Ottoman Empire: Encyclopedia II - Ottoman Empire - Military

Ottoman Empire - Military

The Ottoman military was a complex system of recruiting and fief-holding. In the Ottoman army, light cavalry long formed the core and they were given fiefs called timars. Cavalry used bows and short swords and made use of nomad tactics similar to those of the Mongol Empire. The Ottoman army was once among the most advanced fighting forces in the world, being one of the first to employ muskets. The famous Janissary corps provided élite troops and bodyguards for the sultan. After the 17th century, however, the Ottomans could no longer produce a modern fighting force because of a lack of reforms, mainly because of the corrupted Janissaries. The abolition of the Janissary corps in 1826 was not enough, and in the war against Russia, the Ottoman Empire severely lacked modern weapons and technologies.

The modernisation of the Ottoman empire in the 19th century started with the military. This was the first institution to hire foreign experts and which sent their officer corps for training in western European countries. Technology and new weapons were transferred to the Empire, such as German and British guns, Air force and a modern navy. The empire was successful in modernising its army. However, it was still no match against the major western powers.

“The beginnings of legal reform in the Middle East were initiated in the Ottoman Empire in the middle of the nineteenth century through the promulgation of commercial and penal codes such as the Ottoman Commercial code (1850) and the Ottoman Penal code (1858).” (Haddad, Y.Y., Byron H. and Ellison F., Eds.)

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Military", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki