Ottoman

Ottoman warfare 1000-1650

Doctrine Ottoman Personnel 6 Min Read

The medieval and early modern Western image of the Ottoman soldier as motivated principally by fanatic Muslim (ghazi) belief, and the Ottoman Empire as driven by a core mission of ‘‘holy war’’ (jihad), is a gross caricature that has nonetheless been purveyed by generations of historians. For one thing, jihad applied principally to defense of the Dar al-Islam (‘‘Abode of…

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Battle History Medieval Ottoman 11 Min Read

The Battle of Kosovo – Reality and Myth

Kosovo Maiden After the battle of the Maritsa River the Ottomans greatly extended their circle of vassals, who were obliged to contribute to the Empire’s further ascent and consolidation by paying annual tributes and joining forces with the sultan in his military expeditions. They placed the urban strip and important…

Battle Ottoman 9 Min Read

Disaster at Ankara

Battle of Ankara, 1402 The huge Turkish victory at Nicopolis made the position of Constantinople look even more perilous than ever. The city did not fall to an Ottoman siege this time, but the loss of the allied army on the Danube made it less likely in future for any…

Battle British France Naval Ottoman Russia 37 Min Read

Navarino, 1827 Part I

A European coalition united by the cause of Greek liberty defeats the Turkish navy to create an independent Greek state and further weaken the grip of the Ottoman Empire in Europe Early on a bright Saturday morning in October 1827, a combined fleet of British, French and Russian warships was…

British France Naval History Ottoman Russia 39 Min Read

Navarino, 1827 Part II

The Naval Battle of Navarino, Ambroise Louis Garneray Unlike the Spartans, the Ottomans only had to guard the southern entrance. Almost daily reconnaissance reports meant that Codrington was aware that their fleet numbered just over a hundred ships, forty of which were non-combatant. Letellier had positioned the warships at anchor…

Germany Naval History Ottoman 49 Min Read

MANNA FROM MARS: THE ARRIVAL OF SMS GOEBEN

to force the Turks, even against their will, to spread the war to the Black Sea against their ancient enemy, Russia. —ADMIRAL WILHELM SOUCHON, commander of the German dreadnought SMS Goeben On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, the Duchess of Hohenberg, were murdered by an assassin…

History Medieval Ottoman 16 Min Read

The Serbian Grand Principality (Kingdom from 1346)

Detail of fresco depicting Serbian Emperor Stefan Dušan. Painted in the mid-14th century. Restorated (coloured). Lesnovo Monastery, Republic of Macedonia. Serbian Empire, 1355 Serbia had the Adriatic Sea to the west, Hungary to the north and Bulgaria to the east. Stefan divided his principality between his five sons when he…

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Elizabeth towards War I

European matchlock musketeers of the Elizabethan period. By the early 1570s the Puritans had grown…

The Military of the Byzantines

Dominant military forces of the Middle East between the fourth and fifteenth centuries. At Manzikert…

Spanish arquebusier

1568. Battle of Jemmingen. Spanish arquebusiers. Angel García Pinto for Desperta Ferro magazine Gonzalo de…

The History of the Galley

The history of medieval naval warfare is the history of the galley. Since ancient times,…