Ottoman Entry into World War I

The Ottoman Empire go in World War I On 29 October 1914,  when two newly bought vessels of its Navy, still crewed by German mariners and led by their German admiral, launched the Black Sea Attack, a surprise attack against Russian ports. On 1 November 1914, Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire, and on 5 November 1914, Russia's allies, Britain and France, declared war on the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman action's motivations were not immediately evident. The Ottoman government had acknowledged neutrality in the just begun war, and talks with both factions were in the works. Nevertheless, hundreds of thousands of Ottomans would die due to this choice and the Armenian genocide, the fall of the Empire, and the end of the Islamic Caliphate.

After a century of relative decline, the Ottoman Empire was known as the "sick man of Europe" in the twentieth century. Political instability, military failure, social turmoil, and uprisings by national minorities all damaged the Empire.

The Ottoman Empire's economic resources were decimated due to the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913. The French, British, and Germans had given financial assistance when a pro-German party in the Ottoman cabinet, backed by Enver Pasha, the former Ottoman military attaché in Berlin, resisted the pro-British majority and sought stronger ties with Germany. As a result, the Germans dispatched General Otto Liman von Sanders and a military expedition to Constantinople in December 1913. Because of the Ottoman Empire's geopolitical location, Russia, France, and the United Kingdom, all had an attention in Turkish noninvolvement in the event of a European conflict.

The Young Turks seized control in Constantinople in 1908, and Sultan Mehmed V was installed as the figurehead in 1909. The new leadership pursued a reform agenda to modernize the Empire's political and economic system and redefine the Empire's racial character. The Young Turks effectively began the Second Constitutional Era by restoring the Ottoman constitution of 1876 and reconvening the Ottoman parliament. Members of the Young Turk movement formed (declared) their political parties after going underground. Major parties included the "Committee of Union and Progress" (CUP) and the "Freedom and Accord Party," sometimes known as the Liberal Union or the Liberal Entente (LU). In October and November 1908, a general election was conducted, and the CUP was elected as the majority party.

Germany, a staunch supporter of the new leadership, donated funds for investment. As a result, German diplomats acquired clout, and German officers helped train and re-equip the Army, but Britain remained the region's dominating force.

The Balkan Wars (1912–13), the Italo-Turkish War (1911), unrest on the periphery (such as the Yemen Vilayet and the Hauran Druze Rebellion), and ongoing political turmoil in the Empire: the 1909 counter-coup was followed by restoration and then another coup d'état in 1912, which was followed by a raid on the Sublime Podium. As a result, by the time the First World War broke out, the Ottoman Army had already been fighting nonstop for three years.

At the 20th century, the worldwide political climate was multipolar, with no single or two dominant governments. According to author Michael Reynolds, multi-polarity has always given the Ottomans the capacity to pit one power against the other, which they did with consummate skill. Germany had gained a solid foothold by supporting Abdul Hamid II's rule. Initially, the newly created CUP and LU focused their efforts on the United Kingdom. By inspiring Britain to compete counter to Germany and France, the Empire intended to weaken France and Germany's control of the Porte and win greater autonomy.

When Austria-Hungary, Germany's ally, seized Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, hostility toward Germany grew. Tanin, pro-CUP, even suggested that Vienna's motivation for carrying out this act was to strike a blow against the constitutional regime and elicit a reaction to bring it down. As a result, Ahmed Riza and Dr. Nazim, two important CUP members, were dispatched to London to discuss the prospect of collaboration with Sir Edward Grey (British Foreign Secretary) and Sir Charles Hardinge (British Prime Minister) (a senior Foreign Office official).

Following the Balkan Wars (1912–13), CUP became convinced that only an alliance with Britain and the Entente could ensure the survival of what remained of the Empire at the start of 1914. However, the CUP could not possibly accept such suggestions. They felt betrayed by what they saw as European Powers' bias against the Ottomans during the Balkan Wars, and as a result, they had little faith in Great Power declarations about the Empire's independence and integrity in the abstract; one of the main goals of the CUP movement was to end European financial and administrative supervision. Unfortunately, Sir Louis Mallet, the Ambassador, seemed completely unaware of this.

