Sentence:  The conscripts took their fate unquestioning: resignedly, after the custom of Turkish peasantry. ... There was about them a hopeless, fever-wasted lack of initiative, which made them the most <WSD>biddable</WSD>, most enduring, and least spirited soldiers in the world. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Docile, amenable or compliant.