Recommended reading on the Ottoman Empire

Discussions on the final era of the Ottoman Empire, from the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 until the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.
Wolfgang Klaus
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Re: Recommended reading on the Ottoman Empire

#16

Post by Wolfgang Klaus » 08 Jun 2008, 23:06

Something to show the German view of the Gallipoli campaign. It's in German language - the English version will need more time and I guess not before 2009. Many pictures and 13 coloured maps - totally 288 pages.

Best regards
the author Klaus
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Marcus
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Re: Recommended reading on the Ottoman Empire

#17

Post by Marcus » 08 Jun 2008, 23:24

Looks interesting, I look forward to the English version.

/Marcus


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glaswegian
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Re: Recommended reading on the Ottoman Empire

#18

Post by glaswegian » 09 Jun 2008, 01:02

keep up the good wark,klaus, i cannae wait tae read it in the english version :)

william tuna

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Helen Bachaus
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Re: Recommended reading on the Ottoman Empire

#19

Post by Helen Bachaus » 20 Jun 2008, 07:19

Thankyou Klaus, I'm looking forward to reading this in English, but will still purchase a German copy.

God Bless

Helen

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jwsleser
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Re: Recommended reading on the Ottoman Empire

#20

Post by jwsleser » 26 Jan 2009, 23:07

The best sources for the Turkish side of the wars during this period are the Turkish official histories. These books are loaded with maps, OBs, and tables. Without any knowledge of Turkish, one can quickly master the maps and OBs. Add about two hundred words of Turkish and an English reader can ferret out a lot of details. The following is a partial list of the Turkish officials covering the wars 1908-1923.

The History of the Turkish Armed Forces series:

Türk Silahli Kuvvetleri Tarihi III Cilt, 6 Kisim (1908-1920) Ankara 1971 (Turkish Armed Forces History volume III part 6).
This volume surprised me. Unlike the following volume that is more a military history of the Independence war, the 1908-1920 volume covers everything but the actual military operations of Balkan Wars and WWI. The history is actually covered in the first 100 or so pages. After that, the book covers the structure of the armies and units. The book provides organization changes, manning, garrisons, etc., on the army in 1911 and 1913. I don’t remember this much detail in the Balkan Wars series. This followed by the same type of information for WWI, including a detailed lay-down of the army in January 1915 by army. Afterwards, there are color plates of uniforms, awards, insignia, pay scales, and a wealth of other material. I now understand why this particular volume was hard to find, as it really offers a variety of unusual information. This book meshes well with the 21 books of the WWI history below. There are some typo’s and errors in the book. One example is which divisions were Kalfas and which weren’t. Another is that it states the 28th Division was formed in Medine in 1917 (it should be the 58th).

Türk Silahli Kuvvetleri Tarihi Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi Ifükümet Dönemi (23 Nisan 1920-29 Ekim 1923) IV Cilt, 1 Kisim Ankara 1984 (The Turkish Grand Assembly Government Period [23 April 1920-29 October 1923).
This volume is a traditional military history that covers the War of Turkish Independence. The book covers all the fronts in some detail, making this pretty much a stand-alone volume. It doesn’t have all the variety of information found in the volume on WWI. Covers more of the political side of the war as diplomacy was welded by Atatürk as much as the military effort to create the Turkish Republic.

The First World War series address the Ottoman war by the various fronts. The air and naval operations are covered in their own volumes. A good history that focuses on the military operations without dwelling much on the political aspects. Administration and logistics is covered in some detail in each book, with a separate volume covering the national level and support to the theaters. The only weakness I have found is a lack of information on the activities of the armies in Thrace and around Istanbul.
The series:

Birinci Dünya Harbi'nde Turk harbi Osmanli Imparatorlugunun siyasi ve askeri hazirliklari ve harbe girisi Inci Cilt. Ankara 1970 (The First World War, The Political and Military Preparations of the Ottoman Empire and its entrance into the War Volume 1)

Birinci Dünya Harbinde Türk Harbi. Kafkas Cephesi. 3ncu Ordu Harekati. Cilt II. Birinci Kitap. Ankara: 1993 (The Caucasian Front, the 3rd Army Operations. Volume 2, 1st Book)

Birinci Dünya Harbinde Türk Harbi. Kafkas Cephesi. 3ncu Ordu Harekati. Cilt II. Ikinci Kitap. Ankara: 1993 (The Caucasian Front, the 3rd Army Operations. Volume 2, 2nd Book)

Birinci Dünya Harbi'nde Turk harbi: Kafkas Cephesi, 2nci Ordu Harekâti 1916-1918 II Cilt 2nci Kisim. Ankara 1979 (The Caucasian Front, the 2nd Army Operations. Volume 2, 2nd Part)

