The Ottoman Army 1914-1918: Disease and Death on the Battlefield (Utah Series in Turkish and Islamic Studies)

289 Pages·2008·1.49 MB·English

by  Hikmet Özdemir

HİKMET ÖZDEMİR
The Ottoman Army
1914 –1918

Disease & Death on the Battlefi eld
The OTTOman army, 1914–1918
Utah Series in Turkish and Islamic Studies
M. Hakan Yavuz, series ediTOr
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The Ottoman Army, 1914–1918: Disease and Death on the Battlefield
HikmeT Özdemir
TranslaTed by Saban Kardaş
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The Ottoman Army
1914–1918
Disease & Death on the Battlefield
H˙ikmet Özdem˙ir
Translated by Saban Kardas¸
Utah Series in Turkish
and Islamic Studies
The UniversiTy of UTah Press
Salt Lake City
Utah Series in Turkish and Islamic Studies
M. Hakan Yavuz, series editor
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Material in this book was originally published in Turkish in Salgın
Hastalıklardan Ölümler, –. Ankara: Türk tarih Kurumu, .

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Özdemir, Hikmet, –
e Ottoman army, – : disease and death on the battlefield /
Hikmet Özdemir.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
 ---- (pbk. : alk. paper)
 ---- (ebook) . World War, –
—Health aspects—Turkey. . World War, –—Medical care—
Turkey. . Soldiers—Health and hygiene—Turkey—History—th
century. . Turkey. Ordu—Medical care—History. . Public health—
Turkey—History—th century. . Epidemics—Turkey—History.
. Communicable diseases—Turkey—History. I. Title.
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To Birsen and Manas

Table of Contents
List of Figures and Tables viii
List of Abbreviations xi
Pronunciation Guide xii
Acknowledgments xiii
1. Introduction 1
2. Between Two Fires 10
3. Under the Crescent 28
4. Epidemic Disaster 50
5. Ordeal with Diseases 68
6. Unburied Corpses 106
7. Unexpected Results 134
8. Unarmed Warriors 165
9. Epilogue 186
Appendix 1 205
Appendix 2 217
Notes 233
Bibliography 257
Index 267
Figures and Tables
figures
3.1 Major Railways in the Ottoman Empire During
World War I 29
Tables
1.1. Casualties occurring in some wars before 1914 5
2.1. Casualties in the Crimean War (1854–1856) 13
2.2. Cholera epidemic 1910–1913 19
2.3. Çatalca Army Medical Inspectorate’s hospital records 21
3.1. Casualties of the Fifth Expeditionary Force that occurred
during its journey to the front (1915) 37
4.1. Casualties of Sarıkamış disaster 52
4.2. Red Cross hospital admissions records 55
4.3. Death causes of the Ottoman medical officers (1914–1918) 57
4.4. The months of deaths of the Ottoman medical officers 58
5.1. Number of sick in a British brigade 72
5.2. The numbers of ill and wounded treated in hospitals
in Akbaş and Akdere 74
5.3. Deaths from dysentery in the 3rd Army 80
5.4. Deaths from tetanus in the 3rd Army 81
5.5. Deaths from erysipelas in the 3rd Army 81
5.6. Laboratories in the army stations in Mosul, Kirkuk,
Shikrat, and Nusaybin (1917–1918) 90
viii
figures and Tables ix
5.7. Deaths from influenza in some countries 93
5.8. Deaths as found in the records of İzmir municipality 95
5.9. Data relevant to various diseases encountered in
Aydın Province (March 1919) 97
5.10. The epidemics and deaths in Turkey 103
6.1. French, German, Belgian and American death ratios 107
6.2. Total war casualties according to Cruttwell 108
6.3. Total war casualties according to Colonel Butler 111
6.4. Austro-Hungarian casualties (1914–1918) 112
6.5. French casualties (1914–1918) 112
6.6. British army hospital admissions (in November 1916) 116
6.7. Casualties suffered up to October 1917 116
6.8. German casualties according to Colonel Butler (1914–1918) 117
6.9. US Army fatalities 118
6.10. Bulgarian casualties (1914–1918) 118
6.11. Casualties of Ottoman Empire according to a British source 119
6.12. Total casualties of the Ottoman armies (1914–1918) 121
6.13. Deaths in the nine Ottoman armies 121
6.14. Distribution of deaths by various diseases 123
6.15. Ottoman military casualties according to hospital records
(1914–1918) 124
6.16. Deaths in hospitals among the 1st Army units (1914–1918) 126
6.17. Deaths in hospitals among the 2nd Army units (1914–1918) 126
6.18. Deaths in hospitals among the 3rd Army units (1914–1918) 126
6.19. Deaths in hospitals among the 4th Army units (1914–1918) 127
6.20. Deaths in hospitals among the 5th Army units (1914–1918) 127
6.21. Deaths in hospitals among the 6th Army units (1914–1918) 127
6.22. Deaths in hospitals among the 7th Army units (1914–1918) 128