17 - The Ottoman Empire

Summary

The study of the First World War has been impeded first of all by the politicisation of the late Ottoman period, especially scholarship on policies towards Christian minorities, of which the Armenian case is emblematic and one whose legacy continues to affect Turkey's domestic politics and foreign relations. In Turkish historiography, assessments of the war have taken a backseat to the history of the Kemalist Revolution and attempts at secularisation and democratisation. The Ottoman state's wartime policies and the profound social, political and especially demographic developments that occurred during the war, not only made the Turkish nation-state possible in the first place but also defined its character ever since. These policies required the raising of a national army based on mass conscription, and they assured, until very recently, the army's unrivalled role in post-war Turkish politics. These policies also included the social and ideological mobilisation of the Muslim civilian population.