Ottoman military organization (up to 1800)

Abstract

AbstractThe Ottoman Turks, who emerged in western Asia Minor in the late thirteenth century, built one of the longest‐lived empires in history, a multi‐ethnic state that influenced the lives of millions in Europe and Asia for six centuries until the empire's demise in World War I. In addition to its pragmatic policies and flexible governance, the Ottoman military played a crucial role in the expansion of Ottoman realms. The Ottomans were among the first to create a standing military force, the Janissary corps, which was established as early as the late fourteenth century. Until the late seventeenth century, the army and logistical system proved superior to those of their European and Asian rivals. However, economic and social upheavals in the empire in the seventeenth century, together with the growing military threat of the Ottomans' foes, Austria and especially Russia from the mid‐eighteenth century onward, resulted in major changes in the Ottoman military forces and their financing.