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133-529: The uniforms of the modern army reflected the military uniforms of the western European countries who were the Ottoman army's principal advisors at the time. The Ottoman government considered adopting a Western-style headdress for all personnel within the army, but the fez was favoured as it was more suited to the postures of the Islamic ritual prayer . French-style uniform and court dress were common during

266-677: A Serbian nationalist and the resulting Austro-Hungarian plan for military action against Serbia was a major precipitating event of the First World War (1914–1918) The Italo-Turkish War illustrated to the French and British governments that Italy was more valuable to them inside the Triple Alliance than being formally allied with the Entente . In January 1912, the French diplomat Paul Cambon wrote to Raymond Poincaré that Italy

399-634: A clear advantage. The Italian Navy had seven times the tonnage of the Ottoman Navy and was better trained. In January 1912, the Italian cruiser Piemonte , with the Soldato class destroyers Artigliere and Garibaldino , sank seven Ottoman gunboats ( Ayintab , Bafra , Gökcedag , Kastamonu , Muha , Ordu and Refahiye ) and a yacht ( Sipka ) in the Battle of Kunfuda Bay . The Italians blockaded

532-632: A cult of patriotic sacrifice in which the colonial war was celebrated in an aggressive and imperialistic way. The ideology of "crusade" and "martyrdom" characterised the funerals. The result was to consolidate Catholic war culture among devout Italians, which was soon expanded to include Italian involvement in the Great War (1915–1918). That aggressive spirit was revived by the Fascists in the 1920s to strengthen their popular support. The resistance in Libya

665-536: A diplomatic exchange of notes. The agreement stipulated that Italy would support British control in Egypt, and that Britain would likewise support Italian influence in Libya. In 1902, Italy and France had signed a secret treaty which accorded freedom of intervention in Tripolitania and Morocco . The agreement, negotiated by Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Prinetti and French Ambassador Camille Barrère , ended

798-483: A guerrilla war with local mujahideen . Many local Libyans joined forces with the Ottomans because of their common faith against the "Christian invaders" and started bloody guerrilla warfare . Italian authorities adopted many repressive measures against the rebels, such as public hangings as retaliation for ambushes. On 23 October 1911, over 500 Italian soldiers were slaughtered by Turkish troops at Sciara Sciatt , on

931-415: A handful of Ottoman officers. The difference between the secret service of Abdul Hamid II was that it was directly linked to him and did not have an operational function. There is a controversy on burned intelligence documents of the special forces, which Shaw puts in 1914. On that day, Enver Pasha became war minister and destroyed Abdul Hamid's records and probably intelligence on him. The first field operator

1064-417: A lower class called the rayah . Both in contemporaneous and in modern usage, it refers to non-Muslim subjects in particular, also called zimmi . Civil and judicial administration was carried out under a separate parallel system of small municipal or rural units called kazas administered by a qadi ( kadı ). Kazas in turn were subdivided into nahiyas . The qadis came from the ulema and represent

1197-600: A military court-martial, and were immune to civil administration. Realizing their immunity, they turned their forces into “legalized robber brigades” as they stole grain, harvested fields, drove off herds, and openly stole from shopkeepers. In 1908, after the overthrow of the Sultan, the Hamidiye Cavalry was disbanded as an organized force but, as they were “tribal forces” before official recognition, they stayed as “tribal forces” after dismemberment. The Hamidiye Cavalry

1330-1030: A military establishment. The titular Commander-in-Chief of the Ottoman military forces was the Sultan Mehmed V . The Minister of War fulfilled the role of commander of the military forces. During wartime, the Minister of War was the overall commander of the Ottoman Army. The modern army simplified the rank structure, but the rank system remained very complex. At the onset of the Second Constitutional Era in 1908, there were 58-year-old lieutenants, 65-year-old captains, and 80-year-old majors. In 1909, reformation age limits were set (41 for lieutenant, 46 for captains, 52 for majors, 55 for lieutenant colonels, 58 for colonels, 60 for brigadier generals, 65 for generals and 68 for field marshals). In 1908, active duty lengths were set at two years for

1463-416: A period of Ottoman military reforms (1826–1858) and finally concluded during the reign of Abdul Hamid II ( r.  1876–1909 ). As early as 1880, Abdul Hamid sought German assistance, which he secured two years later, culminating in the appointment of Lieutenant Colonel Otto Köhler. Although the consensus was that Abdul Hamid II favored the modernization of the Ottoman army and the professionalization of

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1596-478: A sharpshooter battalion, a field artillery regiment, and an army band. Divisions had operations, intelligence, judiciary, supplies, medical and veterinary departments. Corps were composed of three divisions and other ancillary units. They had operations, personnel, judiciary, supplies, secretariat, veterinary, documentation, artillery, engineering and post divisions. Corps consist of 41,000 enlisted and 6,700 animals. During this period, not based on chronological order,

1729-467: A strong influence over public opinion, but it was in opposition and also divided on the issue. It acted ineffectively against military intervention. The future Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini , who was then still a left-wing Socialist, took a prominent antiwar position. A similar opposition was expressed in Parliament by Gaetano Salvemini and Leone Caetani . An ultimatum was presented to

1862-552: A war that was lasting much longer than expected. Italy occupied twelve islands in the sea, comprising the Ottoman province of Rhodes , which then became known as the Dodecanese, but that raised the discontent of Austria-Hungary , which feared that it could fuel the irredentism of nations such as Serbia and Greece and cause imbalance in the already-fragile situation in the Balkan area. The only other relevant military operation of

1995-413: Is described as a military disappointment and a failure because of its contribution to tribal feuds. The decision to disband was made after the 1908 revolution and all of the units returned to their tribes by August 17, 1910. Militarily, Ottoman general staff stated conventional-style military discipline had always been a problem with these units. They were replaced by the reserve cavalry formations. After

2128-479: Is reported by Madeline Zilfi that European visitors of the time commented "In making appointments, Sultan pays no regard to any pretensions on the score of wealth or rank. It is by merits that man rise..Among the Turks, honours, high posts and Judgeships are rewards of great ability and good service." Though the sultan was the "sublime monarch", he had a number of advisors and ministers. The most powerful of these were

