Editing Ottoman Empire (section)

== Government ==
{{Main|State organisation of the Ottoman Empire}}
{{Multiple image
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| image1            = Topkapı - 01.jpg
| image2            = Dolmabahçe_Palace,_Istanbul_cropped.jpg
| caption2          = [[Topkapı Palace]] and [[Dolmabahçe Palace]] were the primary residences of the [[List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman sultans]] in [[Istanbul]] between 1465 and 1856<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/22/travel/center-of-ottoman-power.html|title=Center of Ottoman Power|work=[[The New York Times]]|last=Simons|first=Marlise|access-date=4 June 2009|date=22 August 1993|archive-date=12 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712043016/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/22/travel/center-of-ottoman-power.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and 1856 to 1922,<ref name=dolmabahcepalace>{{cite web|title=Dolmabahce Palace|url=http://www.dolmabahcepalace.com/listingview.php?listingID=3|website=dolmabahcepalace.com|access-date=4 August 2014|archive-date=16 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316140350/http://www.dolmabahcepalace.com/listingview.php?listingID=3|url-status=live}}</ref> respectively.
}}

Before the reforms of the 19th and 20th centuries, the [[state organisation of the Ottoman Empire]] was a system with two main dimensions, the military administration, and the civil administration. The Sultan was in the highest position in the system. The civil system was based on local administrative units based on the region's characteristics. The state had control over the clergy. Certain pre-Islamic Turkish traditions that had survived the adoption of administrative and legal practices from Islamic [[Iran]] remained important in Ottoman administrative circles.{{Sfn|Itzkowitz|1980|page=38}} According to Ottoman understanding, the state's primary responsibility was to defend and extend the land of the Muslims and to ensure security and harmony within its borders in the overarching context of [[Sunni|orthodox]] Islamic practice and dynastic sovereignty.<ref name="Kapucu-2008">{{Cite book |last1=Naim Kapucu |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_DWceNjwTggUC |title=Turkish Public Administration: From Tradition to the Modern Age |last2=Hamit Palabiyik |publisher=USAK Books |date=2008 |isbn=978-605-4030-01-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_DWceNjwTggUC/page/n71 77] |access-date=11 February 2013}}</ref>

The Ottoman Empire, or as a dynastic institution, the House of Osman, was unprecedented and unequaled in the Islamic world for its size and duration.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Black |first=Antony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nspmqLKPU-wC&pg=PA199 |title=The History of Islamic Political Thought: From the Prophet to the Present |publisher=Psychology Press |date=2001 |isbn=978-0-415-93243-1 |page=199 |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-date=14 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114151657/https://books.google.com/books?id=nspmqLKPU-wC&pg=PA199 |url-status=live }}</ref> In Europe, only the [[House of Habsburg]] had a similarly unbroken line of sovereigns (kings/emperors) from the same family who ruled for so long, and during the same period, between the late 13th and early 20th centuries. The Ottoman dynasty was Turkish in origin. On eleven occasions, the sultan was deposed (replaced by another sultan of the Ottoman dynasty, who were either the former sultan's brother, son or nephew) because he was perceived by his enemies as a threat to the state. There were only two attempts in Ottoman history to unseat the ruling Ottoman dynasty, both failures, which suggests a political system that for an extended period was able to manage its revolutions without unnecessary instability.<ref name="Kapucu-2008"/> As such, the last Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI ({{reign|1918|1922}}) was a [[List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire|direct patrilineal (male-line) descendant]] of the first Ottoman sultan [[Osman I]] ({{abbr|d.|died}} 1323/4), which was unparalleled in both Europe (e.g., the male line of the House of Habsburg became extinct in 1740) and in the Islamic world. The primary purpose of the [[Imperial Harem]] was to ensure the birth of male heirs to the Ottoman throne and secure the continuation of the direct patrilineal (male-line) power of the Ottoman sultans in the future generations.

