Abstract:

The First World War is one of the most important wars in the world history and Turkish history. The devastating effect of this war and other incentives have been quite widespread. It is unlikely to say that the Ottoman State, which was in the line of losers of the war, was in good condition at the beginning of 1914. He has been busy with a lot of problems both inside and outside. In the process that began with the Battle of Trablusgarp and continued with the Balkan Wars, the First World War consumed the mass of the Ottoman State. The Ottoman State, which is waiting for Germany’s support in all matters from its coalition states, has been forced to use its resources both economically and according to the situation to evaluate until its last edge. To increase the number of soldiers, he considered to take advantage of some of the prisoners held in prisons for various crimes as soldiers. But the idea that seemed logical in the beginning was clear that it didn’t work shortly. This study focuses on the idea of taking advantage of prisoners in the Ottoman prisons on the front, especially in the Kafkas Front, in light of the documents contained in the Ottoman Archives.

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