Keeping Up With Modern Warfare Technologies:Ottoman Military Personnel Sent Abroad for Light Weapons ProductionTechnologies Training (1834-1918)

Abstract

In the Ottoman Empire, the idea of sending students abroad for educati-on first came to the fore in the first half of the eighteenth century. The plan, which was able to be implemented in the second half of the same century, became state policy in the nineteenth century. Especially after the beginning of the process called the Tanzimat Era, many Ottoman students began to be sent to the leading states of Europe to study in the field of science and technology. However, at this time, not only the students of modern Ottoman educational institutions, but also military personnel, who were targeted to supervise the production process in state-owned workshops and factories, and Ottoman workers, who were to be employed as qualified personnel in this sector, were also sent to travel to Europe in order to increase their knowledge and skills in technical matters. Many independent studies have been carried out on Ottoman students who were sent abroad for both theoretical educa-tion and vocational and technical education. However, in these studies, Ottoman military personnel who were sent abroad to learn modern weapon technologies were almost never mentioned. This article aims to illuminate the educational processes of Ottoman military personnel in Europe, who were expected to learn modern light weapons production techniques in the nineteenth century, when weapon technolo-gies changed greatly in Europe. They were also expected to produce such weapons in Ottoman weapon factories and to supervise the production. This article was written to examine the results of this important Ottoman project, which was undertaken with the aim of minimizing foreign dependency in the production and supply of modern weapons.