Mahmud Muhtar Pasha also spelled Mahmut Muhtar Pasha (; 1867 – 15 March 1935), known as Mahmut Muhtar Katırcıoğlu since 1934, was an Ottoman-born Turkish military officer and diplomat, the son of the

Grand Vizier Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...

Biography

He was of TurkishŞerifoğlu, Ömer Faruk, "Mahmud Muhtar Paşa (Katırcıoğlu)" (1999), Yaşamları ve Yapıtlarıyla Osmanlılar Ansiklopedisi, İstanbul:Yapı Kredi Kültür Sanat Yayıncılık C.2 p.69 origin. He was born in Constantinople and returned to the city in 1893 after seven years' military education in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He was a participant in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, in spite of the prohibition by the Sultan Abd-ul-Hamid II. In 1910, he became Minister of the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

in Ibrahim Hakki Pasha's cabinet and arranged the construction of the first Turkish

dreadnought The dreadnought was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an effect when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", ...

. He married Princess Nimetullah Khanum Effendi, a daughter of

Isma'il Pasha Isma'il Pasha ( ; 25 November 1830 or 31 December 1830 – 2 March 1895), also known as Ismail the Magnificent, was the Khedive of Egypt and ruler of Sudan from 1863 to 1879, when he was removed at the behest of Great Britain and France. Shari ...

and they had five children. At the outbreak of the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

in 1912, he went to the front, commanded the III Corps in the Battle of Kirk Kilisse, Battle of Lule Burgas and was severely wounded in the First Battle of Çatalca He wrote an account of his experiences in the Balkan War titled ''Why We Lost

Rumelia Rumelia (; ; ) was a historical region in Southeastern Europe that was administered by the Ottoman Empire, roughly corresponding to the Balkans. In its wider sense, it was used to refer to all Ottoman possessions and Vassal state, vassals in E ...

'' (), of which German and French versions appeared in 1913. He later fought in the

Turkish War of Independence , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...

where he joined the forces of

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

. On 30 May 1929, Mahmud Muhtar Pasha was put on trial before the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

(formerly , today ) on charges of damnifying the state treasury by remitting 20,000 pounds without security to the British

Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf (often referred to as Blackwall) on the west side and at Cann ...

in conjunction with works for the Anatolian Railway Company. On 3 November 1929, he was sentenced to making a payment of 22,000 Turkish gold coins discounted by five percent.

Sources

1867 births 1935 deaths Ottoman Military Academy alumni Ottoman Military College alumni Ottoman Army generals Pashas Ottoman military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1897) Ottoman military personnel of the Italo-Turkish War Ottoman military personnel of the Balkan Wars Government ministers of the Ottoman Empire Diplomats of the Ottoman Empire Ottoman governors of Aidin Turkish politicians convicted of crimes Turks from the Ottoman Empire {{Ottoman-bio-stub

Biography

See also

Sources