Istanbul Military Museum
In this article, I will talk about the Istanbul Military Museum with an emphasis on the exhibition dedicated to the medieval stories Turkey. Due to the fact that the museum has the largest collection weapons in the world, it will be difficult to tell about the whole museum.
As a theater begins with a hanger, a museum of any army begins with a courtyard: there are usually huge war machines that do not fit into any buildings, do not fit any premises. Somewhere these are rockets, somewhere planes, but in the large courtyard of the museum of the Turkish army there are, or rather, lie huge cannons of the XNUMXth century, which made the Turkish state a world empire. The guns that took the capital of the then world, Constantinople, for the Ottoman state, turning it into Istanbul or Istanbul.
A gun. XNUMXth century Such weapons ensured the victory of the army of Mehmed the Conqueror or Fatih over the empire of the Romans, opening, through the gap in the wall of Theodosius II, the path to hegemony in the Eastern Mediterranean, and over the entire Mediterranean basin as a whole for centuries. Istanbul Military Museum. Author's photo
The gun in the photo weighs 11 tons and fired cannonballs up to 218 kg in weight. The length of the gun is 3,16 m. The diameter of the powder chamber is inferior to the diameter of the barrel. Eight rings fasten the cannon, which is decoratively decorated in the oriental fashion of its period.
Now these guns rightfully stand in the courtyard, at the entrance to the monumental Museum of the Turkish Army.
Right there, at the entrance, next to the tools of the XV and XX centuries. stands the most massive Soviet-made light tank of the 30s of the twentieth century. - T-26. It was based on the light tank Mk.E, created by Vickers-Armstrong and acquired by the USSR. The T-26 was supplied to a number of countries, including Turkey. Only 64 of these were delivered to Turkey tank.
I must say that in almost ten years, when I first visited this museum, serious changes took place in it.
Despite the fact that even then it was kept in perfect order, it still gave the impression of our analogue of the Artillery Museum, with walls that had not been whitewashed for a long time and with an exposition that had not been updated since the 50s of the twentieth century.
The history of this museum in Istanbul is significant. It was opened in the building of the huge Church of St. Irene, located on the territory of the Top-Kapy Palace, next to St. Sophia. The huge temple of St. Irene, slightly inferior in area to St. Sophia, became the main Turkish arsenal of the Ottoman Empire - not only Turkish weapons, but also trophy ones were stored here. In 1846 a weapons museum was opened here.
It is quite natural that with the growth of the museum's collection, it was moved to the Taksim region, and in 1993 it was moved to a new building in Taksim, the former building of the Military Academy, where the founder of the modern state in Turkey, Kemal Ataturk, studied.
Its area today is 54 thousand square meters. m, and buildings 18 thousand square meters. m.
Today it is a modern museum, with a clear arrangement of rooms, the same presentation of information, added, well, where without it, interactive. Lots of tables and charts. The museum has many models of warriors, both on horseback and on foot. There is a diorama of the assault and capture of Constantinople in 1453. And, of course, endless collections of weapons, both Turkish and other countries.
My story will be about the thematic halls of the museum related to the stages of the military, and not only, the history of the Turks, and I will also tell you how contacts with our country are presented.
As if anticipating the exposition, at the entrance of the museum there are all kinds of ceremonial and richly decorated weapons from the early period of the Ottoman Empire to the XNUMXth century.
And the exposition itself begins with the history of the Turks, modern paintings and diagrams, models of warriors are presented here. All this tells about the ancestors of the Turks, the Turkic peoples. Of course, the basis of the exposition is the history of the Huns. The absence of artefacts from this period is compensated by diagrams and interactive.
The emphasis on pan-Turkism appeared in the museum after a number of expositions were changed when R. Erdogan came to power. Many other changes related to the presentation of the history of Turkey are also associated with it. So, a grandiose panorama of the capture of Constantinople in 1453 was built at the place where a breach was made in the wall of Theodosius II, right at the exit from Istanbul - "Constantinople".
With the release of the epic series "The Magnificent Age", a lot of historical series and films were launched.
From a historical point of view, it can be stated that Erdogan and his policy aimed at raising or, rather, satisfying the claims of national self-consciousness is not accidental. Turkey has become a capitalist country with a 90% urban population, which means that nationalist sentiments and claims, an inseparable part of the mentality of the citizens of any capitalist country, require just such a presentation of information.