Russian Position

Russia's growing economy was becoming unduly reliant on the Ottoman Straits for its exports. Indeed, the Straits carried a fourth of all Russian goods. Controlling the Straits of Hormuz and Constantinople was a principal aim for Russian diplomatic and military planners. Russia proposed landing troops in Constantinople during the widespread unrest of the Young Turk Revolution and Ottoman counter-coup of 1909. Otto Liman von Sanders was deployed by the German military mission to help train and reorganize the Ottoman Army in May 1913. For St. Petersburg, this was intolerable, so Russia devised a plan to invade and capture the Black Sea harbor of Trabzon or the Eastern Anatolian town of Bayezid in vengeance. Russia couldn't find a military solution for a complete invasion at the time, which this modest occupation may become into.

If a naval occupation of Constantinople did not provide a solution, the Russian Caucasian Army might be strengthened. Russia created local ties with regional factions within the Empire to bolster its troops. They agreed that the Army, Navy, finance, trade, and industry ministries would collaborate to solve the transportation problem, achieve naval supremacy, and increase the number of men and artillery pieces assigned to amphibious operations, all of which this Army would need to accomplish during mobilization. They also resolved to broaden Russia's Caucasian rail network to include the Ottoman Empire. In 1913, the Russian war drums began to beat. At the time, Russia was pressuring Armenia to implement a reform package.

German Position

Germany had been paying more attention to the Ottoman Empire than anyone else in recent decades. Finance, trade, railroads, and military advice were all areas where there was collaboration. In 1913, German commander Liman von Sanders joined a long line of German generals attempting to modernize the Ottoman Army. He was appointed leader of the Gallipoli defense when the war broke out, and he defeated the Allies.

The Baghdad Railway, which ran across the Ottoman Empire, had long been a source of contention between Britain and Germany. It would have projected German might into the sphere of influence of the United Kingdom (India and southern Persia). It was finally settled in June of 1914. Berlin decided not to build the line south of Baghdad and to acknowledge Britain's hegemony in the region. The matter was addressed to both parties' satisfaction and did not contribute to the outbreak of the conflict.

During the July Crisis in 1914, German officials offered Turkey an anti-Russian alliance and territorial gains in Caucasia, northwestern Iran, and Trans-Caspia in exchange for Archduke Ferdinand's murder. Because the British ambassador was on leave until 18 August, the pro-British faction in the Cabinet was isolated. As the European crisis worsened, Ottoman policy was to secure a guarantee of territorial integrity and prospective advantages, despite the British considering entering a European war. As a result, the Ottoman commanders agreed to join a covert Ottoman-German Alliance against Russia on 30 July 1914 two days after the combat in Europe began, even though it did not compel them to engage in military action.

On 22 July the Ottoman Minister of War and Enver Pasha, offered Baron Hans Freiherr von Wangenheim, the German envoy in Constantinople, an Ottoman–German alliance. Germany declined the offer, believing Turkey had nothing of worth to contribute. Similar proposals had been made to the Austro-Hungarian envoy by the grand vezir Said Halim Pasha. Enver served as a military attaché in Berlin from 1909 to 1911. Although his ties with the German military mission were strained (mostly due to a personal relationship with Otto Liman von Sanders), he trusted his soldiers and Army and despised the German army intrusion. Either diplomat did not accept the proposals. Cemal Pasha was dispatched to Paris for this reason in July 1914. With French military medals but no alliance, he returned to Constantinople. The Ottoman administration, notably Minister of State Talaat Pasha, had initially favoured siding with the British. However, the United Kingdom declined.

Winston Churchill requested the requisition of two modern warships built by British shipyards for the Ottoman fleet on 28 July 1914. Sultân Osmân-ı Evvel had been accomplished and was about to go, and Reşadiye were the two. Despite concerns regarding the legality of such a seizure, the Cabinet approved the request on 31 July, along with a proposal to Turkey to pay for the ships. The British requisitioned them on 2 August, further alienating pro-British elements in Constantinople. Enver Pasha had offered to sell the vessel to Germany in a second attempt to achieve an alliance treaty, knowing that Turkey was about to lose them. Kaiser Wilhelm II ordered Enver's 22 July approach to Germany to be examined after it was rejected. Renewed talks between Enver, Talaat, and Said Halim Pasha began on 28 July. The subsequent secret defensive treaty, signed on 1 August, stated that Germany would defend Ottoman territory if threatened. Turkey would join Germany if German treaty obligations with Austria forced it into war, but Turkey would not fight alongside Germany unless it were threatened. Bulgaria did as well.

