Ottoman Infantryman 1914–18

Ottoman Infantryman 1914–18 cover

Ottoman Infantryman 1914–18

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Description

Oasprey's study of Ottoman infantrymen during World War I (1914-1918). The Ottoman Army was the first to employ the 'triangular division', starting from 1910, which contained three infantry regiments of three battalions supported by an artillery regiment of three battalions. This structure went on to become the world's standard. In the years immediately prior to the outbreak of World War I, the Ottoman Army undertook a massive retraining program to rebuild its forces following the Balkan Wars of 1912-13.

When World War I began, the Ottoman Army consisted of 36 combat infantry divisions, giving it a strength of some 200,000 enlisted men and 8,000 officers. These troops are usually described in terms of a huge amorphous mass with little to no attempt to see these men as individuals; indeed, no book has yet focused specifically upon the infantrymen, or 'Mehmets' as the Ottomans called them, who formed the backbone, and the bulk, of the Ottoman Army during World War I. This is not only a significant gap in the literature of the war, but is highly misleading, not least because such troops were recruited from the culturally and linguistically different peoples who made up what was, in 1914, still a huge and diverse empire.

This army, this period and these troops formed the immediate background to what might be called the modern Middle East. The average Ottoman soldier, or asker, was hardy, well trained and courageous and formed the solid base on which the Ottoman Army rested. Ottoman troops campaigned in astonishingly varied geographical and climatic conditions during the war, including on the Gallipoli Peninsula, in Mesopotamia and in the Caucasus. This title explores their recruitment, training, and combat experiences.

Table of Contents

Introduction-Chronology/Recruitment/ Enlistment Training Appearance Equipment On Campaign Belief and Belonging Experience of Battle After the Battle Collecting/Museums/Re-enactment Bibliography Glossary Index

Product details

Published Feb 23 2010
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Extent 64
ISBN 9781846035067
Imprint Osprey Publishing
Illustrations 35 b/w; 28 col
Dimensions 248 x 184 mm
Series Warrior
Short code WAR 145
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

David Nicolle

David Nicolle is Visiting Research Fellow at the I…

Illustrator

Christa Hook

CHRISTA HOOK began her illustrating career in 1986…

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