The Ottoman Empire had begun as one of the small states in

the Turkish region. It had emerged in the regions of the Asia

Minor during the time of the breakdown of the empire and the

rule of the Seljuk Turks. It was at the same time that the

Ottoman Turks had begun to take in from the other states. It

was during the reign of the Muhammad II (1451 – 1481), they

had ended all the rule of all the remaining Turkish dynasties.

The earliest phase of the expansion of the Ottoman Empire

had begun during the rule of the Osman I. Orkhan, Murad I

and Beyazid I – all of these at the expense of the Byzantine

Empire along with Serbia and Bulgaria.

The Ottoman Empire witnessed several moments of historical

importance. It experienced both the rise as well as the fall of

the same as the centuries passed by. The World War II had

represented quite a unique and exceptional event during which

the experience of suffering in the war had become quite

common. The entire devastation of the cities along with the

slaughtering of the civilians had simply abolished the distinction

between the rear as well as the front line. The World War

became more familiar and was accepted as the natural part of

the social as well as that of the political life. The history of the

Ottoman Empire demonstrates the common experiences of the

Central, Western as well as the Southeast Europe and puts

them in perspective of the brutality shown by the Balkans.