quote:
So a region that barely got a mention before (for 5 or 6 centuries) among the great powers became increasingly and immensely important over the next several decades.

Almost solely due to the relative peace of Ottoman rule. But the west Asian corridor was an extremely contentious place since the Greek-Persian rivalry. The extension of that into the Roman-Sasanian conflict played a large part in the rise of Islam, as many places in the region welcomed Arab invaders due to, at that point, nearly a millenia of rivalry between various Eastern Med and Persian empires. The warfare continued until the Turks, though the rivalry continued with Persia, but also developed the dominant Islamic culture before the rise of the Wahhabis, the Turco-Persian culture, which extended from Anatolia to Mesopotamia to Central Asia to North India.

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Posted by Ace Midnight

Between sanity and madness

Member since Dec 2006

89613 posts

Posted on 5/13/21 at 9:15 am to crazy4lsu

quote:
But the west Asian corridor was an extremely contentious place since the Greek-Persian rivalry.

No question - lots of ebb and flow and transition over the years, particularly between the relative stability of the Roman and Ottoman periods (and, obviously, the past century).

But, to pretend the Arabs and Jews have been at each other's throats back to the Pyramids or even to the birth of Islam isn't just an oversimplification - it's wrong.

This post was edited on 5/13/21 at 9:16 am

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Posted by Toomer Deplorable

Team Bitter Clinger

Member since May 2020

17885 posts

Posted on 5/13/21 at 10:05 am to crazy4lsu

quote:
Almost solely due to the relative peace of Ottoman rule.

Well, I suppose that is one way to characterize Ottoman rule. Conquered peoples living under the yoke of an oppressive and occupying Imperial Army is another way to characterize it.

The Janissaries, elite shock troops raised from childhood to be soldiers and fanatically loyal to the Sultan, quickly crushed any rebellion or dissent against Ottoman rule. The Jannisarries were built upon a system of child slavery and the children of Christian minorities and other religious “infidels” were often demanded as a tribute to the ruling Ottomans.