Description

This a rare complete collection of historical military battleplans in Ottoman language in folio size, issued
during WWI.

The battleplans were first issued separately by the military school between 1903 – 1907. In 1907, in the
year the year Sultan Abdul Hamid was deposed in the Young Turk Revolution, 28 double-page sheets
and 3 single-page sheets were gathered and published in an album on the initiative of Ahmed Muhtar
Pasha under the title Album of Famous Ottoman Battles (Muharebat-ı meşhure-i osmaniye albümü).

The album was republished during WWI as an enlarged portfolio with 38 maps, commemorating the
glorious history of Ottoman army, probably to boost up the morality of the Ottoman soldiers.

The maps, printed on fragile paper, were loosely inserted in wrappers and almost never survive in a
complete set. The maps represent the famous Ottoman battles, mostly on the Balkans: Serbo-Bulgarian
War (14–28 November 1885), Battle of Chaldiran (1514), Battle of Breadfield (1479), Siege
of Rhodes (1522), movements of the army on the Balkans in 1526, Siege of Szigetvár in 1566, Battle of
Mohács (1526), Second Battle of Mohács (1687), Battle of Saint Gotthard (1663-1664), Battle of Niš
(1689), Fall of Constantinople in 1453, Battle of Batočina (1689), Second Battle of Mohács (1687),
Battle of Zenta (1697), …

Represented are also other famous historical battles, such as the Battle of Nicopolis (1396) and the Siege
of Acre of 1799 during the Napoleonic Wars.

Ahmed Muhtar Pasha: Scientist, Diplomat, Grand Vizier and War Hero

Ahmed Muhtar Pasha (1839 – 1919) was one of the most consequential and intriguing figures of the late
Ottoman Empire. He was one of the most successful field commanders of his era, as well as a diplomat,
politician, and highly respected authority on military technology and related sciences.

Ahmed Muhtar was born in Bursa, the son of a successful Turkish merchant. He attended the Ottoman
Military College, where he was recognized for his exceptional intellect. Having gained his first field
experience during the later days of the Crimean War, in 1862, Ahmed Muhtar led his own detachment in
Montenegro, where he played a vital role in defeating the forces of Prince Nikola.

Upon his return to Constantinople, Ahmed Muhtar was appointed professor of engineering and artillery at
the Ottoman Military College and was sent to France and Germany to learn about the most advanced
European weapons systems. Acquiring a profound undertraining of ballistics and metallurgy, for the rest
of his life he was a tireless advocate of the modernization of the Ottoman military. He was also involved
in raising money for charities in the Constantinople, such that he possessed high level of popularity unusual
for military officer.

During the same period, he became the tutor to Prince Yusuf Izzedin Effendi, the son of Sultan Abdulaziz,
accompanying him on several trips to Europe.

In 1869, then Colonel Ahmed Muhtar was sent to Yemen to quell a long-running rebellion, an assignment
that was perhaps the most difficult in all the empire. Brilliantly adapting the tactics of his forces to fight
guerrilla warfare, by 1871, he scored major victories, extending Ottoman rule deep into the interior of the
country for the first time. He was promoted to the rank of General and made the Governor of Yemen,
extraordinary achievements for a man only in his early 30s. Ahmed Muhtar subsequently fulfilled senior
staff postings in the Balkans, notably in Bosnia & Hercegovina.

His next great achievement was, as described above, saving Anatolia from being overrun by Russia during
the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-8 Following that, Ahmed Muhtar Pasha was recalled to the western front, where Ottomans forces were
collapsing against the combined forces of Russia and her Greek and South Slavic allies. He commanded
the last lines of defence of Constantinople at Çatalca and Bakırköy, until the Russians were compelled to
back down under heavy Anglo-French pressure.

Having saved Anatolia from being overrun by Russia, and Constantinople from being quickly seized,
Ahmed Muhtar Pasha became the greatest war hero of the Ottoman Empire, and a much beloved celebrity.
Sultan Abdul Hamid II appointed him President of the General Staff and the Commandant of the Ottoman
Munitions Works, whereupon he employed his great enthusiasm for science towards modernizing weapons
systems. His efforts in this regard led the Ottoman military to enjoy much-improved performance in wars
over the next 20 years.

In 1882, Britain made Egypt a protectorate, even as it remained a de jure part of the Ottoman Empire.
While no longer subject to Constantinople, Egypt remained one of Turkey’s major trading partners, while
maintaining its vital geostrategic position with respect to the Ottomans’ remaining possessions in Libya,
Palestine and Arabia.

That year, Ahmed Muhtar Pasha was appointed as the Ottoman ‘Extraordinary Commissioner’ in Cairo
(essentially the Ottoman Ambassador) and, remaining there for the next 16 years, he managed the Anglo-Turkish relationship in Egypt with remarkable skill.
In the summer of 1912, the Ottoman Empire was in a state of turmoil. The so-called ‘Savior Officers’ had
successfully mounted a coup against the ‘Young Turks’, who had themselves taken over the country in
1908-9. Ahmed Muhtar Pasha, as a universally respected ‘father figure’, was appointed to lead the “Great
Cabinet” (Turkish: Büyuk Kabine) to restore stability. Unfortunately, the chaos that reigned at the Sublime
Porte caused the Ottoman army to be caught completely off-guard during the First Balkan War (1912-3),
whereupon an alliance of Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and Montenegro rolled over the Ottomans. Frustrated
by the situation, Ahmed Muhtar Pasha resigned as Grand Vizier in October 29, 1912, after holding the
post for barely four months. Nonetheless, he was not blamed for the disastrous outcome of the war, which
was clearly due to the unpreparedness of others.

It was in the is context that Ahmed Muhtar Pasha published the Sergüzeşt-i hayatımın cild-i sanisi, which
he had clearly been preparing for many years. In telling the tale of his victories of 35 years before,
accomplished against all odds, he hoped to inspire a new generation of Turks to rise and achieve new
victories.

Ahmed Muhtar Pasha died in 1919, but his legacy survived him. He had published numerous works on
military affairs and sciences, which are still cited even to this day. Moreover, Mustafa Kemal Pasha, later
Atatürk, the founding President of the Republic of Turkey, revered Muhtar Ahmed and ensured that his
example was honoured.

We could not find any institutional examples. Bavarian State Library houses a reprint from 1971 (OCLC
164708008)