OTTOMAN high ranking officer sword ca. 1900
 

Hi gents,
i would like your opinion on this sword. Looks like it belonged to a Pasha. Probably it was
brought back by a Greek officer during the Balkan wars 1912-13 or Asia Minor campaign 1919-22. Found in a flea market recently.
Thanks
DS

Hello,
maybe it is an ottoman navy sabre. Like the ottoman navy dagger It looks similiar to the german version. I would say it was made ca. 1910.
In any case a very rare and good piece.

Many Ottoman regulation sidearms of the period were of distinctly Germanic style. The Empire was energetically trying to modernize its military, purchasing a lot of Krupp artillery and several models of Mauser bolt-action rifles (M1887, M1890, M1893, etc to achieve parity with Germany, Belgium, Spain, and other Western powers. In addition, talented graduates of Ottoman military schools were sent to the Prussian military academy at Potsdam, and German officers were hired to train field officers and supervise the modernization efforts in the years up to World War I (the two Empires were of course allies during that war).

The Italian markings on the blade probably refer to one of the foreign-owned private firms in Istanbul making various articles for the military. A lot of these factories were located in the Pera district of Istanbul and I have read that a few, making modern firearms on Western patterns, were run by resident Greek entrepreneurs. Such foreign firms and workshops not only made arms but provided a multiplicity of modern goods and services that traditional Turkish society didn't produce, such as timepieces, printing, photography, etc.