Birinci Dünya Harbi'nde Turk harbi Irak-Iran Cephesi. 1914-1918 IIIncu Cilt 1nci Kisim. Ankara 1979 (Iraqi-Iran Front. Volume 3, 1st Part)

Birinci Dünya Harbi'nde Turk harbi Irak-Iran Cephesi. 1914-1918 IIIncu Cilt 2nci Kisim. Ankara: 2002 (Iraqi-Iran Front. Volume 3, 2nd Part)

Birinci Dünya Harbi'nde Turk harbi. Sina - Filistin cephesi, Harbin Başlangicindan İkinci Gazze Muharebeleri Sonuna Kadar. IVncu Cilt 1nci Kisim. Ankara 1979. (Sinai-Palestine Front from the beginning of the war to the end of the 2nd Gaza Battle) Volume 4, 1st Part)

Birinci Dünya Harbi'nde Turk harbi. Sina - Filistin CephesiIkinci Gazze Muharebesi sonundan Mondros Mutarekesi'ne kadar yapilan harekat (21 Nisan 1917 - 30 Ekim 1918) IVncu Cilt 2nci Kisim. Ankara: 1986. (Sinai-Palestine Front from the end of 2nd Gaza Battle to the Mundros Armistice Volume 4, 2nd Part)

Birinci Dünya Harbinde Türk Harbi Çanakkale Cephesi (Haziran 1914-25 Nisan 1915) Vncu Cilt 1nci Kitap. Ankara: Genelkurmay Basimevi 1993 (The Dardanelle Front June 1914 to April 1915 Volume 5, 1st Book)

Birinci Dünya Harbi'nde Turk harbi Çanakkale Cephesi, Amfibi Harekât Vncu Cilt 2nci Kitap. Ankara 1978 (The Dardanelle Front the amphibious operations Volume 5, 2nd Book)

Birinci Dünya Harbi'nde Turk harbi Çanakkale Cephesi Harekâti (Harziran 1915 – Ocak 1916) Vncu Cilt 3ncü Kitap. Ankara 1980 (The Dardanelle Front Operations June 1915-January 1916 Volume 5, 3rd Book)

Birinci Dünya Harbinde Türk Harbi Vncu Cilt Çanakkale Cephesi Harekati 1nci, 2nci, ve 3ncu Kitaplarin Ozetlenmis Tarihi (Haziran 1914-9 Ocak 1916). Ankara: 1996 (The Dardanelle Front Operations a historical summary of all three books June 1914 to January 1916)

Birinci Dünya Harbi’nde Türk Harbi Hicaz-Yemen-Asir Cepheleri ve Libya Harekâti VIncu Cilt. Ankara: 1978 (The Hejaz, Yemen, and Libyan Fronts Volume 6)

Birinci Dünya Harbi'nde Turk harbi Avrupa Cepheleri, Galicya Cephesi, VIIncu 1nci Kisam. Ankara 1967 (The European Front, Galicia Volume 7, 1st Part)

Birinci Dünya Harbi'nde Turk harbi Avrupa Cepheleri, Romanya Cephesi, VIIncu 2nci Kisam. Ankara 1967 (The European Front, Romania Volume 7, 2nd Part)

Birinci Dünya Harbi'nde Turk harbi Avrupa Cepheleri, Makedonya Cephesi, VIIncu 3ncü Kisam. Ankara 1964 (The European Front, Macedonia Volume 7, 3rd Part)

Birinci Dünya Harbi’nde Türk Harbi Avrupa cepheleri (Ozet) Ankara: 1996 (The European Front Summary)

Birinci Dünya Harbi. Turk Deniz Harekâti VIIInci Cilt. Ankara: 1976 (The Naval Operations Volume 8)

Birinci Dünya Harbi. Turk hava harekati IXnci Cilt. Ankara: 1969 (The Air Operations Volume 9)

Birinci Dünya Harbi. Idari Faaliyetler ve Lojistik Xnci Cilt. Ankara: 1985 (Administrative Activities and Logistics Volume 10)

Jeff

Tolga Alkan
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Re: Recommended reading on the Ottoman Empire

#21

Post by Tolga Alkan » 08 Sep 2009, 21:13

Image

1. Dünya Savaşında Türk Askeri Kıyafetleri (The Turkish Military Clothings/Uniforms in the World War I) by Tunca Örses, Necmettin Özçelik published by Denizler Kitabevi

As fas as I know, this book is the unique one covering uniforms of the Ottoman Army in First World War, published in 2007.Separeted on chapters going campaign by campaign and branch by branch, color plates, drawings and MANY photographs unpublished previously.Unfortunately, written in only Turkish, no English captions.I would like to share sample pages if anyone wants see.

