The Italian peninsula was fragmented into a series of small states which could have easily been gobbled up by the Ottomans.
Were the little city states of Venice and Genoa really that powerful? I know they held territory outside their cities but their territorial scope still paled in comparison to that of the Ottoman Empire. Not to mention the close proximity of the Italian peninsula to Ottoman lands.
Was it the threat of all of Catholic Europe descending on the Ottomans? That doesn’t seem plausible given that none of Orthodox Europe including Russia descended on the Ottomans, nor did any other Christian nation. And by 1453 (year of Constantinople’s conquest), the Rus’ principalities were free of Mongol dominion and could threaten war on the Ottomans but they never did.
Also, why didn’t the Ottomans ever conquer Slovenia?
Hey there,
Just to let you know, your question is fine, and we're letting it stand. However, you should be aware that questions framed as 'Why didn't X do Y' relatively often don't get an answer that meets our standards (in our experience as moderators). There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, it often can be difficult to prove the counterfactual: historians know much more about what happened than what might have happened. Secondly, 'why didn't X do Y' questions are sometimes phrased in an ahistorical way. It's worth remembering that people in the past couldn't see into the future, and they generally didn't have all the information we now have about their situations; things that look obvious now didn't necessarily look that way at the time.
If you end up not getting a response after a day or two, consider asking a new question focusing instead on why what happened did happen (rather than why what didn't happen didn't happen) - this kind of question is more likely to get a response in our experience. Hope this helps!