Janissaries: Past and Present

On Tuesday, May 23, 1453, Sultan Mehmet decided to launch the final decisive attack against the city of Constantinople. He  organized his army of 80,000 men into three attacking waves. The first wave consisted of his irregular troops, the "Bashi-Bazouks." A motley assortment of cut-throats and thieves who fell back in a disorganized mass and could not be inspired to attack a second time. They were followed by the regular troops, the Anatolian heavy infantry. They were preceded by a long cannonade against the city walls and marched forward in disciplined, tight formation making them vulnerable to the missiles raining down from the parapets. The dead and dying littered the ground but three hundred of them managed to enter the city only to be massacred by the defenders. Despite being outnumbered and subjected to constant artillery and suicidal attacks the Byzantines had managed to hold on. In his book, "The Balkan Wars,"  Andre Gerolymatos writes: "In the early morning hours of the morning Mehmet finally decide to commit the Janissaries, the elite and most reliable force in his army. He gambled that it was the right moment to intensify the battle since the Byzantines and their allies would be close to exhaustion. The Janissaries, the best soldiers in the medieval world were also unique. Almost all were Christians, and most had been taken as prisoners or handed over to the Ottomans by their parents as a form of child tax.The best and strongest of the children were converted to Islam and from the age of twelve, trained as soldiers.Their lot was a lifetime of military service and absolute devotion to the Sultan, They were not permitted to marry and remain segregated from society, living in barracks and always ready to execute their master's orders. In fact, the Janissaries represented the first professional standing army. Despite their Christian upbring, they became fanatical Muslims and earnestly maintained their faith as warriors of Islam." 

 On that fateful day, the Janissaries pressed home their attack despite the arrows, fire and burning oil, and stones that rained down upon them.  As each rank was defeated,another replaced them. Whether by luck or a deliberate act of betrayal, they managed to open a breach and pour enough men through it to capture the jewel of Eastern Christendom.

Eventually, the Janissary Corps succumbed to corruption and its self- importance. It became a dangerous liability.The Sultan sought to get rid of the Janissaries altogether. Their abuse of power, military ineffectiveness, resistance to reform and the cost of salaries to 135,000 men, many of whom were not actually serving soldiers, or even still alive, became intolerable. In 1826, they were massacred by cavalry units loyal to the Sultan after a brief uprising in the City that they had help conquer. Yet, The legacy of the Janissairies lives on today within the Turkish military officer corps, which in turn has modeled itself as an elite.

This connection is  epitomized by none other than  Mustafa Kemal Ataturk himself who had his picture taken dressed as a Janissary officer. Ataturk, the Father of "Modern" Turkey is the personification and embodiment of the his nationalist political philosophy known as Kemalism.  Turkish officers see themselves as protectors of the Nation and Kemalism but also as its beneficiaries.

Sun Tzu, the Chinese author, of "The Art of War," wrote: "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy or yourself, you will succumb in every battle." For decades the Greek military has foreseen a war with Turkey as the primary threat to the country's security. Unfortunately, their civilian masters and a growing percentage of the Greek public believe that the threat is receding. To do so, one has to completely disregard the very nature of modern Turkey and the people who run it, the Turkish military. In order to understand these modern day Janissaries we have to understand the system that creates them. The following is an excerpt from an  article written by French journalist, Chris Kutschera, entitled Turkey: The Little Known World of the Military Hierarchy.  It appeared in The Middle East Magazine in February, 2000:

"From the beginning of their career, when they enter a military school at the age of 14-15, for a period of four years, or a military academy, at age 18-19, also for four years, the future Turkish officers are instilled with the idea that they form an elite, living in a world apart, with a special mission.To be admitted to these military schools and academies an applicant must fulfill all the conditions required from a student who applies to an elite school anywhere in the world: good marks, especially in sciences, good looks, good general attitude - and something a little more unusual - a rigorous investigation not only of the candidate's personality but also that of his family, including his parents' profession their political activities. Their entire history is extensively researched, and the existence of even a distant relative suspected of being a militant, a member of a leftist or Islamist party, or any organisation sympathetic to the Kurds, is enough to disqualify the candidate.

Personal investigation of the candidate's personality, background and personal circumstances continue throughout his career with rigorous examinations conducted at regular intervals and particularly before any promotion is considered. Destined to play an exceptional role, the cadet lives in a special world: the quality of life in Turkey's military schools and academies has nothing to do with the often lamentable conditions prevailing in most of the country's high schools and universities: clean and comfortable classrooms, good food, good libraries, modern laboratories, computers, exceptional sports facilities, and especially well trained professors. Throughout his academic career each student has a file, stored in a computerised system which records every mark, examination result, good conduct mark or disciplinary action. This allows Turkish military chiefs to assess the career and progress of any given recruit in seconds.

