Ordered to Die: A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War
Encyclopedia
Ordered to die: a history of the Ottoman army in the First World War is an account of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

's military engagements in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 (specifically the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I
Middle Eastern theatre of World War I
The Middle Eastern theatre of World War I was the scene of action between 29 October 1914, and 30 October 1918. The combatants were the Ottoman Empire, with some assistance from the other Central Powers, and primarily the British and the Russians among the Allies of World War I...

), fought between the Allies
Allies
In everyday English usage, allies are people, groups, or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out between them...

 (led by Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

) and the Central Powers
Central Powers
The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...

. It was written by Edward J. Erickson
Edward J. Erickson
Edward J. Erickson is a retired regular U.S. Army officer at the Marine Corps University and is an eminent and leading authority on the Ottoman Army during World War I, a subject on which he has written widely. Erickson is also an associate of International Research Associates, Seattle,...

. It is widely considered an extensive analysis and regarded as one of the objective scholarly works of military history of the period. It was divided into seven sections beginning prewar military issues.

Synopsis

Edward Erickson has produced the first fully researched account of the Ottoman army in the First World War. There simply has not been a similar complete account, apart from an earlier work in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

. In order to achieve this task, Erickson relied heavily on non-published official histories that were not open to non-Turkish historian in the Ottoman Archives
Ottoman Archives
The Ottoman Archives is a collection of historical sources related to the Ottoman Empire. A total of 39 nations hold the collective information, including 19 in the Middle East, 11 in the EU and Balkan states, 3 in the Caucasus, 2 in Central Asia, Cyprus, as well as Israel and Turkey.The main...

until late 1980s and Turkish general staff archives, which have very limited access as of 2008. He also used of a limited number of Ottoman Arabic documents. Erickson's book is almost entirely on the strategic and operational level of the Ottoman Army, which has not been previously described. This book, uniqely different from previous publications, includes discussions of such things as tactics, social issues and the humanitarian dimensions of the Ottoman Army's engagements.

Ordered to die presents sets of data on subjects such as the Ottoman army organisation, the structure of the General Staff and headquarters, German military assistance and Ottoman casualty figures. All this information is difficult to find, and published in very different sources that are not available to general audience. Erickson’s figures for the Ottoman casualties are very systematic, and unlike previous publications, which only present two thirds of the campaign histories (presented by campaign bases rather than a holistic approach), covers every branch, year by year, even down to single engagements.

The overall conclusion, all things considered, is that the Ottoman army’s record in World War I was an astounding achievement. The book claims it was a "saga of fortitude and resilience". The book presents ample evidence to support this conclusion.

Erik Jan Zürcher

Erik Jan Zürcher claims "Ordered to die" is nicely presented, with useful tables and a number of photographs, but he claims that Ordered to die is a book with a clear but limited purpose. He states that the book presents a purely military history of the Ottoman war effort in the English language, where histories of this type have so far only been available in French or Turkish.
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