On November 9, 2011, I attended another lecture held at Queens College to further my knowledge of Turkey and its history. Having previous experience with the lectures about Turkey that Queens College offers, I knew that this one was sure to not disappoint. I was correct in my assumption when Elena Frangakis-Syrett educated the attendees about Turkish empires, particularly, the Ottoman Empire. The lecture consisted fascinating information about the rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire as well as information about the women that possessed power during the time of the Ottoman Empire. The combination of her lecture and the outside research that I conducted, I was able to learn the following facts.

Frangakis-Syrett explained that a strong empire was created due to a number of working factors. These factors included possessing a strong military, having exquisite knowledge of war and artillery, having economic growth, taking over the right lands at the right time, setting up an efficient trading system, creating alliances, ruling flexibly by not converting the people that the empire took over, cooperating with Europe (in the case of the Ottoman Empire), allowing a proper system of tax revenue to exist, and having a group of loyal administrators. The Ottoman Empire successfully used these factors in order to rise and it stayed very powerful and thriving until other factors contributed to the empire’s downfall.

Difficulties and issues arose during the course of history that caused the Ottoman Empire to collapse. These issues included the revolution of soldiers due to their unhappiness with their lack of pay, bad climate conditions, disconnection between economic growth, society, and demographic growth, falling prices and the inflation that followed as a result, wars in Europe. Perhaps the biggest issue that contributed to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire was the fighting the occurred among the Turks. With everything from economic failings and bothering climate conditions to revolutions and wars working against the empire, a collapse was not only inevitable but also expected. After seven hundred years of flourishing as one of the strongest empires, the empire collapsed and became a legendary story to pass onto future generations. The Ottoman Empire serves as a great example of how to obtain power.

Frangakis-Syrett really captured my attention when she mentioned that women started to gain their own power during the era of the Ottoman Empire. She provided the sultan’s wife and mother as examples of such women. She further explained that these women were often used in peace talks and also formed alliances with other women of power in different countries that were in the same position. This stimulated my question about the women in our country. Is the amount of power that these women from the past held the same as the power that the women of our country hold today?

Frangakis-Syrett’s lecture was not only an enjoyable and educational one but it was also one that raised many questions for me to pursue. I plan to purse these questions in my own time as well as at the next lecture, which will take place on December 7, 2011 and will contain information about Sufism. I look forward to learning more.