Gunpowder Empire: The Mighty Ottoman Military Outpaced

Abstract

The Ottoman Empire's adoption of gunpowder as a war-winning weapon predated other European states and signaled the beginning of the military revolution which characterized the early modern era that began in 1453 with the fall of Constantinople and ended around 1800. However, the Turkish advantage in arms was short-lived, and by the end of the era, the empire's military was outdated and at the mercy of its European neighbors. Focusing on the three major areas that chracterized the military revolution-artillery, fortification, and firepower-this paper examins how the Ottoman Empire's military stagnated as a result of its refusal to innovate.