Avrasya Uluslararası Araştırmalar Dergisi

Öz

On July 1, 1876, Serbia and July 2, 1876 Montenegro declared war on the Ottoman Empire. The start of the war was greeted with joy by the subjects of the Ottoman Empire and the people began to write voluntarily. Volunteers from all over the country were armed and sent to their troops within certain rules. While the Circassian volunteers and their skills in the war drew attention, the volunteers also acted undesirably. Before the war, Circassians were also seen extorting animals and it was claimed that they caused some outbursts. During the war, village looting and burning were heard. The interrogations of those involved in the thefts were made, but due to the war environment, the necessary punishments could not be given.
At the beginning of the war, the proclamation of the Grand Vizier Mehmet Rüştü Pasha regarding the volunteers was published. Despite this announcement, the volunteers continued their outrage. They also went to Austrian lands and engaged in looting activities there. Among the volunteers who were harassing the people with state weapons and ammunition in their hands, the seized weapons and ammunition were taken by the government and they were imprisoned for 10 days to a month depending on the degree of their crimes, and after that, it was found appropriate to take a temporary procedure to return them to their hometowns. Russian, Bulgarian, Italian etc. volunteers helped the Serbian army, as well as the Ottoman army from Circassians, Kurds, Arabs, Anatolian and Balkan Turks. In this study, it has been tried to examine in detail from where the volunteers joined the Ottoman army, where they were sent, the characteristics of the Circassian volunteers, the outbursts of the volunteers, the methods of punishment, and the measures taken on this issue.