The Ottoman Army was the military of the Ottoman Empire and the forerunner of the Turkish Army. The Ottoman Turks were originally steppe nomads, and these horse raiders became irregulars and shock troops who were granted fiefs (timars) in exchange for their service in battle. Under Sultan Orhan I, the Ottoman Empire established a salaried army, replacing looting or fiefs as forms of payment for the Ottoman soldiers. Along with Safavid Persia and Mughal India, Ottoman Turkey was one of the Islamic powers to utilize gunpowder effectively, beginning to use guns in the late 14th century. The 1422-1430 Ottoman Siege of Thessalonica proved the worth of cannons to the Ottoman Army, and, under Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, the Ottoman Janissaries replaced their bows with firearms. Mehmed's reorganization of the army led to the formation of the "Classical Army" in 1451, and the Ottoman Army was the most organized army in the world during its heyday from the 15th to 16th centuries. The Ottomans enlisted the help of French advisors in modernizing the Ottoman military during the mid-18th century, and Sultan Selim III reformed the army as the Nizam-i Djedid Army ("new order" army). In 1826, the reactionary Janissary corps was purged as the Ottoman military once again underwent modernization. During the 19th century, the Ottomans replaced their French advisors with German ones, but the Ottoman Army was defeated in the Balkan Wars and World War I. After World War I and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman Army was replaced by the Turkish Land Forces.
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