Ottoman Multiculturalism

>>3310785
Christians made up the middle class/ "white collar" part of the empire since they had much higher literacy rates. Constantinople itself retained a huge Greek Christian population right up until world war one. Because of the ethnic guild system, where certain races were responsible for certain professions ,ethnic and religious groups were also largely economic class groups. Armenians took over money lending in the 17th century from the Jews for example, afterwards the Jews in the empire largely fell out of the system and became associated with crushing poverty.

The official policy of the Ottoman government was to play off the various ethnic groups of the empire against each other. If one got too powerful another could take its place as had happened to the Jewish bankers. Cultural mixing was largely forbidden, and race riots between jealous groups were pretty regular. It was multicultural in the sense that there were multiple cultures tolerated by the ruling class, but nothing like the multiculturalism of today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ottoman_Grand_Viziers

>>3310813
>muh race

Amerimutt pls

Yes it was a multicultural empire you retarded wh*Te subhuman holy fucking shit why did you even make this low iq thread lmao why are caucasoids so fucking dumb

Multiculturalism is a modern invention, an empire organized around a central polity taxing disparate ethnicities that all live in isolation from one another is not multicultural by any stretch.

File: ottoman army.png (68KB, 1171x801px) Image search: [Google]

68KB, 1171x801px

>but besides the jannisaries was the Ottoman Military mostly Turkish

Yes it was. Turks made up more than 60% of the military (Sipahi, Cebelu, Akinji, Azab etc)

>besides the jannisaries was the Ottoman Military mostly Turkish?
I believe the timariot/sipahi cavalry was largely drawn from Turkish-speaking Muslim minor nobility, although it's arguable how ethnically Turkish they actually were (Turkish historians like to claim them as Turks and there was definitely a cultural difference between them and the Janissaries, although when you look into individual figures they almost always are descendants of converts). Barbarossa's father is a good example. He was a sipahi cavalryman with a Turkish name but was a convert of Albanian extraction. His wife was Greek Orthodox.

The Janissaries, on the other hand, were exclusively non-Turkish. The bashi bazouk irregulars were also largely non-Turkish. The navy too was heavily non-Turkish; almost all of the greatest admirals had Christian roots.

Overall, it's fair to say that the military wasn't very Turkish at all until the Auspicious Incident. Your average Turk was a peasant in Anatolia whereas, as >>3310813 points out, the middle/artisanal class was almost exclusively non-Turkish.

After the dust had settled from all the ethnic cleansing of WWI, Ataturk was left with a barely literate population. The small number of Armenians, Greeks and Jews that remained were still some of the most skilled people in the country. Even after the Young Turk reforms, the Ottoman Empire had failed to make anything meaningful out of the Turkish people. It was Ataturk's Republic that molded them into something more than illiterate peasantry and cannon-fodder.

>>3310848
>Barbarossa's father is a good example. He was a sipahi cavalryman with a Turkish name but was a convert of Albanian extraction. His wife was Greek Orthodox


After mid 17th century (or 16) this changed you know. Before than that they were mostly muslims.

>>3310878
>Recruitment of non-Turkish sipahi was banned with a 1635 ferman (decree). In contrast to the Janissaries, Timarli Sipahis from that time onwards were Turks
yup seems i was right

>>3310848
>It was Ataturk's Republic that molded them into something more than illiterate peasantry and cannon-fodder.

In world war 1 the Turkish "cannon-fodder" were the most reliable and steadfast soldiers of the empire. Everyone else was deserting. In fact the Turkish soldiers had to march non Turkish soldiers to the front unarmed with guns pointed at them because they would take the guns given to them and flee.

>>3310785
>Would the Ottoman Empire be considered multicultural?
In terms of demographics, all empires are by nature multi-cultural. If you mean that they weren't oppressive to subject populations, then that is patently untrue.

>and the nobility wasn't ethnically Turkish
Paternally, they were Turkish in historical term. In its modern term, they were also Turkish.

Well there was an hierarchical society based on law with the Muslims on the top, Jews in the middle and Christians at the bottom.

>Muh rich Christians
They were still without political power, military might or rights and privileges.
The poorest Muslim was above the richest Christian in de jure social standing.
>Muh Janissaries and Viziers
The Janissaries were kidnapped from their parents and forced to convert to Islam. The bureaucrats and Vizier were also either forced or had willingly converted. No Christian were ever allowed to wield power or have a position.

Ottoman empire was "multicultural", but it was by no means a society of equals, but of superiors and inferiors.