History of Anatolia

The history of Anatolia encompasses the region known as Anatolia (Turkish: Anadolu), known by the Latin name of Asia Minor, considered to be the westernmost extent of Asia. Geographically it encompasses the central uplands of modern Turkey, from the coastal plain of the Aegean Sea east to the mountains on the Armenian border and from the narrow coast of the Black Sea south to the Taurus mountains and Mediterranean coast.

Evidence of the earliest cultures in Anatolia are Stone Age artifacts, while the remnants of Bronze Age civilizations such as the Hattians, provide examples of the lives of its citizens and their trade. After the fall of the Hittites, new states such as Phrygia and Lydia appeared on the western coast as Greek civilization began to flourish.

The growing Persian kingdom eventually absorbed them. Following the Persian invasion, its expansionism brought it into conflict with the Greek monarch Alexander the Great who successfully expelled the Persians. Although he brought an end to the Persian Empire, his reign was short and his empire broke up on his death. Most of Anatolia eventually fell under the Seleucid Empire, the largest of Alexander's territories, but they were driven back by the Romans by 191 BC, most of their lands returning to local kingdoms such as the Kingdom of Pergamum. Roman control gradually strengthened carving out provinces from the Anatolian lands, but the Roman Empire was weakened by successive civil wars and barbarian invasions. These resulted in periodic divisions of the empire.

In the 4th century, during the reign of Constantine the Great, at the east part of the Roman empire (referred to by historians much later as the Byzantine Empire) was established a new capital at Constantinople. Parting from the West empire the Byzantine Empire it succeeded to flourish for almost a thousand years. The first serious blow it suffered came from the earlier Mongol advance on August 26, 1071 at the Battle of Manzikert (modern Malazgirt in Muş Province, Turkey). The armies of the Seljuk and Ilkhanate gradually overran the vital trading centers under scope of Byzantine influence. The Ottoman Turks, under the command of Sultan Mehmet II, finally destroyed the Byzantine Empire when they conquered Constantinople in 1453.

The Ottoman Empire in Anatolia allowed other religions to maintain themselves long after 1453, and built upon their success by enlarging their territories, from North Africa to Europe beyond Thrace, reaching its peak under Suleiman the Magnificent (1520–66). Wars with Russia and other peoples in revolt, including the Balkans and Greece (1821–32), prevented the Ottomans from taking advantage of their powerful position, and declined under ineffective leadership. Even their highly skilled army, the Janissaries, were eventually disbanded in 1826 after an attempted revolt. Reforms designed to improve the economy backfired as burdensome taxes and levies turned away profitable trade, and desperation allowed the Empire to be sucked into World War I on the side of Germany and Austria. Following their defeat in the war, the Ottoman Empire was carved up and was now limited to Anatolia proper, but Greek aims in the region caused new tensions that boiled over into full-scale war (1919–22). It was this war that allowed Mustafa Kemal Atatürk to make Anatolia into the new Republic of Turkey by defeating the Greeks and abolishing the Ottoman government for good in 1922.