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Fall of Constantinople] Pmunc 2018 ​ ​ Contents [FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE] PMUNC 2018 ​ ​ CONTENTS Letter from the Chair and CD………....…………………………………………....[3] Committee Description…………………………………………………………….[4] The Siege of Constantinople: Introduction………………………………………………………….……. [5] Sailing to Byzantium: A Brief History……...………....……………………...[6] Current Status………………………………………………………………[9] Keywords………………………………………………………………….[12] Questions for Consideration……………………………………………….[14] Character List…………………...………………………………………….[15] Citations……..…………………...………………………………………...[23] 2 [FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE] PMUNC 2018 ​ ​ LETTER FROM THE CHAIR Dear delegates, Welcome to PMUNC! My name is Atakan Baltaci, and I’m super excited to conquer a city! I will be your chair for the Fall of Constantinople Committee at PMUNC 2018. We have gathered the mightiest commanders, the most cunning statesmen and the most renowned scholars the Ottoman Empire has ever seen to achieve the toughest of goals: conquering Constantinople. This Sultan is clever and more than eager, but he is also young and wants your advice. Let’s see what comes of this! Sincerely, Atakan Baltaci Dear delegates, Hello and welcome to PMUNC! I am Kris Hristov and I will be your crisis director for the siege of Constantinople. I am pleased to say this will not be your typical committee as we will focus more on enacting more small directives, building up to the siege of Constantinople, which will require military mobilization, finding the funds for an invasion and the political will on the part of all delegates.. Sincerely, Kris Hristov 3 [FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE] PMUNC 2018 ​ ​ COMMITTEE DESCRIPTION The year is 1451, and a 19 year old has re-ascended to the throne of the Ottoman Empire. Mehmed II is now assembling his Imperial Court for the grandest city of all: Constantinople! The Fall of Constantinople (affectionately called the Conquest of Istanbul by the Turks) was the capture of the Byzantine Empire's capital by the Ottoman Empire. Mehmed II, the 21-year-old Ottoman Emperor, led a 53 day siege against the imperial capital of the crumbling Byzantine Empire. Constantinople’s formidable walls, one of the strongest in the world at the time, and the Byzantine efforts to unify the Christian world against the siege proved to be a tough challenge to the Ottoman ambitions. As the Ottoman Divan-ı Hümâyûn (Imperial Council), your task is to overcome these challenges to accomplish the greatest military operation of your time. 4 [FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE] PMUNC 2018 ​ ​ INTRODUCTION The city of Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire has stood for almost 1500 years, as a bastion of both Christianity and the remnants of the once expansive Roman Empire. Byzantine diplomacy, military technology and tactics have kept the empire intact throughout the years. It is only now, after an occupation by Crusader forces and a general stagnation of the Byzantine Empire 1 that the Ottomans have been able to launch an invasion which has kept its momentum. Presently, Ottoman forces are being mobilized and augmented with Serbian cavalry and other contingents from the Balkans, primarily through janissaries from the devshirme system. Should the siege succeed and the city fall into Ottoman hands, it will forever change the balance of power both in Europe and in the greater world. To break the thick walls of Byzantium and the political clout of Byzantine diplomats will require immense efforts on the parts of all delegates, as new technologies, alliances and methods of warfighting are brought to bear in what may be the greatest siege to date in world history. 1 John Teall, “Byzantine Empire,” Encyclopedia Britannica (Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d.), accessed September 29, ​ ​ 2018. 5 [FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE] PMUNC 2018 ​ ​ SAILING TO BYZANTIUM: A BRIEF HISTORY The story of Byzantium begins with the division of the Roman Empire into East and West. Emperor Diocletian split the empire in two, in order to better address the issues at hand. As the Western Empire fell victim to a range of threats, ranging from barbarian invasions, weak emperors and 2 infighting, the East prospered. The Byzantine Empire officially adopted Christianity and shifted more towards Greek, rather than Roman culture as it progressed. As Rome fell, the Byzantine Empire expanded its reach, eventually encompassing many former Roman territories. The Byzantines preferred diplomacy to all-out war and was willing to negotiate with its enemies. By 555 AD, the Empire had expanded to Syria, Persia and the Balkans, while also encompassing most of Italy. This would be its greatest extent. Emperor Constantine placed his capital, aptly named Constantinople in a precarious location, split between Europe and Asia. While the Byzantine Empire carried out its own particular brand of 3 diplomacy, it would be at the crossroads of history and politics for much of the medieval period. In 681, the Bulgar tribes formed a union with the Slavic and Thracian peoples of the Balkans to form a new state: Bulgaria. Bulgaria also soon adopted Christianity, as did the Kievan Rus (present Ukraine and Russia) further north. Both of these states would be a key focus for Byzantine diplomacy and wars for a significant time. Byzantine writing systems, developed by Cyril and Methodius would 4 become the Cyrillic alphabet used today by the Eastern and Southern Slavic states. By 1018, the Byzantine Empire had stabilized itself, through a series of military victories. Bulgarian lands were incorporated into the empire, while Kievan Rus was kept at bay through royal 2 Teall. 