Editing Eastern question (section)

==Background==
{{main article|International relations (1648–1814)|International relations (1814–1919)}}
[[File:Ottoman empire.svg|thumb|300px|At the height of its power (1683), the [[Ottoman Empire]] controlled territory in the Near East and North Africa, as well as Central and Southeastern Europe.]]

The Eastern question emerged as the power of the Ottoman Empire began to decline during the 18th century. The Ottomans were at the height of their power in 1683, when they lost the [[Battle of Vienna]] to the combined forces of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] and Austria, under the command of [[John III Sobieski]]. Peace was made much later, in 1699, with the [[Treaty of Karlowitz]], which forced the Ottoman Empire to cede many of its Central European possessions, including those portions of Hungary which it had occupied. Its westward expansion arrested, the Ottoman Empire never again posed a serious threat to Austria, which became the dominant power in its region of Europe. The Eastern question did not truly develop until the [[Russo-Turkish wars]] of the 18th century.

According to [[Karl Marx]]'s writings around the [[Crimean War]], the main factor of the Eastern question was Russian imperialism towards Turkey—with Turkey being a barrier that would protect the rest of Europe, and thus Britain's interests laid with the Ottoman Empire during the Crimean War.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=The Russian Menace to Europem and the Crimean War - by Marx and Engels 1853-5|url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/subject/russia/crimean-war.htm|access-date=2021-06-16|website=www.marxists.org}}</ref>