The effectiveness of the aerial photography and aerial reconnaissance on the Palestine Front during the First World War and the Western Front during the Turkish National War of independence

The purpose of this interdisciplinary thesis study is to put the effects of science and technology on the history of war as well as on the development of the Turkish Military Aviation through a general evaluation of the aerial photography and aerial reconnaissance. Moreover, one of the aims of the present study is also to fill the information gap in the literature pertaining to aerial photography. However, the most crucial aspect of the study is to reveal the fact that how aerial photography technology affected the course of wars in the 20th Century and changed their ends. This study is limited to First World War (FWW) Palestine Front and the Western front during the Turkish National War of Independence (TNWI). Harsh battles engaged on the Palestine Front during the FWW witnessed considerable land exchange and intense aerial activity. Aerial reconnaissance activities were carried out during the TNWI on the Western Front. In this context the subject is tried to be limited to these two fronts in its general concept. In conclusion, the Turkish Military Aviation and aerial reconnaissance's becoming an indispensible part of the development Turkish Military and how it changed the course of the battles engaged in the mentioned fronts is put forward through rarely studied books and documents written both in Ottoman Turkish and English. Hence, the effectiveness of the aerial photography and reconnaissance during the First World War and Turkish National War of Independence is tried to be compared.