EEK EMPIRE.

The Ottoman Empire arose from the ruins of the old Greek Empire, early
in the fifteenth century, Constantinople being made its capital in 1453,
after its capture by Mohammed II. At the accession of Mohammed IV, in
1648, the Turkish Empire was at the zenith of its power. Internal
corruption caused loss of power, and in 1774, a large slice of territory
was ceded to Russia. In 1821 Greece became independent. The Crimean War,
in 1854-56, checked Russia for a while, but in 1875 the people of
Herzegovina rebelled. A year later the Servians and Montenegrins
revolted, and in 1877 Russia began hostile operations in both parts of
the Turkish Empire. At this time Roumania declared her independence.
After the fall of Kars and of Plevna, the Turkish resistance completely
collapsed, and in 1878 Turkey was compelled to agree to the Treaty of
San Stefano.

Within the year the Treaty of Berlin declared Roumania, Servia and
Montenegro independent; Roumanian Bessarabia was ceded to Russia,
Austria was empowered to occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina; and Bulgaria was
made a principality. The main events in the history of the Ottoman
Empire since the Treaty of Berlin were the French invasion of Tunis in
1881, the Treaty with Greece, executed under pressure of the Great
Powers in 1881, by which Greece obtained Thessaly and a strip of Epirus;
the occupation of Egypt by Great Britain in 1882; the revolution of
Philippopolis in 1885, by which eastern Roumelia became united with
Bulgaria. In 1908 Bulgaria declared its independence and the Young Turk
Party extorted a constitution and a parliament from Abdul-Hamud II, who
was deposed in 1909 by the unanimous vote of the national assembly.
Mohammed V, eldest brother of the deposed Sultan succeeded to the
throne.

Russia, "the Great Bear," whose part in the war brought on internal
strife and revolution which robbed Czar Nicholas of his throne, traces
its history back for more than ten centuries, when the Norse invaded the
territory and founded Veliki Novgorod, for many years one of the chief
Russian cities. The Norse, to use the modern vernacular, "put Russia on
the map" when the Russian army fought its way to the very walls of
Constantinople. Much of the early history of the country is legendary,
and one of the famous stories is that after Igor, who commanded the
great armies, was put to death by rebellious subjects, his widow sought
out the territory where her husband had lost his life