Its very interesting to see how the Janissaries’ and Ottoman’s picked boys for their army. Fathers brought their own sons to a church to hopefully be picked. The reason this process took place in the church was because the empires could not pick anyone who was Muslim. They also could not take anyone who was married, or son of widow, or was the village idiot. So at least they had very specific things they were looking for. They even stressed the correct shape of the boy s head. I wonder if that is one big reason of their success. Not even the U.S. army is that selective, and during this empire people wanted to be a part of this.
There are similarities between the U.S. army and them due to the fact that they have benefits like either free college, or being able to support their family. Even some people now want to join the army because they want to help their country. Both groups have some reason why people would join which is what an empire wants, although they are both still very different.
Your comparison between the Janissaries and the United States Army is very interesting. Another factor you could possibly add to your list of similarities is that a majority of people also joined the army because of the position it would provide them in society. Within society, the people who joined the army were well-respected due to their rank and file.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comparasion of the janassaries and the US military system. The only thing I would change is the fact that when our country's army did start, the men joined solely for the reason to defend our country. This choice to defend our freedom was a bold one because these men used their might and fought for what they beleived in. I'm not sure that the fathers who were willingly bringing their children to the army had that same idea in mind.
ReplyDeleteI think it is very interesting how the children get picked to go to the army. The fathers would bring their sons to church and hope they would get picked. In todays society, parents hope to god that their sons/daughters do not get picked to go to the army. This shows how much pride the parents and young children had in their empire. It shows a lot of courage wanting to be picked to go into the army. You made very good points and I agree with your statement.
ReplyDeleteIts crazy that the Ottoman Empire "harvested" strong children through out the world for their slave. This seems to have been an strategy not exclusively used by the Ottomans since the Spartans and Greeks have records of gathering slaves in the same manner.
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