A fascinating
empire that began when the Ottoman Turks destroyed the Byzantine Empire in the late 1400's-1500.
Included such interesting features as the Janissaries (no I am not certain that I spelled that correctly), who were the children of prisoners of war. They were raised from childhood to be loyal to the Sultan, and were the elite, personal forces of the Sultan. In the mid- to later years of the empire, they were involved in a great deal of the palace intrigue.
The empire was vibrant for the first 200 years of its existence, but central authority essentially collapsed after that. In the 19th and early 20th century (before WWI), the most pressing question in European diplomacy was "The Turkish Question". It essentially consisted of how the Great Powers were going to carve up the Ottmon Empire and distribute the territory among themselves in such a way that the balance of power was not changed.
It was taken as a given in those discussions that the empire was so defenceless that the Great Powers could do as they pleased with it.