In the first hall there are many reconstructions of Hunnic weapons from bows and arrows to complete equipment of a warrior. And you can trace the history from the Xiongnu to the Huns. Of course, there was a story about the defeats that the Huns inflicted on China.
The Turkic history continues in the halls, which tells about the formation and history of the Oguzes, the Seljuk Turks. They could not get around in the museum and the story about the songs of the white-bearded old man Dede Gorgud or Kirkut. An important epic for the history of the Turkic peoples, telling about the campaigns, heroes and battles of the steppe tribes, their struggle for a place under the steppe sun.
Interestingly, starting from the painting depicting Dede Kirkut, many new paintings about the historical period of the Turks and Turks were painted by the contemporary Russian artist A. M. Samsonov. Alexander Maratovich Samsonov is a successor to the traditions of Greek battle painting, the son of the famous Soviet battle painter M. I. Samsonov, the creator of paintings about the Great Patriotic War, the restorer of the Borodino panorama and a participant in the creation of Soviet dioramas, such as the Battle of Stalingrad. His paintings adorn the walls of the Central Museum of the Armed Forces of Russia.
And his son's large and high-quality battle paintings adorned the Istanbul Military Museum.
It should be noted that Alexander Maratovich himself created many battle paintings on military topics in the history of our country, including the epic diorama "Baptism of Prince Vladimir's troops in Chersonesos."
And in the next room, the formation of the Seljuks and their seizure of vast land areas in Asia is presented. The swift victories of the Seljuks, which in the 30s of the XI century. only received the right of vassalage under the Ghaznavids, in May 1040 they defeated them at Dandanak or near Merv, near the modern city of Mary. In this battle, the Ghaznavids used elephants, but the light Turkish cavalry exhausted the enemy in a three-day battle, finally turning him to flight.
Interestingly, when writing a picture depicting the victory of the Seljuk Turks at Dandanak, images of the artist Angus McBride from the Osprey publishing house were used.
And, of course, all these victories of the Seljuks end with the battle of Manzikern in 1071. The museum has a mini diorama depicting three stages of the battle of Manzikern: the attack of the Turkish cavalry, the defeat of the Byzantines and the captive emperor in front of Sultan Alp-Arslan.
It was a landmark battle for the Seljuk Turks, and ill-fated for the Byzantine Empire. The Turks saw that a mighty empire, which they believed to be best avoided, a country with a powerful army and an emperor like a god, turned out to be a colossus with feet of clay. Its commanders are effeminate creatures, and the emperor is a mortal man who can be captured, as Sultan Alp-Arslan did with Roman IV Diogenes.
Battle of Manzikern. 1071 Diorama. The fact of the emperor's capture is depicted on the central part of the diorama. For some reason, captured Byzantines in spangelheims of the XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries, and the emperor in a ceremonial helmet, as on coins of the XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries. Author's photo
It was this battle that marked the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire. Since in twenty years the entire main territory of the empire in Asia, Asia Minor, will be captured by the Turkish and Oghuz tribes.
The painting by A. M. Samsonov is dedicated to the next famous battle in the history of the Turks. It was the Battle of Mariokefal in 1176. This battle took place between the Seljuk Turks of the Iconian Sultanate and the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos and put an end to the attempts of the Romans to regain Asia Minor, causing a new influx of Turkish tribes and the final Turkishization and Islamization of the Roman population in these lands.
But in the picture this battle is depicted exclusively with the crusaders, although the hired knightly cavalry was only part of the Roman army, and they were commanded by Baldwin of Antioch. Crusader warriors are depicted in this battle in topfhelm helmets, in the best traditions of paintings dedicated to the battle on Lake Peipus, although during this period the topfhelm only began to appear, it was not predominant throughout the first half of the XNUMXth century. But since the artist is ours, then the "Western aggressors" should have a helmet-pan on their heads.
As for these battles, which are quite rightly paid attention to in the Istanbul Army Museum, they were significant: in 1071 a formidable blow was dealt, which was consolidated in 1176. The Turks achieved results thanks to the tactics and skill of their riders, who prevailed over superior Byzantine forces.
