FEUERWAFFEN
FÜR DEN SULTAN. Kriegswesen und Waffenindustrie im Osmanischen
Reich (German edition) / GUNS FOR THE SULTAN. Military Power and
the Weapons Industry in the Ottoman Empire
[Gábor Ágoston]
In order to remain militarily competitive in the gunpowder age,
states needed cannons, cannon-proof fortifications, a sizable infantry
armed with handguns, as well as, navies with shipboard artillery.
In order to participate effectively in the attendant inter-state
rivalry, monarchs had to create their indigenous weapons industries
or supply the necessary weaponry and ammunition otherwise. In the
long run, the adequate and steady supply of weaponry and military
hardware proved to be more important than (usually temporary) technological
or tactical advantages.
Thus, the examination of the supply of weapons can significantly
enhance our understanding regarding the military capabilities of
states and empires. Comparative data and analyses concerning the
supply of weaponry and ammunition of competing empires in the gunpowder
age might illuminate issues pertaining to larger questions, such
as the shifts in the balance of power.
The aim of this book is to understand the Ottoman weapons industry,
the systems and methods by which the Sultans procured their armaments
during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, i.e. the crucial
period of Ottoman conquests and of subsequent setback. This age
was – at least in the major European theaters of war where
the Empire was drawn into conflict – characterized by siege
warfare rather than by pitched battles. In these sieges the supply
of artillery and gunpowder was a crucial element of success, as
was the defense of the Ottoman frontiers against the Sultans’
Hungarian, Habsburg, Venetian and Safavid adversaries.
|
