Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2005 Willing to Face Death: A History of Kurdish Military Forces — the Peshmerga — from the Ottoman Empire to Present-Day Iraq Michael G. Lortz Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact
[email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Willing to Face Death: A History of Kurdish Military Forces – the Peshmerga – from the Ottoman Empire to Present-Day Iraq By Michael G. Lortz A thesis submitted to the Department of International Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2005 Copyright © 2005 Michael G. Lortz All Rights Reserved The members of the Committee approve the thesis of Michael G. Lortz defended on 28 October 2005. __________________________ Peter Garretson Professor Directing Thesis __________________________ Burton Atkins Committee Member __________________________ Jonathan Grant Committee Member The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii On a personal note, I would like to dedicate this thesis to my parents, George and Marianne Lortz. Thank you for your support. You have shown a lot of patience in watching me decide what I finally want to do with myself. I know it sounds cliché, but thank you and I love you both. To my brother, my grandparents, and all my other family and friends, thank you for your support and love as well. To Dr. Peter Garretson, thank you for the academic support and leading me in the right direction.