Family and schools Mustafa Fevzi was born on 12 January 1876 in
Cihangir (
Istanbul,
Ottoman Empire). His family is of
Turkish origin. Their ancestors came to Istanbul from
Çakmak, in modern-day
Balıkesir Province. He studied at Sadık Hoca Mektebi in Rumeli Kavağı between 1882 and 1884. He continued to study at Tedrisiye-i Haybiye Mektebi in
Sarıyer between 1884 and 1886, at
Salonica Military School (
Selânik Askerî Rüşdiyesi) between 1886 and 1887, at Soğukçeşme Askerî Rüşdiyesi between 1887 and 1890. He learned
Arabic and
Persian languages from his grandfather Hacı Bekir Efendi, who had studied in
Egypt and
Baghdad and was one of the prominent intelligentsia at the time. After graduating from the Kuleli military high school, he entered
Ottoman Military College on 29 April 1893. He completed the military school as the seventh of the class on 28 January 1896 and joined the
Ottoman military as an infantryman where he saw combat during the
Greco-Turkish War of 1897.
Second Lieutenant (
Mülâzım-ı Sani). On 28 January 1898, he entered the Imperial War Academy and on 16 March 1897, he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant.
Western Rumelia ) On 11 April 1899, he became the staff officer of 18th Regular Division under the command of
Şemsi Pasha at Metroviça (present day
Mitrovica) of the
Third Army. On 3 July 1908, Senior Captain
Ahmed Niyazi Bey stationed at Resne (present day:
Resen), an ethnic
Albanian, took to the hills with 200 soldiers and a number of civilians, and issued a manifesto which demanded the restoration of constitutional government. Şemsi Pasha, an ethnic Albanian, was ordered to crush the rebel and went to Monastir with two battalions. But he was shot and killed by then Second Lieutenant
Bigalı Atıf Bey. On 19 August 1909, he was demoted to major, because of the Law for the Purge of Military Ranks.
Balkan Wars On 29 September 1912, he was appointed to the chief of the 1st department (chief of operations) of the
Vardar Army under the command of Ferik
Halepli Zeki Pasha, formed within the Western Army. But he wrote that he had put the idea of creating a six-corps army of one hundred thousand men operation on interior lines from the Monastir (present day:
Bitola) area. After the defeat at the Battle of Bitola, he wrote that the Vardar Army's effective strength for its 78 infantry battalions was 39,398 men. The Vardar Army retreated to Albania. On 10 May, because Colonel
Ibrahim Halil Bey (Sedes), who was the chief of staff of the Vardar Army, went to Istanbul, and Fevzi was deputized the chief of staff. On 19 June, the headquarters of the Vardar Army evacuated from the pier on the
Seman aboard the steamships
Karadeniz and
Gülcemal and arrived at Istanbul on 22 June. Fevzi wrote: On 2 August 1913, he was appointed to the commander of the Ankara Reserve Division, on 6 November, to the commander of the
2nd Infantry Division On 6 December 1915, he served concurrently as the commander of the Anafartalar Group. In April 1916, he was appointed to the 3rd military district of Eastern Front and on 7 September 1916, to the commander of
II Caucasian Corps, which consisted of the 5th, 11th and 37th Caucasian divisions. On 5 July 1917, he was appointed to the commander of the
Second Army at
Diyarbekir.
Erich von Falkenhayn gave Fevzi control of
Beersheba and the eastern half of the Palestine Front on 28 October. But Falkenhayn gave an alternate set of orders on the same day, giving command of all units on the Sinai Front to
Kress von Kressenstein until the new command arrangements would become functional On 15 February 1918, he wrote to
Erich von Falkenhayn, serious problems with the inefficient lines of communication and the supply and recruiting zone proportionate with the strength and situation of the army. Moreover, he mentioned that here were combat skills proficiency problems caused by the inability of his under-strength army to withdraw front-line units for training in the rear area. On 28 July 1918, he was promoted to the rank of
Ferik. On 14 May 1919, he was appointed to the commander of the Inspector of the
1st Army Troops Inspectorate (''Birinci Ordu Kıt'aatı Müfettişi
). On 3 November, he assigned to the task in Heyet-i Nasîha
and on 31 December, he was appointed to the member of the Military Council (Askerî Şûra''). He became the Minister of War of
Ali Rıza Pasha Cabinet (3 February – 3 March 1920) and
Salih Pasha Cabinet (8 March – 2 April 1920). ==War of Independence==