Background of the Ottoman Empire
After the intense Turkish migration to Anatolia as a result of the Mongol invasions, Anatolia became a Turkish homeland. Many Turkish principalities were established in Anatolia as a result of the Kösedağ war. The Ottoman Principality, founded in 1299, was just one of them.
This principality, which was growing day by day, was showing that it would be more than a principality and that it would be the scourge of the Westerners. Thereupon, what happened during the reign of Murad II created a great problem and fear for Europeans.
Murad II left the throne to Mehmed II. The fact that Mehmed II, who seemed young and inexperienced, became the ruler encouraged the crusaders. Upon this incident, Mehmed II wrote, “If you are the Sultan, come and lead your armies. If I am the Sultan I hereby order you to come and lead my armies.”
Battle of Varna – 10 November 1444
The Battle of Varna took place on 10 November 1444. It occurred near Varna in eastern Bulgaria. As a commander against the Crusader army, Murad II led the Ottoman army. The harsh defeat of the crusader army in this war caused the young Sultan Mehmed II, who came to the throne, to rule without threats for a while. After this war, 4-year-old Ladislaus Posthumous was the head of Hungary. There was a 3-year interregnum in Poland.
The morning after the battle of Varna – 11 November 1444
Everything was different that morning. Because the same date was written twice. One is a world-renowned story. The other is a virtual story that has just begun to be written. In fact, they both start in the same geography. Although the basis is the same, very different stories await us. Let me tell you the newly written story. At the beginning of the virtual story, Mehmed II had Sugla and Ankara Forts destroyed. The purpose of this is to develop the country quickly with the ducat revenues it will generate. Afterward, he quickly conquered Candarogullari, Dulkadir, and Ramazanogullari principalities at once. Here is the great commander. He later conquered Constantinepol in 1449. He destroyed the Byzantine Empire in one go. He was now a kaiser. When we compare it with the known history, while it was advancing rapidly in Anatolia, it was left behind in the Balkans. However, he started to settle in Africa by making the Fezzan state his vassal. Let’s see if he can make up for this process.
Time Keeps Flowing
According to known history, it was left behind in the West while it was fast going to the African continent. So why did this happen? First of all, the army and economy that emerged from the two great wars needed rest. Apart from that, the alliances established and the relations with other countries stopped us, even if it seemed to have nothing to do with it. Never give up. By conquering Tunisia, Morocco, and other states in Africa, we continued to maintain Ottoman domination there. In this process, we tried to develop as much as we could in Crimea, which is an important place for our economy. The pieces of land we obtained provided us with great economic support. The difference between us and known history is a part of Crimea and we are left behind in Europe. But our plus point is that we started to spread to Africa early. Even though Europe could not agree among itself, our hands were tied at first because it acted together against us. How can we change our bad luck? We need to find strong and target countries and allies that are hostile to us. The Principality of Moscow was our ally and they asked us for help in a war they were fighting in Europe. We took this opportunity and helped our ally. In return, we started to make progress in Europe, even if only a little. Apart from that, we became allies with France from Europe. On the Asian side, things were very complicated. Ajam, the Timurids have become our main allies. There are two things that confuse things. First, we became allies with some small states. Second, and I think much more importantly, Ajam and Timurids are actually two hostile states, and we took advantage of this to protect ourselves. We have also evolved. The reason why our progress in Europe has slowed down is that we are Muslims. Another reason is our historical enmity. One day I might try to play the ottoman in a Christian way. Sounds interesting.
1520, December
Since the 1.35 update did not come to the game, the Ottoman is not very detailed and advanced. It takes 3 or 4 battles to completely conquer the Mamluks. That’s why we lagged behind in the conquest of the Mamluk. We saw the benefit of entering Africa early. Compared to known history, we have a much larger land. We lag behind in Crimea and Europe. But it cannot be called an excessive fallback. In fact, the reason for this is that the European states are in alliance. Thanks to our vassals in the East, we showed the existence of the Ottomans.
There was an asymmetrical flow of information while this virtual history was being written. Since what happened in the known story is known, we made some moves accordingly. For example, inspired by the French admiration that started in the later years of the Ottoman Empire, I ensured close relations with France in the 1400s and was an ally. Other than that, I made strategic choices according to the development of the game. Thanks to our allies, we gained a few pieces of land. I wish I could get a little closer to Europe. I would have given up the African lands for this. But in this game, thanks to Africa, I amortized my distance from Europe.
I created a virtual story that looks as different as the game mechanics will allow, but is the same in my opinion.
Thanks for reading 🙂
S.Ahmed Adar
Additional
I actually progressed further in the game and I want to share it with you. While there are many things I can talk about, I left it halfway here due to the word limit. You can see the final version of the game in the photos below. I also prepared a drive file for people who want to try and continue. It’s been 33.4 hours of fun. Of course, I didn’t play full time 🙂
Links
Battle of Varna-themed images taken from Wikipedia
Maps are taken from a video on Youtube
I used MapChart to prepare the maps.
Playing with Past 