The German government offered the Ottoman Navy the replacement ships SMS Goeben and SMS Breslau to acquire influence. However, despite being required by international law, as a neutral party, to stop military shipping, the British quest of Goeben and Breslau failed when the Ottoman government opened the Dardanelles to allow them access to Constantinople.

The Ottoman Empire issued a general mobilization order on 2 August 1914, announcing its neutrality. The Ottoman rulers estimated that mobilization would take four weeks. Before engaging in any further interactions with Germany, Said Halim wanted to take some time to observe the unfolding circumstances. He was interested in seeing how the negotiations with Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece ended. Said Halim made two choices. First, he told the German ambassador not to meddle in military matters, and he said the German commander, General Liman von Sanders, not to interfere in politics. Second, he ordered that negotiations with the French and Russian ambassadors be restarted. Enver Pasha sent Liman von Sanders to the First Army on 9 August. The Russians saw this mission as a boost to the Strait of Malacca defences. Because he was in the First Army, Liman von Sanders was severed from the high-level decision-making process. Liman von Sanders requested his release and returned to Germany in the middle of August. When his staff informed him of the Battle of Odessa, he was utterly taken aback.

The Ottoman administration declared neutrality on 3 August. Enver informed the Russians on 5 August that he was willing to reduce the number of troops along the Russian border while strengthening the garrison in eastern Thrace to dissuade Bulgaria or Greece from considering joining the Central Powers. Said notified the Germans on 9 August that Romania had approached Constantinople and Athens about forming a trilateral neutrality pact (Ottoman–Greek–Romanian).

Said Halim beckoned the German diplomat to his office at 0100 hours on 6 August 1914, to inform him that the Cabinet had unanimously decided to open the Passages to the German light cruiser Breslau and battlecruiser Goeben, which were being pursued by Royal Navy ships, as well as any Austro-Hungarian vessels are accompanying them. Said then provided Wangenheim with six non-binding proposals, which the ambassador approved instantly and signed later that day:

• Assist in the abolition of foreign capitulations.
• Assisting with the negotiations with Romania and Bulgaria.
• Germany's adversaries took any Ottoman lands during the war, Germany would refuse to make peace until those regions were evacuated.
• If Greece joins the war and is destroyed by the Ottoman Empire, the Ottomans will reclaim the Aegean islands.
• In the Caucasus, a modification of the Ottoman boundary to bring it up to Muslim-populated Russian Azerbaijan.
• A monetary award in the event of a conflict.

These suggestions were later approved by the German government, as it appeared that they would only be used if Germany was in a position to dictate terms at the peace conference.

Wangenheim secretly purchased Ikdam, the Empire's largest newspaper, on behalf of the German government. Under the new ownership, the paper loudly denounced Britain, France, and Russia as Islam's greatest enemies while reminding readers that the German emperor was the self-proclaimed "protector" of Islam. As the American diplomat Henry Morgenthau, Sr. stated, increasing numbers of Germans, both civilians and soldiers, began to arrive in Constantinople, filling all the cafes and marching over the roads.

Enver conversed with Russian Ambassador Giers on 9 August 1914, following the Said Halim Pasha's decision on 2 August. These discussions progressed to the point that Enver offered an Ottoman-Russian alliance. On Enver's proposal, historians developed two perspectives. According to one party, the idea was a scam to mask the German connection. Other factions believe Enver was operating according to Said Halim's decision. They were attempting to find a feasible solution to keep the Empire out of war at this critical juncture. At this point, it is evident that no member of the Ottoman leadership was committed to fighting; instead, they were attempting to maximize their alternatives.

