Challenges in the Modernisation of Ottoman Army (1792-1839) By Sejara1

Army is one of the most essential parts of a nation or kingdom. It works as the defenders of the land from the internal and external threats. Some nations such as the Ottoman empire used to have a very advanced, elite, and disciplined military unit called the Janissary. However, by the late 18th century, the Ottoman sultan realized that their army had become obsolete and

vulnerable to the rivalling powers such as Russia, France, and Austria. Hence, Sultan Selim III started an effort to modernize his army to compete with other European powers and defending their homeland. Unfortunately, the old military order did not accept it with open arms. Here is the story.

The Story of the Janissary

Janissary began in the second half of the 14th century by Sultan Murad I. The name itself means “New Army” and acted as the infantry unit of the Ottoman Empire. During its beginning, their army were consisted of slaves and according to Veinstein (2013), there were 2,000 of them involved during the Battle of Kosovo in 1389. The Janissary involved in many major battles such as the Siege of Constantinople (1453).

The Declining of the Janissary Unit

After the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the unit began to diversify from a strictly slave unit to include free men. By the beginning of the 18th century CE, the Janissary were numbered in about 53,000 and became ineffective and gave a financial burden when in 1740, Sultan Mahmud I marketed the certificates to allow people collecting the Janissary wages.

During the same century, the Ottoman Empire faced a serious challenge in confronting the emergence of European powers such as Russia, France, and Britain. They had to face the new reality as they lost battles against Russia both on land and at sea. During the war, the centuries-old Janissary that played the role as elite soldiers began to decline as they seek to protect their interest and their resistance towards modernisation. To solve the issue, the Ottoman sultans made two major efforts to reform his army.

The Introduction of Nizam-I Cedid (1792-1807)

The reformation began in 1791 during the ongoing Russo-Turkish War (1789-1792). During the war Grand Vizier Yusuf Pasha captured a Turk that had an experience in the Russian military. From him, the grand vizier trained his soldier to use the modern equipment of the Russians. When the grand vizier presented the newly trained army to Sultan Selim III, he was interested with the proposal. In March and April of 1792, this new military unit called Nizam-I Cedid or “The New Order” was equipped with modern weapons, attire, and military formations to compete with other European armies. The recruitment increased during Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt and Syria.

Resistance of the Old Regiments

Despite the increasing numbers, the Nizam-I Cedid was still too small (around 22 thousand soldiers) in comparison to the old regiments (around 100 thousand soldiers). These old guards like the Janissary declined to integrate with the “Westernized” army. Seizing the opportunity while the Nizami army was too small, they revolted in 1807. The overwhelmed with the revolt, the Nizam-I Cedid could not protect the sultan from his demise. He was later replaced by Mustafa IV which was more favourable with the Janissary. Later, Nizam-I Cedid was disbanded.

Revival of the Modernisation Effort

During the reign of Sultan Mahmud II (1808-1839), he made two radical reforms. Firstly, he disbanded the Janissary in 1826 after putting down their rebellions. To fill the gap left by the former elite unit, Sultan Mahmud II replacing it with Asâkir-i Mansûre-i Muhammediye (Vicorious Soldiers of Muhammad).

Challenges in Modernising Mansure Army

When the modernisation effort was revived, most of the officers that had served under Selim III had become unsuitable due to their advanced age and inactivity in military involvement for a very long time. To fill the positions, Sultan Mahmud II requested some officers from Muhammad Ali Pasha of Egypt, but he declined. The sultan later had to rely on the European officers to train the Mansure army.

In 1831, a new reform took place where every promotion was to be subject to an examination. Despite Mansure army’s aim to modernise, it kept the old military traditions and absorb the older ruling elites to gain acceptance from the public. One of the traditions was to seek new officers through favouritism instead of merit and seniority. For example, Mahmud’s courtier, Said Mehmed Agha was suddenly made as a brigadier-general of the cavalry.

The military reforms met with another challenge when the reforms had to deal with the Greek War of Independence and the intervention of Russia in 1828. Conflict within the empire continued when Muhammad Ali revolted and advanced into Syria. Russia and Egypt had undergone a massive modernisation of their army, and they used this advantage to invade the

caliphate. Fortunately for the sublime state, the intervention of other Western powers such as France and the United Kingdom gave them a breathing room to survive the colonial era of the 19th century.

Conclusion

The modernisation of the Ottoman army between 1791 and 1826 was a huge leap forward and it had faced many challenges in reforming an archaic but powerful institution. It was not a smooth ride for the caliphate, but the Mansure army survived until the after the First World War in 1920s.

References

Veinstein, G. (2013). On the Ottoman janissaries (fourteenth-nineteenth centuries). In E.-J.

Zürcher (Ed.), Fighting for a Living: A Comparative Study of Military Labour 1500-2000 (pp.

115–134). Amsterdam University Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wp6pg.7

Shaw, S. J. (1965). The Nizam-I Cedid Army under Sultan Selim III 1789-1807. Oriens, 18/19,

168–184. https://doi.org/10.2307/1579734

Levy, A. (1971). The Officer Corps in Sultan Mahmud II’s New Ottoman Army, 1826-39.

International Journal of Middle East Studies, 2(1), 21–39. http://www.jstor.org/stable/162269