2261-754: The Anglo-Russian Convention and the establishment of the Triple Entente , Tsar Nicholas II and King Victor Emmanuel III made the 1909 Racconigi Bargain in which Russia acknowledged Italy's interest in Tripoli and Cyrenaica in return for Italian support for Russian control of the Bosphorus . However, the Italian government did little to realise that opportunity and so knowledge of the Libyan territory and resources remained scarce in

2394-566: The Auspicious Incident and had transformed a couple of times during the Ottoman military reforms. Within the ministry, there were offices for procurement, combat arms, peacetime military affairs, mobilization, and promotions. The Special Organization was a special forces unit established in 1913. It was an organization designed to establish insurgency and function as an intelligence service. Instigating insurgency, conducting espionage in foreign countries, and counterespionage inside

2527-734: The Balkan League was completed in 1912, with the First Balkan War (1912–1913) beginning by a Montenegrin attack on 8 October 1912, ten days before the Treaty of Ouchy. The swift and nearly-complete victory of the Balkan League astonished contemporary observers. However, none of the victors were happy with the division of captured territory, which resulted in the Second Balkan War (1913) in which Serbia, Greece,

2660-544: The Balkan Wars , Ottoman armies began to deploy rapid-firing guns. Artillery began to gain importance and dominated the battlefield. Ottoman engineers had both offensive and defensive functions. They removed physical obstacles created by the enemy, repaired damaged bridges and facilities, and built bridges and other infrastructure to enable infantry operations. Engineers were also expected to create obstacles during retreats and to demolish infrastructure that could be used by

2793-535: The First Treaty of Lausanne , which is often also called Treaty of Ouchy to distinguish it from the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne , (the Second Treaty of Lausanne). The main provisions of the treaty were as follows: Subsequent events prevented the return of the Dodecanese to Turkey, however. The First Balkan War broke out shortly before the treaty had been signed. Turkey was in no position to reoccupy

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2926-458: The Ministry of War . Since the early days of the Ottoman Army, each regiment has had its own band. In 1908, during the second constitutional period, there were 35 military bands in the capital. Each army had two bands. The “Imperial Band” (mızıka-i humayun) consisted of 90 musicians. The Ottoman Gendarmerie was a unit which was sent on police duties among civilian populations. The Gendarmerie

3059-612: The Second Constitutional Era , the Sultan and his high-ranking staff officers performed the main planning and activity of the Ministry of War, which was established in 1826. During this time, the General Staff was a department within the Ministry of War. It performed the recruitment, reserves, judiciary and printing military charts. Ahmed Izzet Pasha , who became the chief of general staff on August 15, 1908,

3192-721: The United Kingdom had agreed to the French occupation of Tunisia and British control over Cyprus respectively, which were both parts of the declining Ottoman state. When Italian diplomats hinted about possible opposition to the Anglo-French maneuvers by their government, the French replied that Tripoli would have been a counterpart for Italy, which made a secret agreement with the British government in February 1887 via

3325-722: The viziers of the Divan or Imperial Council , led by the Grand Vizier. The Divan was a council where the viziers met and debated the politics of the empire. It was the Grand Vizier's duty to inform the sultan of the opinion of the Divan. The sultan often took his vizier's advice into consideration, but he by no means had to obey the Divan. Sometimes the sultan called a Divan meeting himself if he had something important to inform his viziers of, such as imminent war. The viziers then carried out his orders. The Divan consisted of three viziers in

3458-575: The 14th century and eleven in the 17th century; four of them served as Viziers of the Dome, the most important ministers next to the Grand Vizier. Sometimes the commander ( ağa ) of the Janissaries attended the Divan meetings as well. Mehmed II conquered Constantinople in (1453) and established his court there. The Sultan presided in person over the Council of State – called Divan, after

3591-519: The 16th and 17th centuries. The sultan also had four other official consorts, who were each called Kadın . Next in rank below the sultan's wives were his eight favourite concubines ( ikbâl s or hâs odalık s), and then the other concubines whom the sultan favoured and who were termed gözde . Next in rank were the concubines of other court officials. Pupils ( acemî ) and novices ( câriye or şâhgird ) were younger women who were either waiting to be married off to someone or who had not yet graduated out of

3724-612: The 17th, the women of the Harem effectively controlled the state in what was termed the " Sultanate of Women " ( Kadınlar Saltanatı ). The harem had its own internal organization and order of formulating policies. Beneath the Valide Sultan in the hierarchy was the Haseki Sultan , chief consort of the sultan, who had the chance of becoming the next Valide Sultan when her son ascended to the throne. This position existed around

3857-555: The 1920 Treaty of Sèvres , which was never ratified, Italy was supposed to cede all of the islands except Rhodes to Greece in exchange for a vast Italian zone of influence in southwest Anatolia . However, the Greek defeat in the Greco–Turkish War and the foundation of modern Turkey created a new situation that made the enforcement of the terms of that treaty impossible. In Article 15 of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne , which superseded

3990-434: The 1920 Treaty of Sèvres, Turkey formally recognised the Italian annexation of the Dodecanese. The population was largely Greek, and by treaty in 1947, the islands eventually became part of Greece. As the Dodecanese were part of Italy, the local population was not affected by the subsequent population exchange between Greece and Turkey , and a small community of Dodecanese Turks has remained to this day. In his book Primo,

4123-609: The 1923 Treaty of Lausanne . The war is considered a precursor of the First World War . Members of the Balkan League , seeing how easily Italy defeated the Ottomans and motivated by incipient Balkan nationalism , attacked the Ottoman Empire in October 1912, starting the First Balkan War a few days before the end of the Italo-Turkish War. The Italo-Turkish War saw some technological changes , most notably

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4256-589: The Balkan Wars, followed shortly by World War I (which found Turkey and Italy again on opposing sides), meant that the islands were never returned to the Ottoman Empire. Turkey gave up its claims on the islands in the Treaty of Lausanne , and the Dodecanese continued to be administered by Italy until 1947, when after the Italian defeat in World War II, the islands were ceded to Greece. The invasion of Libya

4389-584: The Balkans to the Italian declaration of war was immediate. The first draft by Serbia of a military treaty with Bulgaria against Turkey was written by November 1911, with a defensive treaty signed in March 1912 and an offensive treaty signed in May 1912 focused on military action against Ottoman-ruled Southeastern Europe. The series of bilateral treaties between Greece , Bulgaria , Serbia and Montenegro that created

