* Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman Empire, established a small principality in northwestern Anatolia.
* He expanded his territory by conquering neighboring Byzantine and Turkish beyliks (small states).
* Osman's son, Orhan I, continued his father's conquests and established the Ottoman capital at Bursa in 1335.
2. The Conquest of the Balkans (1354-1453)
* The Ottomans began to expand into the Balkans in the mid-14th century.
* They conquered Adrianople (Edirne) in 1361, making it their second capital.
* The Ottomans continued to expand their territory in the Balkans, conquering Serbia, Bulgaria, and Bosnia by the end of the 14th century.
* The Ottoman conquest of the Balkans was completed in 1453 with the fall of Constantinople.
3. The Reign of Süleyman the Magnificent (1520-1566)
* Süleyman I, also known as Süleyman the Magnificent or the Lawgiver, was one of the most powerful rulers in Ottoman history.
* He expanded the Ottoman Empire to its greatest extent, including the conquest of much of the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe.
* Süleyman was also a patron of the arts and culture, and he oversaw a golden age of Ottoman art, literature, and architecture.
4. The Decline of the Ottoman Empire (17th-19th centuries)
* The Ottoman Empire began to decline in the 17th century due to a number of factors, including:
* Military defeats by the Habsburgs and Russians
* Economic problems
* Internal rebellions
* The empire continued to decline in the 18th and 19th centuries, losing territory to European powers and its own subject states.
5. The End of the Ottoman Empire (1922-1923)
* The Ottoman Empire was finally defeated in World War I.
* The Turkish War of Independence followed, which led to the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923.
* The Ottoman Empire officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.