was annexed in 1526. Their conquests went on.
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This conquest brought political and social revolution. The Ottomans have introduced the timar system, wherein all the lands were owned by the sultans only. The state tax included a levy on male children that were from Christian houses to be converted to Islam. They are then trained to be members of the administration (elite) that includes the military Janissary corps. Moreover, the ottomans did evil deeds to the people out there.
Moreover, there was a religious difference. The Christians were not equal before the courts and had to pay extra taxes. They were supposed to pay additional tax. As mentioned before, some of their Male children would be taken to serve as janissaries. Moreover, it is also reported that the Christians did not have proper schooling and they were also missed out on the Industrial revolution, the enlightenment, and the renaissance. The illiteracy in the kingdom of Yugoslavia (1931) can easily be observed in the areas that were previously occupied by the ottomans.
There was also a sense of identity crisis, isolation, and lost history. This can be easily understood by studying the life of two Christian groups who live nearby – one under the Ottomans and the other, living outside the border.
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