The decline of the power of the Turks set in during the latter half of the sixteenth century, when their dominions passed under incapable rulers. In the reign of Selim II. (1566-1574) occurred the first conflict between the Turks and Russians, the former being driven back from Astrakkan. In 1593, during a war between Turkey and Austria, the provinces of Transylvania, Moldavia, and Wallachia rose in revolt. As the result of intermittent wars in the latter half of the seventeenth century Austria acquired almost the whole of _Hungary_. In 1770 Russia occupied _Moldavia_ and _Wallachia_, which though nominally for a time under Turkey were practically Russian protectorates. During the next few years Russia regained the Crimea and all the neighbouring district north of the Black Sea. At the commencement of the nineteenth century the Ottoman Empire was in a perilous condition. Napoleon had plans for its partition. Provincial governors were everywhere acting independently of the Sultan. In 1804 _Serbia_ revolted, and after a few years of persistent struggle obtained its autonomy. _Greece_ revolted in 1820, and, though subdued for a time, gained its independence in 1829 through the intervention of England, France, and Russia, and chiefly as the result of the naval battle of Navarino, in which the Turco-Egyptian fleet was annihilated. In the same year _Algeria_ was annexed by the French. European rivalries prevented for a time any rapid diminution of the Empire. The Crimean War of 1854-5 had important consequences for the Balkan peoples. It gave them, under the slackening grasp of the Porte, twenty years of comparatively quiet national development. In 1860 Wallachia and Moldavia formed themselves into the single state of _Roumania_. In 1866 the Pasha of Egypt assumed the title of Khedive (_i.e._, king), thereby securing a measure of independence for the country. In 1875 the misrule of the Sultan led to the insurrection of Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Bulgaria. Serbia and Montenegro then took up arms. In 1877 a war with Russia saw Turkey without an ally. A complete Russian victory in 1878 issued in the treaties first of San Stefano and then of Berlin, by which Turkey yielded to Russia the state of _Bessarabia_ and districts south of the Caucasus, the independence of _Serbia_, _Montenegro_, and _Roumania_ were recognised by the Porte, _Bulgaria_ was constituted an autonomous state, _Bosnia_ and _Herzegovina_ were ceded to Austria, _Thessaly_ to Greece, and _Cyprus_ to Britain. In 1885, as the result of a revolution, Eastern _Roumelia_ became united to Bulgaria. Shortly after that date German influence began to gain ascendancy at the court of the Sultan, and, among other affairs, largely dominated the granting of railway concessions in Western Asia. The effects of that influence have been evidenced in the present war. In 1912 Italy annexed _Tripoli_ after a brief war. In 1913 a short but sanguinary war with the Balkan