The program of the military schools follows the basic study program of Turkish high schools but with additions: intensive physical training, a basic military training, and a course of political education, including special attention to the study of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic. Ataturkism fills about 20 per cent of the teaching given in Turkish military academies: exactly 160 hours out of a total of 960 hours in a year. It is studied in several programs - covering Ataturk's role in Turkish history, an analysis of his political doctrines, and the laws of the armed forces, which are based on his writings. After eight years of such indoctrination, the new Turkish officer considers himself an exceptional human being and one responsible for preventing any new decline of Turkey. He is now a state appointed guardian of the Republic, assigned with the task of protecting it against all internal (Islamist or Communist, subversion, or Kurdish separatism) and external (formerly Soviet, more recently Greek, Syrian or Iranian,) threats. And he also has the deepest contempt for the Turkish politicians, who he considers manipulate ignorant masses for their own ends.

He displays for his uniform and his flag an endless admiration: regularly, cadets, seized by an uncontrollable emotion, faint while saluting the flag, as they must do every morning. Slowly ascending the hierarchy according to scheduled promotions - determined by his behavior, his ideas, his marks - the Turkish officer is already deeply entrenched in a world apart, isolated from ordinary civilians, both physically and socially. While his pay differs little from the salary of a civil servant of a comparable rank, the Turkish officer enjoys many material privileges - he lives in superior housing, clean and well maintained, with gardens, guarded day and night by sentinels, for which he pays a subsidized rent (six to eight times less than normal market rates). All his life unfolds in a special setting, from the American-inspired PX supermarket offering a wide range of goods at cheap prices, to the military hospital, where officers and their families are treated totally free of charge. But the more ostensible symbol of the officer's unique status is the "officers house", be it in Istanbul or in Diyarbekir, in Izmir or Van. Where he meets his colleagues and their families in a pleasant place, surrounded by greenery, and again at a price defying competition. Civilians are not admitted, except for the direct members of the officers' families, and the generals' guests. It is not unusual for members of the military - in a variety of countries - to enjoy special privileges but the treatment of officers in Turkey is exceptional. Separated physically and socially from the wider population, the officers are also separated morally from the civilian society at large. This separation exacerbates the lack of understanding of a world the military hierarchy considers largely undisciplined, ignorant, ruled by money and without ideals, values and patriotism."  Read the whole thing here.

Perhaps the modern day Janissaries will over-reach, like their predecessors and be eliminated by the newly emerging Sultans.   The uneasy truce between Kemalism and Islamism is sure to dissolve, given the right circumstances. No matter which sides wins, the outlook for true democratic reforms in Turkey is bleak. In the absence of true democratic reform, Turkey will continue to be a dangerous, expansionist neighbor. Greece has no choice but to follow Sun Tzu's dictum: “The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.”

Comments

[Kahraman]

You guys are being fed incomplete information on the Ottomans. It's a shame.

The ottoman noble family from the very beginning were marying into all the other nobility in the area including those of the Byzantine imperial nobility.
Sultan Mehmed by blood had the right to be Caesar, as he was related to early byzantine emperors, and he also had the military means. This was how all the christians nobility became emperor. Why are you guys making a big deal out of it? because he was muslim? The ottomans did not think the conquest of istanbul was a big deal. They were forced into it by political pressure groups.

The christian janissaries often served their own families interests, they were often sent by their parents to the Sultan to gain favor there.
they thought land or property was rightfully theirs, they forced the Ottoman government into servicing the interests of their families. Such as Istanbul.

Thats why the Ottoman government cancelled the taking into service of christians in 1570. From then on janissaries were mostly muslim. Thats also the same time when most of the major conquest and wars against the Balkan countries ended. Coincidence? I think not.

The soldiers of current Turks do not have any family in greece, so you guys can rest easy.

[demonax]

A fascinating post from beginning to end, Stavros.
Reassuringly, history shows that, generally and in the long run, free men tend to overcome fanatics and slaves.

[Stavros]

Kahraman,

If you are a Turkish citizen, then us guys have a much more complete historical picture than you guys since you guys don't have the basic freedoms, us guys enjoy. Under Article 301, dozens of intellectuals including a Noble Prize winner, Orhan Pamuk have been charged and have had their freedom of expression restricted. If we are going to debate the facts, it would be helpful if both sides had equal access to them.

My point in writing the post was to highlight the belief that the Turkish military officers see themselves as heirs of the Janissaries and that they are an elite with "special" privileges. As heirs to the Ottomans they see Turkey's future in the context of a major world player and an expansive one at that.

No one is arguing that the Greeks did not prosper as well as suffer mightily at the hands of the Ottomans. Some Greeks, like Ian Dragoumis: http://www.helleniccomserve.com/dragoumis.html

saw a future within the Empire. It's a huge subject and would take days to cover it adequately. I will concede that we all see things according to our own perspective whether it is Turkish or Greek.

Lastly, it should be pointed out that the Janissaries, as Muslim converts, whether voluntary or involuntary, cut themselves off completely and irrevocably from the Greek national consciousness, which by the fall of Constantinople was primarily associated with primarily one element: Orthodox Christianity.
The Janissaries were literally, for most of their families and their fellow Greeks, dead men walking. It is ironic that Constantinople fell to Greeks fighting for the Sultan and it was defended, in part, by Italian mercenaries. God definitely has a sense of humor.

