Derek Piedra-Güido
P.1
1/23/10
Comparison Essay between Empire Building of Spanish Empire and Ottoman Empire
In the period of 1450 to 1800 many empires were form throughout the world; two of the
most important were the Spanish and Ottoman empires which had similarities and differences in
the way that they built their empires and examples of this is the social difference in the way
minorities or conquered people were treated, their political similarity in expansion and
acquisition of new lands by force, and the economic similarity of both empires having strong
economies thanks to the position of their conquered lands.
The Ottoman Empire and the Spanish Empire treated their subjects in a very different
way from one another. When the Spanish arrived to the new world one of their key objectives
was the conversion of the native peoples to Christianity. The Ottomans however, did not enforce
Islam as the religion that all subjects should follow. They were actually very lenient to people of
other religions since this was part of their strategy to keep dissent low. The Spanish also forced
the natives into labor in haciendas and mines. The Ottomans did not enforce this type of work
but they did gather Christian boys that would become Janissaries. This system of forced labor
would eventually produce the many wars of Latin American independence which took away
almost all of Spain’s colonial positions. The Ottoman Empire came down due to mistakes made
during the twentieth century.
A similarity between the Ottomans and the Spaniards was the way in which they built
their empires, through war. When the Spaniards arrived to the Americas they possessed a
supreme technological advantage. The Ottomans also had technological advancements as well
as an advantage in having elite troops that were high in moral and very effective in the
battlefield. Both of the empires used these factors for their advantage to create large empires.
These two empires could also be compared to Genghis Khan use of superior tactics and Nazi
Germany’s use of advanced tactics and technologies. The Spanish and the Ottoman’s also lost
their territories thanks to war, the Spanish loosing it while fighting revolutions and the
Ottoman’s loosing territory during WWI.
Another similarity between the Ottoman’s and the Spaniards empire-building was that
their economies became stronger. The Spanish obtain large numbers of raw materials and
introduced silver into the global trade network. This made the Spanish Empire one of the
strongest in the world until its decline during the reign of King Philip II. The Ottoman Empire’s
position forced all products coming from Asia to Europe via land routes to come directly through
the Empire. The Empire gained a large amount of economic Surplus and trade became and
important part of its economy. This helped to pay for both of the empires military expenses and
supported their empires economic needs for a long time.
Overall, these two empires were not similar in how they treated subjects in conquered
lands. They were similar in how they were able to achieve the status of empire and how they
were able to pay for this always costly status.