14. The “sick man of Europe” was a term applied to

Question

A. Hitler.

B. Bismarck.

C. Turkey.

D. Italy.

Answer 1

c, late 19th century

Answer 2

C. Turkey...The Ottoman Empire in 1914 was commonly known as 'the sick man of Europe', a sign that the once-great power was crumbling.

The Turks had dominated the Eastern Mediterranean for half a millennium.

By the 20th century all that remained in Ottoman hands outside Turkey was Syria, Mesopotamia, Palestine and parts of the Arabian Peninsula.

Answer 3

C.  Turkey (which I believe was part of the Ottoman Empire at the time)

Answer 4

turkey, the modern day ottoman empire...

Answer 5

Technically the answer is none of these. Hitler and Bismarck are so far from the mark they aren't even worth mentioning and Italy was far from the sick at the time this phrase was around while Turkey didn't even exist.

The Ottoman Empire was the "sick man of Europe" because it had been involved in a number of wars in then recent history that it had lost and a number of uprisings in its territories that it had failed to contain. It's destruction can be traced to the failure of the Ottomans to modernize its economy, communication system and its failure to exist in harmony with it many different ethnic groups.

The term of "Sick Man od Europe" itself is generally attributed to Tsar Nicolas I of Russia who was referring to the Ottomans at the time, it is in reference to the Ottomans increasingly falling under the financial control of other European Countries and the loss of much of its territories from a series of disastrous wars. However it is not really clear whether he ever said that phrase but he did refer to the Ottomans as a sick man.