Mehmet realized this key factor and that is why he reestablished the Patriarchate, albeit under his control.

BTW, Mehmet's mother was a Greek, but you guys can rest easy.

[Kahraman]

Stavros,

I think you are misinformed. Neither the muslim nor the christian janissaries never cut themselves off completely from their respective families.
I got this from the tv program by prof.dr. Ilber Ortayli's history program on TRT. If you have satelite, you may be able to receive it. I do.They may also stream it on their website, but I not sure.

Some of the soldiers did convert to be muslim, but many remained christian.
Fatih Mehmet's mother was turkish, but died while he was still young not yet Sultan. This does not mean he did not have any greek relatives. He did have a greek-orthodox stepmother, I do not really know is she ever converted to islam or not.

I hope you are not arguing that many Turks prospered greatly and only some suffered under the Ottomans. Unfortunately for the Turks, the Ottomans were not very appreciative of nationalism. They were more like todays multinational companies. They got the person most suited for the job regardless of ethnicity. The turks were the poorest and most repressed nationality under the Ottomans. No one can argue that. The Turks are in much better shape today.

[Kahraman]

Stavros,

how many times have you been to Turkey?
how many Turks do you know personally?

zero ?

If so,
On what do you base your conclusions on Turks? Your own fears and prejudices?

[Stavros]

Historically speaking it was not uncommon for Muslim and Christians to marry as a means of sealing alliances. Example: Sultan Orkhan married the daughter of Emperor Cantacuzenos, Theodora. After the fall of Constantinople the sultans needed no more allies and thus had no need for dynastic marriages.

From wikipedia (which I do not claim as the last word in all matters):

"Mother of Mehmed II, the Ottoman Sultan, also known as Fatih Sultan Mehmed (Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror). Huma Hatun was born in Devrekani county of Kastamonu province in modern day Turkey, and she was probably a Greek[1]. Every year, people in Devrekani commemorate her birth as part of Celebrations for the Conquest of Istanbul."

Regarding the Jannisaries. They were taken away from their families and raised as devout Muslim soldiers. When that happened they were effectively cut off forever from their families and consigned to the grave. In the fifteenth century language and culture did not define Greekness as much as Orthodox Christianity, which became not only the religious but also political and cultural identity of the Greek world within the Ottoman Empire.

There were in fact Greek Christians that fought for and advised the Sultan during the fateful battle for Constantinople but they were NOT janisssaries, you are mixing apple's and oranges. The sultan's elite troops were overwhelmingly of Greek blood, thoroughly indoctrinated and converted devout Muslims.

In answer to you last question. If you read the posts on this blog you will understand my background better. I was born in Turkey, left at the age of five. In the early 90s I returned as a US Marine officer to the country of my birth. Believe it or not I spent a few months there, learned some Turkish, lived on the economy and had daily close dealings with civilian and military alike. My parents both spoke fluent Turkish. My mother grew up there. We were never taught to hate Turks but we were taught our mutual history. Turks need to own their history and stop living in a state of denial.

The Ottomans and the Turks were one and the same. Subject nationalities were just that, subjects. Some of them may have prospered but they were collectively known as "reaya" or flock. The ruling elite, military, the ulema, the bureaucracy were all Muslim Turks.

Turks want us to respect them as a great nation. As far as I am concerned that will only happen when Turks redress the wrongs done in their name. When there is true religious freedom in Turkey for Christians as well as Muslims, when they allow Greek Cypriots to return to the lands and homes that were taken from them, when they account for the missing in Cyprus, when they admit once and for all that the genocide of minorities in Turkey did actually happen.

What do I base my conclusions regarding Turks? Certainly not on who they are but rather what they and their ancestors have done.

[unbreakable]

ottomans brought peace and justice to the world and also islamic world.throughout the history the world needs a country or an empire to balance the sociaal an political relationship among other countries.ottoman did well it those days.in sarajevo over 100000 people killed by sirbians 1990s,in modern age of the world.but they lived peacefully under the rule of ottomans cos they let them lived freely as they wanted.today the worlds no 1 USA have killed over 1000000 people for 5 years.aren't they human beings rather than animals?isn't it a genocide?ottoman had never been in a genocide.they didnt kill people for petrol.they protected themseles.if you want to warn somebody,dont start with the Turks.Start with Yankees..one day Ottoman will be back again to stop all cruelty around the world..regards...

[Dimitri]

at unbreakable

The history of the Ottomans was basically that they were invaders of tribesman, mainly of Asiatic descent. They had no culture and had to adopt the culture of the people they overruled. This was very similar to the Norman invaders of Britain.
Islam was adopted from the Arabs and Kemal Ataturk( a crypto-Jewish freemason) was part of the Western organisation to remodel the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

The Cosmopolitan way of life that flourished in the Ottoman empire was actually a "Greek" thing. Even the Arabs adopted our scriptures to create their way of life.

Dimitri