1.
 The Ottoman Empire (circa 1912)
 Regime Change 1908 and 1913
 The Three Pashas
 Strategic Objectives 1914
 The Ottoman Army & its Soldiers
 Fifth Army and III Corps at Gallipoli
 The Ottoman Navy
 The Ottoman Air Force
 Ottoman Women in the Services
 Ottoman Victories in WW1
 Propaganda – power of the Press

2.
Which is Correct???

3.
 Strictly speaking, the term should be “Ottoman”.
 The Sultan ruled an Empire which had existed for
more than 600 years and encompassed parts of three
continents.
 The reigning Sultan & Caliph was Mehmed Rashad V
who came to power in 19o9.
 Unfortunately, the Empire known widely as “the sick
man of Europe” as various parts of the empire fell
apart, or sought independence.
 The terms “Turk” and “Turkish” are now used
interchangeably with “Ottoman”.

4.
 Essentially a Muslim state controlled by a
hereditary emperor, both Sultan (head of state)
and Caliph (head of religion).
 Many ethnic & religious groupings (as at 1908):
 Turks
 Arabs
 Armenians
 Greeks
 Albanians
 Bulgarians
 Serbians
 Jews
 Kurds

5.
Dates: Nov 1844 – July 1918 (age 73).
Dynasty: House of Osman. Reign:
April 1909 – July 1918
Came to throne in 1909, but was
largely a figurehead in the political
machinations of the day.
Rarely left Topkapi or Yildiz Palaces in
Constantinople throughout his life.
Had five wives & two children.
Declared a jihad against the Allies in
November 1914, but did not agree with
siding with Central Powers.
Appointed Generalfeldmarschal by
Kaiser Wilhelm in 1917.
MEHMED V
Sultanof the Ottoman Empire
Caliphof Islam

6.
 Honorifics were used as a common courtesy for
groupings of military (and civilian) ranks:
 Efendi – Subaltern officer ranks – 2Lt, Lt, Captain
 Bey – Field officer ranks – Major, Lt Colonel, Colonel
 Pasha – General officer ranks from Brigadier to
General and Field Marshal
 Ataturk – Mustafa Kemal “Father of the Turks”
 Honorific is placed after the name, e.g. Zeki Bey

7.
 April 1908: Young Turk Revolution. Reversed 1878
suspension of the General Assembly (Parliament).
 An unlikely union of reformists – nationalists, pro-
Westerners or anyone who blamed the then Sultan
Hamid II for the collapse of the once great Empire.
 Installing new Constitution was neither simple nor
bloodless – a counter-coup of 1909 led by Islamists &
monarchists was defeated: the ‘31 March Incident’ in
Constantinople – Hamid dethroned and Mehmed V
installed to reign under Constitutional law
 New power behind the throne – Committee of Union
and Progress (CUP) with huge military backing

8.
 January 1913 Coup d’état. The CUP had fallen out of
favour with Parliament, which was also under pressure
from European countries to hand over city of Edirne
(Adrianople) to Bulgaria – a sore point.
 On 23 Jan, a group of CUP officers entered a Cabinet
meeting and shot the Minister of War, Nazim Pasha
and forced the Grand Vizier, Kamil Pasha to resign.
 Action reinforced the reform movements of 1908.
 Installed the “Three Pashas” as de facto rulers of the
Empire until late 1918. Enver Pasha was new Minister
of War and Commander-in-Chief.

9.
 Three senior members of the Committee for Progress
& Unity (CUP). This triumvirate essentially controlled
the Empire’s strategic and internal affairs from January
1913 to October 1918.
 They were known as “The Three Pashas” –
 Ismail Enver Pasha
 Ahmed Djemal Pasha
 Mehmed Taalat Pasha

10.
Dates: Nov 1881 – August 1922 (Age 40)
Commenced service about 1900; a member
of the Committee for Union and Progress
(CUP); a key leader in the Young Turk
Revolution of 1908.
Exchange posting to Germany; very pro-
German and now seen as the main architect
of Ottomans joining Central Powers in 1914.
Not a successful field commander; married
Sultan’s daughter; loved medals & uniforms;
ambitious, vain and arrogant.
Fled to Germany in Oct 1918 then Russia.
KIA with counter-rev troops in Tajikistan by
Red Army cavalry in 1922.
Ismail Enver Pasha
Ottoman Minister forWar
1913 - 1918

