BANDITRY AND DESERTION IN THE WESTERN ANATOLIA DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR

The issue of internal security caused by the First World War is one of the most important problems to be investigated in the Ottoman Empire. Safety and security become a vital question for the State especially in times of war. Because, the success of the State in the battle fields is one of the necessary conditions to ensure peace and trust within the country. The First World War worsened the conditions of the Ottoman Empire, which was in political, economic and social collapse at that time. The authority of the State got weakened during the war time; accordingly, the emerging economic and social crisis were reasons for the disturbance of peace. Another reason that threaten the internal security of the Empire had been the rapidly increasing banditry activities especially since 19th century. Demographic and ethnic structure got changed due to migration in the post-war period, accordingly, the emergence of the unemployment and landlessness was one of the effects that resulted in increasing and spreading of the banditry activities. Geographical location of the living regions and the climatic features also were the reasons for increasing in this kind of activities. In addition to the banditry activities, the state faced especially during the war years with the matter of deserters as a major problem causing the disturbance of peace. The historians mention almost 300.000 deserters during the First World War. Deserters were not only the cause of the deterioration of the internal security but also of the failures of the front lines especially in the second half of the war. Ethnic and demografic structure of the Empire, geographical features, climatic conditions, demands for the independence of the ethnic elements could qualitatively alter security issues lived in the region. In this study, the traditional conception of history will be overthrown, and the past will be tried to be explained not by generalizations but by using documantery materials as well as minimization of the time and place. With this approach, the Prime Ministry Ottoman Archives, specifically the Ministry of Interior and the Public Order records sent by the Provinces, will be examined. In particular, the banditry activities and the criminal events caused by the deserters in the Western Anatolia during the First World War will be tried to be identified.