File:Modern history; Europe (1904) (14579136218).jpg

Identifier: modernhistoryeur00west (find matches)
Title: Modern history; Europe
Year: 1904 (1900s)
Authors: West, Willis Mason, 1857- (from old catalog)
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Publisher: Boston, Allyn and Bacon
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: Sloan Foundation

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pire, and in 1453 his son,Mahomet the Conqueror, entered Constantinople through thebreach where the heroic Constantine Palwologus, last of theGreek emperors, had died sword in hand. Constantinople has remained the capital of the TurkishEmpire from that day to the present time. That empire con-tinued to expand for over a century more (until about 1550):and for a time it seemed as though nothing could save WesternEurope. Not until well into the nineteenth century did eitherSlav or Greek in the Balkan regions begin to find relief fromMohammedan oppression (§§ 576 ff.).1 The Turks were incapable of civilization, in the European sense, andthey have always remained a hostile army encamped among subjectChristian populations, whom their rule has blighted. A chief factor in 1 The critical position of Hungary, and her heroic services against the Turk,may be made a topic for special report. The great defeats of the Turks atLepanto (1571) and before Vienna (1683) will be noted in §§ 224, 257.
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186 §170) POLITICAL SITUATION AT THE REFORMATION. 187 their early success was the tribute of children, organized into thefamous fighting force of Janissaries. Says Freeman: A fixed pro-portion of the strongest and most promising boys among the conqueredChristian nations were carried off for the service of the Ottoman princes.They were brought up in the Mohammedan faith and were employedin civil and military functions. . . . Out of them was formed thefamous force of the Janissaries, the new soldiers who for three centuries— as long as they were levied in this way — formed the strength of theOttoman armies. ... In this way the strength of the conquered nationswas turned against themselves. They could not throw off the yoke, be-cause those among them who were their natural leaders were pressed intothe service of their enemies. For Further Reading. — Mijatovichs Constantine, the Last Em-peror of the Greeks; Omans Byzantine Empire, chs. xxv, xxvi; PoolesStory of Turkey, chs. i-vii;

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