Tolga Alkan
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Re: Recommended reading on the Ottoman Empire

#22

Post by Tolga Alkan » 09 Sep 2009, 20:29

Image

The Turkish Battle at Khaybar by Eşref Sencer Kuşcubaşcı(aka Kuşcubaşı Eşref), published by Arba in both Turkish and English.

One of the most controversial character from the Turkish military and political history, mostly known as his operations and active duty on counter-intelligence against Lawrance on the Arabia.This book is about his battles at Khaybar.A few scripts left from him due to fact that he had burned his entire manuscripts, diaries, notes etc. just a little time before his death.

For speaking English version:Not quite good translation,(translator is a Turkish Korean War veteran) some editing&typing issiues but it's OK.

Tosun Saral
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Re: Recommended reading on the Ottoman Empire

#23

Post by Tosun Saral » 11 Sep 2009, 10:59

I, the fakir derwisch list my books in Turkish lanquage: :)
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/a6bdc/#TL

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Peter H
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Re: Recommended reading on the Ottoman Empire

#24

Post by Peter H » 11 Sep 2009, 23:35

Tolga Alkan wrote:Image

1. Dünya Savaşında Türk Askeri Kıyafetleri (The Turkish Military Clothings/Uniforms in the World War I) by Tunca Örses, Necmettin Özçelik published by Denizler Kitabevi

As fas as I know, this book is the unique one covering uniforms of the Ottoman Army in First World War, published in 2007.Separeted on chapters going campaign by campaign and branch by branch, color plates, drawings and MANY photographs unpublished previously.Unfortunately, written in only Turkish, no English captions.I would like to share sample pages if anyone wants see.
Would like to see some sample pages,suggest set up as a new topic. :)

Peter

Tolga Alkan
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Re: Recommended reading on the Ottoman Empire

#25

Post by Tolga Alkan » 13 Sep 2009, 14:09

Image

Muavent-i Milliye ve Goliath'ın Batırılışı, Piri Reis Araştırma Merkezi Yayınları.(Muanet-i Milliye and the sinking of Goliath)

Another very-well research book on the subject.Covering combat history of the famous torpedo boat Muvanet-i Milliye and sinking of HMS Goliath.It contains numerous original documents, photos, drawings, maps, then and now photographs etc.Unfortunately, only in Turkish.It was published by the Turkish Naval Museum Command.I'm attaching some sample pages.

http://www.denizmuzeleri.tsk.tr/en/idmk/
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Tanzania
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Re: Recommended reading on the Ottoman Empire

#26

Post by Tanzania » 16 Feb 2011, 14:20

Guerilla War, Counterinsurgency, and State formation in Ottoman Yemen,
Vincent Steven Wilhite, Ohio State University 2003
http://etd.ohiolink.edu/send-pdf.cgi/Wi ... 1064327959

Between Death and Desertation. The experience of the Ottoman Soldier in World War One,
Erik Jan Züricher.
https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstr ... 50_012.pdf

History of the Syrian Arab Army: prussianization of the Arab Army, the Arab Revolt of 1916-1918,
and the cult of nationalization of Arabs in the Levant after World War
http://www.marshallbaldwin.com/issues/S ... b_Army.pdf

Ottoman Empire and Germany (1871-1908) Military-economic relationship,
Naci Yorulmaz, Free University, Berlin-Germany
http://libros-en-pdf.com/libros/turkish ... -army.html

Deutsch-türkische Beziehungen im Kaiserreich
http://agahdari.blogspot.com/2009/02/de ... en-im.html

Djihad »Made in Germany«: Der Streit um den Heiligen Krieg 1914 - 1915,
Wolfgang G. Schwanitz,
http://www.trafoberlin.de/Autoren/schwa ... lfgang.htm
“Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. . . . All History was a
palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary” – G. ORWELL 1984

turcoscot
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Re: Recommended reading on the Ottoman Empire

#27

Post by turcoscot » 28 Dec 2011, 18:01

Is Bankasi Yayinlari, the publishing arm of one of the major Turkish banks, has been publishing a series of memoirs of lower-ranked Turkish officers and enlisted men covering WW1 and the war of Independence. These memoirs are unfortunately available in Turkish, but are a very welcome addition to the literature, since the Turkish side has been very heavy on memoirs of senior officers but the perspective of the rank and file has not been very apparent.

Here are some I have read recently, and I am sure there are more:

Gelibolu'dan Kafkaslara (From Gallipoli to the Caucasus): memoir of Ismail Hakki Sunata, who served as a reserve officer in the 35th regiment,12th Division at Gallipoli and in the Caucasus.I have posted translations of some of this material related to the Suvla/Anafarta battles on the Forum.

