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Selim III

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Selim III, 1761–1808, Ottoman sultan (1789–1807), nephew and successor of Abd al-Hamid I to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). He suffered severe defeats in the second of the Russo-Turkish Wars Russo-Turkish Wars. The great eastward expansion of Russia in the 16th and 17th cent., during the decline of the Ottoman Empire, nevertheless left the shores of the Black Sea in the hands of the Ottoman sultans and their vassals, the khans of Crimea .
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 with Catherine II, but suffered no major territorial losses when peace was made at Jassy in 1792. An ardent reformer, Selim set out to rebuild the Turkish navy on European lines, to reform the army, and to curb the Janissaries Janissaries (jăn`ĭsâr'ēz) [Turk.,=recruits], elite corps in the service of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey).
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. In 1798 Selim joined the second coalition against France in the French Revolutionary Wars. Turkish forces lost Jaffa to Napoleon Bonaparte, who had invaded (1799) Syria after taking Egypt, but they held out at Acre and forced Napoleon to retreat. In 1801 the French left Egypt, which was restored to the sultan. In 1804 the Serbs under Karageorge Karageorge (kăr`əjôrj`, kä'räjôr`jā), 1768?–1817, Serbian patriot.
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 revolted. In 1806 war with Russia broke out again. A revolt of the Janissaries and conservatives who opposed his reforms led to Selim's deposition and imprisonment in 1807. Mustafa IV Mustafa IV, 1778–1808, Ottoman sultan (1807–8), son of Abd al-Hamid I. He was raised to the throne by the reactionary Janissaries who had deposed Mustafa's cousin, Selim III , because they opposed his attempted reforms.
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 was placed on the throne. A loyal army marched on Constantinople to restore Selim. It entered the city in 1808, just after Selim had been strangled on Mustafa's orders. Mustafa was executed and another of Selim's cousins, Mahmud II, was put on the throne. During Selim's reign Egypt became virtually independent under Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali, 1769?–1849, pasha of Egypt after 1805. He was a common soldier who rose to leadership by his military skill and political acumen. In 1799 he commanded a Turkish army in an unsuccessful attempt to drive Napoleon from Egypt.
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, as did Albania under Ali Pasha Ali Pasha (älē` päshä`)
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. Selim's well-intentioned and efficient reforms came too late to arrest the decay of the Ottoman Empire.

Selim III

Enlarge picture
Selim III, detail of a portrait by H. Berteaux, early 19th century; in the Topkapi Palace …
(credit: Sonia Halliday)
(born Dec. 24, 1761, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire—died July 29, 1808, Constantinople) Ottoman sultan (r. 1789–1807). He inherited the throne during a losing war with Austria and Russia (1787–92), with whom he later signed treaties. Napoleon I's invasion of Egypt in 1798 drove him into an alliance with Britain and Russia, but, impressed with Napoleon's successes, he switched sides in 1806. At home he attempted tax and land reform and established a European-style military corps, but, unable to enforce his reforms in the face of mutinies among the Janissaries and other units, he rescinded them. He was promptly overthrown and was strangled on the orders of his successor, Mustafa IV.



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