Lore Ottoman Empire/Directorate

To understand the Directorate of 1875, we need to return to the past, back to the origins of the Turkish peoples.

The ancestors of the Turks originated from the Eurasian steppes, an area that includes parts of modern-day Russia and Central Asia. Over the centuries, many steppe tribes conquered the lands to the West. However, instead of spreading their own culture directly, like the Greeks and Romans, these nomadic tribes assimilated into the local populations, adopting their culture, language and style of dress.

One of these empires was that of the Seljuk Turks. Originally, the Oghuz Turks, under the Seldjuk Dynasty they adopted Islam in the 10th century. They had been invading the Byzantine Empire to the west ever since. 

Due to their aggression during the 11th century, the Byzantine Emperor reached out to Pope Urban II for military aid. This alliance led to the calling of the First Crusade, which aimed to drive the Seljuks out of Anatolia and parts of the Levant.

After surviving both the Crusades and later the Mongol invasions from the East, the Seljuks were weakened and fragmented, allowing the rise of a new power. In 1299, this power adopted the name Ottoman Empire, named after its founder, Osman I.

For centuries, the Ottomans waged war with Byzantium until Sultan Mehmed II conquered its capital, Constantinople, in 1453. 

This is considered to be one of the biggest watershed moments in history — Constantinople was the last major Christian stronghold of the Eastern Roman Empire. Many historians believe this conquest contributed to the cultural Renaissance that spread from Italy throughout Europe.

Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, the Ottomans expanded into Europe, conquering the Balkans and Greece. Their advance was halted after the failed siege of Malta in 1565 and the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, where a coalition led by Spain stopped them.

Nevertheless, the Ottomans continued expanding into Arabia and North Africa, equipped with state-of-the-art guns, artillery, and an elite army of slave soldiers called Janissaries.

Their ongoing advances into Central Europe were stopped twice at the sieges of Vienna in 1529 and 1683. The latter event is immortalized by the phrase “remember, remember the 12th of September,” when Grand Vizier Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha’s army was decisively defeated by the famous Winged Hussars of Poland. Sultan Mehmed IV condemned the Grand Vizier to death for this failure.

Following this divisive defeat, the Ottomans attempted to retake Central Europe during the Great Turkish War (1683–1699) against the Holy League. Despite its early successes, this conflict ended likewise in a humiliation, with Hungary and Belgrade lost to the Habsburgs. From then on, the

Ottoman Empire experienced a slow but steady decline in military and political power.

It wasn’t necessarily the military defeats that brought down the behemoth that was once renowned for its efficient bureaucracy, education system, and modern military. But the very institution that made the Ottomans that feared in the first place. The Janissaries.

THE JANISSARIES

One cannot discuss the Ottoman Empire without mentioning its slave army, which formed the backbone not only of its military but also its civil institutions. Indeed, the foundations of the Ottoman Empire were built on slavery, from its infrastructure to the highest regions of power.

The members of the Janissaries were initially Christian boys taken from families through the devshirme system. An estimated 12,000 Christian boys aged 6 to 20 were taken from their families annually to serve in the Sultan’s personal army or in court functions.

From that point on, they were indoctrinated into the Bektashi Order, a heterodox Sufi Islamic brotherhood within Sunni Islam. Despite their more liberal religious interpretation, the order adhered to strict rules such as abstaining from alcohol, pork, and gambling, and maintaining cleanliness.

From their inception, the Janissaries were at the heart of the empire's military operations. Though religious and regimented, the Janissaries were early adopters of military technology such as muskets and tactics like volley fire and wagon forts.

Despite their slave origins, Janissaries enjoyed many privileges and could only be punished by their superiors. They also held important civil roles in the capital, including policing and firefighting, giving them great influence in public life.

However, as the Ottoman Empire declined, so did the Janissary system. Recruitment dwindled, and the Janissaries grew increasingly powerful politically. By the 19th century, they recruited sons of powerful families and acquired land through marriage.

The Janissaries were not unique in this regard. The Mamluks were the Janissaries’ Egyptian cousins—a military caste created by the Ayyubid dynasty. They were an elite cavalry force who, like Janissaries, were slaves taken from Christian families. But as the Ayyubids weakened, the Mamluks seized power in 1250, ruling as the Mamluk Sultanate until defeated by the Ottomans in 1517. Despite this, the Mamluks retained political power until General Napoleon Bonaparte arrived in Egypt in 1798 and defeated them during the Battle of the Pyramids.

