Why did european imperialist powers want to take over Ottoman Empire lands?
The short answer is the Europeans used to have trade routes to India and China. The Ottomans shut them off. They tried to defeat them so they could reopen the lucrative trade routes. The Europeans were also working a sea route to get another trade route opened. That was why Columbus accidentally discovered the American continents. Maybe people haven’t answered because these days imperialist is a bad word and they were a little taken aback at the question. You need to put the empires in question on an equal footing. When you label European imperialist powers (and don’t capitalize Europe but do capitalize Ottoman) and don’t label Ottoman Empire as imperialists, that makes me think you have a hidden agenda. As for your question, European powers tried to take over the Ottoman Empire for the same reason the Ottoman Epire tried to take over Europe. The larger the lands you control, the more wealth you have. And it is about wealth and protecting it. Face it, the Ottoman Empire started small,
