Naval Policy
Kanuni had conquered the entire Hungary in a jiffy through a single attack pursuant to a pitched battle with the same scale of extension (Mohaj). The Ottoman initiative power was so slackened that they were contented with the annihilation of the army of the enemy in Hacova. Although Austria was defenceless and exposed to conquest, it had not been ever planned to penetrate into this country. As a matter of fact, Yanikkale was lost (29th March 1598). However, Damad Ibrahim Pasha who was the Grand Vizier and the Chief Commander captured Canije (22nd October 1600) and he repulsed the Germans fro South-west Hungary. An enormous German army that came in order to recapture this city was totally defeated by Tiryaki Hasan Pasha in a miraculous and a crushing manner (18th November 1601). Turks who recaptured Istolni-Belgrade (6th August 1602) defeated the German army (18th November 1607) in a place in front of Budin (Budapest). Therefore, Sokulluzade Mehmed Pasha who was the Grand Vizier and the Chief Commander recaptured Estergon from the Germans in a glorious manner (3rd October 1605). Tiryaki Hasan Pasha also took the delivery of the castle of Uyvar. However, the state was tired of this war that continued for 132 years. Therefore, it accepted to participate in the negotiations before these successes and victories were overshadowed. The peace agreement of Zitvatorok was signed (11th November 1606). It has been an important agreement in respect of these qualities as follows: The taxes paid by the German Empire were annulled. Until that time, Turkey had alleged that there were not any emperors other than the ruler in Europe and this Ottoman allegation had been certified by the German emperor. However, Turks also accepted that the German emperor was an emperor. Turkey did not suffer from the loss of lands; however, it did not have a benefit apart from a few castles. Nevertheless, the Imperial Divan had never accepted and approved any agreement that did not provide any radical benefit for the state. Therefore, the Turkish world state was still a world state; however, it had lost its power of development and the energy for expansion, and it had entered into a period of Impasse.
This agreement was signed in the period the son of Mehmed III and the caliph, Ahmed I (1603-1617). In this period, the Bandit revolutions kept on continuing. The Grand Vizier and the Chief Commander, Kuyucu Murad Pasha worked nearly for 5 years and struggled with these rebellions and revolutions until his death (5th August 1611). However, the anarcy was deep-rooted and there were various factors that caused it. Despite his violent attitudes, he could only attain temporary successes. Actually, the rebellious people were not the enemies; on the contrary, they were the former governors, district governors and the cavalry officers that gathered Anatolian Turks around them. Although the domination could not be sustained, the superiority in the Mediterranean Sea could be maintained, though. The military expedition of Damat Halil Pasha who was the Head of the Ottoman Navy and the troops that he landed in Malta (13th May- 28th November 1614) ended up with great success.
Upon the inopportune death of Ahmed I at a very young age, his elder son, Sultan Osman was annihilated through the intrigues in the palace and Sultan Ahmeds brother, Mustafa I (1617-1618) was enthroned. However, since it has been understood that he was mentally retarded, he was dethroned after 3 months. Osman II (1618-1622) became the ruler. In his period, the relations with Poland were on strained terms. The Polish armies were defeated in Yaş and Turla pitched battles (20th September and 7th October 1620). Osman II organised a military expedition in person. He came to the region in front of Hotin (3rd September 1621). Hotin Agreement was concluded thereof (6th October 1621). Although this agreement included some conditions that would subdue the Kingdom of Poland under the protection of Turkey again, it could not be benefited due to the internal problems of the Turkish state. Osman II was convinced that the army and especially the Janissary guards and the state order had become depraved. Therefore, he decided to enforce some radical reforms to the extreme degree that could not be endured by the people of that era. He could not execute these reforms due to his youth and inexperience despite his genius. He was killed (in the evening of 20th May 1622) and therefore, the Empire was in a civil turmoil. The slaying of the ruler that had been considered as a holy person was recorded in the Turkish history as a kind of calamity of Kerbela. Its effects were felt for centuries. Some parts of the army and the people in various regions rebelled in order to take the revenge of Sultan Osman. It was like a massacre. As a consequence, the anarchy increased, expanded and it turned into an ordinary disorder from that date on. Then, Mustafa I was enthroned again (1622-1623). However, he was dethroned again. Osman IIs brothers and he crown prince, Murad IV became the ruler who was in his childhood (1623-1640).
Just like the regency of the mother of Mustafa I, the mother of Murad IV who was a child, Kösem Mehpeyker Valide Sultan became the regent of the sultanate. Anarchy and the corruption increased day by day. The revolutions followed one another. Murad IV who was brought under these conditions captured the government through a firm coup detat in person in the year of 1632. It could be easily asserted that he verged on oppression. He governed the state with an extremely cruel and unkind manner that had not been ever seen before or after his period in the Ottoman history. He also did not tolerate to any other authority apart from him. He established the peace and the public order at an extensive scale and he suppressed the anarchy. However, the following events showed that these accomplishments were dependent on the character of the ruler. Nevertheless, some of the historians state that Murad IV had extended the life of the state with another half-century. He was the greatest ruler of the rulers that ascended the throne between Kanuni and Mahmud II. Besides, he was a distinguished character of the Turkish history in the century XVII. He was born as a genius, and he had become mature with the events; however, the environment in which he lived and his observations oriented him towards oppression. He was a great composer. He was born soldier and he had a character equipped with the capabilities that could manage and command the largest armies successfully. His death at the age of 27.5 undermined the state very much.
In the period of Murad IV, Iran wars gained a new dimension that had not and would not been ever seen. The war broke out upon the capture of Baghdad by the Safevi State by chance (the night of 11th/12th January 1624). When Hafiz Ahmed Pasha could not recapture Baghdad (1625-1626), Husrev Pasha who was the grand vizier turned Iran upside down through destruction. He captured Hamedan (9th June 1630) and various places in the Western Iran. However, he could not recapture Baghdad.
Murad IV organised his first military expedition that was called as Expedition to Revan (28th March- 27th December 1635). When he overwhelmed Iran in the north, he arranged the great preparations for his second military expedition that was called as Expedition to Baghdad. He came to Baghdad on the 15th November and he captured this city pursuant to the cruel and bloody fights (24th December 1638). He deserved the title of the Conqueror of Baghdad. Kasr-ı Şirin Agreement (17th May 1639) gave an end to this great, cruel and terrible war with questionable consequences that lasted for more than 15 years. This agreement determined todays borders of Turkey-Iran and Turkey-Iraq providing that Iraq was under the domination of Ottoman State- and it divided the Caucasus to be shared between the Ottoman and Safevi Empires.