[[File:Jean Baptiste Vanmour - Dinner at the Palace in Honour of an Ambassador - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|Ambassadors at the Topkapı Palace]]

The highest position in Islam, [[caliphate|caliph]], was claimed by the sultans starting with [[Selim I]],<ref name="Lambton-1995">{{Cite book |last1=Lambton |first1=Ann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4AuJvd2Tyt8C |title=The Cambridge History of Islam: The Indian sub-continent, South-East Asia, Africa and the Muslim west |last2=Lewis |first2=Bernard |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=1995 |isbn=978-0-521-22310-2 |volume=2 |page=320 |author-link=Ann Lambton |author-link2=Bernard Lewis |access-date=25 July 2015 |archive-date=14 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114151657/https://books.google.com/books?id=4AuJvd2Tyt8C |url-status=live }}</ref> which was established as the Ottoman Caliphate. The Ottoman sultan, ''[[Padishah|pâdişâh]]'' or "lord of kings", served as the Empire's sole regent and was considered to be the embodiment of its government, though he did not always exercise complete control. The Imperial Harem was one of the most important powers of the Ottoman court. It was ruled by the [[valide sultan]]. On occasion, the valide sultan became involved in state politics. For a time, the women of the Harem effectively controlled the state in what was termed the "[[Sultanate of the women|Sultanate of Women]]". New sultans were always chosen from the sons of the previous sultan.{{Dubious|reason=this is demonstrably not true, just look at any list of sultans |date=September 2016}} The strong educational system of the [[palace school]] was geared towards eliminating the unfit potential heirs and establishing support among the ruling elite for a successor. The palace schools, which also educated the future administrators of the state, were not a single track. First, the [[Madrasa]] ({{Lang|ota|Medrese}}) was designated for the Muslims, and educated scholars and state officials according to Islamic tradition. The financial burden of the Medrese was supported by ''[[Waqf|vakif]]''s, allowing children of poor families to move to higher social levels and income.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lewis |first=Bernard |url=https://archive.org/details/istanbulciviliza00bern |title=Istanbul and the Civilization of the Ottoman Empire |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |date=1963 |isbn=978-0-8061-1060-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/istanbulciviliza00bern/page/151 151] |access-date=11 February 2013 |url-access=registration}}</ref> The second track was a free [[boarding school]] for the Christians, the ''[[Enderûn]]'',<ref>{{Cite journal |date=March 2010 |title=The Ottoman Palace School Enderun and the Man with Multiple Talents, Matrakçı Nasuh |url=https://tamu.academia.edu/SencerCorlu/Papers/471488/The_Ottoman_Palace_School_Enderun_and_the_Man_with_Multiple_Talents_Matrakci_Nasuh |journal=Journal of the Korea Society of Mathematical Education, Series D |series=Research in Mathematical Education |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=19–31 |access-date=29 January 2018 |archive-date=11 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130111105849/http://www.academia.edu/480968/The_Ottoman_Palace_School_Enderun_and_the_Man_with_Multiple_Talents_Matrakci_Nasuh |url-status=live }}</ref> which recruited 3,000 students annually from Christian boys between eight and twenty years old from one in forty families among the communities settled in [[Rumelia]] or the Balkans, a process known as [[Devshirme in the Ottoman Palace School|Devshirme]] ({{Lang|ota|Devşirme}}).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Karpat |first=Kemal H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rlhD9SjavRcC&pg=PA204 |title=Social Change and Politics in Turkey: A Structural-Historical Analysis |publisher=Brill |date=1973 |isbn=978-90-04-03817-2 |page=204 |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-date=14 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114151657/https://books.google.com/books?id=rlhD9SjavRcC&pg=PA204 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Devshirme falls within modern definitions of [[genocide]].<ref name="a852">{{cite book | last=Baer | first=M.D. | title=The Ottomans: Khans, Caesars, and Caliphs | publisher=Basic Books | year=2021 | isbn=978-1-5416-7377-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RSAbEAAAQBAJ | access-date=17 January 2025 | page=47}}</ref><ref name="v450">{{cite book | last1=Totten | first1=S. | last2=Theriault | first2=H. | last3=von Joeden-Forgey | first3=E. | title=Controversies in the Field of Genocide Studies | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2017 | isbn=978-1-351-29499-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZmRQDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA99 | access-date=18 January 2025 | page=99 | quote=Lemkin specifically cited the Ottoman Turkish Empire to illustrate another recurring theme in the history of genocide: "The children can be taken away from a given group for the purpose of educating them within the framework of another human group, racial, national or ethnical" (quoted in Docker, 2008, 12).}}</ref>

