The Gainesville star. [volume] (Gainesville, Fla.) 1903-19??, 1903-10-13
Observation-Disclosures
Turkeys Strong Army.
An Organization That Can Turn Over
100000 Men Into the Field,
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
-AtoJ<. 4 the time Of writing, when


Aslatlc battalions, to guard
the frontiers, continues without cessa'
ton, the defensive and offensive capa'
blllties of the Ottoman Empire may
fifty be considered During the war
with Greece in 1907 the Sultan mobil-
ICED 100000 men without any great eff
fort; but while that campaign brought
out the rapidly Of the mobilization and
the devotion and endurance Of the
Turkish soldier, 1t also revealed in high
commands indecislon and lethargy, and
in organization not few weak points.
Since then new laws and sweeping re.
forms have been put into operation,
with the view to perfecting the organi'
cation according to the most approved
German methods; while the Sultan
has declared 1t his resolve TO increase
the war footing OF his armies to one
and half millions, The organization
of the Turkish Army only takes Mus
sulmans into account. In spite Of pro-
visions to the contrary laid down In
1886, Christians are still excluded from
the Ottoman military service and are
compelled to the payment Of substi-
tuition tax.
1t is only in the medical corps that
non-Mussulman officers, usually Ar
menians or Jews, are found. Certain
MussuImans, such as natives OF Con-
stantinople, the north of Albania,
Arabia and 1rlpoli, are also exempt
from military service; while a large
number Of the Asiatic tribes. Kurds
and Arabs, representing population OF
over million and half, escape reg
ular recruiting. either by legal exemp-
ton or from their own refusal 10 sub
init to II.
For Ottoman subjects military SER
vice is obligatory for twenty years,
viz, from the age Of twenty TO forty,
and 1t is divided as follows: SIX years
with the Nlzam. or active army; eight
years with the Redif or reserve army,
and six years with the Mustaiz or
Landsturm. The service with the col
ors is according 10 regulation three
years. the remaining three years Of ac-
tive service being spent in the Nizam
reserve, but the former period Is fire.
quently extended to four, five or even
more years The registration lists OF
recruits shows that about 10000 men
are liable to service each year, but, MS
q matter Of fact, only about $4,000 are
incorporated into the army. A few
years back the leakage was consider
ably more.
The Nlzam troops have peace
strength of 216,530 and war strength
Of 374300, while In peace or war the
number of guns is the same-viz., 1494.
The Nlzam comprise 800 infantry bat
tallons, 200 squadrons, 255 horse, field,
howitzer and mountain batteries, las
siege and fortress artillery companies,
thirty-six companies OF engineers. eight
railway and five telegraph companies,
twenty.four companies Of military
train troops and slxty-three companies
OF artihcers and workmen. There are
374 battallons of Redif infantry and
forty-eight squadrons Of Redif cavalry
In addition there are distributed
through the whole empire 1876 bat
talions of gendarmerle and 200 squad
rons Of mounted gendarmes.
Since 1891 endeavors have been made
to utilize the most warlike Of the Kurd
tribes by forming them into special
militia on the Cossack model This
militia, called the Handle. after the
reigning Sultan, their organizer, COM
prlses 266 squadrons. Every man fur
nishes his own equipment and mount
and is armed with lance. So far the
Handle have only succeeded In earn
ing for themselves an unenviable noto-
riety on account of their outrages In
Armenia. aud they form dangerous
element in the army at large.
Lastly, there is-on paper at least-a
large local reserve called the Ilawe.
The latter are composed Of men, prin-
cipally Asiatlcs, exempt hitherto from
military service, together with the over.
flow of the annual contingent of Os-
manli tribes. There are said to be
666 battalions of Ilawe. but In peace
time each battalion consists only OF
a permanent cadre Of nine officers and
twelve non-commissioned officers. The
Mustafz have no organization OF any
kind except in time Of war; neverthe-
less they are very far from being neg
lglble quantity, for two divisions were
mustered with ease toward the end
OF the recent war with Greece.
The Nizam are splendid soldiers,
their long term of service adding great
ly to their effectiveness, and the Redlf
are almost their equals. Indeed the
portion most worthy Of note in the
Turkish military organization is the
Redif. These troops possess permanent
cadres, composed of all the officers nee
essary for the mobilization Of the units,
and Turkish officers consider II dis
tinction TO be appointed to the Redif
Each OF the seven military districts is
divided into four divisional areas, these
again being partitioned into subdivis.
ions corresponding TO the different
units Of the Redif, down to and includ-
ing the company. The captains reside
in the midst of their company district,
and attend TO the training of the men,
who are called out usually for one
month every two years.
At the present time the Ottoman EN-.
pire can mobilize nineteen army corps,
twelve Of which are Redif, while the
total armed strength, excluding the
gendarmerie and the Musta6z, is ms
follows:
.acers. sees. ,...... ...... 10000
800 battalions Of NiZam in
fantry. 80. -. ......., $4,000
374 battalions OF Redif in
fantry -. 49,. ..... $4,000