Ottoman fortresses and garrisons in the Hungarian and the eastern frontiers (1578-1664)

Date

2019

Author

Akto, Deniz Armağan

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In this thesis, the fortresses and the garrisons in the Hungarian and the Eastern frontiers of the Ottoman Empire are taken as the main examination subjects. Ottoman military architecture and garrisons are evaluated according to the one of the arguments of the “Military Revolution” debate which suggest that emergence of the trace italienne fortresses caused the growth in the size of armies and garrisons. In this context, the Hungarian and Eastern frontiers of the Ottoman Empire are compared between the years of 1578-1664 to discuss that the trace italienne fortresses were not the single factor that affected the size of garrisons, the number of artillerymen in garrisons, and the infantry/cavalry ratio. According to findings of this thesis, the size of the garrisons was similar in both of the frontiers, while the infantry/cavalry ratio and the number of the artillerymen was higher in numbers in the Hungarian frontier. Instead of single factor, there were more than one reason that affected these elements. These factors were the topography of the region, the location of the fortresses, wars, and rebellions. Also, Ottoman’s choice of not building trace italienne fortresses until the 18th century is discussed and evaluated as a military preference, and the Ottoman goals and strategies and the establishment of the fortress network on both frontiers are discussed.

Subject Keywords

Turkey, Turkey History, Turkey History, Ottoman Empire, Hungarian Frontier, Eastern Frontier, Military History.

URI

http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12623701/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/44034

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Theses