4522-633: The Beys/Deys of Tunis and Algiers established themselves as 'regencies' and even Egypt went its own way under its great khedive Mohammed Ali  – they would in turn be subjected to European colonial dominance, as protectorates , of France and Britain. Italo-Turkish War Mobilisation 1911: 89,000 troops 14,600 quadrupeds 2,550 wagons 132 field guns 66 mountain guns 28 siege guns The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War ( Turkish : Trablusgarp Savaşı , "Tripolitanian War", Italian : Guerra di Libia , "War of Libya")

4655-422: The British. Giolitti refused. Italy declared war on 29 September 1911. The Italian army was ill-prepared for the war and was not informed of the government's plans for Libya until late September. The army had a shortage of soldiers as the class of 1889 was demobilized before the war started. Military operations started with the bombardment of Tripoli on 3 October. The city was conquered by 1,500 sailors, much to

4788-770: The Caucasian Section headed by Captain Reza Bey, the Africa and Libya Section headed by Hüseyin Tosun Bey, and the Eastern Provinces Section headed by Dr. Sakir and Rueni Bey. The headquarters was on Nur-i Osmariiye Street in Istanbul. The War Council was under the Ministry of War. Established by the high-ranking staff officers during wartime, the head of the council was the Sultan. After 1908,

4921-404: The General Staff training was extended to three years and, with additional military courses, a special emphasis was placed on exercises and hands-on training. Although staff officers were initially considered to be part of an entirely different military branch, following 1867 new programs were implemented to train staff officers for branches like infantry, cavalry and artillery. In 1899, a new system

5054-707: The Harem School. The Palace schools comprised not a single track, but two. First, the Madrasa ( Ottoman Turkish : Medrese ) for the Muslims, which educated the scholars and the state officials in accordance with Islamic tradition. The financial burden of the Medrese was supported by vakifs, allowing children of poor families to move to higher social levels and income. The second track, the Enderun School ,

5187-566: The Italian ambassador on 28 July that he would support Italy, not the Ottomans. On 19 September, Grey instructed Permanent Under-Secretary of State Sir Arthur Nicolson, 1st Baron Carnock that Britain and France should not interfere with Italy's designs on Libya. Meanwhile, the Russian government urged Italy to act in a "prompt and resolute manner". In contrast to its engagement with the Entente powers, Italy largely ignored its military allies in

5320-599: The Italian armies poured onto the coasts of Libya, facing numerous problems during their landings and deployments. One of these problems was that the Ottoman vice admiral in 1911, Bucknam Pasha , was at first successfully blockading the Italians from landing on the Tripolitanian coast. The Italians believed that a force of 20,000 would be able to take over Libya. The force was able to capture Tripoli, Tobruk, Derna, Bengasi, and Homs between 3 and 21 October. However,

5453-466: The Italian ships took no casualties and also no direct hits from any of the Ottoman warships. Italy had feared that the Ottoman naval forces at Beirut could be used to threaten the approach to the Suez Canal . The Ottoman naval presence at Beirut was completely annihilated and casualties on the Ottoman side were heavy. The Italian Navy gained complete naval dominance of the southern Mediterranean for

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5586-730: The Italians could easily extend their occupation of the country, seizing East Tripolitania, Ghadames , the Djebel and Fezzan with Murzuk during 1913. The outbreak of the First World War with the necessity to bring back the troops to Italy, the proclamation of the Jihad by the Ottomans and the uprising of the Libyans in Tripolitania forced the Italians to abandon all occupied territory and to entrench themselves in Tripoli, Derna, and on

5719-413: The Italians suffered a defeat at Shar al-Shatt , with at least 21 officers and 482 soldiers dead. The Italians executed 400 women and 4,000 men through firing squads and hanging in retaliation. The corps was consequently enlarged to 100,000 men who had to face 20,000 Libyans and 8,000 Ottomans. The war turned into one of position. Even the Italian utilisation of armoured cars and air power, both among

5852-412: The Libyans were estimated at 3,500, but they were being constantly reinforced, and a general assault on the Italian position was expected. The Italian and Turkish forces in Tripoli and Cyrenaica were constantly reinforced since the Ottoman withdrawal to the interior enabled them to reinforce their troops considerably. Lacking a considerable navy, the Ottomans were not able to send regular forces to Libya,

5985-544: The Ministry of War became part of the Imperial Government . In 1908, the Ministry of War's high-ranking staff officers moved to the War Council. The War Council was abolished when Enver Pasha became the minister of war. The Sultan's group of high-ranking staff officers were silently removed from control. In its final form, the Ministry of War was a part of a civilian structure, which left the General Staff to

6118-664: The National War of Independence, the Staff College was closed down. The French military system was used before the modern Ottoman Army was developed. After defeat from Russia in the war of 1877–78, the Ottoman's reform process began with a fundamental revision: the German military system replaced the French one. The first German military mission arrived in Capitol in 1882. It was headed by a cavalry officer named Koehler, who

6251-716: The Ottoman Classical Army. When plotted on a map, the protected logistic areas gave the heavy insurgency points. These were established along the Sivas - Erzurum corridor, which carried the bulk of the Third Army's supplies, and along the Trabzon -Erzurum corridor, which carried the army's magazine capacity. The weak road network within the Third Army area was rapidly deteriorating in 1914. Every province had civilian road workers and they were not enough to maintain

6384-431: The Ottoman Empire was its function between 1913 and 1918. The institutional origin, the reason given in the strategic document, was related to the unsatisfactory result of the First Balkan War . Its goal was the recovery of Edirne . This military organization had no precedent in Ottoman history, and it was directly developed out of the counterinsurgency experiences from Macedonia and the guerrilla experiences from Libya with

6517-433: The Ottoman Empire, mostly inhabiting Istanbul, Izmir, and Thessaloniki, dealing with trade and industry. The sudden declaration of war shocked both the Italian community living in the Empire as well as the Ottoman government. Depending on the mutual friendly relations, the Ottoman Government had sent their Libyan battalions to Yemen in order to suppress local rebellions, leaving only the military police in Libya. Therefore,