11.
Dates: may 1872 – July 1922 (Age 50).
Commenced military service 1893.
Member of the Committee for Union
and Progress (CUP). Favoured an
alliance with the French
Military commander of Constantinople
until 1915 when he went to Damascus to
lead attacks on Suez Canal and put
down Arab revolts. Not a successful
field commander.
Fled to Germany in October 1918.
Assassinated in Tbilisi, Russia in 1922 by
survivors of Armenian Massacres.
Ahmed Djemal Pasha
Ottoman Ministerof the
Navy 1913 - 1918

12.
Dates: 1874 – March 1921 (age 47).
Civilian politician and member of the
Committee of Union and Progress
(CUP).
Minister of both Finance and Interior
1913 -1917
Became Grand Vizier (PM) in 1917.
Named as prime motivator in p0grom
against Armenians.
Fled to Germany in Oct 1918
Assassinated in Berlin in 1921 by a
survivor of the Armenian massacres.
Mehmed Taalat Pasha
Minister forthe Interior
1913 - 1918

13.
 After joining Central Powers, the Ottoman hierarchy
appeared to have few & vague strategic objectives:
 - Re-garrison & retain remaining pieces of the Empire?
 - Possibly win back some lost possessions in Balkans?
 - Construction of Berlin to Baghdad railway for supply
of military materiel in exchange for oil products?
 - Seize the Suez canal to control trade routes?
 - Share in Central Powers economic expansionism?
 - Always, for Ottomans an underlying motivator was …

14.
 After joining Central Powers, the Ottoman hierarchy
appeared to have few & vague strategic objectives:
 - Re-garrison & retain remaining pieces of the Empire
 - Possibly win back some lost possessions in Balkans
 - Construction of Berlin to Baghdad railway for supply
of military materiel in exchange for oil products
 - Seize the Suez Canal to control trade routes?
 - Share in Central Powers economic expansionism?
 - Always, for Ottomans an underlying motivator was …
fear of RUSSIA

15.
 Ottoman Army Battle Flag for 600 years until 1918.

16.
 Officer Corps. General Staff surprised by sudden war
option during re-organisation (Neutrality preferred).
 Senior officers well-trained; war college; German
training advisers and doctrine since 1887.
 Need to boost numbers of junior officers & NCOs.
 Army relied on serious augmentation by reserves to
reach war strength.

17.
 Foot-soldier/Asker/ ‘Mehmet’. Conscription for Muslim
citizens compulsory for 3 years from age 20 up to age 45 in one of
three categories:
 - Active force (Nizamiye)
 - Reserve force (Redif)
 - Territorial force (Mustahfiz)
 Estimated 1 million men & 210,00 animals available, but in 1914
had 200,000 men and 8,000 officers under arms (5 armies = 13
corps and 33 understrength infantry divisions).
 To meet war establishment, needed 500,000 men and 12,500
officers.
 Vast amount of experience in Libya & Balkan Wars, but high
casualties in junior officer and senior NCO ranks.

18.
 Foot-soldier/Asker/ ‘Mehmet’. A hardy, stolid and
long-suffering soul, used to privation and operating
with minimal logistic or medical support.
 A variety of theatres of operation: Caucasus, Anatolia,
Middle East, Egypt, Sinai, Mesopotamia, Balkans etc.

19.
 Infantry Weapons. At the outbreak of war, Ottoman
Army had 1.5 million rifles, mostly of German origin.
The ‘asker’ was lightly equipped, but his rifle was the
superb Mauser, with sights graded to 2,000 metres.
 Mauser Rifle. M1903 (or earlier variants) in 7.65mm.
 Officer’s Pistol. Preferred weapon was the Mauser
C96 “Broomhandle” in 9mm parabellum.

20.
 Marksmen. Ottomans placed great value on their
battle-hardened veterans of the Balkan Wars; each
unit had a selected group of marksmen who used the
standard Mauser rifle for shots out to 500 – 600m.
 There were NO SNIPERS on Gallipoli on either side!!!
Fully trained snipers with telescopic-sighted rifles did
not appear until 1916 on the Western Front…

21.
 Machine-Gunners. Used the 7.92mm Maxim MG-08
on Nordic tripod. Allocation: 4 guns per regiment.
 NO MGs at the pre-dawn landing on 25 April!! Did
not arrive until late morning on Walker’s Ridge. Under
control of the 57th Regt commander.