Throughout the first month of the First World War, an Ottoman–Bulgarian alliance was made in Sofia on 19 August 1914, even though both signatories were neutral at the time. The pact was signed on behalf of the Empire by Minister of the Inner President Halil Bey and Talaat Pasha of the Chamber of Assistants. On behalf of the Kingdom of Bulgaria, Prime Minister Vasil Radoslavov. Because of the lands lost following the conclusion of the Balkan Wars (1912–13), the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria expressed sympathy for one another. Moreover, they had a tense relationship with Greece as well. Therefore, it was natural and advantageous for them to contribute to establishing policies that would allow them to advance in the region. Moreover, after Turkey entered the war, the Ottoman–Bulgarian alliance may have precluded Bulgaria from joining the Central Powers.

The Porte unilaterally repudiated the capitulations granted to Western powers on 9 September 1914. The British, Italian, Russian, French, Austro-Hungarian, and German diplomats signed a joint protest message. Still, the Austro-Hungarian and German ambassadors secretly notified the Grand Vizier that they would not pursue the matter further. On 1 October, the Ottoman government increased customs duties and shuttered all foreign post offices, which the Ottoman Public Debt Administration previously oversaw.

In defiance of an 1841 treaty governing the usage of the Turkish straits connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, the Ottoman administration closed the Turkish straits to foreign commerce on 28 September, dealing a massive economic blow to Russia. The Straits of Hormuz were crucial for Russian trade and contacts with the Western Allies.

The British Cabinet voted on 2 October to end its century-long support for the Ottoman Empire in Russian threats. The Russian partnership was deemed to be more vital. After the Ottomans were defeated, the essential decision was to give Constantinople to Russia to keep it out of Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest, and Sofia. Russia has long desired sovereignty of Constantinople and the Straits, principally to gain unfettered access to the Mediterranean Sea, and in November, it agreed to these requirements.

Two Ships and One Admiral

Ahmet Cemal Pasha, the Ottoman navy minister and commander-in-chief, maintained close ties with the British through the British Military Mission, which assisted the Empire in improving the Ottoman navy. Since April 1912, Admiral Arthur Limpus has led the British expedition. Admiral Wilhelm Anton Souchon oversaw the Kaiserliche Marine's Mediterranean squadron, including the battlecruiser SMS Goeben and the light cruiser SMS Breslau. At the start of the war, portions of the British Mediterranean Fleet followed German ships. They managed to elude the British fleet and arrived in Messina, Italy, on 4 August 1914. The Germans were ordered to leave within 24 hours, as required by international law, by the Italian government. Admiral Souchon heard that Austria-Hungary would not provide naval assistance in the Mediterranean and that the Ottoman Empire remained neutral. Thus he should abandon his plans to go to Constantinople. Regardless, Souchon elected to travel to Constantinople.

Grand Vizier Said Halim Pasha beckoned the German diplomat to his office at 0100 hours on 6 August 1914 to inform him that the Cabinet had unanimously resolved to open the Straits to Goeben and Breslau well as any Austrian vessels accompanying them.

The Grand Vizier asked that the Goeben be transferred to Turkish authority through a bogus sale on 9 August. The Berlin government declined. The German ships arrived at the Dardanelles entry on 10 August, before any agreement had been made, and Enver authorized their access into the Straits. The presence of the ships, according to the Vizier, was premature and could lead to an Entente declaration of war before the requisite agreement with Bulgaria was secured. He requested a bogus sale once more.

Souchon's ships arrived in Constantinople on 11 August 1914, having eluded the British. On 16 August, Cemal Pasha chaired over the official commissioning of the Goeben and Breslau, renamed Yavuz Sultan Selim and Midilli, respectively, into the Ottoman Navy and their officers and men. The sailors donned their fezzes. The "purchase" of the German vessels was a publicity coup for the Ottomans at home, following the British seizure of the Ottoman dreadnoughts. At this time, Souchon's proper title is unknown. Souchon was under the jurisdiction of Ambassador Wangenheim as a German commander of a fleet in a foreign country. On 27 October 1913, Germany sent a military mission to Turkey, led by General Otto Liman von Sanders. Souchon was not a member of the army expedition and had limited interaction with Liman von Sanders. Said Halim was concerned because neither Souchon nor his ships were under Ottoman control at this moment.