In 1801, Ottoman Viceroy Muhammad Ali Pasha took control of Egypt. Apart from major political and economic reforms, he had what remained of the Mamluk leadership assassinated in 1811. The Viceroy expanded Egypt’s borders to include Sudan, Anatolia, and Syria, only to relinquish these under British pressure for a return to pre-revolutionary conditions.

Back in the Ottoman Empire, like with the Mamluks, the relationship between the Osman dynasty and its Janissaries was a tense one. Well aware that the Janissaries could seize power at any time, various Sultans attempted to curtail their influence. For that reason, the Janissaries assassinated Sultan Osman II in 1622. During the reign of Mehmed IV (1648–1687), they even seized power briefly.

When Sultan Selim III attempted military reforms in 1807, he too was overthrown by the Janissaries. His successor was Sultan Mahmud II (r. 1808–1839), who likewise desired to modernize the empire. For this, he looked to Western nation-states for inspiration. However, he was also determined to give his empire a Turkish character. He wore Western-style uniforms in public but complemented these with the fez. The fez, originating in 15th century Morocco and often worn with a turban, was made part of the military uniform by Mahmud II, who encouraged all males to wear it to promote a national Ottoman spirit.

Alongside the establishment of secular schools, a Supreme Council of Judicial Ordinances was created that limited the power of governors to arbitrarily administer punishments. Mahmud II also ended hereditary state functions.

Ultimately, he sought to modernize the army and check the power of the local nobility. Predicting that the Janissaries would oppose these reforms, he bided his time before announcing his intentions. In 1826, he declared his decision to abolish the Janissary corps in what became known as the Auspicious Incident.

Predictably, the Janissaries protested. Their representatives moved in procession to his palace to plead for the preservation of the institution. But the Sultan had them arrested and, allegedly, the leaders executed.

Regardless of the exact details, Mahmud II had prepared for Janissary resistance and planned decisive actions to end the menace that had plagued his dynasty for generations. Immediately after, he had loyal artillery units bombard the Janissary barracks in Constantinople, in a violent confrontation that became known as the Auspicious Incident.

However, the Janissaries evaded his ploy. Evacuating through secret tunnels, they escaped the bombardment and retaliated fiercely upon emerging from the Roman sewers. This was not a mere protest but a civil war between loyalists and the Janissaries.

With surprise on their side, the Janissaries overwhelmed the artillery and laid siege to the Sultan’s palace. After two days of fighting, they invaded the palace, killed the Sultan, and kept his family as hostages.

Appointing the 15-year-old Mahmud III as the new Sultan, the Janissary Agha, Huseyin Mustafa, proclaimed himself the new Pasha of Constantinople. With the Sultan as his puppet, he ruled the empire on behalf of the Janissaries.

THE NEW EMPIRE

Now calling himself Huseyin Mustafa Pasha, the Grand Vizier spent most of his reign solidifying his power. He abolished the state army that Mahmud II had attempted to establish and expanded the so-called müteveffa, or volunteer corps, which were loyal only to him. This, however, did not halt the empire's ongoing decline.

For centuries, the Ottomans had expanded their power and the reach of Islam. Since they did not recognize a separation between church and state, sultans were both civil and religious leaders, effectively creating a theocracy. Hence, converting infidels was a great priority. Although followers of Abrahamic religions enjoyed some rights under Islam-inspired laws, the Ottomans made no qualms about treating them as inferiors.

With the expansion of the empire’s borders, the number of religious minorities swelled. Consequently, the Ottomans focused more on fighting their enemies within, rather than those without. Foreign powers, of course, were keen on exploiting this.

Greece revolted in 1821, gaining independence in 1829. Otto of Bavaria, of all people, became its first king until 1860—because making a German king of Greece makes perfect sense.

In Africa, the French took Algeria in 1830, after the French consul was allegedly hit with a fly swatter by its governor, Hussein Dey, in 1827. I suppose it's technically a weapon designed for killing.

Back in the Ottoman Empire, when Huseyin Mustafa passed away in 1845, he was succeeded by Habib Mustafa Pasha, a Janissary officer elected for playing things safe and not upsetting the orta commanders and administrators. Ah yes, the orta.

The military Janissaries were led by a supreme commander called the Agha, who commanded the various battalions called Ortas, each led by a çorbacı (chor-bah-juh).

For the day-to-day affairs of the empire, the Janissaries maintained most of Mahmud II’s institutions, though with Janissaries as ministers.

Despite securing their power, this did not stop the empire’s decline. At the dawn of the 19th century, a combination of revolts, political instability, conservatism, and tribal infighting turned the once insurmountable empire into the “Sick Man of Europe.” The only reason the other great powers let the old man be was because they feared what would happen if its neighbors started fighting over the inheritance.

