Balkan Wars
The Ottoman military aircraft saw their first active combat involvement during the First Balkan War, against the Balkan countries of Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece. Seventeen Ottoman aircraft were used for reconnaissance, from September 1912 to October 1913. The Ottoman military aviation, due to the organization's inexperience in combat, initially lost a number of airplanes. However, as the pilots hardened with battle experience, they improved their combat skills, and many new recruits applied to join the aviation squadrons.
Nevertheless, the Balkan League won the war. A short while later, Bulgaria attacked Serbia to kick off the Second Balkan War, and the Ottoman Empire declared war on Bulgaria, thus recovering a portion of its lost territories in Eastern Thrace, including the important city of Edirne (Adrianople) which was the Ottoman capital between 1365 and 1453.
By the end of the Balkan Wars, the fledgling Ottoman military aviation had already been through three wars and a coup d'état.
With the end of the Balkan Wars, a modernization process started and new planes were purchased. With the outbreak of the First World War, the modernization process stopped abruptly.
Read more about this topic: Ottoman Air Force
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