| Summary: | C. 209 is accepted as the establishment of the Turkish Land Forces. Recorded in historyto be one of first nations to domesticate the horse, Turks, having used it in every aspect ofdaily life and the battle fields since then, began to exploit it also in the organization of regulararmies. This new development formed the basis of the CAVALRY branch, and until WorldWar II, when technological innovations in weapons and equipment forced the horce to leavethe battleground, cavalries had been seen as the most critical power of the commanders.Turkish Land Forces has included the cavalry in any kind of formations so far. The cavalryformed in mounted units of tens and hundreds, had maintained a similar structure until thefounding years of the Ottoman Empire. Cavalries, seen as Turkmen (Turcoman) mountedtribal units in the Land Forces of the Ottoman Empire, had various missions under the namessuch as ?Kapikulu (Sultan?s Guards) Cavalries, Timarli Spahis (Fief-holding Spahis),Akincilar (Raiders), and Deliler (Irregulars),? and after the age of Asakir-i Mansure-iMuhammediye? (Victorious Soldiers of Mohamad) they followed a similar structure to that ofthe cavalry units of European armies.Cavalry units fighting in various fronts during the Ottoman-Italian War, Balkan Wars, andWorld War I were to be abolished required by the Mudros Armistice, October 30, 1918; andby May 1919 there were four cavalry regiments left in the Turkish Land Forces.The Era of the National Struggle (1920-1923) was the period of the last wars cavalry unitswere involved in the Turkish war history. ?Kuva-yı Milliye? (The Natioanal Forces) cavalries,formed by the people upon the invasion of their lands, were organized as ?5th Cavalry Corps?after the Sakarya Battle. During the Great Attack infiltrating Sincan plains they made Greekforces suffer severe casualties, and upon the decree of forward movement to Izmir on August31, started the strategic pursue operation recorded in the warfare history of the world.Cavalries, ensuring the liberation of Izmir on ...
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