Bir Yedeksubayin Anilari (Memoirs of a Reserve Officer) by Faik Tonguc, who arrived on the Eastern Front shortly after the Sarikamis battles, served as a company commander, was captured by the Russians, escaped and returned to Turkey via Germany and Austria.

Bir Tegmenin Dogu Cephesi Gunlugu (The Eastern Front Diary of a Lieutenant): A portion of the diary of a 1st Lt. named Celalettin who served with the 82nd Regiment on the eastern front,together with a collection of divisional and regimental orders which make interesting reading.

I'll have a few more in the next few weeks.

Reha

demir
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Re: Recommended reading on the Ottoman Empire

#28

Post by demir » 21 May 2012, 22:34

The Turkish War Medal - Harp Madalyasi - Eiserner Halbmond

Author: M. Demir ERMAN

Printed: Ankara/Turkey, February 2012
ISBN 978-605-125-484-5

correspondence address: [email protected]

ENGLISH and TURKISH

In English (65 pages) and Turkish (61 pages). 46 pages annex including color pictures, certificates and documents.
The medal in the cover is relief. Total 172 pages, app. 350 gr.


"The Turkish War Medal" - A Book Review

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/53717 ... ok-review/

CONTENTS

Preface and Acknowledgements 6
Very Brief History of the Ottoman Empire 9
World War I 12
Gallipoli War 13
Palestine, Caucasus and Galicia Battles 16
Independence War and the Republic 17
War Medals of the Ottoman Empire 18
The Regulation of the War Medal dated 1915 21
Amendments on the War Medal Regulation 24
The Effective Dates of the War Medal Regulation
and Amendments 31
Ministry of War and Army Orders About the War Medal 34
Law of the Turkish Grand National Assembly and the
Decree of the Council of Ministers 36
The First Type of the War Medal Which was Designed
According to the Regulation but Never Produced Due to a
Shape and Metal Change 39
The War Medal 41
The War Medal and the German Iron Cross 44
The Certificate of the War Medal 46
The War Medal Ribbon 49
The Package of the War Medal 53
War Medal Miniatures, Ribbon Bars And Pins 55
War Medals of the German and Austrian Make 56
No Name Medals 58
Views on the War Medal 59
SOURCES 62
ANNEX 66
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jwsleser
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Re: Recommended reading on the Ottoman Empire

#29

Post by jwsleser » 15 Aug 2012, 20:15

I finally bought a copy of 1. Dünya Savaşında Türk Askeri Kıyafetleri. Nice, but I was a bit disappointed. I was hoping for more detail that just wasn’t there.

Understand that my focus was on the soldier. I was looking for detail on their uniforms and equipment. There was some information on uniforms which I am still working through (my Turkish is very poor). Most of the text covers the uniforms proper, but the major gap in information is equipment. There is little on the items carried by the Ottoman soldier: field gear, weapons, personal items, etc.

The picture coverage is mainly officer. This was not unexpected given the times and availability of cameras; however I was hoping for few more undiscovered pictures of the lowly Mehmetçik and his equipment. I hoped the lack of photographic coverage would be compensated by drawing/plates. This was not the case, as almost all the drawings were of officers and none detailed equipment. Worst for me is that most of the drawings in the book are from Türk silâhli Kuvvetleri Tarhi III ncü Cilt 6 nci kisim (1908-1920). It is worst because I have a copy of that volume and therefore the drawings weren’t new to me.

There are some positives. There is good coverage of the navy and air force, and the final chapters are picture collections from the various fronts. Here were many new photographs that I have never seen. The picture of the Mehmetçik standing guard outside the 15th Corps headquarters with a Mosin-Nagant was surprising, offering a good look at the uniform and some equipment, and initiating research how wide-spread was the issue of Russian rifles. I also have the sense that Y-straps weren’t widely worn, the few pictures that offer a glimpse show the only the belt supporting the ammunition pouches. These photographs will merit further close study.

In all, I was hoping for more but happy with what the book offered. There is still a place for a study of WWI Ottoman uniforms and equipment. I agree that the book is well worth buying, but it is not the complete, detailed study I was hoping for.

Jeff
Jeff Leser

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Tosun Saral
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Re: Recommended reading on the Ottoman Empire

#30

Post by Tosun Saral » 18 Aug 2012, 11:23

Jeff you areright. We fill the gap and discussing the matter at facebook at following pages in Turkish sometimes in English. Join us. We have experts who will give you information in English
Cheers :D
OSMANLI MADALYA, NİŞAN ve ASKERİ KIYAFET ve SİLAHLARI (Ottoman Madals, decorations uniforms and weaposn)
http://www.facebook.com/groups/osmanlimadalyalari/

Askeri Tarih Grubu; (Group of Military History)
http://www.facebook.com/groups/420944871281282/

TS's nota: I personly still on the pages of my old love the AHF

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