Due to growing concerns that Turkey would enter World War I, the British naval mission to the Ottomans, which had been in place since 1912, was withdrawn in September 1914. The Ottoman fleet was taken over by Rear Admiral Wilhelm Souchon of the Imperial German Navy. The German commander of the Dardanelles fortifications, acting without orders from the Ottoman government, ordered the passage blocked on 27 September, adding to the perception that the Ottomans were pro-German. The pro-German group in the Ottoman administration wielded enough power over the pro-British faction to declare war on Russia due to the German naval presence and the success of the German armies in Europe.

On 14 September, Enver ordered Souchon to go into the Black Sea and fire on any Russian ships he came across. In a lot of respects, this was an issue. This decision, which went over Cemal Pasha's head as Navy Minister, was most likely given by Enver as acting commander-in-chief. However, Souchon's position in the chain of command was unclear. Said Halim compelled a cabinet vote on Enver's instruction, which was overturned. Souchon wants to perform training cruises at the same time. Souchon complained to Wangenheim, who permitted him to go directly to the Ottoman authority. On 18 September, the German admiral and Said Halim met for talks. This request irritated Said Halim, who Wangenheim had also assured. According to Said Halim, neither Souchon nor his ships were under Ottoman control. Admiral Limpus resigned from the British naval mission on 15 September, and it was suggested that Souchon take over the job of the retiring admiral. In early September, Admiral Guido von Usedom led a German naval deployment of around 700 sailors and coastal defence specialists to shore up the Straits' defences. Souchon was to earn a one-year commission in the Ottoman Navy, which would put him immediately under Cemal Pasha's instructions, according to the naval mission led by Guido von Usedom. In addition, Germans were prohibited from exercising in the Black Sea.

Admiral Souchon was commissioned as a Vice Admiral in the Ottoman Navy on 24 September 1914. Souchon held direct command of war instruments as Vice Admiral. Liman von Sanders was never able to achieve that level of self-sufficiency. Souchon's loyalty to the Ottoman Empire was dubious, but he allowed Germany to employ the Ottoman war machine autonomously via him.

Souchon and his ships were "partially" brought under Ottoman authority by Said Halim. Between the Empire and Souchon, there was an inadequate command relationship. In his memoir, Navy Minister Ahmet Cemal Pasha suitably overlooked these incidents. Between the 12th and the 30th of October, Cemal Pasha's memories were similarly halted.

Casus Belli

Cemal Pasha told senior officials in October that Souchon had the authority to issue directives. In his narrative, Cemal Pasha does not explain why he was granted this command. Souchon decided not to exercise in the Black Sea when he was appointed to the Ottoman Navy. Souchon sailed to the Black Sea in October with his heavily flagged and bedecked ships. Enver gave Souchon orders to manoeuvre in the Black Sea and attack the Russian navy "if a good chance presented itself" on 25 October. The Ministry of Navy ignored it because it was not delivered through the standard command channel. Sait Halim and the rest of the Ottoman cabinet were not told.

The Ottoman Navy got orders for supplying the ships stationed at the Hydarpasha on 26 October. The departure of ships for a reconnaissance exercise was announced. A sealed order from Souchon was also present. The Ottoman fleet was reorganized into four fighting wings on 28 October. Each of them travelled to a different part of the Russian coast.

Souchon was on the Goeben, his favoured vessel, on 29 October (1. wing). Several destroyers escorted him. At 6:30 a.m., he commenced fire on Sevastapol's shore batteries (2. wing). The Breslau arrived at Theodosia, a Black Sea port, around 6:30 a.m. He told the authorities that hostilities would start in two hours. From 9 a.m. to 22 a.m., he shelled the port. Then he went to Yalta and sunk several small Russian ships. He arrived in Novorossiysk at 10:50 a.m., notified the people, fired onshore batteries, and planted sixty mines. Seven boats were damaged, and one was sunk in the port (3. wing). At 6:30 a.m., two destroyers fought in the Battle of Odessa (1914). Two gunboats were dropped, and granaries were damaged.

