Beginning with the Crimean War (1853-1856), the Ottoman debt mounted steadily. But his methods and the internal tensions built up by the very modernization processes he had fostered, finally did him in.Ībdul Hamid inherited an empire that was in dire financial straits.
In this effort, he was partially successful, preserving its Islamic core for forty years and keeping the empire out of a major war for as long. In the face of aggression from without and sabotage from within, hammered by forces of nationalism and weakened by internal sabotage from some of the millets, he waged a valiant battle to preserve what was left of the once mighty empire. He came on the stage of history at a time when the empire was bankrupt and could not defend itself against its many enemies. Summary: Sultan Abdul Hamid II was the last of the great sultans.
