Akın, Y. (2014). War, Women, and the State: the politics of sacrifice in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. Journal of Women’s History, 26(3), 12-35. Web.
The article examines how World War I influenced the relationship between women and the Ottoman Empire. In addition, it provides a gender roles understanding during the war as the females embraced a renewed powerful identity as mothers and wives of soldiers. The females appealed to government officials to provide resolutions to their miseries during the war and the emptiness created by their husbands and sons’ absence during the fight. Akın’s contributions are relevant to the current research since they challenge the prevalent understanding of war’s cultural and historical structure as an exclusive male-oriented event. Therefore, the Ottoman women’s actions and experiences during the war are significant and relevant in this study.
Aksakal, M. (2008). The Ottoman road to war in 1914: The Ottoman Empire and the First World War. Cambridge University Press. Web.
Aksakal examines why the Ottoman Empire entered World War I (WWI) in 1914. The study challenges the consensus of whether the empire joined the conflict because of simple-minded and below-average leaders or because of its minister’s expansionist dreams. The book demonstrates that the cause of the Ottomans entering the fight was the politically invested public’s demands. The leadership believed that an alliance with the Germans would be the only way to avoid domestic insecurities and international threats. Aksakal’s research is critical for this paper because it provides the reason for the Ottoman empire’s involvement in World War I. Furthermore, it explains the origin of the catastrophic consequences of the empire’s decision to join the war and its seismic effect on the Middle East.
Beşikçi, M. (2012). The Ottoman mobilization of manpower in the First World War: between voluntarism and resistance. Brill. Web.
The ebook focuses on people’s reactions to the needs of the state during the war. These responses range from open resistance, such as desertion, to voluntary support. According to the author, the government reverted by altering its mobilization regulations and reestablishing new control policies at the local level. He stipulates that the mobilization conditions of the Ottoman Empire drove the state to adopt a centralized, nationalist, and authoritarian approach. Additionally, the book claims that the state increased its dependence on people, which paradoxically enlarged the citizens’ action space against the authority. Beşikçi’s focus on a multi-faced history of the empire’s coping strategies amidst permanent mobilization challenges embedded in a situation of total war is relevant to my research topic because it contributes to how this shaped the relationship between the state and the society.
Erickson, E. J. (2007). Ottoman army effectiveness in World War I: A comparative study. Routledge. Web.
The book challenges the predominant historiography that attributes the war success of the Ottoman Empire to external influences, such as the climate and terrain that undermined allied operations and the availability of German staff officers and generals. Erickson contests this notion by arguing that the success of the Ottoman Army was because of its internal structure that involved skilled combat leaders, an imminent organizational structure, and the adoption of the German war style. The source is relevant to my paper because it shows how the Ottoman Army advanced and sustained high combat effectiveness despite the empire’s primitive nature at the beginning of the fight. Moreover, it shows how the state evolved its operations throughout the war to succeed.
Grüßhaber, G. (2018). The” German Spirit” in the Ottoman and Turkish Army, 1908-1938. De Gruyter Oldenbourg. Web.
The study explains how military knowledge was exchanged between the Ottoman Army, Turkish soldiers, and the Germans. According to the source, the Ottoman Empire followed the German model of using stormtrooper battalions in 1917. They were required to use steel helmets, which they had not previously adopted. In addition, the author claims that the Ottoman and the Turkish armies were the primary beneficiaries of the selective appropriation. The German forces did not evaluate the military experiences of their prospective allies before choosing them. The author contributes to my research topic by highlighting evidence for the implication of the knowledge transfer between armies during World War I, which has reshaped today’s Turkish civil society.
Hanioğlu, M. Ş. (2008). A brief history of the late Ottoman Empire. Princeton University Press. Web.
The author details the history of the Ottoman Empire between 1789 and 1918. The period was characterized by remarkable social change beyond standard subject treatments. The book emphasizes extensive historical processes and the imperial fight to centralize despite solid opposition from nationalists, local rulers, and foreign governments. He portrays the significance of history in Europe and the world that shapes today’s Turkey. The book contributes to the research by describing the life of the Ottoman society in all its phases, including cultural, intellectual, military, diplomatic, and political facets. It explains the legacy of the ruins of the Ottoman empire that is continually grappled by the world today.
Ozdemir, H. (2008). The Ottoman Army 1914-1918: Disease and Death on the Battlefield. University of Utah Press. Web.
The book offers extensive research on the death and diseases that affected the Ottoman Empire during WWI. During this time, armies were annihilated with epidemic infections, and civilians died in masses. Ozdemir draws his findings on regional disease prevalence data and hospital records to examine the impact of epidemics and disease on the war outcomes. The publication is suitable for this study because it provides information on disease mortality during World War I, which accounts for some government actions and wartime events that have never been adequately understood. Ozdemir has changed how I think about my research topic by examining wartime disease mortality, which explains some of the actions and events during World War I.
Uyar, M. (2020). The Ottoman Army and the First World War. Taylor and Francis Group. Web.
The publication outlines the history of the military operations of the Ottoman Army during WWI. It details how the soldier troops struggled from the Caucasus mountains to the Arabian deserts and the Gallipoli bloody shores. Ultimately, the empire achieved success on the battlefield and through its army’s total mobilization of the meagre economic and human resources. The military organized themselves by opening new fronts to divert and maintain sizeable units of the French, Russian, and British forces away from their main theatres. Additionally, they sent reinforcement to Bulgaria and Austro-Hungary to ensure they won. The author has revised the understanding of the Middle East war, which is essential for this research, mainly because it highlights the organizational structure of the Ottoman Army during the war.
References
Akın, Y. (2014). War, Women, and the State: the politics of sacrifice in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. Journal of Women’s History, 26(3), 12-35. Web.
Aksakal, M. (2008). The Ottoman road to war in 1914: The Ottoman Empire and the First World War. Cambridge University Press. Web.
Beşikçi, M. (2012). The Ottoman mobilization of manpower in the First World War: between voluntarism and resistance. Brill. Web.
Erickson, E. J. (2007). Ottoman army effectiveness in World War I: A comparative study. Routledge. Web.
Grüßhaber, G. (2018). The” German Spirit” in the Ottoman and Turkish Army, 1908-1938. De Gruyter Oldenbourg. Web.
Hanioğlu, M. Ş. (2008). A brief history of the late Ottoman Empire. Princeton University Press. Web.
Ozdemir, H. (2008). The Ottoman Army 1914-1918: Disease and Death on the Battlefield. University of Utah Press. Web.
Uyar, M. (2020). The Ottoman Army and the First World War. Taylor and Francis Group. Web.