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Herr von Steuben,
I have arrived safely in Zagreb, along with the other evacuees from the hospital. It seems to me that the Turks campaigns against the Croatians at the turn of the century have helped pacify the region enough that the rebellions haven’t spread from Hungary.
It is horrible just how much these minor conflicts are delaying my progress back to Berlin, and nobody is able to give me a straight answer. I have heard that revolts have taken place in Greece, Austria, and even amongst the Turks themselves. One very serious woman even claimed that the Sultan was dead and the entire Ottoman nation was being devoured in a Civil War. I put this down to mere hysteria, as from what I can tell the bandit groups are more localized to the Hungarian lands.
My wounds have finally healed, and I was finally able to escape the company of all those wounded individuals to seek my own way home. Due to the revolt the routes north have been closed, so I have taken residence at a local hotel, which I was pleased to find only two blocks from Zagreb’s largest library. I have used my time to finish another portion of the manuscript, and alternate between writing on my hotel veranda or researching within the libraries stacks.
Since the rebels and bandits don’t seem to have spread this far, I have decided to spend some time here before seeking a way back home. Unfortunately the mail will have to take a more indirect route west to get home, which will only serve to delay my work further. Nonetheless, I cannot risk any portion of my precious manuscript being lost to banditry or the inconsequential concerns of angry peasants.
Sincerely,
Johannes Krieger
June 28, 1854
I have arrived safely in Zagreb, along with the other evacuees from the hospital. It seems to me that the Turks campaigns against the Croatians at the turn of the century have helped pacify the region enough that the rebellions haven’t spread from Hungary.
It is horrible just how much these minor conflicts are delaying my progress back to Berlin, and nobody is able to give me a straight answer. I have heard that revolts have taken place in Greece, Austria, and even amongst the Turks themselves. One very serious woman even claimed that the Sultan was dead and the entire Ottoman nation was being devoured in a Civil War. I put this down to mere hysteria, as from what I can tell the bandit groups are more localized to the Hungarian lands.
My wounds have finally healed, and I was finally able to escape the company of all those wounded individuals to seek my own way home. Due to the revolt the routes north have been closed, so I have taken residence at a local hotel, which I was pleased to find only two blocks from Zagreb’s largest library. I have used my time to finish another portion of the manuscript, and alternate between writing on my hotel veranda or researching within the libraries stacks.
Since the rebels and bandits don’t seem to have spread this far, I have decided to spend some time here before seeking a way back home. Unfortunately the mail will have to take a more indirect route west to get home, which will only serve to delay my work further. Nonetheless, I cannot risk any portion of my precious manuscript being lost to banditry or the inconsequential concerns of angry peasants.
Sincerely,
Johannes Krieger
June 28, 1854
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Part Three
The Guns of Urban
The Guns of Urban
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And when it had caught fire, faster than you can say it, there was first a terrifying roar and a violent shaking of the ground beneath and for a great distance around, and a din such as has never been heard. Then, with a monstrous thundering and an awful explosion and a flame that illuminated everything round about and scorched it, the wooden wad was forced out by the hot blast of dry air and propelled the stone ball powerfully out. Projected with incredible force and power, the stone struck the wall, which it immediately shook and demolished, and it was itself shattered into many fragments, and the pieces were hurled everywhere, dealing death to those standing nearby.
- Lighting and firing the Great Turkish Bombard during the Siege of Constantinople.
The Turkish Grand Bombard c. 1453
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The Sultan Mehmet II spent 1460 recuperating from the Albanian campaigns, and began to increase his investments into the military of the Ottomans while his non-professional levied soldiers were released to return to their farms to plant their crops for the coming harvest. It was clear that the Turks need a more reliable and effective military, and the infrastructure and fortifications to help ensure that any rebellious subjects who thought to reject Ottoman rule could be dealt with by the local governors rather than having the responsibility fall on the Sultan’s shoulders to call out the army each time.
With this goal in mind, Mehmet began actively courting military and technical specialists from across Europe. The most famous of these was the Hungarian or Rumanian cannon maker Urban, who had forged for the Sultan the infamous Great Turkish Bombard which had wrecked so much devastation on Constantinople. Afterwards, Mehmet offered the mercenary engineer a large sum to help establish a foundry to help provide the siege weapons the Turks would need for further sieges. While Urban was certainly remembered for his creation, he was not alone in aiding the Ottoman army.
While Constantinople was receiving artists and philosophers, the Imperial Army’s encampments around Athens attracted mercenaries and pirates, sell swords and criminals, tacticians and assassins. Indeed, Mehmet seemed to relish in indulging his innate curiosity and drive to learn by employing a variety of men to aid his planning. Iberian moors stood shoulder to shoulder with Bavarian mercenary captains, and those that most impressed the Sultan were given generous stipends to stay encamped with the army.
The devşirme system, which would see the expansion of the famed Janissary corps in years to come, also offered the justification for many of these mercenaries to convert to Islam and officially join the growing Ottoman military. For some ambitious individuals, this offered a number of clear advantages: they would not pay as high a tax to the state, and the road to eventual promotion was opened.
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Feb. 9 - [Illegible due to age] come to Athens to seek my fortune with the Turks who, it is claimed, are offering plenty of good pay to learned men with something to teach or some skill to display. I hope that I may find my fortune aiding the heathen, as my own lands no longer can pay for my services.
Feb. 25 - Evidently my skills as a gunsmith have impressed the Turkish officers I met with, as today the Sultan himself approached me and began asking questions about my trade. His Greek was flawless. I explained [Illegible due to age] my barrels. The Sultan is evidently a very keen fellow, and he enjoyed our conversation so much that he has ordered my current pay doubled!
March 9 - Demand for weapons has increased. The Sultan has offered me a permit to operate a smithy here in Greece, and I quickly accept the offer. The land has a pleasing climate, the women possess a healthy glow, and the wine flows freely. The Sultan’s salary is enough to ensure that I will be able to enjoy all three as long as I yet live.
March 28 - Impressed with my successes, the Sultan again made a personal visit to my new workshop. Looking at my racks of weapons in various degrees of construction, and the [Illegible due to age] of my workers, he declared that I and my family would be exempt from the Jizya henceforth despite [Illegible due to age] Christianity. The core of the Sultans army was being rapidly expanded to include [Illegible due to age] train and operate them properly. With growing demand and the Sultan’s favor, I feel that I am truly blessed.
-Diary excerpts from the Italian gunsmith know only by his Turkish name Bünyamin Tufekci.
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Indeed, so many converts to Islam converged on the city that Christian outsiders in Athens began to fear for their religion. Wildly exaggerated reports of the devşirme’ horrors spread quickly: it was said that Ottoman recruiters were slaughtering entire Greek towns, only sparing children their wrath. The young boys to be converted and forced to serve as slave soldiers while the young girls were abducted into the Sultans own harem.
As untrue as these claims were, it did serve to only further strain relations between the Ottomans and their Christian neighbors. Ever since the fall of Constantinople, cries for a new crusade had steadily grown louder. Now many Christian leaders, hearing these exaggerated tales, feared that the Turks were going to forcibly convert the Christians of Athens. This helped create a cause that would draw the very fragmented European rulers together, and help ensure the coming wars against the Ottomans. Christian monarchs were still divided and fighting amongst themselves, but amongst those near to the Turkish lands, the threat was real, and they would soon strike against Mehmet in a bitter campaign.
- Johannes Krieger, The Sublime State: A History of The Ottoman Empire; vol. 1
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