Mahmud Shevket Pasha

Mahmud Shevket Pasha (Turkish: Mahmut Şevket Paşa; 1856 – 11 June 1913)[1] was an Ottoman general and statesman of Chechen origin,[2][3][4][5] known particularly for his leading role in establishing the Ottoman military aviation program. He was Grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 23 January 1913 until his death by assassination.

For the other Ottoman general Shevket Turgut Pasha, see Shevket Turgut Pasha.
In this Ottoman Turkish style name, the given name is Mahmud Shevket, the title is Pasha, and there is no family name.

Mahmud Shevket

Pasha
Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
In office
23 January 1913 – 11 June 1913
MonarchMehmed V
Preceded byKâmil Pasha
Succeeded bySaid Halim Pasha
In office
23 January 1913 – 11 June 1913
Personal details
Born1856
Baghdad, Baghdad Eyalet, Ottoman Empire
Died11 June 1913 (aged 56 or 57)
Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
Military service
Allegiance Ottoman Empire
Branch/service Ottoman Army
RankGeneral

Early life and career

Shevket Pasha was born in Baghdad in 1856 to a lineage of Chechen exiles from Eastern Chechnya, his grandfather had moved from Tbilisi to Baghdad.[3] He finished his primary education in Baghdad before going on to the Military Academy (Ottoman Turkish:Mekteb-i Harbiye) in Istanbul.[6] He joined the army in 1882 as a lieutenant. He spent some time in France investigating military technology and was stationed in Crete for a while. He then returned to the Military Academy as a faculty member.

He worked under Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz (Goltz Pasha) for a while and traveled to Germany. He was then appointed as governor of the Kosovo Vilayet, where he commanded the 3rd Army, which was later known as Hareket Ordusu ("Army of Action") after its involvement in suppressing the counter-revolutionary absolutist reactionaries in the 31 March Incident. A voice recording of Mahmud Shevket Pasha speaking to rally his troops against the counter-revolutionaries in 1909 was released by journalist Murat Bardakçı in 2012.[7]

He played an important role in ending the 31 March Incident and with it, the reign of Abdul Hamid II. He served as Grand Vizier to Mehmed V from 23 January 1913.[8] He was assassinated in Istanbul, on 11 June 1913 in a revenge attack by a relative of the assassinated Nazım Pasha.[1]

Among other things, he is credited with the creation of the Ottoman Air Force in 1911 and bringing the first automobile to Constantinople. Mahmud Shevket Pasha gave much importance to a military aviation program and as a result the Ottoman Air Force became one of the pioneering aviation institutions in the world.[9]

Though raised as an Ottoman, most sources claim that he had Chechen ancestry.[2][3][4][5] Some sources also claim he had Iraqi Arab,[10] Georgian,[11] Albanian or Circassian[12] ancestry.

  • Mahmud Shevket Pasha is often considered to be the founding father of the Ottoman Air Force.[13]
  • The pistols carried by Mahmud Shevket Pasha's assassins.
  • The first automobile in Constantinople.
  • Mahmut Şevket Pasha just before his murder, Istanbul Military Museum.

References
  1. David Kenneth Fieldhouse: Western imperialism in the Middle East 1914-1958. Oxford University Press, 2006 p.17
  2. İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı, Türkiye Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1971, p. 101. (in Turkish)
  3. Finkel, Caroline. (2007). Osman's dream : the history of the ottoman empire. New York: Basic Books. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-465-00850-6. OCLC 756484323.
  4. Mango, Andrew. (1999). Atatürk. London: John Murray. p. 549. ISBN 0-7195-5612-0. OCLC 41547097.
  5. "Чеченский генералиссимус Турции Махмуд Шевкет-Паша". ИА Чеченинфо (in Russian). Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  6. Finkel, Caroline, Osman's Dream, (Basic Books, 2005), 57; Istanbul was only adopted as the city's official name in 1930...
  7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIRUC8p0t7M
  8. Feroz Ahmad (2014). Turkey: The Quest for Identity (second ed.). London: Oneworld. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-78074-301-1.
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. Ali Bilgenoğlu, Osmanlı Devleti'nde Arap milliyetçi cemiyetler, Müdafaa-i Hukuk Yayınları, 2007, p. 87.]
  11. "The New York Times, May 17, 1909" (PDF). The New York Times. 17 May 1909.
  12. Nâzım Tektaş, Sadrazamlar: Osmanlı'da ikinci adam saltanatı, Çatı Kitapları, 2002, p. .
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)


Preceded by
Kibrisli Mehmed Kamil Pasha		 Grand Vizier
1913		 Succeeded by
Said Halim Pasha
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