6650-445: The Ottoman commander, Enver Bey , attacked the Italian positions on the plateau. The larger Italian fire drove back the Ottoman soldiers, who were surrounded by a battalion of Alpini and suffered heavy losses. A later Ottoman attack had the same outcome. Then, operations in Cyrenaica ceased until the end of the war. Although some elements of the local population collaborated with the Italians, counterattacks by Ottoman soldiers with

6783-404: The Ottoman court. It was ruled by the Valide sultan (Sultana Mother), mother of the reigning sultan, who held supreme power over the Harem and thus a powerful position in the court. On occasion, the Valide Sultan would become involved in state politics and through her influence could diminish the power and position of the sultan. For a period of time beginning in the 16th century and extending into

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6916-471: The Ottoman government supported a great number of young officers to travel to the area in order to rally the locals and coordinate the resistance. Enver Bey , Mustafa Kemal Bey , Ali Fethi Bey , Cami Bey , Nuri Bey and many other Turkish officers managed to reach Libya, traveling under secret identities such as covering as a medical doctor , journalist among others. The Ottoman Şehzade Osman Fuad had also joined these officers, granting royal support to

7049-423: The Ottoman government, led by the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), on the night of 26–27 September 1911. Through Austro-Hungarian intermediation, the Ottomans replied with the proposal of transferring control of Libya without war and maintaining a formal Ottoman suzerainty . That suggestion was comparable to the situation in Egypt , which was under formal Ottoman suzerainty but was under de facto control by

7182-463: The Ottomans did not have a full army in Tripolitania . Many of the Ottoman officers had to travel there by their own means, often secretly, through Egypt since the British government would not allow Ottoman troops to be transported en masse through Egypt. The Ottoman Navy was too weak to transport troops by sea. The Ottomans organised local Libyans for the defence against the Italian invasion. Between 1911 and 1912, over 1,000 Somalis from Mogadishu ,

7315-417: The Ottomans, and Romania took almost all of the territory that Bulgaria had captured in the first war. In the wake of the enormous change in the regional balance of power, Russia switched its primary allegiance in the region from Bulgaria to Serbia and guaranteed Serbian autonomy from any outside military intervention. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand , the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, by

7448-427: The Red Sea ports of the Ottomans and actively supplied and supported the Emirate of Asir , which was also then at war with the Ottoman Empire. Then, on 24 February, in the Battle of Beirut , two Italian armoured cruisers attacked and sank an Ottoman casemate corvette and six lighters , retreated and returned and then sank an Ottoman torpedo boat . Avnillah alone suffered 58 killed and 108 wounded. By contrast,

7581-412: The Triple Alliance. Giolitti and Foreign Minister Antonino Paternò Castello agreed on 14 September to launch a military campaign "before the Austrian and German governments [were aware] of it". Germany was then actively attempting to mediate between Rome and Constantinople, and Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Alois Lexa von Aehrenthal repeatedly warned Italy that military action in Libya would threaten

7714-430: The all-weather roads. The combatant units would not last more than couple days without the logistic support. Increased need required the army to build up its labor services, which did transfer resources from allocated units to combat to sustain the front. During World War I, European armies had ten logistic persons for one combatant. The Ottoman labour services (amela taburu) were noncombatants, so they were unarmed, as in

7847-428: The areas ruled by the Ottomans were explicitly mentioned in the official full style of the sultan, including various lofty titles adopted to emphasize imperial rank and show the empire as being " successor -in-law" to conquered states. The empire was divided into vilayets , with a governor assigned to each vilayet. The idea of vilayet originated from the Seljuk vassal state ( Uç Beyliği ) in central Anatolia . Over

7980-489: The army. The staff was supervised by a chief of staff and was composed of various divisions, which specialized in a variety of military fields. The most influential staff division was the Operations Division. Staff provided bi-directional flow of information between a commanding officer and subordinate units. In the Ottoman Army, staff officers in all levels were combatants, a comparison to other armies that have enlisted personnel for specific tasks that were non-combatant. Before

8113-461: The capital of Italian Somaliland , served as combat units along with Eritrean and Italian soldiers in the Italo-Turkish War. Most of the Somalian troops stationed would return home only in 1935, when they were transferred back to Italian Somaliland in preparation for the invasion of Ethiopia . The first disembarkation of Italian troops occurred on 10 October. Having no prior military experiences and lacking adequate planning for amphibious invasions,

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8246-607: The coast between Tobruk and Solum to prevent contraband and troops from entering across the Egyptian frontier, and the naval blockaders guarded the coast as well as capturing several sailing ships laden with contraband. Italian troops landed at Tobruk after a brief bombardment on 4 December 1911, occupied the seashore, and marched towards the hinterlands facing weak resistance . Small numbers of Ottoman soldiers and Libyan volunteers were later organized by Captain Mustafa Kemal Atatürk . The small 22 December Battle of Tobruk resulted in Mustafa Kemal's victory. With that achievement, he

8379-400: The coast of Cyrenaica. The Italian control over much of the interior of Libya remained ineffective until the late 1920s when forces under the Generals Pietro Badoglio and Rodolfo Graziani waged bloody pacification campaigns. Resistance petered out only after the execution of the rebel leader Omar Mukhtar on 15 September 1931. The result of the Italian colonisation for the Libyan population

8512-487: The conflict, Italian forces also occupied the Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea . Italy agreed to return the Dodecanese to the Ottoman Empire in the Treaty of Ouchy in 1912. However, the vagueness of the text, combined with subsequent adverse events unfavourable to the Ottoman Empire (the outbreak of the Balkan Wars and World War I ), allowed a provisional Italian administration of the islands, and Turkey eventually renounced all claims on these islands in Article 15 of

8645-409: The corps that were established were I , II , III , IV , V , VI , VII , VIII , IX , X , XI , XII , XIII , XIV , XV , XVI , XVII , XVIII , XIX , XX , XXI , XXII , XXV , Iraq Area , Halil , I Kaf. , II Kaf. , Hejaz Fortified zones had the same departments of divisions. They added documentation, artillery, engineering, communications and floodlight projectors. During this period

