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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…
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 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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
European matchlock musketeers of the Elizabethan period. By the early 1570s the Puritans had grown…
Dominant military forces of the Middle East between the fourth and fifteenth centuries. At Manzikert…
1568. Battle of Jemmingen. Spanish arquebusiers. Angel García Pinto for Desperta Ferro magazine Gonzalo de…
The history of medieval naval warfare is the history of the galley. Since ancient times,…
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