Aksan Virginia H. Ottoman Wars 1700-1870. An Empire Besieged

London; New York: Routledge, 2007. — 620 p. — ISBN: 978-0-582-30807-7.The Ottoman Empire had reached the peak of its power, presenting a very real threat to Western Christendom when in 1683 it suffered its first major defeat, at the Siege of Vienna. Tracing the empire’s conflicts of the next two centuries, The Ottoman Wars: An Empire Besieged examines the social transformation of the Ottoman military system in an era of global imperialism.
Spanning more than a century of conflict, the book considers challenges the Ottoman government faced from both neighbouring Catholic Habsburg Austria and Orthodox Romanov Russia, as well as - arguably more importantly – from military, intellectual and religious groups within the empire. Using close analysis of select campaigns, Virginia Aksan first discusses the Ottoman Empire’s changing internal military context, before addressing the modernized regimental organisation under Sultan Mahmud II after 1826.
Featuring illustrations and maps, many of which have never been published before, The Ottoman Wars draws on previously untapped source material to provide an original and compelling account of an empire near financial and societal collapse, and the successes and failures of a military system under siege. The book is a fascinating study of the decline of an international power, raising questions about the influence of culture on warfare.Comparative empires
The northern defensive line
Military reform
The outline of the narrative
Eastern questions and new Ottomans
The political map of Central and Eastern Europe circa 1700
The geopolitics of the Danube
Members of the Holy League
The Principalities
Ottomans and Tatars
Eastern border strategies
Imperial aims: Ottoman, Habsburg, Romanov
Revolts in Istanbul circa 1700
Janissary loyalties and ethos
The Ottoman system
Rethinking imperial military history
The nature and composition of the Janissaries
Janissary command and discipline
Provincial forces: sipahis
Frontier defence systems
Survival strategies
The northern frontier
The southern frontier: Egypt and the Arab Provinces
Auxiliary forces: the religious factor
Realities of Danube warfare
Logistics of warfare on the Danube: the Belgrade-Azov fortress line
Campaign financin
From Prut to Belgrade: illusions of success and failure
The political setting 1700—50
The Ottoman case
Austria’s position and ambitions
Russian expansion and the pre-modern impasse
Centralisation of the control of violence
The consolidation of Austrian arms
Origins of the Prut campaign
On the march — Prut 1711
The recovery of the Morea
Austria enters the war
Renewal of Ottoman-Habsburg conflict on the Danube, 1736—39: stalemate
Uneasy alliances
Ochakov and the Crimea, 1737
The Bosnian army under Governor Ali Pasha
Ottoman victory at Orsova, 1738
Ottoman military strengths and weaknesses
The Austrian-Russian-Ottoman Danube waltz, 1768—92
Overview
1768—92 and the Ottoman Empire
1768—92 and the Russians
1768—92 and the Austrians
1768—74: Russian miracle, Ottoman debacle, and Austrian test
The centre of the conflict: the lower Danube River
Declaration and preparations for war, 1768
The collapse of the Ottoman supply system
The year of disasters: ÇeGme and Kartal (1770)
Peace negotiations and the Crimea
Austro-Russian-Ottoman confrontations 1787—92
Peace — lessons learned 167
Selim III and the new order (Nizâm-ı Cedid)
Introduction: crisis and reform
The problem
Economic reforms
New military organisations
Ottoman military reform prior to Selim III
Military reforms under Selim III
Initial reforms
Gunpowder and arms
Creation of a new army, the Nizâm-ı Cedid
The new order expands beyond Istanbul
Foreign advisers and reform of the Artillery Corps
The internal and external challenges to Selim III
Introduction: provincial allies and colonial powers
Local Ottoman elites: provincial loyalty and betrayal
Caniklizades in North Anatolia
Vidin and Osman Pazvantoğlu
Radical diplomacy
Pre-1793 diplomacy
First embassies to Europe
Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt
Pre-Napoleonic Egypt
French evacuation of Egypt
Imperial impressions
The final challenge to Selim III 1806—07
The Rusçuk Committee and the end of an era
Mahmud II and the new absolutism
Sened-i Ottifak — the Deed of Agreement
The state of the Russian military
Ottoman campaign preparations
The Battle for Rusçuk and the Treaty of Bucharest, 1811—12
Confronting rebellion: the Serbs
Confronting rebellion: Ali Pasha of Iannina
The Greek Revolt 1821—27
Revolt in the Peloponnesus and Ionian Islands
Missolonghi and Athens
The Auspicious Occasion and its consequences
Mehmed Ali Pasha and the transformation of Egypt
The Wahhabi challenge and Mehmed Ali’s new army
The Auspicious Occasion, 1826
Formation of the Eşkinci Corps, May 1826
Elimination of the Bektashis
The realities of reconstruction
Asakir-i Mansure regulations 7 July 1826
Further regulations 1826—27
An Empire returns to war
Russo-Ottoman conflict resumes on the Danube, 1828—29
Standoff at Fumnu and the siege of Varna
The campaign of 1829 and Ottoman collapse
Assessing the new army
The Treaty of Adrianople, 1829
The Syrian question 1831—33
Obrahim Pasha and the siege of Acre
The European powers and the Treaty of Hünkar Oskelesi
Ottoman reforms 1834–39
A new national reserve system
The status quo and negotiations
Redifs and Kurds
The battle of Nizib, 1839
From Tanzimat to Crimean War
New sultan, new advisers
Taming Mehmed Ali
Further military reforms: divisional armies
Further economic reforms: tax farming
Provincial resistance: post-1841 Syria
Rebellion in Aleppo
Seeds of Russo-Ottoman conflict on the Danube
1848 revolutions and the Ottoman northern frontier
Provincial resistance: Vidin in 1850
Provincial resistance: Bosnia and Montenegro
Austrian and Russian armies revisited circa 1850
Origins of the Crimean War
Completing the northern arc
On the Danube once again: Vidin and Silistre in 1853—54
Crimea and Sevastopol
The Caucasus and the Ottomans pre-1853
The siege of Kars: the British and the barbarians
Reform and the Concert of Europe
A turn to the Prussian — 1869 conscription reformsGuide to further reading
Appendix: Excerpts from William Wittman, Travels in Turkey, Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt
Glossary of places
Glossary of terms