Info about Turks Vacations
History of Turkey
Turkey is one nation that has seen a lot of wars and empires rise a fall over the years. The reason for this was pretty simple too; it was strategically placed to connect the European and Asian civilisations. It is no surprise that for centuries, many rulers wanted to control what was known as the silk route through which all the trade passed. Given below are some of the most important empires that were built in Turkey over the years.
Hittite Empire: One of the first empires to control Turkey was the Hittites. The ancient city of Anatolia was the centre of Hittite empire. The Anatolian peninsula today represents major part of the Turkish territory. The Hittite kingdom went from glory to obscurity to recovery before being destroyed by the sea people. However, the empire had a huge influence over the region. In fact, there are traces of Hittite dialects in the modern Persian languages too.
Persian Empire: Though the Persian Empire was centred in the modern day Iran, it did expand to a very wide area and that covered Turkey too. This empire encompassed most of what is today’s central Asia extended up to parts of Northern India too. Well known for its art and culture, there are remnants of Persian influence in Turkey even today.
Roman Empire: This was a vast empire that succeeded the Persian Empire and thus got control of Turkey. Though the centre of this kingdom was not Turkey, it was still an important area under the Roman influence.
Byzantine Empire: After the division of Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire rose to prominence. Though for most of the best years of Byzantine period, there were frequent wars, it was still one of the most dominant empires of its time, economically as well as militarily. Under the Byzantine aristocracy, there were many successor states that were formed and among them, the Empire of Nicaea was very popular. This was centered on the modern day Iznik in Turkey.
Ottoman Empire: This was probably the most glorious period in the history of Turkey. After defeating the Byzantines, Osman I started expanding the Ottoman Empire to the very edges of the Byzantine Empire. The Ottoman era can be looked at in two phases: the first was the age of expansion and cultural growth and the second was that of military prowess and eventual downfall.
Towards the end of the 19th century, Ottoman Empire started coming under a lot of stress from invaders and rather than trying to fend of attacks alone. Ottomans started forging alliances with other European nations like UK, France and Russia. During important wars like Crimean War and Caucasian War, many Muslims immigrated to Turkey for safety. These immigrants have helped shape the modern Turkey in a many ways.
During the World War I, Turkey supported Germany and eventually lost the war. However, even today it remains an important country in Central Asia. Recently there have been efforts to recreate the ancient Silk route from Turkey to China that was one of the main drivers behind confluence of civilisations.