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We start with a look at the state of the Empire in 1820, a time when it still dominated the Middle East and the southern Balkans, and stretched into North Africa, but was clearly in decline and had limited control over some of its provinces. During the period covered by this book the Empire lost control of Greece, Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Libya and Egypt. During this period there were several Ottomon victories, but the trend was one of decline and defeat.
Against this background a series of sultans attempted to reform the Ottoman army, sometimes successfully. Mahmud II (r.1808-39) was the first to attempt this, although he was almost twenty years into his reign before he made his move, first destroying the Janissaries, who had become a major obstacle to any reforms, then building a New Army, which he was able to use to disband the Sipahis, a second traditional branch of the old Ottoman army. This New Army fought during the Crimean War, and actually defeated the Russian invasion of the remaining Balkan provinces. However it was defeated in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, triggering another wave of reforms. The final set of reforms came after the Young Turks took over, and it was this army that performed surprisingly well during the First World War.
The final chapter looks at the vassal states – Egypt, Tunisia, Serbia, Montenegro, Moldova and Wallachia – armies theoretically available to the Ottomans but equally likely to be used against them, and all of which slipped out of Ottoman control by the end of this period.
This is an interesting period of Ottoman history, and this book shows that despite its long term decline the Ottoman Empire was still capable of reform, and of producing effective armies.
Chapters
Introduction
Chronology, 1815-1914
Reforms under Mahmud II, 1826-39
The Tanzimat, 1840-53
The Crimean War, 1853-56
The Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78
The Late Ottomon Army
The ‘Young Turks’ Revolution
Armies of Vassal States
Author: Gabriele Esposito
Edition: Paperback
Pages: 48
Publisher: Osprey
Year: 2023