page_title: Byzantine–Ottoman wars
section_title: Ottoman strengths
hierarchical_section_title: Byzantine–Ottoman wars / Causes of the Byzantine defeat / Ottoman strengths
caption_attribution_description: Sipahis at the Battle of Vienna (for articles on "Sipahi, see de:Sipahi dk:Spahi en:Sipahi fr:Spahi).
context_page_description: The Byzantine–Ottoman wars were a series of decisive conflicts between the Ottoman Turks and Byzantines that led to the final destruction of the Byzantine Empire and the rise of the Ottoman Empire. In 1204 the Byzantine capital of Constantinople was sacked and occupied by the Fourth Crusaders, an important moment of the Christian East–West Schism. The Byzantine Empire, already weakened by misrule, was left divided and in chaos.
  Taking advantage of the situation, the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum began seizing territory in Western Anatolia, until the Nicaean Empire was able to repulse the Seljuk Turks from the remaining territories still under Roman rule. Eventually Constantinople was re-taken from the Latin Empire in 1261 by the Nicaean Empire. The position of the Byzantine Empire in Europe remained uncertain due to the presence of the rival kingdoms of the Despotate of Epirus, Serbia and the Second Bulgarian Empire. This, combined with the reduced power of the Sultanate of Rum led to the removal of troops from Anatolia to maintain Byzantium's grip on Thrace.
context_section_description: The Ottomans had great diplomatic skill and ability to raise vast numbers of troops. Initially, their raiding gave them great support from other Turks near Osman's small domain. In time however, as the Turks began to settle in land poorly defended by the Byzantines, they were able to exploit the hardships of the peasant classes by recruiting their aid. Those that did not assist the Ottomans were raided themselves. Eventually, the cities in Asia Minor, cut off from the outside surrendered and the Ottomans soon mastered the art of siege warfare.
  It was the Ottomans' skill with dealing with their opponents that made them very powerful very quickly. They would subjugate their opponents as vassals rather than destroy them, otherwise they would have exhausted themselves in the process. The exacting of tribute from conquered states in the form of children and money was effective in forcing subjugation over conquest. Coupled with this, the entire region was composed of many states (Bulgaria, Serbia, Latin states) who would just as soon fight each other as the Ottomans and realized too late that the Ottoman forces defeated them by integrating them in a network of subordinate states.
caption: The Ottomans combined several different fighting methods and technologies. These Sipahis were exactly unique for western knights due to their weapons and battlefield experiments.[citation needed]
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