The Allies handed Grand Vizier Said Halim Pasha a note on 29 October announcing that they had reached an agreement with Egypt. Any animosity toward Egypt would be considered a declaration of war. The Ottoman fleet as a whole returned to Constantinople on 29 October. At 17h 50, Enver wrote a congratulatory letter.

Declaration

The Ottomans refused to expel German naval and military missions, as demanded by the Allies. At the Battle of Odessa on 29 October, 6:30 a.m., the Ottoman Navy sank a Russian ship. Turkey legitimately entered the combat on the side of the Central Powers on 31 October 1914. On 1 November 1914, Russia declared war on the United States. The Bergmann Offensive of the Caucasus Campaign, which began on 2 November 1914, was the first confrontation with Russia.

The British envoy departed Constantinople on 3 November. A British naval squadron shelled the outer defensive forts at Kum Kale on the northern Asian coast and Seddülbahir on the southern point of the Gallipoli Peninsula from the Dardanelles. 86 troops were killed when a British round hit a magazine in one fort, knocking the guns off their mounts. On 2 November, the Grand Vizier apologized to the Allies for the Navy's operations. Sergey Sazonov, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, claimed that it was too late, and Russia considered the raid a war crime. The Ottoman Cabinet explained in vain that hostilities were started without its permission by German naval officers. The Allies demanded reparations to Russia, German officers from the Goeben and Breslau, and imprisonment of German ships until the war ended.

Before the Ottoman government could respond, the United Kingdom and France declared war on the Ottomans on 5 November. Later that month, the Ottomans declared Jihad (holy war), launching the Caucasus Campaign with an onslaught against the Russians to reclaim former Ottoman territory. The British landing at Basra kicked off the Mesopotamian Campaign.

Sultan Mehmed V declared war on the United Kingdom, France, and Russia on 11 November 1914. A ceremony was held on 13 November 1914 to give Sultan Mehmed V the rationale for the war. The CUP issued an official declaration of war on 14 November (party of majority at the chamber). The declaration of the Chamber (CUP) might be described as a "declaration of the war's existence." The whole thing took three days to complete. In early 1915, the Ottomans planned an operation against Egypt to occupy the Suez Canal and cut off the Mediterranean route to India and the Far East. The combat in Europe started in August 1914, and within three months, the Ottoman Empire had merged the fight on the side of Germany and Austria. In 2001, Hew Strachan claimed that, in retrospect, Ottoman belligerence was unavoidable once Goeben and Breslau were permitted into the Dardanelles and that subsequent delays were due to Ottoman unpreparedness for war and Bulgarian neutrality, rather than policy indecision.

The Battle of Odessa sparked a leadership crisis inside the Ottoman Empire. Enver received loud protests from Sait Halim and Mehmet Cavit Bey. However, because the attack was weak and carried out sporadic naval raids, it could only have been a political stunt rather than a serious military operation. The whole Cabinet, except for Enver, as opposed to the naval process, Talat told Wangenheim.

Everything was in disarray for the next two days. Sait Halim and several others offered their resignations to Sultan and Sait Haim, respectively. The Finance Minister, Mehmet Cavit Bey, was one of four ministers who resigned. Gallipoli's casualties backed up his assertion. The Ottomans would lose up to a quarter of a million soldiers out of a whole army of 315,500, even though the engagement is deemed a "win."

When Enver explained to Talat his reasons for taking a pro-interventionist stance, the turmoil began to dissipate. Russia, on the other hand, has the most relaxing effect. Russia declared war on the United States on 1 November, just two days after the United States declared war Russia on 29 October. In this turn, Sait Halim found himself speaking with Russia, the United Kingdom, and France.

After the Young Turk Revolution in October 1908, the Ministry of War drafted a new military conscription law. According to the conscription legislation, all subjects between the ages of 20 and 45 were required to serve in the military. The state could deploy more than 1 million soldiers under this draft law to be better prepared for the conflict. As a result, the collapsing Empire enjoyed several surprising victories during the war. Its ability to withstand four years of total conflict demonstrated the tenacity with which its civilian and military populations upheld the Ottoman system.

