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The Ottoman Mobilization of Manpower in the First World War
Between Voluntarism and Resistance
Series: - The Ottoman Empire and its Heritage, Volume: 52
Author:
The Ottoman Mobilization of Manpower in the First World War offers a multi-faceted story of how the Ottoman Empire tried to cope with the challenges of permanent mobilization under total war conditions which reshaped state-society relations. By focusing mainly on Anatolia and the Muslim population, Mehmet Beşikçi argues that the conditions of mobilization pushed the Ottoman state to become more centralized, authoritarian and nationalist, but the increasing dependence on people paradoxically also enlarged their space of action vis-à-vis state authority.
The book demonstrates that people’s responses to the state’s needs constituted a wide spectrum ranging from voluntary support to open resistance such as desertion. In turn, the state responded by revising its mobilization policies and reformulating new mechanisms of control at the local level.
The book demonstrates that people’s responses to the state’s needs constituted a wide spectrum ranging from voluntary support to open resistance such as desertion. In turn, the state responded by revising its mobilization policies and reformulating new mechanisms of control at the local level.
Mehmet Beşikçi, Ph.D. (2009), Boğaziçi University (Istanbul) specializes in late Ottoman history, with special emphasis on military history. He has published various articles on war and soceity in the late Ottoman Empire. He is a lecturer of modern Turkish history at Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments .......................................................................................... vii
List of Tables .................................................................................................... ix
Abbreviations ................................................................................................... xi
Map ..................................................................................................................... xiii
Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1
Chapter 1 Organized Spontaneity: The Call to Arms in the Ottoman Public Sphere on the Eve of the War ......... 33
Chapter 2 Conscription under Total War Conditions ..................... 93
Chapter 3 Volunteerism as a Relationship of Power: Volunteers in the Ottoman Army ............................. 157
Chapter 4 Young Boys into Soldiers, the Home Front into Barracks: Attempts at Permanent Mobilization through
Paramilitary Youth Organizations ........................................................ 203
Chapter 5 The Limits of Ottoman Manpower Mobilization: The Problem of Desertion and Attempts to Remobilize ...247
Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 311
Bibliography ..................................................................................................... 317
Index ................................................................................................................... 337
Acknowledgments .......................................................................................... vii
List of Tables .................................................................................................... ix
Abbreviations ................................................................................................... xi
Map ..................................................................................................................... xiii
Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1
Chapter 1 Organized Spontaneity: The Call to Arms in the Ottoman Public Sphere on the Eve of the War ......... 33
Chapter 2 Conscription under Total War Conditions ..................... 93
Chapter 3 Volunteerism as a Relationship of Power: Volunteers in the Ottoman Army ............................. 157
Chapter 4 Young Boys into Soldiers, the Home Front into Barracks: Attempts at Permanent Mobilization through
Paramilitary Youth Organizations ........................................................ 203
Chapter 5 The Limits of Ottoman Manpower Mobilization: The Problem of Desertion and Attempts to Remobilize ...247
Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 311
Bibliography ..................................................................................................... 317
Index ................................................................................................................... 337
All interested in the First World War in general, and late Ottoman history and the Ottoman-Turkish experience of the war in particular. Also, anyone concerned specifically with the practice of conscription in the Ottoman context.