22.
 Cavalry. A highly-trained and very effective corps,
especially in Sinai and Palestine; worthy opponents of
the Aust Light Horse and NZ Mounted Rifles .
 Photo of an Ottoman cavalry regiment in M. East:

23.
 Field Artillery: Arty regiments used a variety of field
guns, including pack howitzers in 75mm calibre. In
1914, they had a mix of French Schneider, German
Krupp or Austro-Hungarian Skoda guns; 24 per Div.
 Corps artillery: 12 x 105mm howitzers per corps.

24.
 Garrison Artillery. 120mm calibre guns used for
coastal defence, usually in reinforced gun positions.
 Dardanelles Forts. Defences included 115 guns in
calibres: 355mm, 280mm, 240mm and 150mm mostly
German Krupp, but dating from late 1800s – some
ammo shortages during campaign to force Narrows.

25.
 Formed March 1915 to defend Gallipoli Peninsula and
the Dardanelles Straits; HQ in Gelibolu
 Commanded by Lt-Gen Liman von Sanders 1915-18
 Strength in April 1915 – about 84,000 men; most were
veterans of the Balkan Wars – key factor!
 III Corps – Commander: Esat Pasha – (Gallipoli Peninsula)
 VX Corps – Commander: Colonel Hans
Kannengiesser (Canakkale area)
 Dardanelles Fortified Command – heavy artillery,
fixed coastal artillery, engineers, signals, logistic troops
 1st Aircraft Squadron, Ottoman Air Force

26.
 III Corps – (Gallipoli Peninsula)
 5th Division
 7th Division
 9th Division (25th, 26th, 27th Regiments - on the coast)
 19th Division (Corps Reserve) (Mustafa Kemal Bey (Lt Col))
 57th Regt, 72nd Regt, 77th Regt, 39th Artillery Regt
 VX Corps –(Canakkale area)
 3rd Division
 11th Division
 Dardanelles Fortified Command – commanded all
forts and coastal artillery on both sides of the Dardanelles in the areas
of Maidos (now Ecebat) and Chanakkale – 115 guns in 15 forts.

27.
 General von Sanders believed Allied landing would
occur north at Bulair to cut off the Peninsula.
 Disposition near the Dardanelles in April 1915:

28.
Dates: Oct 1862 – Nov 1952 (age 90).
An outstanding soldier and commander.
Served in the Ottoman Army 1884 – 1919.
Graduate of Prussian War Academy 1894.
Commanded Yanya Corps in Greece 1913.
Commanded III Corps; the only Corps
which met the mobilisation schedule in
1914, as most units were Balkan Wars
veterans; the best trained corps.
He was the most senior Ottoman
commander in the field in the Gallipoli
campaign under von Sanders. Planned the
defence of the Peninsula.
Mehmet Esad Pasha
Commander III Corps
at Gallipoli - 1915

29.
 Disposition on Gallipoli Peninsula in April 1915:
 9th Div (Aker Bey) holding coast picquet positions; one
Bn of 27th Regt opposite Anzac Cove
 19th Div (Kemal Bey)around Boghali as Corps reserve

30.
Military service: 1893 – 1920
1905 – 1911: War College & staff positions.
1908 – key military member of the
Committee of Union and Progress (CUP).
1911 -1912: Italo-Turkish War (Libya).
1912 – 1913: Balkan Wars.
1913-1914: Mil Attaché - Sofia, Bulgaria.
1914 – 1918: Gallipoli; Caucasus; Sinai &
Palestine Campaigns. (Favoured neutrality)
1918 – 1920: Ministry of War; Inspector
General. Resigned July 1920.
War of Independence 1920- 1922. Founder
of Turkish State 1923. “Ataturk”
Mustafa Kemal
1881 - 1938

31.
 Lt Col Kemal was commander of 19th Div (HQ at
Boghali) on 25 April 1915. His decisive actions blocked
the ANZAC advance towards the guns at the Narrows.
 To withdrawing men: “I don’t order you to fight, I order
you to die. In the time it takes us to die, other troops
can come and take our places.”