For context, the Ottomans controlled important sea lanes and the Danube that were essential for trade. The Mediterranean was still vulnerable to African and Levantine pirates raiding the coast for spoils and slaves. Thus, any instability in the region would affect every European nation.

But they weren’t ready for what was to come next.

Prelude to the Great War

On Good Friday, 1846, a fight broke out in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, sparking outrage. Both Catholics and Orthodox Christians gathered at the same time for mass, because Easter fell on the same date in both the Latin (Catholic) and Greek Orthodox calendars that year.  However, the priests of both denominations had to share the same altar for the mass that day.

Since Sultan Mehmed II conquered Constantinople in 1453, various Christian denominations had to share the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. To maintain peace, it was agreed in 1757 that the different religious communities would share the holy site. For this reason, every item at the premises had been catalogued and allocated. Every item, including a ladder left standing against the wall that day, was subject to this arrangement. Nothing could be changed without the agreement of all communities. Hence, that ladder still stands there nearly two centuries later.

This arrangement frequently led to disputes and fights. When the priests had to prepare the altar for mass simultaneously, it erupted into a fierce brawl, commented on by reporters who happened to attend the event.

The complications did not end there. For centuries, the Catholic French had claims over some holy sites through various treaties. This situation became complicated during the French Revolution when France became officially secular and reduced its influence over the holy places. The Orthodox Church then filled the power vacuum.

This is where Russian Tsar Nicholas I became involved. He sought to protect Orthodox interests in the Holy Land and had ambitions related to the restoration of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. He also felt threatened by the spread of Western liberalism.

Nicholas assumed that Britain would support his claim over the holy sites to counterbalance France. He was mistaken.

At this time, France, under Charlemagne, sought Catholic support for its regime. Thus, the French sent a gunboat named "Charlemagne" into the Black Sea to reassert influence over the holy sites. Faced with this gunboat diplomacy, the Ottomans—still weakened—were unable to resist and agreed to the French demands.

Nicholas I considered this preferential treatment of Catholics a violation of prior international agreements and, in retaliation, sent the Russian fleet to the Black Sea. There, the Russians decisively defeated the Ottoman fleet at the naval Battle of Sinop in 1853.

In response, Britain and France sent their navies into the Baltic and Black Sea regions and ultimately declared war on Russia.

With these events, the Crimean War began.

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Part 2

In one of the most unlikely alliances, Britain, France, and Sardinia sided with the Ottomans against Russia in the conflict that would be known as the Crimean War (1853-1856). A conflict of attrition that lasted nearly three years, it cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of young men and maimed many more.

New weapons of war devastated Crimea. Troops fought from street to street and house to house, while explosive artillery shells reduced once-proud fortifications to rubble. Marching troops and colorful formations that captured the imagination of artists were replaced by photographs of muddy trenches, corpses entwined in barbed wire, and men choking on poison gas.

Battles raged along the Danube, in the Baltic Sea, and even in the North Pacific. The Crimean War is often considered the first modern war, leading to the deaths of about 750,000 people.

Reporters like William Howard Russell broadcast the realities in near real-time to households across

Europe, while soaring shells could be heard in the background.

In 1856, the conflict was resolved with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Russia returned captured territories, and the Black Sea was closed to military vessels.

Moldavia and Wallachia were recognized as quasi-independent states under Ottoman suzerainty, opening the Danube River to free navigation by all nations. These measures limited Russian influence; however, for the Janissaries, the problem had just begun.

The Aftermath

After the Crimean War, Habib Mustafa was ousted from power and replaced by Kara Mustafa Aydın Pasha, an ambitious officer who gained renown during the conflict.

During the war, Kara witnessed the technological inadequacy of his forces. To add insult to injury, he and his Janissaries had to play second fiddle to the allies, whom he often found lacking—especially the British officers who bought their military commissions.

Kara had been a Janissary since he was six—a devout Muslim and career soldier who rose through the ranks. Many of the men killed under his command were men he had known all his life. The war made him realize that the noble Janissaries were as vulnerable as any man.

After returning from the front, he found Constantinople rife with violence and crime. During the war, to maintain their numbers, the Janissaries press-ganged criminals and members of various ethnic and religious communities to serve as cannon fodder in irregular units like the Bashibozouk.

Those who made it back, however, returned as veterans experienced in modern weaponry.

Before long, the Ottomans faced both revolts and gangs employing their own military tactics against them.

