Mustafa III

Mustafa was the son of Sultan Ahmed III, confined for decades after his father's deposition in 1730. When he finally became sultan in 1757, he set about promoting justice, economic reform, and infrastructure modernization. An admirer of Frederick the Great, he aligned the empire diplomatically with Prussia. But in 1768 he pushed for war with Russia — a decision that ended in disaster. Despite his reform efforts, the conflict exposed deep Ottoman military weakness and concluded with major territorial losses. He died in 1774, succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I.