FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE OTTOMAN CONQUEST OF THE BALKAN IN THE 14TH CENTURY

The Ottomans first made an appearance in the Balkan region after John Kantakouzenos requested Sultan Orhan Is assistance to win the Byzantine throne. During their later assistance, the Ottomans acquired Fort of Tzympe in Gallipoli as their base in the Balkan region. After the annexation of Gallipoli city, the Ottomans affirmed their intention to expand their territory westward that, in less than half of a century, they subjugated almost the entire Balkan region. The objective of this study is to analyse contributory factors for the achievement of the Ottoman conquest and expansion in the Balkans in the 14^th century. This study applied historical approach and content-analysis method. This study discovered that the factors contributing to the achievement of the Ottoman rapid conquest and expansion in the Balkan in the 14^th century are complex in that the weakening state of Balkan kingdoms, which has often been pointed out, is not the exclusive reason. Apart from the weakness of the Balkans political state, other factors include the absence of military assistance from the neighbouring kingdom to the Balkan rulers in fighting the Ottoman Empire, the strategic location of the Ottoman Empire providing abundant human resources close to the Balkans, the Ottoman military prowess including the high morale of the Ottoman army, the ingenuity of the Ottoman sultans who acted as military commanders in devising conquest and expansion strategy, the Ottoman method of conquest which ensured the continuous obedience of the Balkan region under Ottoman rule and the inclination of the Balkan people towards the Ottoman-Islamic rule rather than the Western-Catholic rule.