Ottoman Army of Islam

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This article is about the Ottoman military force. For the Palestinian group, see Palestinian Army of Islam.

Army of Islam
Active	March 1918 - August 1918
Country	Ottoman Empire
Type	Field Army
Part of	Attached to Third Army
Garrison/HQ	Caucasus
Engagements	Battle of Baku
Commanders
Ceremonial chief	Enver Pasha
Notable commanders	Nuri Paşa (Killigil)

Army of Islam was a Field Army of the Ottoman Empire established between March 1918 - August 1918, the creation of this military force was ordered by the Enver Pasha, War Minister. This force was composed entirely of Muslims, many of whom were Turkic-speaking. The purpose of this military force was to conquer new lands for the Ottoman Empire in the southern Caucasus.

During 1917, due to the Russian Revolution and subsequent Civil War, the Russian army in the Caucasus had ceased to exist. Meanwhile, Committee of Union and Progress, moved to win the friendship of the Bolsheviks with the signing of the Ottoman-Russian friendship treaty (January 1, 1918). Enver looked for victory where Russia left in the Caucasus. When Enver discussed his plans for taking over southern Russia, the Germans told him to keep out.

Undeterred, Enver ordered the creation of a new military force called the "Army of Islam" which would have no German officers. The Army of Islam numbered between 14,000 and 25,000 men. The exclusion of German officers from this army was deliberate. By the end of 1917, Enver Pasha concluded that the Germans and the Turks did not have compatible goals now that the Russian Empire had collapsed. This feeling was confirmed by the terms of the treaty of Treaty of Brest-Litovsk which was very favorable to the Germans. This new Army of Islam would answer only to him, not the German government.

[edit] Activities

See also: Battle of Baku

The army marched without much opposition through Democratic Republic of Armenia and Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. The British sent a small military force under the command of General Lionel Charles Dunsterville into Baku, which arrived around August 4, 1918. But a month later the British withdrew after being defeated by the Ottomans and their Azerbaijani allies in the Battle of Baku. With the end of the war (based on the armistice of October 30, 1918) and the political fall of Enver Pasha, the Army of Islam soon disintegrated.

[edit] Sources

Fromkin, David (1989). A Peace to End All Peace, pp. 354-355. Avon Books.

[edit] Notes

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