Though the sultan was the supreme monarch, the sultan's political and executive authority was delegated. The politics of the state had a number of advisors and ministers gathered around a council known as [[Divan]]. The Divan, in the years when the Ottoman state was still a ''[[Bey]]lik'', was composed of the elders of the tribe. Its composition was later modified to include military officers and local elites (such as religious and political advisors). Later still, beginning in 1320, a Grand Vizier was appointed to assume certain of the sultan's responsibilities. The Grand Vizier had considerable independence from the sultan with almost unlimited powers of appointment, dismissal, and supervision. Beginning with the late 16th century, sultans withdrew from politics and the Grand Vizier became the ''de facto'' head of state.<ref name="Black-2001"/>

[[File:Yusuf Ziya Paşa.jpg|thumb|[[Yusuf Ziya Pasha]], Ottoman ambassador to the United States, in [[Washington, D.C.]], 1913]]

Throughout Ottoman history, there were many instances in which local governors acted independently, and even in opposition to the ruler. After the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, the Ottoman state became a constitutional monarchy. The sultan no longer had executive powers. A parliament was formed, with representatives chosen from the provinces. The representatives formed the [[Imperial Government of the Ottoman Empire]].

This eclectic administration was apparent even in the diplomatic correspondence of the Empire, which was initially undertaken in the [[Greek language]] to the west.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Naim Kapucu |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_DWceNjwTggUC |title=Turkish Public Administration: From Tradition to the Modern Age |last2=Hamit Palabiyik |publisher=USAK Books |date=2008 |isbn=978-605-4030-01-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_DWceNjwTggUC/page/n72 78] |access-date=12 February 2013}}</ref>

The [[Tughra]] were calligraphic monograms, or signatures, of the Ottoman Sultans, of which there were 35. Carved on the Sultan's seal, they bore the names of the Sultan and his father. The statement and prayer, "ever victorious", was also present in most. The earliest belonged to Orhan Gazi. The ornately stylized ''Tughra'' spawned a branch of Ottoman-Turkish [[calligraphy]].

=== Law ===
{{Main|Law of the Ottoman Empire}}
[[File:Zibik.jpg|thumb|An unhappy wife complaining to the [[Qadi]] about her husband's [[erectile dysfunction|impotence]], as depicted in an Ottoman miniature. [[Divorce]] is [[Religion and divorce#Islam|allowed]] in [[Sharia|Islamic law]] and [[Divorce in Islam|can be initiated by either the husband or the wife]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mwlusa.org/topics/marriage&divorce/divorce.html|title=Islamic Perspective on Divorce|website=Mwlusa.org|access-date=24 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190304141319/http://www.mwlusa.org/topics/marriage%26divorce/divorce.html|archive-date=4 March 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>|upright=.75]]

