AbdulazizAbdulaziz (ʿAbdü'l-ʿAzîz; Abdülaziz; 8 February 1830 - 4 June 1876) was the 32nd sultan of the Ottoman Empire and reigned from 25 June 1861 to 30 May 1876, when he was overthrown in a government coup. He was a son of Sultan Mahmud II and succeeded his brother Abdulmejid I in 1861. Born at Eyüp Palace, Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), on 8 February 1830, Abdulaziz received an Ottoman education but was nevertheless an ardent admirer of the material progress that was being achieved in the West.
Balkan WarsThe Balkan Wars were a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defeated it, in the process stripping the Ottomans of their European provinces, leaving only Eastern Thrace under the Ottoman Empire's control. In the Second Balkan War, Bulgaria fought against the other four original combatants of the first war. It also faced an attack from Romania from the north.
ThraciansThe Thracians (ˈθreɪʃənz; Θρᾷκες; Траки; Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history. Thracians resided mainly in Southeast Europe in modern-day Bulgaria, Romania and northern Greece, but also in north-western Anatolia (Asia Minor) in Turkey. The exact origin of Thracians is unknown, but it is believed that proto-Thracians descended from a purported mixture of Proto-Indo-Europeans and Early European Farmers, arriving from the rest of Asia and Africa through the Asia Minor (Anatolia).
Latin EmpireThe Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byzantine Empire as the Western-recognized Roman Empire in the east, with a Catholic emperor enthroned in place of the Eastern Orthodox Roman emperors. The main objective of the Latin Empire was planned by Venice, which promoted the creation of this state for self-benefits.
BursaBursa (Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, بروسه) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of Turkey's automotive production takes place in Bursa. As of 2019, the Metropolitan Province was home to 3,056,120 inhabitants, 2,161,990 of whom lived in the 3 city urban districts (Osmangazi, Yıldırım and Nilüfer) plus Gürsu and Kestel.
Fall of ConstantinopleThe fall of Constantinople, also known as the conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 53-day siege which had begun on 6 April. The attacking Ottoman Army, which significantly outnumbered Constantinople's defenders, was commanded by the 21-year-old Sultan Mehmed II (later nicknamed "the Conqueror"), while the Byzantine army was led by Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos.
Ottoman TurksThe Ottoman Turks (Osmanlı Türkleri) were a Turkic ethnic group. They founded the Ottoman Empire in the early modern era and remained sociopolitically the most dominant group in the Empire for the duration ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, but they take their Turkish name, Osmanlı ("Osman" became altered in some European languages as "Ottoman"), from the house of Osman I (reigned 1299–1326), the founder of the House of Osman, the ruling dynasty of the Ottoman Empire for its entire 624 years.
MaritsaMaritsa or Maritza (Марица mɐˈrit͡sɐ), also known as Meriç (Meriç meɾit͡ʃ) and Evros (Έβρος ˈevros), is a river that runs through the Balkans in Southeast Europe. With a length of , it is the longest river that runs solely in the interior of the Balkan peninsula, and one of the largest in Europe by discharge. It flows through Bulgaria in its upper and middle reaches, while its lower course forms much of the border between Greece and Turkey. Its drainage area is about , of which 66.2% is in Bulgaria, 27.
MuhacirMuhacir or Muhajir (from مهاجر) are the estimated 10 million Ottoman Muslim citizens, and their descendants born after the onset of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, mostly Turks but also Albanians, Bosniaks, Greek Muslims, Circassians, Crimean Tatars, Pomaks, Serb Muslims, and Muslim Roma who emigrated to East Thrace and Anatolia from the late 18th century until the end of the 20th century, mainly to escape ongoing persecution in their homelands. Today, between a quarter and a third of Turkey's population of 85 million have ancestry from these Muhacirs.
KrumKrum (Крум, Κροῦμος/Kroumos), often referred to as Krum the Fearsome (Крум Страшни) was the Khan of Bulgaria from sometime between 796 and 803 until his death in 814. During his reign the Bulgarian territory doubled in size, spreading from the middle Danube to the Dnieper and from Odrin to the Tatra Mountains. His able and energetic rule brought law and order to Bulgaria and developed the rudiments of state organization. Krum was a Bulgar chieftain from Pannonia. His family background and the surroundings of his accession are unknown.