32.
 The Ottomans were meticulous in their record
keeping right across the Empire; military losses were
no exception – statements that casualties for various
campaigns are “unknown” are quite simply false.
 Recently opened Turkish archives for the Canakkale
(Gallipoli) Campaign show:
DEAD: 56,643
WOUNDED: 107,007
MIA & POW: 11,178
TOTAL: 174,828
SICK (estim): 64,000

33.
 Also known as Harp Madalyasi (Turkish) or the Eisener
Halbmond (German) – ‘Gallipoli Star’ is incorrect!!
 Approved by Sultan Mehmed Reshad on 1 March 1915
(1333 Mohammedan calendar)
 Could be awarded for either gallantry in the field or
military merit on operations
 Could be awarded to all Ottoman troops regardless of
rank, plus any deserving Central Powers troops
 Awarded for several Ottoman campaigns in WW1

34.
Ottoman War
Medal & Ribbon
• Approved by the Sultan in
1915. Ribbon was worn
separately in tunic
buttonhole.
• NOT a Gallipoli Star!
• Awarded for bravery or
merit in several Ottoman
campaigns:
• CHANAK
• GAZA
• KANAL
• KUT-AL-AMARA
• SANATORIUM

35.
ANZAC soldier in the trenches Ottoman “Mehmet” Private

36.
 Who was the better soldier???
 Ottoman soldiers had several advantages:
 Fighting on home soil – drive out the invader
 Soldiers tough & battle-hardened from Balkan Wars
 Leadership was combat-ready and staff experienced
 Shorter lines of supply – fresh food & water
 Exercised on ground where the battle occurred
 Allied High Command underestimated the determination
and skill of Ottoman forces, many of whom were ‘locals’
 ANZACs of 1915 described as “enthusiastic amateurs”
with little combat experience or leadership skills!

37.
 In 1908 the CUP decided to upgrade the existing Navy
fleet which consisted of a number of ‘ancient’ vessels
from the 1880s and 1890s bought from other countries.
 Public subscriptions were taken up to purchase new
vessels from the UK:
 2 x Dreadnoughts; 2 x Cruisers; 4 x Destroyers
 Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, cancelled these
deliveries in 1914 and enraged the Ottomans!
 Key factor in tipping them to the German side in
October 1914.
 Who is the villain of the piece here??

38.
 Ottoman Navy strength in 1914-15 (includes 2 x loaned
German ships under Admiral Souchon).
 Majority were sadly outdated.
 Battle Cruiser x 1 (GOEBEN)
 Battleships x 2
 Coastal Defence Ship x 1
 Heavy Cruisers x 2
 Light Cruiser x 1 (BRESLAU)
 Destroyers x 8
 Minelayers (various, e.g. “Nusret”)
 1 x Captured French sub “Turquoise”

39.
Battle Cruiser
SMS GOEBEN –
Yavus Sultan Selim
Light Cruiser
SMS BRESLAU –
Midilli

40.
 Arguably the most famous ship in the Ottoman Navy.
 Laid a string of mines on eastern side of the Narrows
on night of 17/18 March 1915 which caused chaos to
attempted penetration by the Allied fleet.
 Ships sunk: “Bouvet”, “Irresistible”, “Ocean”.
Damaged: “Inflexible”, “Ocean” and “Gauloise” (by
artillery shell below waterline).
 Commemorated now in three forms:
 Original ship on display in port of Tarsus.
 Museum replica at Canakkale
 Turkish Navy replica / tourist vessel

41.
 “The deadliest warship in the Ottoman Navy.”
 Built in Kiel, Germany in 1913; 360 tons as a purpose-
built minelayer. Commander: Lt. Tophaneli Hakki.
 Laid 26 mines near Erin Keul Bay (Asiatic shore) in a
line that was not cleared by British minesweepers.
 Faced Allied fleet of 18 French and British battleships.

42.
 Map showing belts of mines laid across the Narrows
and the single belt laid by “Nusret” on 8 March 1915.

43.
 Original “Nusret” – Decommissioned 1955; then to
merchant service. Sank at Mersin 1989. Salvaged &
restored in 2008 and now on display in city of Tarsus.

44.
 Museum Display – A full-sized replica on display in
the grounds of Canakkale Naval Museum and fortress,
with an on-board museum theme.

