The Ottomans in the Mediterranean in the later fifteenth century : the strategy of Mehmet II

Abstract

Under the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II (1444-1446, 1451-1481), the Ottoman empire greatly expanded its territories eastwards across Anatolia, north across the Black Sea and westwards across the Balkans. Part of this expansion was into the eastern Mediterranean, a zone dominated by the Italian city states of Venice and Genoa which had commercial interests and territorial holdings there. Two major calculations lay behind Mehmed's policy in the Mediterranean: strategic requirement and economic interest. From a strategic point of view, Mehmed needed to protect his territories, Ottoman commercial shipping and military transportation at sea as well as to secure his advance westwards. From an economic point of view, he wanted to control maritime trade routes and to take over commercial interests and economic assets. His strategy of conquest consisted of a combination of direct conquest, temporary tributary arrangements and more longterm alliances, and his success was due in particular to the cautious speed of conquest, the internal divisions of the region and his ability to manipulate and benefit from them.