Call for Book Chapters BHA: “Warfare in the Twentieth Century Europe: The Balkan Wars from the Ottoman Turkish Perspective”
The end of the 19th century was a period when the colonial race between the Great Powers was intensified, especially with the participation of Germany and Italy in the competition. The area over which the Great Powers contended was the Balkan lands of the Ottoman Empire, which in this period was called the Sick Man of Europe. Furthermore, the Balkan League was formed against the Ottomans under the control of Russia. Therefore, political tension which was born from independence struggles of the non-Muslim nations of the Ottoman Empire never ceased in the Balkan Peninsula. This tension, which forced the Balkans, put the parties in a race that was quite worn out in terms of military.
No one could have predicted the results would be so fast and surprising when the Balkan Wars started on 8th October 1912. The fact that the Bulgarian army besieged Edirne after 28 days and captured the city which had been capital of the Empire before Istanbul was a surprising result even for the Bulgarians and their allies. The success of the Balkan allies had very serious consequences for the Ottoman peoples including the fragmentation of the Ottoman homeland. These heavy consequences were severe enough to prevent the Ottoman army from properly evaluating the war situation. Although it caused serious controversy, the failure of the Ottoman army in the war was not fully analyzed. Also, there was not enough time was found to correct the mistakes observed, because the First World War started about a year after the Ottomans’ taking back of Edirne from Bulgarian hands by benefiting from the turmoil within the Balkan alliance.
The volume aims to thoroughly investigate the causes, course and results of the Balkan Wars which directly affected Ottoman Empire’s military structure in terms of military history. In this volume, which will be divided into three general sections as pre-war, war period, and post-war, topics that have not been studied before or little studied will be evaluated. In the first part the military situation of the belligerents, their war plans and mobilization, in the second part the military operations that directed the wars, sieges, field battles, military activities and rearguard supports and services, in the third part the results of the wars, military evaluations and criticisms, independent observations and experiences of those who participated in the war will be evaluated. Battles, communication, infrastructure, technology, intelligence, cartography, medical services and military staff activities are subtitles to be included in the volume.
The Balkan History Association welcomes scholars from the history, humanities, and social sciences to submit their proposals for book chapters. They may cover, but are not restricted to, the following topics:
Before the War: Ottoman General Staff; Ottoman Defense Plans; Ottoman Military Intelligence; Ottoman Preparation and Mobilization.
During the War: Ottoman Strategy of War; Ottoman Armies in the Field; Ottoman Firepower and Armaments; Military Transportation; Military Intelligence; Battles; Sieges; Military; Health Organization and Military Hospitals; German Officers in Ottoman Army.
After the War: The Armistices; The Treaties; Casualties of the War; Prisoners of the War; Experience of Ottoman Officers; Experience of Ottoman General Staff; War Finance and Ottoman Treasure; Memories of Soldiers, Officers and Commanders; The German Reactions after the War; Military Modernization in Ottoman Army.
Submission Procedure
Please submit your proposal, including the title of your manuscript, an abstract of no more than 500 words and a brief bio to all editors and to contact@balkan-history.com. Authors should clearly explain the outline of the chapter and how it fits into the topic of the volume. No figures, tables, footnotes, endnotes or any other references should be included in the abstract. Accepted chapters should not exceed 10,000 words, including figures, tables, footnotes, endnotes and other references. All submitted chapters will be peer reviewed. The revision process will start immediately after the deadline.
Important Dates
February 10, 2021: Submit chapter proposals to editors
February 15, 2021: Notification of accepted chapters’ proposals
May 30, 2021: Receipt of full chapters for review
June 30, 2021: Revised chapters re-submitted to editors (if needed)
August 2021: Approved chapters delivered to publisher.
Editors
Ercan KARAKOÇ (Yıldız Technical University, Istanbul), ercankarakoc@hotmail.com
Ali Serdar METE (Yeditepe University, Istanbul), aserdarmete@gmail.com
George UNGUREANU (National Military Archives of Romania), georgedaniel.ungureanu@yahoo.com
Danilo ŠARENAC (Institute for Contemporary History, Belgrade), sarenac.danilo@yahoo.com
Nicholas MURRAY (U.S. Naval War College), Nicholas.Murray@usnwc.edu
Please circulate this call for papers among your colleagues and other potentially interested scholars.