45.
 Turkish Navy (Museum Ship) N-16 “Nusret” –
a full-sized working vessel in its 1915 configuration,
commissioned into the Turkish Navy in 2011 and now
used as a tourist vessel in the Dardanelles.

46.
 First Ottoman pilot Capt. Fesa, then 8 others trained
by France in 1912.
 17 planes of various types used during Balkan Wars
 By 1914, air force consisted of 6 planes & 7 pilots
 Photo (right) pilot Vecihi Bey
 Photo (centre) Ottoman pilot’s wings
 Photo (left) decorated Ottoman pilot

47.
 Total of 300 planes, mostly provided by Germany in
WW1, including Albatros, Gotha, Fokker, Halberstadt,
Pfalz, Rumpler, SPAD, Nieuport.
 Planes shown with Ottoman 1914-15 markings:

48.
 1st Ottoman Air Sqn at the Dardanelles, 1915
 3 x recon aircraft and 1 x recon seaplane
 Commanded by German Lt Ludwig Pruessner
 Lt Cemal bombs HMS “Majestic” on 1 March, causing
significant damage.

49.
 Canakkale Campaign. Naval victory in the
Dardanelles in March 1915, followed by the withdrawal
of the Allied land forces by January 1916.
 Siege of Kut. Maj-Gen. Townsend’s 6th (Indian) Div
besieged in Kut (100km south of Baghdad) Dec 1915 to
April 1916. Several British relief efforts failed; 11,000
men taken into captivity.
 Sinking of HMS “Ben my Chree”. A British seaplane
carrier sunk off the island of Castellorizo on 11 Jan 1917
by Ottoman field artillery on the nearby mainland.
Ship’s mission was to conduct aerial reconnaissance of
suspicious Ottoman military movements!

50.
 Map showing Allied naval assault against forts and
belts of mines laid across the Narrows - 18 Mar 1915.

51.
 Mesopotamia Campaign. Kut garrison surrendered
in April 1916. Photo shows Gen. Townsend & staff with
Khalil Pasha & staff. Townsend criticised for living in
luxury villa while his men were in squalid POW camps.

52.
 First ever carrier sinking in naval history – Jan 1917.
 Sunk in shallow waters of Castellorizo Harbour; no
casualties; mascot dog and cat saved!
 Extremely embarrassing for Royal Navy… later salvaged.

53.
 Propaganda was widely used by both the Allies and
the Central Powers in the Press of the day -
Newspapers, Magazines, Postcards and later silent
movie films.
 The aim was to enhance one’s own point of view and
lambast the opposition to show how evil he was.
 Common themes:
 Greatness of national leaders.
 Brothers-in-Arms against the foe.
 Strategic objectives.
 Small children in the nursery with their toys.

54.
 Kaiser Wilhelm II visited Constantinople in 1917 to
help prop up the crumbling Ottoman war effort.
 These two photos show him wearing the full uniform
and regalia of a Field Marshal of the Ottoman Empire.

55.
 The Three Emperors of the Central Powers:
 Kaiser Wilhelm II - Germany, Mehmed V – Ottoman
Empire, Franz Joseph – Austria-Hungary.

56.
 The Four Kids at play:
 Germany, Austria, Hungary and the Ottomans
building the strategic Berlin to Baghdad Railway.

57.
 Three kids of the Central Powers stand together:

58.
 Soldiers of the Central Powers:
 German, Ottoman, Austrian, Hungarian.

59.
 The UK view from PUNCH magazine, 1916:
 Germans saddling themselves with an unwilling
(Ottoman) camel in the Middle East.

60.
 Canakkale Martyrs’ Memorial at Morto Bay,
celebrating 253,000 Turks who participated in the
campaign at Gallipoli. Officially opened in 1958;
stands 41.7m/137ft high; includes museum & cemetery.

61.
 57th Regiment Memorial and cemetery on Second
Ridge / “The Chessboard” at Gallipoli.
 Focus of Turkish national military commemorations
every Anzac Day.

62.
Turkish asker or mehmet
– 57th Regiment
Rescue of wounded
British soldier

63.
At the 57th Regiment
Memorial Gallipoli 2009
Turkish Conscript in 1915
tropical uniform

64.
National War Museum Istanbul
(Daily performances)
National Monument –
Gallipoli Peninsula -18th March
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkHhLXmDox8
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZr1ibaFE_4