Most people are surprised to learn that the general agreement was that the king of the north represented Turkey, or more specifically, the Ottoman Empire. But how could this be? Isn't the Ottoman Empire a thing of the past that doesn't affect us in the world today? Many people are unaware of how the Ottoman Empire still affects our lives and the world we live in. The fact of the matter is that the Ottoman Empire's collapse during the first decades of the 20th century has had a huge impact on our world, including being part of the cause of the worst wars in history and the first nation to implement a policy of total genocide against it's own citizens.