8778-467: The earliest in modern warfare, had little effect on the initial outcome. In the first military use of heavier-than-air craft , Capitano Carlo Piazza flew the first reconnaissance flight on 23 October 1911. A week later, Sottotenente Giulio Gavotti dropped four grenades on Tajura (Arabic: تاجوراء Tājūrā’, or Tajoura) and Ain Zara in the first aerial bombing in history. Technologically and numerically superior Italian forces easily managed to take

8911-512: The early stage of the Tanzimat period. After the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War , the Ottoman government searched for other role models, so German- and British-style uniforms became popular. During World War I, the officer uniforms were mainly based on those of the Ottoman's German allies. The shift from the Classical Army (1451–1606) took more than a century and began with the failed attempts of Selim III ( r.  1789–1807 ) and Alemdar Mustafa Pasha (1789–1808), continued through

9044-420: The empire, the new republic abolished the Sultanate and Caliphate and declared the members of the House of Osman as personae non gratae of Turkey . Fifty years later, in 1974, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey granted descendants of the former dynasty the right to acquire Turkish citizenship. The current head of the House of Osman is Harun Osman . The Harem was one of the most important powers of

9177-401: The enemy. Each corps had an engineering battalion and each division had an engineering company. The communication branch was established in 1882. Its designation was 'telegraph battalion' and its main function was to operate telegraphs. In 1910, the telephone was added to its functions. In 1911, wireless stations were added to the unit. A direct line between İzmir and Derne was established for

9310-428: The enthusiasm of the interventionist minority in Italy. Another proposal for a diplomatic settlement was rejected by the Italians, and so the Ottomans decided to defend the province. On 29 September 1911, Italy published the declaration of their direct interest towards Libya. Without a proper response, the Italian forces landed on the shores of Libya on 4 October 1911. A considerable number of Italians were living within

9443-473: The evolution of that first aggression." Unlike the British-controlled Egypt, the Ottoman Tripolitania vilayet , which made up modern-day Libya, was core territory of the Empire, like that of the Balkans. The coalition that had defended the Ottomans during the Crimean War (1853–1856), minimised Ottoman territorial losses at the Congress of Berlin (1878) and supported the Ottomans during the Bulgarian Crisis (1885–88) had largely disappeared. The reaction in

9576-564: The exam were admitted into the college as Staff Officer candidates. Following the Allied occupation of Constantinople on 16 March 1920, military schools were dissolved by the victors of the First World War; nevertheless, the Staff College was managed to continue its activities until April 1921 at the Şerif Pasha Mansion in Teşvikiye , Constantinople where it had been moved on 28 January 1919. After all instructors and students went to Anatolia to join

9709-554: The first time in 1911, during the Italo-Turkish War . Beginning in 1912 with the Balkan Wars, every corp level unit had a 'telegraph battalion.' The medical branch does not have a precise date of origin. During 1908, the second constitutional period, its structure included doctors, surgeons, veterinarians, pharmacists, dentists, chemists, wound-dressers and nurses. They were organized by the Health Department of

9842-548: The following years. The removal of diplomatic obstacles coincided with increasing colonial fervor. In 1908, the Italian Colonial Office was upgraded to a Central Directorate of Colonial Affairs. The nationalist Enrico Corradini led the public call for action in Libya and, joined by the nationalist newspaper L'Idea Nazionale in 1911, demanded an invasion. The Italian press began a large-scale lobbying campaign for an invasion of Libya in late March 1911. It

9975-514: The fortified zones that were established were Dardanelles , Bosporus, Chataldja, Adrianople, Smyrna, Erzurum, and Kars. Army headquarters had corps level departments and also infantry department, cavalry department and field gendarmerie department. The Army Group developed late in World War I. The conflicts depleted the Army units, so Army Groups were used to compensate for the lost units and keep

10108-602: The foundation of the organization. After the 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War , Ottoman grand vizier Mehmed Said Pasha decided to establish a modern law enforcement organization, so a military mission was formed for the task. After the Young Turk Revolution in 1908, the Gendarmerie achieved great successes, particularly in Rumelia . In 1909, the Gendarmerie was affiliated with the Ministry of War and its name

10241-483: The graduates were permanently devoted to government service and had no interest in forming relations with lower social groups. The incoming students were called the inner boys ( Ottoman Turkish : iç oğlanlar). It took seven years of professional development to graduate. The apprenticeship began in the Sultan's services; progressing to mastering natural and Islamic sciences (formal education); and finally to developing physical fitnesses, and vocational or artistic skills. It

10374-400: The help of local troops confined the Italian army to the coastal region. In fact, by the end of 1912 the Italians had made little progress in conquering Libya . The Italian soldiers were in effect besieged in seven enclaves on the coasts of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica . The largest was at Tripoli and extended barely 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) from the town. At sea, the Italians enjoyed

10507-459: The historic rivalry between both nations for control of North Africa . The same year, the British government promised Italy that "any alteration in the status of Libya would be in conformity with Italian interests". Those measures were intended to loosen Italian commitment to the Triple Alliance and thereby weaken Germany , which France and Britain viewed as their main rival in Europe. Following

10640-510: The infantry, three years for other branches of the Army and five years for the Navy . During the course of the World War, these remained largely theoretical. In the Ottoman Army, the commissioned officers who received training relating to their specific military occupational specialty or function in the military were called mektepli (educated) officers. There were also commissioned officers who did not receive training but were put through service in

10773-742: The integrity of the Ottoman Empire and create a crisis in the Eastern Question , which would destabilise the Balkan Peninsula and the European balance of power . Italy also foresaw that result since Paternò Castello, in a July report to the king and Giolitti, laid out the reasons for and against military action in Libya, and he raised the concern that the Balkan revolt, which would likely follow an Italian attack on Libya, might force Austria-Hungary to take military action in Balkan areas claimed by Italy. The Italian Socialist Party had

10906-515: The intervention of Ottoman artillery threatened the Italian line, and the Libyans attempted to surround the Italian troops. Further Italian reinforcements, however, stabilised the situation, and the battle ended in the afternoon with an Italian victory. On 14 September, the Italian command sent three columns of infantry to disband the Arab camp near Derna. The Italian troops occupied a plateau and interrupted Ottoman supply lines . Three days later,

11039-477: The islands while its main armies were engaged in a bitter struggle to preserve its remaining territories in the Balkans. To avoid a Greek invasion of the islands, it was implicitly agreed on that the Dodecanese would remain under neutral Italian administration until the conclusion of hostilities between the Greeks and the Ottomans, after which the islands would revert to Ottoman rule. Turkey's continued involvement in

