On This Day: Death of Mehmed VI, Last Ottoman Sultan

90 years ago, the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire – Mehmed VI – died while living in exile in Italy.

He lost his throne in November 1922 when the Grand National Assembly of Turkey was given sovereignty over (what was left of) his empire. This came about thanks to the Ottomans joining World War One on the side of the Central Powers, which ended up costing them a large portion of their territory. Mehmed tried in vain to accommodate the Allies’ demands after surrender, which made him unpopular with the people, who eventually banded together to create the GNAT and later established the Turkish republic.

Sultan Mehmed was born in 1861, and took over the Sultanate upon the death of his brother, Mehmed V, in 1918. He married five times and had five children.

The #Ottoman Empire lasted from 1300 to 1922, here's the last Sultan Mehmed VI who was forced into exile pic.twitter.com/X0tGAqQh6H

— History Gems (@HistoryGems) January 2, 2016

Filed under Historical Royals, Ottoman Empire
Tagged Anniversary, Death, Mehmed VI of the Ottoman Empire.