<P> The war caused an exodus of the Crimean Tatars . From the total Tatar population of 300,000 in the Tauride Province, about 200,000 Crimean Tatars moved to the Ottoman Empire in continuing waves of emigration . Toward the end of the Caucasian Wars, 90% of the Circassians were exiled from their homelands in the Caucasus and settled in the Ottoman Empire . Since the 19th century, the exodus to present - day Turkey by the large portion of Muslim peoples from the Balkans, Caucasus, Crimea and Crete, had great influence in molding the country's fundamental features . These people were called Muhacir under a general definition . By the time the Ottoman Empire came to an end in 1922, half of the urban population of Turkey was descended from Muslim refugees from Russia . Crimean Tatar refugees in the late 19th century played an especially notable role in seeking to modernise Turkish education . </P> <P> The rise of nationalism swept through many countries during the 19th century, and it affected territories within the Ottoman Empire . A burgeoning national consciousness, together with a growing sense of ethnic nationalism, made nationalistic thought one of the most significant Western ideas imported to the Ottoman Empire . It was forced to deal with nationalism both within and beyond its borders . The number of revolutionary political parties rose dramatically . Uprisings in Ottoman territory had many far - reaching consequences during the 19th century and determined much of Ottoman policy during the early 20th century . Many Ottoman Turks questioned whether the policies of the state were to blame: some felt that the sources of ethnic conflict were external, and unrelated to issues of governance . While this era was not without some successes, the ability of the Ottoman state to have any effect on ethnic uprisings was seriously called into question . </P> <P> In 1804 the Serbian Revolution against Ottoman rule erupted in the Balkans, running in parallel with the Napoleonic invasion . By 1817, when the revolution ended, Serbia was raised to the status of self - governing monarchy under nominal Ottoman suzerainty . In 1821 the First Hellenic Republic became the first Balkan country to achieve its independence from the Ottoman Empire . It was officially recognised by the Porte in 1829, after the end of the Greek War of Independence . </P> <P> The Tanzimat reforms did not halt the rise of nationalism in the Danubian Principalities and the Principality of Serbia, which had been semi-independent for almost six decades . In 1875, the tributary principalities of Serbia and Montenegro, and the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, unilaterally declared their independence from the empire . Following the Russo - Turkish War of 1877--1878, the empire granted independence to all three belligerent nations . Bulgaria also achieved independence (as the Principality of Bulgaria); its volunteers had participated in the Russo - Turkish War on the side of the rebelling nations . </P>

Which leader added territory on three continents to the ottoman empire