11172-502: The late 19th and early 20th centuries. By the end of the empire, there were three cavalry units, the 1st Cavalry Division, the 2nd Cavalry Division, and the 3rd Cavalry Division. These units were the successors to the Hamidiye cavalry formations, which had been disbanded on August 17, 1910. These new regiments were formed into seven cavalry brigades and three independent regiments. They were composed mainly of Kurds, some rural Ottomans and

11305-474: The legal authority of the sultan. The civil system was considered a check on the military system since beys (who represented executive authority) could not carry out punishment without the sentence of a qadi. Likewise, qadis were not permitted to personally effect punishment. In the areas of sharia and kanun law, qadis were responsible directly to the sultan. The Ottoman Empire had many vassal states of varying size attached to it. Vassals paid taxes to

11438-654: The minister of war and the chief of general staff. During the course of the World War, the Ottoman General Staff had seven departments: operations, intelligence, railroads, education, military history, personnel and documentation. LoCI was modeled on German organizational architecture. German organization was designed to operate at friendly rear areas. Neither Ottoman nor German LoCIs were staffed or equipped to do much more than coordinate logistics and transport supplies. The history of transportation starts with World War I. The World War I Ottoman logistics system

11571-508: The news of the massacre from getting out, the incident soon became internationally known. The Italians started to show photographs of the massacred Italian soldiers at Sciara Sciat to justify their revenge. Italian diplomats decided to take advantage of the situation to obtain a favourable peace deal. On 18 October 1912, Italy and the Ottoman Empire signed a treaty in Ouchy in Lausanne called

11704-452: The non-combatant units. During 1916, at the high point of the Russian advance, the labor battalions were targeted. In the summer of 1916, the surviving 28 labor battalions were reorganized into 17 full strength battalions. The General Staff was organized under the Chief of General Staff. The apex of the Ottoman military structure was the Ministry of War, which had been established in 1826 with

11837-760: The occasional Armenian. The Hamidiye was the first trained and organized Kurdish force within the Ottoman army, created by the Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II in 1892. It was modeled after the Caucasian Cossack Regiments (i.e. the Persian Cossack Brigade ) and tasked to patrol the Russo-Ottoman frontier. Despite its military appearance, organization and potential, the Hamidiye was in no way a cross-tribal force. Cavalrymen quickly found out that they could only be tried through

11970-407: The officer corps, it seems that he neglected the military during the last fifteen years of his reign, evidenced by his military budget cuts. The formation of the modern Ottoman army proved a slow process with various ups and downs. The infantry was the backbone of the army. Ottoman infantry was assigned to infiltrate enemy lines and protect territory gained. The cavalry was losing its efficiency in

12103-463: The other armies. The Ottoman Army had only six labour service battalions in 1914. In 1915, these were reorganized and expanded to 30 battalions of which 11 were deployed on the Erzincan -Erzurum- Hasankale - Tortum corridor. In 1915 the labour battalions were an essential and absolute requirement for the function of Third Army. Attrition wore the combat battalions down, but World War I was also hard on

12236-474: The outskirts of Tripoli . This massacre occurred, at least in part, reportedly due to the rape and sexual assault of Libyan and Turkish women by the Italian troops. Nevertheless, as a consequence, on the next day the 1911 Tripoli massacre had Italian troops systematically murder thousands of civilians by moving through local homes and gardens one by one, including by setting fire to a mosque with 100 refugees inside. Although Italian authorities attempted to keep

12369-535: The ranks at specific periods of time. These commissioned officers were called alaylı. The Ottoman Empire tried to replace alaylı with mektepli officers, because a majority of the officers were alaylı. Princes (by birth) and important statesmen (by position) were considered officers even though they had not received military training or worked through ranks. It is also true that commissioned officers may have had leadership training (viziers, governors, etc.) and management generalists (medicine, engineering, etc.). The academy

12502-462: The regular army would recruit soldiers through the sources of the army inspectorate they belonged to. The strengths of the Ottoman army were at the highest echelons of its rank structure. Unlike the British or the Germans, the Ottomans had no long service corps of professional non-commissioned officers, which was its weakest point. An infantry division was to be composed of three infantry regiments:

12635-874: The remainder functioning. In August 1917, the Caucasus Army Group was established. It was a unification of the Second and Third Armies. In July 1917, the Yildirim Army Group was established. It was a unification of the Sixth and Seventh Armies. In June 1918, the Eastern Army Group was established. The unit was composed of whatever was left from the Caucasus Army Group united under the Third and Ninth Army. The General Staff

12768-524: The resistance. During the war, Mustafa Kemal Bey, the future founder of the Republic of Turkey , was wounded by shrapnel to his eye. The cost of the war was defrayed chiefly by voluntary offerings from Muslims; men, weapons, ammunition and all kinds of other supplies were constantly sent across to the Egyptian and Tunisian frontiers, not withstanding their neutrality. The Italians occupied Sidi Barrani on

12901-495: The rest of the war. Although Italy could extend its control to almost all of the 2,000 km of the Libyan coast between April and early August 1912, its ground forces could not venture beyond the protection of the navy's guns and so were limited to a thin coastal strip. In the summer of 1912, Italy began operations against the Ottoman possessions in the Aegean Sea with the approval of the other powers, which were eager to end

13034-400: The ruler. On eleven occasions, the sultan was deposed because he was perceived by his enemies as a threat to the state. There were only two attempts in the whole of Ottoman history to unseat the ruling Osmanlı dynasty, both failures, which is suggestive of a political system which for an extended period was able to manage its revolutions without unnecessary instability. After the dissolution of

13167-530: The same functions before 1903. Since the term Gendarmerie was found only in the Assignment Decrees published in the years following the Edict of Gülhane of 1839, it is assumed that the Gendarmerie organization was founded after that year, but the exact date of 'unit foundation' is not that date. There is also a manual, Asâkir-i Zaptiye Nizâmnâmesi, which was adopted on June 14, 1869, and is accepted as

