This study examines the role of the Ottoman Army from the founding of the Ottoman Empire to the early 20th century. The military tradition of the Turkish tribes was the greatest legacy they carried from the steppes of Mongolia, from the regions surrounding the Tian Shan mountain range, and the Aral Sea, moving westward in groups.

By subduing Persians, Arabs, and Byzantines, they evolved into a powerful empire. The Ottoman army constituted the backbone of the Ottoman State and the state itself was the most significant factor in its social, economic, and political development.

Thanks to their military strength derived from their valor, the power of their arms, and their capability for open-field battles, the Ottomans ruled Eastern Europe, Western Asia, and much of the Maghreb, holding dominion over countries with very different cultural and religious traditions.

The gradual evolution of weaponry and the military tactics employed by the Ottomans are also examined, from the inception of the Ottoman Emirate, when Osman Khan, the son of Ertogul, began to gradually unite the Turkish beyliks of Asia Minor, which his successors transformed into a vast empire.

Thus, they defined the developments of the entire traditional geopolitical space of the eastern Mediterranean basin for about six centuries, as well as a large part of southeastern Europe, until the definitive dissolution of the empire in 1922.

The book The Ottoman Army comes to fill a significant gap in the Greek literature concerning the evolution of the Turkish state entity. The study of the structure and organization of the military branch of the Ottoman Empire reveals timeless elements that are the foundation and tradition of the Turkish institutional establishment.

The researcher methodically and thoroughly presents the gradual evolution of the Ottoman Army from the guardian and embodiment of the entire national ideology supported by the Ottoman Empire to a strong institutional element of national identity.

[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]