Using his heroic status, Kara Mustafa Aydın Pasha got Habib Mustafa ousted and began a series of violent reprisals against any group he deemed unruly in a decade known as the Iron Grip. This included a brutal purge of institutions, including mosques and local authorities. This was not just an ordinary reign of terror—it laid the foundation for a new Empire.

The Directorate

Kara Mustafa Aydın Pasha did not just purge the corrupt and rebellious; he wanted to transform the Empire the Ottomans had built into a new vibrant power. To this end, he initiated the greatest reforms the world had seen since the French Revolution.

First, he established the Janissary interpretation of Sufi Islam as the state religion. Like a Jacobin, he eradicated ancient hierarchies. He made all his subjects equal under the law. Commoners and nobles, men and women, would now enjoy the same protections—and, more importantly, duties. Even women could now be recruited into the Janissaries.

These changes were met with a lot of resistance from the established elite who develop nostalgia for the days of the Ancient Regime.  

As revolts plagued their Balkan holdings in the 1870s, loyalists attempted to save the sultan from the Janissaries. After a failed attempt in 1874, Kara had Mahmud III executed for treason and the royal family exiled, ending Ottoman rule indefinitely. This marked the birth of the Janissary Directorate.

Wyrd Tech

The Turks, treated as a second-rate power for decades, never took the Hague Treaty that banned the use of Wyrd Tech all that seriously. After being bullied into signing it, the Turks considered it a means to keep them in their place rather than a peacekeeping measure.

Due to their hostile relationship with the West, poor infrastructure, and internal instability, the central government didn’t become aware of the rifts until the 1840s. Like most militaries, they did enjoy some advantages from Wyrd Tech. But with all the changes after 1826, the military was slow in adopting these new technologies.

Kara’s experience in the Crimean War made him realize its full potential.

As with most conflicts, the Crimean War accelerated Ottoman technology. Their allies granted them new weapons, such as rifles and explosive artillery. He was greatly impressed by wireless technology and automotion limbs.

At the start of the conflict, automotion prostheses were in their infancy—rare, and only available to the top 2%. The steep increase in demand in the wake of the conflict created a strong incentive for companies like Ütter-Krapp to streamline production.

He witnessed how Western entrepreneurs took it upon themselves to create telegraph lines, wireless transmission towers, hospitals, and other infrastructure needed for the war effort.

By the mid-1860s, Kara used the reformed tax system to fund massive infrastructural projects.

We’re talking shipyards, mines, railroads, and agricultural improvements. But he also wanted to attract foreign entrepreneurs to help establish a modern civil economy to bolster international commerce. This is one of the reasons they agreed to the construction of the Orient Express: a train service running from Paris all the way to Constantinople.

To this end, the Directorate promised not to enforce the Hague Charter.

Meanwhile, heavy industries were nationalized to modernize the military. Western specialists were brought in to establish a modern arms industry. They even recruited dissidents, like the Signalites, to design automotion laboratories. This includes names like Hotchkiss, Basil Zaharoff, and Tiana Tillion—a couple who would go down in history as the merchants of death.

Indeed, Kara was interested in automotion and neurotechnology potential to enhance the capabilities of the Janissaries.

The only weapons Kara could not abide were gas and biological weapons. After his own experiences of gas attacks during the war, he called gas “Satan’s own breath.” Of all the technology that the Directorate deployed against its own population, he forbade gas weaponry, deeming it un-Islamic.

A technology he did embrace was the first mass fabrication of CB combat automatons. For this purpose, he recruited the ambitious mercenary leader Éloïse Solanaire to train his very own Casket Girls who, like all Janissaries, were recruited from a very young age. This wasn’t some whim. In the new state religion, men and women alike were obligated to partake in the Jihad against the enemies of Allah—those being the enemies of the Directorate. Indeed, Kara had made the state itself a religion. And questioning this fact was deemed heresy.

The Directorate’s Casket Girls are a symbol of progress, and a message for Turkish women to dedicate themselves to the state.

This didn’t mean every citizen had to serve in the military, but they did have mandatory service in the factories during times of war. This also extended to minority groups, including Shia Muslims who, despite the reforms, were still treated as second-class.

Religion & Security

Although the Directorate on paper has religious tolerance, every mosque, church, and temple is under its supervision, and, unlike most denominations of Islam, only approved imams are allowed to preach in public. This means Islamic minorities are restricted to private homes and estates.

To ensure the loyalty of its subjects and their adherence to state and religious doctrine, the Janissaries' secret police—the Asesbaşı—has been drastically expanded to monitor suspected murtadds (apostates) and zindiq (heretics). This includes Turks and dissidents in foreign territories, leading to one of the largest global spy networks in the world.