13300-493: The same system as European armies, the 3rd and 4th years were created in the War Academy in 1848 under the name of “Imperial War School of Military Sciences" General Staff Courses. Abdülkerim Pasha was appointed as the first director of these courses. As part of the reorganization efforts of the Ottoman Army, new arrangements were implemented in 1866 for the Staff College and other Military Schools. Through these arrangements,

13433-412: The seat he sat on, until an incident arose (so it is related) when a ragged Turcoman blundered into a meeting of the Divan and demanded "Well, which of you is the happy Emperor ?". Mehmed was incensed and the Grand Vizier suggested he sit above the fray. Consequently, a latticed bay was constructed "The eye of the Sultan", enabling Mehmed to look down unseen. Townspeople, villagers and farmers formed

13566-439: The shores. However, the Italians still could not penetrate deep inland. The Libyans and Turks, estimated at 15,000, made frequent attacks day and night on the strongly-entrenched Italian garrison in the southern suburbs of Benghazi . The four Italian infantry regiments on the defensive were supported by the cruisers San Marco and Agordat . The Italians rarely attempted a sortie. An attack of 20,000 Ottoman and local troops

13699-528: The sultan and often contributed with troops in various Ottoman military campaigns. Many of the imperial provinces were vassal states before being reduced to provinces. A vassal state that never became a province was the Khanate of Crimea in the region around Crimea , north of Black Sea  – it would fall to Russia instead (1783; later in modern Ukraine). The latter happened in North Africa:

13832-529: The summer was an attack of five Italian torpedo boats in the Dardanelles on 18 July. With a decree of 5 November 1911, Italy declared its sovereignty over Libya. Although the Italians controlled the coast, many of their troops had been killed in battle and nearly 6,000 Ottoman soldiers remained to face an army of nearly 140,000 Italians. As a result, the Ottomans began using guerrilla tactics. Indeed, some "Young Turk" officers reached Libya and helped organize

13965-500: The use of airplanes in combat . On 23 October 1911, an Italian pilot, Capitano Carlo Piazza, flew over Turkish lines on the world's first aerial reconnaissance mission, and on 1 November, the first aerial bomb was dropped by Sottotenente Giulio Gavotti , on Turkish troops in Libya , from an early model of Etrich Taube aircraft. The Turks , using rifles, were the first to shoot down an airplane. Another use of new technology

14098-575: The years the Empire became an amalgamation of pre-existing polities , the Anatolian beyliks , brought under the sway of the ruling House of Osman . The central government was composed of the Sultan and his own staff (bookkeepers, etc.) in what was known as "House of Osman". The House of Osman was advised by the Divan , composed of the Grand Vizier and the ruling class (nobles). The ruling class

14231-462: The “Regulation on Military Organisation.” It was adopted on July 9, 1910. Army commands were replaced by “army inspectorates” whose main responsibilities were training and mobilization. The army was to be composed of three parts: the regular army (nizamiye), the reserve army (redif) and the home guard (müstahfız). The “corps” concept was established. Reserve divisions were to be combined into reserve corps and they were to be given artillery units. Units of

14364-491: Was Süleyman Askerî , who undertook the first mission and established the field structure. There is no actual evidence to support any claims of a dual-track structure (an operation with both political and military goals). The organization sub-management consisted of Atif Kamçil , Aziz Bey, Dr. Bahaeddin Şakir , and Dr. Nazım Bey . The staff was organized into four departments: the European Section headed by Arif Bey,

14497-579: Was "more burdensome than useful as an ally. Against Austria, she harbours a latent hostility that nothing can disarm". The tensions within the Triple Alliance would eventually lead Italy to sign the 1915 Treaty of London , which had it abandon the Triple Alliance and join the Entente. In Italy itself, massive funerals for fallen heroes brought the Catholic Church closer to the government from which it had long been alienated. There emerged

14630-635: Was a boarding school for converted Christians, which conscripted 3,000 students annually from Christian boys between 8 and 20 years old from about one in forty families among the communities settled in Rumelia and/or the Balkans ; a process known as Devşirme . Orphans, single children, married boys, Jews, Russians, and craftsmen's and shepherd's sons were exempted. The Palace Schools were fairly successful in this trans-culturation of students, and many statesmen were products of this process. The system functioned strictly for government purposes, and (ideally)

14763-407: Was a costly enterprise for Italy. Instead of the 30 million lire a month judged sufficient at its beginning, it reached a cost of 80 million a month for a much longer period than was originally estimated. The war cost Italy 1.3 billion lire , nearly a billion more than Giovanni Giolitti estimated before the war. This ruined ten years of fiscal prudence. After the withdrawal of the Ottoman army

14896-509: Was a key to many problems. The expansion of the Empire called for a systematic administrative organization that developed into a dual system of military ("Central Government") and civil administration ("Provincial System") and developed a kind of separation of powers : higher executive functions were carried out by the military authorities and judicial and basic administration were carried out by civil authorities. Outside this system were various types of vassal and tributary states . Most of

15029-650: Was a network of wireless telegraphy stations established soon after the initial landings. Guglielmo Marconi , the inventor of wireless telegraphy, came to Libya to conduct experiments with the Italian Corps of Engineers. Italian claims to Libya date back to the Ottoman defeat by the Russian Empire during the War of 1877–1878 and subsequent disputes thereafter. At the Congress of Berlin in 1878, France and

15162-411: Was a paramilitary unit because it was not included as part of the state's formal armed forces. It was established in 1903 and organized under infantry gendarmerie and the cavalry gendarmerie. The units were small, with the regiment being the largest. They were distributed across the administrative units under Valis. Their number changed with security needs. Historically, there was a Gendarmerie performing

15295-494: Was a pipeline that moved men and supplies from rear areas to forward stations and further distribution to front-line corps and infantry divisions. 279 officers, 119 doctors, and 12,279 men were assigned at the onset, but by April 14, 1915, few of these were available for point or area security. Under heavy insurgency, “protected logistics areas” were created for both convoys and for fixed facilities such as hospitals and magazines. The idea of protected logistics areas were carried from

15428-622: Was an important experience for the young officers of the Ottoman Army, such as Mustafa Kemal Bey , Enver Bey , Ali Fethi Bey , Cami Bey , Nuri Bey and many others. These young officers were to perform important military duties and accomplishments in the First World War, led the Turkish independency war and found the Republic of Turkey. Because of the First World War, the Dodecanese remained under Italian military occupation. According to

