1. World War I
The unification of Germany in 1871 disrupted the European balance of power and crippled the ability of European states to act together on issues of common interest. By the beginning of the century, the concert of Europe no longer existed. Instead, on the eve of World War I European states divided themselves into two alliances. Britain, France and Russia (and, after 1917, the United States) formed the core entente powers. Germany, Austria and the Ottoman Empire formed the core of the Central Powers.

3. The Human Costs of the War
Altogether between and 1921 as many as two million Iranians –including one quarter of the rural population- perished from war, disease and starvation.
Ottoman subjects also suffered casualties both on and off the battle field. Many of the casualties were because of the famine. Increasing ethno-national tensions was another factor.

4. The Battlefield
The most amazing thing about the Ottoman army in World War is that an army which had been beaten comprehensively by four small Balkan states a year earlier, managed to fight for as long as it did and as well as it did. Yet this “success” had huge human costs.
Over the course of the war, the Ottoman army conscripted a total of 2.85 million men. By the war’s end, the army had suffered some 750,000 fatalities from combat and disease.

5. Eastern Front and Dardanelles
One of the greatest disasters for the Ottoman army was the winter offensive towards the Russian fortress of Kars in December As a result of the combined effects of cold, starvation and typhus, a mere 12,000 of the 90,000 troops of the Third Army who took part in the attack survived into spring.
The high point of the Ottoman war effort was the Gallipoli campaign of It was a great strategic victory for the Ottomans in that they managed to block the allied attempt at a breakthrough on the Gallipoli peninsula. Yet, the Dardanelles campaign cost the Ottomans, according to official statistics, 90,000 dead and 165,000 wounded and sick.

6. Desertion
During the course of the war large part of the Ottoman army melted away. The total number of combatants fell from 800,000 in November 1915 to 400,000 in March 1917 and 200,000 in March When the armistice was signed in October 1918, less than 100,000 troops remained in the field. This dwindling of the numeric strength of the army was due mainly to two causes: disease and desertion.

7. Why? The troops were ill-paid or not paid at all.
Lack of footwear and uniforms was a serious problem.
Soldiers were usually not given sufficient food to keep them alive in the extreme weather and road conditions.
There were psychological factors as well. Soldiers were deeply affected by the scenes they witnessed en route. Arguably, the most touching of the scenes that affected their morale were those of wounded veterans. On their way to the fronts, soldiers came into contact with hundreds of these veterans who had not received any assistance from the army.

8. Solutions
Occasionally, soldiers were even tied together by their superiors.
Moreover, among other methods of punishment, commanders adopted executions by shooting or hanging as useful methods to prevent desertion. This was an exemplary punishment to discourage and deter desertion. In towns and cities, executions were usually carried out in public squares, whereas at the fronts deserters were executed ceremonially before their regiments or divisions.

9. Folk Songs
Hey onbeşli onbeşli Oh, boys born in 1315 [1899], Tokat yolları taşlı The roads of Tokat are stony. Onbeşliler gidiyor The boys born in 1315 are leaving, Yarimin gözü yaşlı The eyes of my love are drowning in tears