The Ottoman legal system accepted the [[religious law]] over its subjects. At the same time the ''[[Qanun (law)|Qanun]]'' (or ''Kanun''), dynastic law, co-existed with religious law or [[Sharia]].<ref name="otmkanun">{{Cite web |title=Balancing Sharia: The Ottoman Kanun |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24365067 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009012204/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24365067 |archive-date=9 October 2013 |access-date=5 October 2013 |publisher=BBC}}</ref><ref>Washbrook, D. and Cohn, H., Law in the Ottoman Empire: Shari'a Law, Dynastic Law, Legal Institutions.</ref> The Ottoman Empire was always organized around a system of local [[jurisprudence]]. Legal administration in the Ottoman Empire was part of a larger scheme of balancing central and local authority.<ref name="Benton-2001">{{Cite book |last=Benton |first=Lauren |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rZtjR9JnwYwC&pg=109 |title=Law and Colonial Cultures: Legal Regimes in World History, 1400–1900 |date=3 December 2001 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-00926-3 |pages=109–110 |access-date=11 February 2013 |archive-date=14 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114151659/https://books.google.com/books?id=rZtjR9JnwYwC&pg=109 |url-status=live }}</ref> Ottoman power revolved crucially around the administration of the rights to land, which gave a space for the local authority to develop the needs of the local [[Millet (Ottoman Empire)|millet]].<ref name="Benton-2001"/> The jurisdictional complexity of the Ottoman Empire was aimed to permit the integration of culturally and religiously different groups.<ref name="Benton-2001"/> The Ottoman system had three court systems: one for Muslims, one for non-Muslims, involving appointed Jews and Christians ruling over their respective religious communities, and the "trade court". The entire system was regulated from above by means of the administrative ''Qanun'', i.e., laws, a system based upon the Turkic ''[[Yassa]]'' and ''[[Töre (law)|Töre]]'', which were developed in the pre-Islamic era.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Streusand |first=Douglas E. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1202464532 |title=Islamic Gunpowder Empires Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals. |date=2010 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-96813-6 |location=Milton |oclc=1202464532 |access-date=9 August 2022 |archive-date=14 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114151544/https://www.worldcat.org/title/1202464532 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1082195426 |title=The Ashgate research companion to Islamic law |author1=P. J. Bearman |author2=Rudolph Peters |publisher=Routledge |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-315-61309-3 |location=London |pages=109 |oclc=1082195426}}</ref>

These court categories were not, however, wholly exclusive; for instance, the Islamic courts, which were the Empire's primary courts, could also be used to settle a trade conflict or disputes between litigants of differing religions, and Jews and Christians often went to them to obtain a more forceful ruling on an issue. The Ottoman state tended not to interfere with non-Muslim religious law systems, despite legally having a voice to do so through local governors. The Islamic ''Sharia'' law system had been developed from a combination of the [[Qur'an]]; the [[Hadith|Hadīth]], or words of [[Muhammad in Islam|Muhammad]]; ''[[ijma|ijmā']]'', or consensus of the members of the [[Ummah|Muslim community]]; [[qiyas]], a system of analogical reasoning from earlier precedents; and local customs. Both systems were taught at the Empire's law schools, which were in [[Istanbul]] and [[Bursa]].


The Ottoman Islamic legal system was set up differently from traditional European courts. Presiding over Islamic courts was a ''Qadi'', or judge. Since the closing of the ''[[ijtihad]]'', or 'Gate of Interpretation', ''Qadi''s throughout the Ottoman Empire focused less on legal precedent, and more with local customs and traditions in the areas that they administered.<ref name="Benton-2001"/> However, the Ottoman court system lacked an appellate structure, leading to jurisdictional case strategies where plaintiffs could take their disputes from one court system to another until they achieved a ruling that was in their favour.

[[File:1879-Ottoman Court-from-NYL.png|thumb|upright=1.3|An Ottoman trial, 1877|left]]