Non-Islamic religions do not have such supervision; however, their members are barred from high public functions and have to pay a special tax called the jizya.

This is a lucrative source of income for the Directorate. It is one of the reasons they raised the bar for converting to Islam. To prove their conviction, anyone who wants to convert now has to serve in the military for at least three years before being adopted into the Islamic community—that of the Directorate, at least.

To the Western elite, however, the Directorate appeared to be a progressive empire with a forward-looking version of secular Islam. These people saw the Directorate through the eyes of massive promotional campaigns like those used by the Orient Express. In colorful, high-quality posters, the Directorate is portrayed as a multicultural empire where people of all religions and tribes live in harmony under the watchful eye of a paternal state.

This promotional campaign is so effective that the bloody repression of the Balkans in the 1870s was viewed as Western-instigated revolts rather than a population asserting their desire for independence.

Likewise, their Casket Girls, glorified by Western women’s rights activists, were a message to the Directorate’s enemies that it wasn’t just their men they had to worry about.

If you want, I can help you make this more concise or expand with additional background.Here is the corrected and polished version of your text:

The Turks, treated as a second-rate power for decades, never took the Hague Treaty that banned the use of Wyrd Tech seriously. After being bullied into signing it, they considered it a means to keep them in their place rather than a peacekeeping measure.

Due to their hostile relationship with the West, poor infrastructure, and internal instability, the central government didn’t become aware of the rifts until the 1840s. Like most militaries, they enjoyed some advantages from Wyrd Tech, but after all the changes post-1826, the military was slow in adopting these new technologies.

Kara’s experience in the Crimean War made him realize its full potential. As with most conflicts, the Crimean War accelerated Ottoman technology. Their allies granted them new weapons, such as rifles and explosive artillery. He was greatly impressed by wireless technology and automotion limbs.

At the conflict’s start, automotion prostheses were in their infancy—rare and available only to the top 2%. The surge in demand after the war incentivized companies like Ütter-Krapp to streamline production. He witnessed Western entrepreneurs building telegraph lines, wireless towers, hospitals, and other war infrastructure.

By the mid-1860s, Kara used the reformed tax system to fund massive infrastructure projects—shipyards, mines, railroads, and agriculture. He also sought foreign entrepreneurs to establish a modern civil economy to boost international commerce. This was one reason the Directorate agreed to build the Orient Express—a train running from Paris to Constantinople.

To this end, the Directorate promised not to enforce the Hague Charter. Meanwhile, heavy industries were nationalized to modernize the military. Western specialists helped build a modern arms industry. Dissidents like the Signalites designed automotion labs, including figures like Hotchkiss, Basil Zaharoff, and Tiana Tillion—who went down in history as merchants of death.

Kara was interested in automotion and neurotechnology to enhance Janissary capabilities. The only weapons he rejected were gas and biological weapons. After experiencing gas attacks, he called gas

“Satan’s own breath.” He forbade its use, deeming it un-Islamic.

He embraced the mass production of CB combat automatons, recruiting mercenary leader Éloïse Solanaire to train Casket Girls—recruited young girls, like Janissaries, committed to jihad against Allah’s enemies, who were the Directorate’s foes. Kara made the state a religion; questioning it was heresy.

The Directorate’s Casket Girls symbolized progress and urged Turkish women’s dedication to the state. Military service wasn’t universal, but factory labor was mandatory in wartime, including for minorities like Shia Muslims, still treated as second-class despite reforms.

Religion & Security

Though the Directorate professed religious tolerance, all mosques, churches, and temples were supervised. Only approved imams could preach publicly, restricting Islamic minorities to private worship.

To ensure loyalty, the Janissaries’ secret police—the Asesbaşı—was expanded to monitor suspected murtadds (apostates) and zindiq (heretics), including in foreign territories, forming a vast global spy network.

Non-Islamic faiths lacked such scrutiny but faced barred access to high office and paid the jizya tax, a lucrative revenue source. Conversion to Islam required three years military service before acceptance into the Directorate’s Islamic community.

Western elites saw the Directorate as a progressive empire with secular Islam, viewing it through promotional campaigns like the Orient Express—which portrayed a multicultural harmony under a paternal state.

This campaign was so effective that the brutal Balkan repression of the 1870s was seen in the West as foreign-instigated revolt, not popular independence movements.

Similarly, the Casket Girls, praised by Western women’s rights activists, sent a message that enemies faced not just men, but also empowered women under the Directorate.