3 Teall. 4 Teall. 6 [FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE] PMUNC 2018 ​ ​ marriages and agreements. Varangian (Russian) and Arab raiders were repelled, while the empire’s stability seemed guaranteed. New, military minded emperors once again began expanding the borders, going as far as threatening to take Jerusalem. In 800 AD, Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor, a title previously used to refer to the Byzantine Emperor. This began to drive a wedge between East and West. Finally in 1054, due to a series of disagreements, Pope Leo IX’s delegation to Constantinople decided to excommunicate 5 the Byzantine Patriarch Cerularius. The Patriarch in turn excommunicated the delegation and Pope Leo IX. This event, known as the Great Schism, split Christendom into the Catholic (Western) and Orthodox (Eastern) churches. The Western church launched several assaults into the Middle East, today known as the Crusades. In 1204, the city of Constantinople is sacked by the Fourth Crusade, severely weakening the empire and guaranteeing its future demise as the West does not come to aid it. With Bulgarian assistance, the Byzantine Empire is restored and the Latin crusader kingdom removed from Constantinople, but the damage had been done, the Byzantine Empire would now be a vestigial state, a shadow of its former self. This brings us to the present day, where Constantinople is surrounded by 6 enemies on all fronts, with no aid on the horizon. The Ottoman Empire was established as a principality around modern day Bursa at the end of 7 the 13th century by Osman. At the time a principality, the Ottomans were surrounded by the Byzantines and various stronger Turkish principalities. Utilizing the decay of the Byzantine Empire, Osman and the Ottoman sultans who followed gradually took over Byzantine territories. Initially having a more nomadic state and military structure, the Ottoman capture of the Byzantine city of 5 Teall. 6 Jay Stanford and Michael Yapp, “Ottoman Empire,” Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d., accessed September 29, 2018. ​ ​ 7 Stanford and Yapp. 7 [FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE] PMUNC 2018 ​ ​ Bursa in 1324 and the subsequent declaration of the city as the principalities capital provided the first 8 opportunity to develop the economic and administrative means to run a state. From then on, the Ottomans crossed the Dardanelles and captured the Byzantine city of Adrianople (Edirne), which is the current capital of the Ottomans. Throughout this period, even though the Ottoman lands surrounded Constantinople, the siege of the city was bypassed due to its thick walls and Ottomans 9 lacking strong siege equipment. The Ottoman expansion towards the rest of the Turkish principalities in Anatolia and Christian lands in the Balkans continued until 1402. In 1402, Ottomans suffered a defeat against Tamerlane. Baized, the sultan at the time, was captured and died a year later. This was followed by a period of interregnum, where four of Baized sons competed for the throne. Finally, Mehmed I restored the Ottoman Empire in 1413. Mehmed I and Murad who followed him continued Ottoman expansion in the Balkans. In 1444, upon signing a peace treaty with Christian Balkan principalities and Turkish principalities in Anatolia, Murad voluntarily passed his throne to Mehmed II. Mehmed II was twelve years old at the time, and the Byzantine Empire and Pope Eugenius IV saw this young sultan as an easy target. Thus, they organized a crusade army that moved through the Balkans. Upon this, Mehmed II invited his father Murad back to the throne. Murad assumed the throne and defeated the Christian armies in the Battle of Varna in 1444, thus ending the last Christian Crusade effort against the Ottomans. By the time of Murad’s death in 1451, the Ottomans were well established in Europe. One of Mehmed II’s first acts when he ascended the throne in 1451 was to cut the tributes paid to the Byzantines for Orhan Celebi (pronounced Chelebi). Orhan Celebi is a member 10 of the Ottoman royal family who is held by the Byzantines. ​ Ottomans paid tribute to the Byzantines 8 Stanford and Yapp. 9 Blake Ehrlich, “Istanbul,” Encyclopedia Britannica (Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d.), accessed September 29, 2018. ​ ​ 10 Stanford and Yapp, “Ottoman Empire.” 8 [FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE] PMUNC 2018 ​ ​ to prevent them from releasing Orhan Celebi, who could make a claim to the Ottoman throne. (Shaw and Yapp, “Ottoman Empire”) 9 [FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE] PMUNC 2018 ​ ​ CURRENT STATUS With the city in the crosshairs, two major problems must be overcome by the council.
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