ABSTRACT
The pre-eminence of the Osmanlis among the Turks seems to be mainly the result of geographical position. Their story is typical of the national life of which we have been speaking. The family histories of the Ghaznevids and early Seljuks closely resemble the beginning of the house of Osman. But no previous Turkish state had severed its connection with Eastern Asia sufficiently to become a permanent danger to Europe. Even Konia was a long way from Constantinople, and the Seljuks when established there were already in their decline. But in the case of the Osmanlis, the first impetus, the new fountain of vigour, burst forth in Western Anatolia, comparatively close to Constantinople. Their victorious arms advanced early into Europe, a stride which the Seljuks could never have made. They incorporated European recruits in their armies, and by the conquest of Constantinople received first a stimulus which sent them on victorious as far as Vienna, and secondly an unparalleled national citadel, possessed of a strength far more lasting than any which mere fortifications can give, and capable of holding together a decaying Empire which would have soon decomposed if centred in Konia or Samarcand. Yet it would be unjust not to recognise the personal merit of the Osmanlis. They no doubt possessed in their highest form all the Turkish virtues—courage, energy, obedience, discipline, and temperance ; and it is truly remarkable that they did not collapse after the defeat inflicted on them by Timur. It may be urged that Timur made no attempt to destroy their power or lay waste Asia Minor, but merely humbled Bayezid and went away. This is true ; but Bayezid was the fifth from Ertoghrul, and feebler Turkish dynasties collapsed of themselves in a shorter period.