And as a natural result, the next one to whom the museum space is dedicated is the semi-legendary Osman himself or Ataman, Osman I Gazi, the founder of the Ottoman Empire. The head of the Turkish tribe, who had recently come to Asia Minor and received a place for roaming on the border of Byzantium, converted to Islam. And his tribe began raids - a holy war against the Romans. Osman seriously expanded the territory of his beylik at the expense of Byzantium and laid the foundation for the Ottoman Empire. About the ups and downs of Osman's struggle with the Byzantines, members of secret organizations, Mongols, papal spies, Oguz tribes, a costumed Turkish series "Foundation: Osman" was filmed.
The museum contains a damaged helmet, which is attributed to the son of the founder of the Ottoman state, Osman, Sultan Orhan Gazi (1326-1363). Turkish and related helmets from Western Asia in the XNUMXth century. not so much has come down to us, another thing is Turkish helmets of the XNUMXth century. and even more so the XNUMXth century, which are identified quite clearly.
Sources give us little detailed information about how events unfolded at this time, it can be said that the expansion of the early Ottoman state proceeded rapidly. And the short-sighted emperors of the Byzantine Empire, which was extremely reduced in size, began to attract Turks as mercenaries to their civil strife. We call them “short-sighted” very conditionally, they didn’t have much options.
With the capture of Asia Minor, the loss of Armenia, which began at the end of the 20th century, there was, in principle, nowhere to take an army. Periodic losses of 40-XNUMX thousand soldiers per battle became irreplaceable. In Byzantium, there were simply no military reserves left, since there were no lands. And the mercenaries, realizing what their strength was, began to seize the lands of the empire themselves, whether they were Turks or Catalans.
With the capture of new lands, the Turks experienced an increase in population, and the wars that went on under the slogan of “fighting the infidels” attracted crowds of “ghazis” and new nomadic Turkish tribes from Central Asia to the Ottoman troops.
The museum has a wonderful picture, which depicts the first independent crossing of the Turks to Europe on rafts and boats. The Ottoman Turks, who were in Asia Minor surrounded by their fellow believers, after the capture of Byzantine possessions, had practically no opportunity to expand their borders.
And here, by the way, the Byzantine emperors, who attracted them to the service, where they received a double benefit: payment as mercenaries and loot from the Roman and Bulgarian population, saw the way for their expansion. Thus began the rapid seizure of the lands weakened by the endless strife of the Slavs: the Bulgarians and the Serbs.
The semi-legendary Ottoman commander Haji Gazi Evrenos Bey, semi-legendary, as he allegedly lived for 129 years, took an active part in these battles. However, he participated in the main battles against the Slavic states in Europe, when they were conquered by the Turks.
Armor (chain mail), presumably, as indicated in the museum, belonged to the commander Haji Gazi Evrenos Bey. Early XNUMXth century Istanbul Military Museum. Author's photo
The museum displays armor or chain mail from the beginning of the XNUMXth century. this commander.
And now we come to a huge exposition of Turkish weapons of the XV-XVII centuries.
It must be said that oriental weapons, by the way, like ancient Russian ones, are often perceived as all in one person, nevertheless, it can be said with confidence that the armor of the XNUMXth century, which is quite rare, was mainly with a small number of inclusions of mirrors or plates, in different from the XNUMXth century. The farther, the more combined armor is found, with the addition of mirrors and plates. The strengthening of armor, as in Europe, is associated with the growth of the capabilities of small arms, of course, primarily firearms.
The second dating factor is the weaving itself. The farther, the weaving and fastening is more difficult, and in the early periods there are no chain mail with clasps at all. Mail weaving varied depending on the masters and was different for different ethnic groups or peoples. For example, the Hungarian weaving of the XNUMXth century consisted of very small rings, there was practically no room for empty spaces, unlike Turkish.
An example of weaving with a fastener, the beginning of the XNUMXth century. Istanbul Military Museum. Author's photo
And the last, connected with ringed armor. Sometimes, but not always, it was practiced to use the armor of an earlier period with its subsequent modernization. But modernization in armor was not always welcomed, since there was always a fashion in weapons and equipment, and no one wanted to look “like from the last century”. One can, for example, recall the beret of d'Artagnan, which caused Rochefort to laugh.
