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=The Decline of Poland, Sweden, and the Ottoman Empire= (pictures are hyperlinked)

The Republic of Poland
During the era of Constitutionalism and Absolutism, Poland was divided not only by former political lines but also by the various nationalities of its people. At this time, it consisted of two main parts: Poland proper (the Kingdom of Poland) in the west and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the east. Yet the state’s true division was among its population. Only in western Poland was there a Polish majority. The population of the Duchy of Prussia, a fief of the Polish crown, mainly consisted of Germans and there was also a large Jewish population throughout Poland due to the fact that during the middle ages it had accepted Jews fleeing religious persecution in Germany. Because of this, a barrier formed between the native and non-native Polish population and between the towns (where the Germans and Jews made up a large portion of the population) and country. Due to this division, no national middle class formed and the landed aristocracy, or //szlachta//, became the leading political force and did not allow for the consolidation of Poland into an Absolutist or Constitutionalist state. The noblemen fought for their individual or “Polish” liberties and spurred suspicion of a strong central authority. Because of this, there was too much political disagreement to commonly accept a sovereign ruler, with the exception of [|King Jan III Sobieski], and a system of diets, or assemblies of noblemen and emissaries, came into being. Yet even here, the central diet was ineffective due to its //liberum veto// where any one person by stating their unchangeable position could disband or “explode” the diet. Because of this, government was mainly carried out through 50 or 60 regional diets causing the Polish rule to fall into the hands of local lords and preventing the monopolies of force and power, characteristics of a modern state, to form. It fell increasingly into serfdom and manorial rule with no system to limit the exploitation of peasants. During this time, Poland was also engaged in various military exploits against Russia, Sweden, Austria, and the Ottomans, which further weakened the state. The eventual fall of Poland created a power vacuum for the surrounding countries, namely the states of Prussia and Russia.



"This war changed the whole political system of Europe. A new arena opened up and one would have had to be inept or stupidly dull not to have profited by such an advantageous chance...." -Frederick II of Prussia on the division of Poland

The Ottoman Empire
During the seventeenth century The Ottoman Empire was the largest and strongest of he three declining states. The Empire was based on military prowess and expansion. The Turks had a standing army comprised of elite Janissaries long before any European country had either the political power or financial security to maintain an army. Because of their strength the Ottomans easily took over hue swaths of territory and the Ottoman Empire stretched from the Nile to the Steppes of Russia and, in 1529 they almost conquered Austria. This fast expansion did little to solidify the empire though because the Turks cared more about territory than the people in it. Thus local population almost always maintained their own cultural traditions and language that resulted in a low sense of unity for the Empire. Because the Turks wanted little involvement in the day-to-day affairs of the Empire the established a system of law that was essentially self-governing; law was almost strictly religious and mostly derived from the Qur’an however, Muslim law was applied only to Muslims and citizens of different religions were tired in different courts according to their belief system. Separation of church and state was also as alien and idea to the Ottomans as it was to most of Europe; the Ottoman Sultan was also the Caliph and religious leader of the empire. This practice made the Ottoman Empire extremely lax and allowed for great religious freedom but it made for a lack of unity within the country and, the farther one got from Constantinople, the capital, the less people felt devoted to their country.



"If one had but a single glance to give the world, one should gaze on Istanbul." -Alphonse de Lamartine,1600s(During the height of the Ottoman Empire)

The great military success the Ottoman Empire had during the 15th, 16th and beginning of the 17th century led it to resist political restructuring and it maintained Imperial Monarchy until 1923. This was a silly act of nostalgia however and resulted in a huge decline in power from 1663. This date was a turning point because, in a final campaign, the [|Janissaries] were once again called to war with Austria and Central Europe firmly in their sights. Upon realizing that the feared Turk barbarians may break into Italy, the Pope encouraged the HRE and Germany to raise an army designed solely to stop the war machine of the Ottoman Empire. Though his plea was sent out across Europe only one house notably rose to the challenge, the [|house of Austria]. The Austrian horseman not only stopped the Turkish invasion, they desiccated the Turkish army. This defeat broke the power of the Ottoman Empire and in the power vacuum left behind began to give rise to what would become the Austria-Hungary Empire.

The Swedish Empire
Sweden tried to form an Empire in central and eastern Europe but it never really took hold. Though they had a number of remarkable rulers including Gustavus Adolphus, Queen Christian and the brilliant military tactician Charles XII, Sweden’s Empire never had a population over one million people. Sweden also a hereditary monarchy for its governing system and never switched over to absolutism or a constitutional government. The Swedes made many attempts to expand their power base with their wars of expansion and made very little permanent progress. Their last campaign resulted in disaster when, after numerous successes, [|Charles XII]was attacked my Denmark, Poland and Russia in retribution for his precious military exploits. This Northern Alliance eventually became the downfall of the weakened- their population and coffers were thin after years of war- and stretched Swedish empire even though Charles XII was able to defeat their armies for several years out of skill and a little luck. Charles XII however refused to make peace with the Northern Alliance and it eventually gained the support of Saxony and Prussia. With their new allies [|The Northern Alliance] crushed Sweden and returned the country to its modern borders. The Swedes however have proved to be very successful as a small country and have since been happy to proceed as a small power.





Images
Charles XII- http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/1277/1106348-charles_xii_of_sweden_large.jpg Count Stanislas Potocki- http://www.wga.hu/art/d/david_j/1/110david.jpg