Why was Christian Europe was slow to react to the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the continuing threat from the Ottoman Turks
Uploaded by Kerrytom on Aug 10, 2013
Christian Europe was slow to react to the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the continuing threat from the Ottoman Turks. There were a number of reasons for this reaction. The first major reason was that there was a not a lot of unity in the Western European states and they were either fighting wars against other Christian nations or fighting civil wars. They were too preoccupied in their own affairs to go on a religious crusade. The second reason was simply fear. The Western countries had faced these Ottoman Turks in the battlefield at Nicopolis in 1396 and had lost comprehensively. The memories of this loss and the slaughter of the Christian forces remained in the minds of the defeated nations for a long time. The final reason for the inaction of Western Christian countries was the presence of Hungary. The Hungarians provided a blockade for the Western Europeans and prevented the Ottomans from marching into more Central and Western Europe and they defended their country very well for a long period of time.
The first aspect to look at when dealing with this question was the disunity between the Western nations. For the Christian nations to be able to defeat the Turks they would have to be unified. “It was of course necessary to drive the Turks from the Danube line, which only a coalition of Christian states could accomplish.” The Christian states were anything but unified at the time. England and France were engaged in a long war with each other. While this Hundred Years War was happening England and France were not concerned with any other European problems. It was recognised at the time that in order for a holy war to be fought, peace between these countries was needed. Efforts were made by numerous Popes to try to end this conflict. “Oh, how much better to fight against the Turkish enemies of our faith than the present fratricidal strife.” Also this war was draining both France and England of resources so they could not financially support a potential religious war with the Ottomans until their own issues were resolved. The Spanish were too busy fighting Muslims on their own soil to be concerned with the Turks on the other side of Europe.
Another reason for the Western inaction was fear. This fear of the Ottomans was instilled into the minds of the Western...