For a better "presentation" of weapons in museums and arsenals, which we know for certain, museum workers in the XNUMXth century. combined armor and their details from different periods.
Below I will illustrate these observations with two armors from the Istanbul Museum. As they say, find two differences.
Armor (mail) of Turkish production: on the left is armor dating from the XNUMXth century, on the right - the XNUMXth century. Istanbul Military Museum. Author's photo
Next comes the hall dedicated to the wars in the Balkans, in particular the Battle of Kosovo in 1389. Artifacts of the XIV century. there is very little in the museum, but the XNUMXth century is beautifully presented, including the weapons of Western Europeans.
However, the XNUMXth century for some reason, drops out of artifacts in all museums and arsenals of the world, with rare exceptions.
The museum has a gigantic collection of Western European weapons dating back to the XNUMXth century, but there are absolutely no Byzantine weapons in it. Maybe because the Romans already used the equipment of Western Europeans and Turks? Although some surviving frescoes of the same XIV century. we see warriors in equipment that originates in the early periods of Byzantine history. But the museum contains the real flag of the Roman Empire, as well as the chains or part of the chains that protected the Golden Horn Bay, the other part is in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum.
So, all the halls of weapons of the XV century. centered around a small diorama dedicated to the siege and capture of Constantinople in 1453.
A fragment of a diorama of the siege of Constantinople in 1453. The Turks have already captured the tower, through which troops will pour into the city. In the foreground is Mehmed the Conqueror with his retinue. Istanbul Military Museum. Author's photo
And here is what the Janissaries looked like during the fighting and the siege of Constantinople, a reconstruction from the museum shows us:
The photo below shows cannons from the 58,5th century museum that could have taken part in the siege of Constantinople. The size of the guns is from 79 to XNUMX cm.
After the capture of Constantinople, the Turks began active wars in the eastern Mediterranean, hence the huge number of European weapons in the museum.
Here, for example, are presented below in order: sallet Italy of the 1480th century, sallet Germany XNUMXs, barbut from Milan, XNUMXth century, barbut Sev. Italy, XNUMXth century
The museum also has equipment for non-European opponents of the Ottomans, such as the Mamluks:
What weapons the Turks used to resist the Europeans can be seen in the numerous halls of the museum: swords and sabers that replaced them, beautifully decorated shields and full armament of horsemen and horses, including head protection, are presented here.
The full equipment of the rider was not much inferior to European equipment, although, as we wrote above, it was ringed protection or armor with metal inserts (mirrors) or metal plates.
This is not the end of our story about Turkish weapons, but we will continue it in the articles of the cycle about the siege of Constantinople.
As for the relationship between Russia and Turkey, as I wrote above, there is a Soviet tank right in front of the entrance to the museum.
It is clear that this is a museum of the army, not history, so if a huge number of halls are dedicated to the success of Turkish weapons, especially since the world's largest collection of weapons is presented there, then later events, especially those not related to victories, are presented episodically.
In the armory, a Russian helmet with damages of the XNUMXth century is unexpectedly found. and a halberd.
But the influence of Turkish and Persian weapons on the Russian military style is a different story.
The events of a number of wars between our countries are presented in the paintings of the museum. This is a painting dedicated to the capture of Malakhov Kurgan and the war of 1877-1878. There is also a captured gun made in St. Petersburg in the museum.
In conclusion, I would like to talk about the orchestra of the Armed Forces or the Janissary orchestra. He performs at the museum in the evening, but not every day.
First, army veterans are seated in places of honor. And then the audience sits down.
This band performs traditional Turkish army combat music. Reminiscent, as the Europeans thought, "barbaric" music. And indeed, this is some kind of cacophony with menacing screams and insane roar of drums. However, many sitting in the hall sing along with the orchestra.
Moreover, this orchestra is the progenitor of all modern military orchestras. The Austrians, who had been at war with the Turks for a long time, adopted it for their army. Mozart's "Turkish March" is also remembered, of course, having little in common with the traditional orchestral music of the Turkish army.
Istanbul Military Museum, which has a huge collection of weapons, is a modern museum with respect for tradition and the army.
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