The powers of Europe, especially Britain and France are concerned by the decline of the Ottoman Empire and growing power and ambition of Russia. This episode focuses on the problems of the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II, who descendants once ruled a mighty empire that threatened Christendom, but in the 1800's was struggling under the pressures of modernity and the threat of regions breaking away e.g. in Egypt, Arabia and the Balkans.  www.patreon.com/historyeurope www.historyeurope.net Music: Chopin's Mazurka in C sharp minor, and Etude no. 3 in E major - 'Tristesse'; Mikhail Glinka - Trio Pathétique Picture - Portrait of Sultan Mahmud II See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.