In the late 19th century, the Ottoman legal system saw substantial reform. This process of legal modernisation began with the [[Edict of Gülhane]] of 1839.<ref name="review-niza">{{Cite web |last=Selçuk Akşin Somel |title=Review of "Ottoman Nizamiye Courts. Law and Modernity" |url=http://research.sabanciuniv.edu/19475/1/Avi_Rubin_Ottoman_Nizamiye_Courts_Somel.pdf |publisher=Sabancı Üniversitesi |page=2 |access-date=15 February 2013 |archive-date=12 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012013518/http://research.sabanciuniv.edu/19475/1/Avi_Rubin_Ottoman_Nizamiye_Courts_Somel.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> These reforms included the "fair and public trial[s] of all accused regardless of religion", the creation of a system of "separate competences, religious and civil", and the validation of testimony on non-Muslims.<ref name="int-handbook"/> Specific land codes (1858), civil codes (1869–1876), and a code of civil procedure also were enacted.<ref name="int-handbook">{{Cite web |last1=Epstein |first1=Lee |last2=O'Connor |first2=Karen |last3=Grub |first3=Diana |title=Middle East |url=http://epstein.usc.edu/research/MiddleEast.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525015655/http://epstein.usc.edu/research/MiddleEast.pdf |archive-date=25 May 2013 |website=Legal Traditions and Systems: an International Handbook |publisher=Greenwood Press |pages=223–224 |access-date=15 February 2013 }}</ref>

These reforms were based heavily on French models, as indicated by the adoption of a three-tiered court system. Referred to as [[Nizamiye]], this system was extended to the local magistrate level with the final promulgation of the [[Mecelle]], a civil code that regulated marriage, divorce, alimony, will, and other matters of personal status.<ref name="int-handbook"/> In an attempt to clarify the division of judicial competences, an administrative council laid down that religious matters were to be handled by religious courts, and statute matters were to be handled by the Nizamiye courts.<ref name="int-handbook"/>

=== Military ===
{{Main|Military of the Ottoman Empire}}
[[File:Józef Brandt - Fight for a Turkish Standard - MNK II-a-1318 - National Museum Kraków.jpg|thumb|Ottoman [[sipahi]]s in battle, holding the crescent banner, by [[Józef Brandt]]]]
The first military unit of the Ottoman State was an army that was organized by Osman I from the tribesmen inhabiting the hills of western Anatolia in the late 13th century. The military system became an intricate organization with the advance of the Empire. The Ottoman military was a complex system of recruiting and fief-holding. The main corps of the [[Ottoman Army]] included Janissary, [[Sipahi]], [[Akinji|Akıncı]] and [[Ottoman military band|Mehterân]]. The Ottoman army was once among the most advanced fighting forces in the world, being one of the first to use muskets and cannons. The Ottoman Turks began using ''[[Falconet (cannon)|falconets]]'', which were short but wide cannons, during the [[Siege of Constantinople (1422)|Siege of Constantinople]]. The Ottoman cavalry depended on high speed and mobility rather than heavy armor, using bows and short swords on fast [[Turkoman horse|Turkoman]] and [[Arabian horse|Arabian]] horses (progenitors of the [[Thoroughbred#Foundation stallions|Thoroughbred]] racing horse),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Milner |first=Mordaunt |title=The Godolphin Arabian: The Story of the Matchem Line |publisher=Robert Hale Limited |date=1990 |isbn=978-0-85131-476-1 |pages=3–6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Wall |first=John F |title=Famous Running Horses: Their Forebears and Descendants |date=September 2010 |isbn=978-1-163-19167-5 |page=8|publisher=Kessinger }}</ref> and often applied tactics similar to those of the [[Mongol Empire]], such as pretending to retreat while surrounding the enemy forces inside a crescent-shaped formation and then making the real attack. The Ottoman army continued to be an effective fighting force throughout the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Murphey |first=Rhoads |title=Ottoman Warfare, 1500–1700 |date=1999 |publisher=UCL Press |page=10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ágoston |first=Gábor |title=Guns for the Sultan: Military Power and the Weapons Industry in the Ottoman Empire |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2005 |pages= 200–02}}</ref> falling behind the empire's European rivals only during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768.<ref name=AksanOW/>

[[File:The_Ertugrul_Cavalry_Regiment_crossing_the_Galata_Bridge.jpg|thumb|upright=1|Modernised [[Asakir-i Mansure-i Muhammediye|Ertugrul Cavalry Regiment]] crossing the [[Galata Bridge]] in 1901|left]]

The modernization of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century started with the military. In 1826 Sultan Mahmud II abolished the Janissary corps and established the modern Ottoman army. He named them as the [[Nizam-ı Cedid]] (New Order). The Ottoman army was also the first institution to hire foreign experts and send its officers for training in western European countries. Consequently, the Young Turks movement began when these relatively young and newly trained men returned with their education.

