structionmanuals.³⁰TheestablishmentofanOttomanTurkishvocabularyfor
theEuropeanworkswasamajortaskoftheseOttomantranslationalefforts.³¹
ThenextmajorsteptowardsthefoundationofareliableEuropeanstylearmy
wasthefoundingoftheNizam-iCedidcorpsduringthereignofSultanSelim
III.BornoutofthecircumstancesofthedefeatagainstRussiain 1774 ,this
newunitwasintendedtoreplacetheoldfiefbasedtimarcavalryandtheJanis-
sariesaswellastheirregularlevendmercenaryinfantrycorps.Thisnewcorps
becametheprototypeofaconscriptarmy.Butitremainedasmallcontingent,
comparedtothesizeoftheregularOttomantroops.³²ManyoftheNizamtroops
andofficersfellvictimtotheMay1 80 7Janissaryuprising,whichdelayedtheref-
ormationoftheOttomanarmyfornearlytwodecades.Butthesurvivorsofthe
180 7purgeprovidedthenucleusofanewarmyafter 182 6,whentheoldJanis-
sarycorpswasfinallydisbandedinabloodypurge.³³
TheFrenchrolemodelcontinuedduringthefirsthalfofthe 19 thcentury,
whilealsomanyadvisorsfromotherEuropeancountriesjoinedtheranksof
theforeigninstructorsintheOttomanarmy.Thosewerenotalwaysthebestrep-
resentativesoftheirprofession,astheOttomanarmyalsoattractedmanycash-
ieredofficersandadventurerswithpurelypecuniaryinterests.³⁴Interruptedby
theFranco-OttomanwarinEgyptandPalestinein 1798 – 1800 ,theOttomanad-
mirationfortheFrenchsystempersisted.Furtherstepsincludedtheestablish-
mentoftheOttomanmilitaryacademy(Mekteb-iFünun-uHarbiye-yiŞahane)
inMaçkain 1834 ,basedontheexampleoftheFrenchSt.Cyracademy,andfi-
nallytheparticipationonthesideofFranceandGreatBritainintheCrimean
War.However,whiletakingintoaccounttheOttomanpreferencesfortheFrench
andlaterthePrussianrolemodelinthecontextofmilitaryreforms,onehastobe
awarethatpartsofthosecompetingmodelswerealsotheproductofmutual
transfers.³⁵TherewasalsothepossibilityofcombiningdifferentEuropeanmili-
KemalBeydilli,TürkBilimveMatbaacılıkTarihindeMühendishâne,MühendishâneMatbaası
veKütüphânesi, 1776 – 1826 [TheSchoolofEngineers,itsPressandLibraryintheHistoryofTurk-
ishKnowledgeandPressHistory,1 776 – 1826](Istanbul:Eren, 199 5), 28 1.
Ekmeleddinİhsanoglu,“OttomanScience:TheLastEpisodeinIslamicScientificTradition
andtheBeginningofEuropeanScientificTradition,”inScience,TechnologyandLearningin
theOttomanEmpire:WesternInfluence,LocalInstitutions,andtheTransferofKnowledge,ed.Ek-
meleddinİhsanoglu(Aldershot,Burlington:AshgateVarorum, 20 04),III 42.
StanfordJ.Shaw,“TheOriginsofOttomanMilitaryReform:TheNizam-iCedidArmyofSul-
tanSelimIII,”TheJournalofModernHistory 37 – 3( 196 5), 304.
Zürcher,Turkey:AModernHistory,26etseq.
Yeşil,“KaraKuvvetlerindeAvrupalıDanışmanlar,” 85 – 90.
Cf.thediscussionontheintroductionofthePrussianmilitarydisciplinarypunishmentsin
the 17 80sinIsabelleDeflers,“DieMilitärreformendesComtevonSaint-GermainoderderZan-
8 1Introduction