Conscription in the Ottoman Empire

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Conscription
1780 caricature of a press gang
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Alternative civilian service Civil conscription Conscientious objector Conscription crisis Draft evasion Impressment Military service National service War resister
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Military conscription in the Ottoman Empire varied in the periods of:

• the Classical Army (1451–1606)
• the Reform Period (1826–1858)
• the Modern Army (1861–1922)

A complex set of rules applied, which involved:

• A poll-tax (in the very early times) named cizye, originally imposed on non-Muslims as a substitute for military service.
• An exemption tax, from 1855 the Bedl-i askeri, which applied to everyone and was theoretically a substitute for military service.
• Western-style conscription, closely linked to the introduction of a European-style army, the Modern Army (1861–1922), but not exactly coinciding with it.