[[File:OttomanNavy.jpg|thumb|The [[Ottoman Navy|Ottoman fleet]] in the [[Bosporus|Bosphorous]] near [[Ortaköy]]]]

The [[Ottoman Navy]] vastly contributed to the expansion of the Empire's territories on the European continent. It initiated the conquest of North Africa, with the addition of [[Algeria]] and Egypt to the Ottoman Empire in 1517. Starting with the loss of Greece in 1821 and Algeria in 1830, Ottoman naval power and control over the Empire's distant overseas territories began to decline. Sultan [[Abdülaziz]] (reigned 1861–1876) attempted to reestablish a strong Ottoman navy, building the largest fleet after those of Britain and France. The shipyard at Barrow, England, built its first [[submarine]] in 1886 for the Ottoman Empire.<ref name="first submarine at shipyard">{{Cite web |title=Petition created for submarine name |url=http://www.ellesmereportstandard.co.uk/latest-north-west-news/Petition-created-for-submarine-name.4001190.jp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080423225019/http://www.ellesmereportstandard.co.uk/latest-north-west-news/Petition-created-for-submarine-name.4001190.jp |archive-date=23 April 2008 |access-date=11 February 2013 |website=Ellesmere Port Standard }}</ref>

However, the collapsing Ottoman economy could not sustain the fleet's strength for long. Sultan [[Abdülhamid II]] distrusted the admirals who sided with the reformist [[Midhat Pasha]] and claimed that the large and expensive fleet was of no use against the Russians during the Russo-Turkish War. He locked most of the fleet inside the [[Golden Horn]], where the ships decayed for the next 30 years. Following the Young Turk Revolution in 1908, the Committee of Union and Progress sought to develop a strong Ottoman naval force. The ''Ottoman Navy Foundation'' was established in 1910 to buy new ships through public donations.

[[File:Turkish pilots in 1912.jpg|thumb|[[Ottoman Aviation Squadrons|Ottoman pilots]] in early 1912]]

The establishment of [[Ottoman Air Force|Ottoman military aviation]] dates back to between June 1909 and July 1911.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Story of Turkish Aviation |url=http://www.turkeyswar.com/aviation/aviation.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512225046/http://www.turkeyswar.com/aviation/aviation.htm |archive-date=12 May 2012 |access-date=6 November 2011 |publisher=Turkey in the First World War }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Founding |url=http://www.hvkk.tsk.tr/EN/IcerikDetay.aspx?ID=19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007104345/http://www.hvkk.tsk.tr/EN/IcerikDetay.aspx?ID=19 |archive-date=7 October 2011 |access-date=6 November 2011 |publisher=Turkish Air Force}}</ref> The Ottoman Empire started preparing its first pilots and planes, and with the founding of the Aviation School (''Tayyare Mektebi'') in [[Yeşilköy]] on 3 July 1912, the Empire began to tutor its own flight officers. The founding of the Aviation School quickened advancement in the military aviation program, increased the number of enlisted persons within it, and gave the new pilots an active role in the Ottoman Army and Navy. In May 1913, the world's first specialized Reconnaissance Training Program was started by the Aviation School, and the first separate reconnaissance division was established.{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}} In June 1914 a new military academy, the Naval Aviation School (''Bahriye Tayyare Mektebi'') was founded. With the outbreak of World War I, the modernization process stopped abruptly. The [[Ottoman Aviation Squadrons]] fought on many fronts during World War I, from [[Galicia (Central Europe)|Galicia]] in the west to the Caucasus in the east and [[Yemen]] in the south.