"Sick man of Europe" is a label given to a state located in Europe experiencing economic difficulties, social unrest or impoverishment. Although it is most famously used to refer to the Ottoman Empire whilst they were in a state of decline.
Caricature from Punch, dated june 6 , 1896. It shows Sultan Abdul Hamid II in front of a poster that announces the reorganization of the Ottoman Empire. The empire's value is estimated at £5 million (£570 million in 2019). Russia, France and Britain are listed as the directors of the reorganisation. The caricature satirized the impoverished state of the Ottoman economy at the time.
The Ottoman Empire, historically and colloquially known as the Turkish Empire, was an imperial realm that spanned much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Central Europe between the early 16th and early 18th centuries.
Ottoman miniature of Osman I by Yahya Bustanzâde (18th Century)
The Battle of Nicopolis in 1396, as depicted in an Ottoman miniature from 1523
Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror's entry into Constantinople; painting by Fausto Zonaro (1854–1929)
Ottoman miniature of the Battle of Mohács in 1526