The declaration of 'holy war' was made on 13 November 1914, in the presence of Sultan Mehmed V and with the relics of the Prophet. For the first time, five legal rulings legitimized the demand for all Muslims, particularly those in countries dominated by the colonial powers of Britain, France, and Russia, to rise against the infidel. There was some enthusiasm among Arab clerics for this appeal to the Muslim community at large. Still, the Sharif of Mecca was critical, and Sharif Husayn refused to link himself with it, claiming that it may prompt a British blockade and potentially attack the Hijaz's ports. The reaction of the Islamic world as a whole was muted. Legal views in Egypt and India, for example, stated that obeying the British was mandatory. The Turkish peasantry of Anatolia bore the brunt of the responsibility of providing fighting troops, accounting for roughly 40% of the total Ottoman population at the start of the war.

A multitude of reasons conspired to sway the Ottoman administration and persuade them to join the war. The Ottoman involvement in the war was not the result of careful planning and lengthy deliberation in parliament (which had been adjourned) and the press. It was the product of a hurried decision made by a small group of elitist leaders who ignored democratic norms, lacked long-term political vision, and fell prey to German manipulations and their idealistic illusions of regaining lost Balkan territories. The Ottoman participation in the war delayed it for two years, allowing the Bolshevik revolution to develop and then burst in 1917, drastically influencing the path of world history in the twentieth century.

Russian Threat

Politically, Russia was the deciding factor. The Porte was suspicious of Britain after it joined the Triple Entente and began cultivating contacts with Russia. The Porte had progressively slid into close political links with Germany, despite objections from the parliament. The alliance between the UK and France had influenced Italy's decision to take Tripoli. Russian plans for the Straits of Malacca were well-known. The United Kingdom, France, and Russia are pitted against Germany as a result of these circumstances. Even Cemal Pasha, a pro-Entente figure, saw that the Empire had little alternative but to reach an arrangement with Germany and the Central Powers to avoid becoming alone in another crisis.

The Porte's policy would naturally lean toward Berlin's reliance. The alliance between the Ottomans and the Germans aimed to isolate Russia. The Ottoman government abandoned its neutrality and aligned with Germany for money and future control over Russian land.

Financial Position

The Empire's entire debt before the conflict was $716,000,000. France accounted for 60% of the total, Germany for 20%, and the United Kingdom for 15%. By siding with Germany, the smallest debtor, the Empire settled its debts and even earned a war indemnity. Indeed, the administration announced the cessation of foreign loan obligations when the alliance with Germany was signed. On the basis that international regulations could not be unilaterally repealed, the German ambassador proposed a combined protest with the Empire's other creditor governments. Still, no agreement could be achieved on the protest note's language.

The Inevitability of War

The fundamental point in these arguments is that the state was bound to the Central Powers by a limited group of politicians. The was more significant was what options they had. For as long as they could, the Empire attempted to remain neutral. The Empire was shown as putting everything on the line to resolve regional conflicts. According to the records, the Empire did not have finely calibrated war aims at this period. The Entente faced a strategic challenge because neither Germany nor the other Central Powers made significant sacrifices to form the Ottoman alliance. Despite Enver Pasha's activities, some historians contend that the Empire entered the war unwillingly. His commemoration of the Battle of Odessa (1914) set him apart from the rest of the government. It is thought that Enver Pasha was aware of the repercussions of Odessa ahead of time. Even if he wasn't, his defence made him appear complicit.

In just three months, the Empire had gone from neutral to full-fledged belligerence. The change in the Empire's position is due to Ambassador Wangenheim and Vice Admiral Souchon. Souchon's presence in Constantinople was unintentional, and for his service, he was awarded the Pour le Mérite, Germany's highest military order, on 29 October 1916.

The Ottoman Navy lacked a decisive naval force. As a support branch, the British Naval Mission was founded. In April 1912, Admiral Arthur Limpus arrived. The arrival of two warships built in British yards intended to turn the British Naval Mission into a full-fledged mission. Admiral Arthur Limpus' service to the Empire ended on 2 August 1914, when she took Sultân Osmân- Evvel and Reşadiye. With the dubious legality of the British requisitioning of two modern battleships and the ensuing public outrage, Admiral Souchon was appointed to the role. Germany manoeuvred to close the chasm. Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, claimed that the Ottoman Empire and the East had been cursed inexorably.