The Ottomans 1700-1923: An Empire Besieged

Modern Wars in Perspective

by Virginia H. Aksan

Originally conceived as a military history, this second edition completes the story of the Middle Eastern populations that underwent significant transformation in the nineteenth century, finally imploding in communal violence, paramilitary activity, and genocide after the Berlin Treaty of 1878.Now called The Ottomans 1700-1923: An Empire Besieged, the book charts the evolution of a military system in the era of shrinking borders, global consciousness, financial collapse, and revolutionary fervour. The focus of the text is on those who fought, defended, and finally challenged the sultan and the system, leaving long-lasting legacies in the contemporary Middle East. Richly illustrated, the text is accompanied by brief portraits of the friends and foes of the Ottoman house.Written by a foremost scholar of the Ottoman Empire and featuring illustrations that have not been seen in print before, this second edition is essential reading for both students and scholars of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman society, military and political history, and Ottoman-European relations.

Genres: History, War, Military History, 18th Century, Nonfiction, European History, Middle East

372 pages, ebook

First published June 18, 2007

Reviews

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

"The Ottoman Wars 1700-1870" is a good book buried under the dead weight of academic prose. In the hands of a dedicated reader, it enlightens. This is a fascinating source about a facet of non-Western history as it intersected with Europe. Author Virginia Aksan does a good job of referring to Ottoman/Turkish sources in explaining how this empire organized and supplied its military to meet its perceived strategic challenges, and how the need for reform often clashed with forces of conservatism and tradition.

I just wished the book's narrative was more linear and coherent, blessed with lively prose and clear maps. Aksan lays out the dots, but leaves the reader to connect them. If you lack interest in this topic, the book will be too much work and not enough fun. The serious student of eastern European or Ottoman history will just have to endure the weak narrative.

[Zulfiqar · Rating 4 out of 5]

“There was also continuity in the period in the growing peripheralisation of the Ottoman economy, represented in the commercial privileges system (capitulations) which extended to European powers and culminated in the 1838 commercial treaty with Great Britain, which forced free trade on Ottoman territories. The 1838-41 international crisis, when Mehmed Ali and his son Ibrahim threatened the very doorstep of Istanbul, represented the moment that indebtedness to Europe became a fait accompli. It is also known as the beginning of the era of the Tanzimat, which opened with the public promulgation of Ottoman intentions to reorganise society for the benefit of all subjects. The Crimean War worsened the debt problem, although foreign management of debt payments was only institutionalised in the 1881 Ottoman Public Debt Administration under French and British supervision. After the withdrawal of Mehmed Ali from Syria in 1841, the Ottomans and the Tanzimat bureaucrats clearly saw themselves in the role of ‘civilising’ monarchs in their peripheral and reoccupied territories such as Albania, Kurdistan, Iraq and Lebanon”

[Konstans · Rating 3 out of 5]

alfanın bastığı versiyonu okudum. alfa kitabın son kontrolünü yapmadan dağıtıma yollamış galiba baskı berbattı çeviri ise cümlelerin sadece yapmıştır etmiştir şeklinde çevrilmesi yüzünden bana nuh nebiden kalma ders notlarıyla ders anlatan hocalarımı hatırlattı. kitabın içeriği ise çeviriden midir nedendir bilmiyorum çok sıkıcı geldi. bu kitap iş kültürün bastığı osmanlı harplerinin elden geçmiş yeni bir versiyonuymuş işkültürün bastığı versiyonun bir kısmını okumuştum daha akıcı ve anlaşılır gelmişti o kitaba da geri döneceğim. epilog bölümü ise tam bir fecaat. keşke hiç yazılmasaymış 1914-23 arasının hiç bu kadar yavan ve üstün körü yazıldığını görmemiştim daha önce hiç gerek yokmuş bu kısma.