15561-632: Was appointed as aide-de-camp. There were three military missions active at the turn of 1914. These were the British Naval Mission led by Admiral Arthur Limpus , the French Gendarme Mission led by General Moujen, and the German Military Mission led by Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz . British military advisors, which were mainly naval, had less impact on the Ottoman navy. The British naval mission

15694-411: Was assigned to Derna War quarters to coordinate the field on 6 March 1912. The Libyan campaign ground to a stalemate by December 1911. On 3 March 1912, 1,500 Libyan volunteers attacked Italian troops who were building trenches near Derna. The Italians, who were outnumbered but had superior weaponry, held the line. A lack of coordination between the Italian units sent from Derna as reinforcements and

15827-507: Was aware of the urgent need of this institution to be reformed. Ahmed Izzet Pasha's work produced good results and he managed to provide a better and much more efficient structure for the General Staff. At the outbreak of the Balkan Wars, the General Staff was divided into seven departments. It formed the headquarters of Nazım Pasha , the acting head commander. When the war was lost, further changes were needed. These came with Enver Pasha , who on January 3, 1914, replaced Ahmed Izzet Pasha as both

15960-542: Was called the askeri , including the noblemen, court officials, military officers and the religious class called the ulema . The Ottoman dynasty or House of Osman ( c. 1280–1922) was unprecedented and unequaled in the Islamic world for its size and duration. The Ottoman sultan, pâdişâh or "lord of kings", served as the empire's sole regent and was considered to be the embodiment of its government, though he did not always exercise complete control. The Ottoman family

16093-574: Was changed to the Gendarmerie General Command ( Ottoman Turkish : Umûm Jandarma Kumandanlığı ). During World War One, especially after the Battle of Sarikamish , Gendarmerie units changed hands from Vali'es (a civilian authority) to the War Ministry (a military authority) to be a combatant branch. This change effectively made them combat units. After the Second Constitutional Era, 1908, the Ottoman General Staff published

16226-628: Was developed on the principle that the General Staff Courses should train more officers with higher military education in addition to Staff Officers’ training. Following this rule, a greater number of officers from the Army War Academy were admitted to the Staff College. This process continued until 1908. Following the declaration of the Second Constitutional Period, the structure of the Staff College

16359-616: Was established in 1912 under Admiral Arthur Limpus. He was recalled in September 1914 due to increasing concern Britain would soon enter the war. The mission of reorganizing the Ottoman Navy was taken over by Rear Admiral Wilhelm Souchon of the Imperial German Navy. The Ottoman ships were painted the same colours as those of the Royal Navy, and the officer insignia mirrored that of the British. The British Naval Mission

16492-528: Was fancifully depicted as rich in minerals and well-watered, defended by only 4,000 Ottoman troops. Also, its population was described as hostile to the Ottomans and friendly to the Italians, and they predicted that the future invasion would be little more than a "military walk". The Italian government remained committed into 1911 to the maintenance of the Ottoman Empire, which was a close friend of its German ally. Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti rejected nationalist calls for conflict over Ottoman Albania , which

16625-662: Was formed in 1834 by Mehmed Namık Pasha and Marshal Ahmed Fevzi Pasha as the Mekteb-i Harbiye ("War School"), and the first class of officers graduated in 1841. Its formation was a part of the military reforms within the Ottoman Empire as it recognized the need for more educated officers to modernize its army. The Ottoman Armed Forces College was founded in 1848. It was renamed the Armed Forces College in 1964. In order to train Staff Officers in

16758-610: Was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911 to 18 October 1912. As a result of this conflict, Italy captured the Ottoman Tripolitania Vilayet , of which the main sub-provinces were Fezzan , Cyrenaica , and Tripoli itself. These territories became the colonies of Italian Tripolitania and Cyrenaica , which would later merge into Italian Libya . During

16891-570: Was led by: State organisation of the Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire developed over the years as a despotism with the Sultan as the supreme ruler of a centralized government that had an effective control of its provinces , officials and inhabitants. Wealth and rank could be inherited but were just as often earned. Positions were perceived as titles , such as viziers and aghas . Military service

17024-484: Was originally Turkish in its ethnicity, as were its subjects; however the kingship quickly acquired many different ethnicities through intermarriage with slaves and European nobility. Throughout Ottoman history, however – despite the supreme de jure authority of the sultans and the occasional exercise of de facto authority by Grand Viziers  – there were many instances in which local governors acted independently, and even in opposition to

17157-509: Was rearranged with a new Staff College Regulation dated 4 August 1909. The new designation, “General Staff School,” passed in October. With the General Staff School, the practice of direct transition from Army War Academy to Staff College was abolished and admission into Staff College now required two years of field service following the Army War Academy. Afterward, the officers were subjected to examinations, and those who passed

17290-402: Was repulsed on 30 November with considerable losses. Shortly afterward, the garrison was reinforced by the 57th infantry regiment from Italy. The battleship Regina Elena also arrived from Tobruk. During the night of 14 and 15 December, the Ottomans attacked in great force but were repulsed with aid of the fire from the ships. The Italians lost several field guns. At Derna , the Ottomans and

17423-630: Was seen as a possible colonial project, as late as the summer of 1911. However, the Agadir Crisis in which French military action in Morocco in July 1911 would lead to the establishment of a French protectorate , changed the political calculations. The Italian leadership then decided that it could safely accede to public demands for a colonial project. The Triple Entente powers were highly supportive. British Foreign Secretary Edward Grey stated to

17556-456: Was that by the mid-1930s it had been cut in half due to emigration, famine, and war casualties. The Libyan population in 1950 was at the same level as in 1911, approximately 1.5 million. In 1924, the Serbian diplomat Miroslav Spalajković could look back on the events that led to the First World War and its aftermath and state of the Italian attack, "all subsequent events are nothing more than

17689-565: Was the group of officers who were responsible for the administrative, operational and logistical needs of the army. The general staff fulfilled the classic staff duties then in use by all major European powers and was staffed by trained general staff officers, who were selected and trained in staff procedures at the War Academy in Constantinople. After completion of the War Academy, graduates were advanced in grade over their non-graduate contemporaries and immediately assigned to key billets in

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