The Ottoman Empire's entry into World War I began on 29 October 1914 when two recently purchased ships of its navy, which were still crewed by German sailors and commanded by their German admiral, carried out the Black Sea Raid, a surprise attack against Russian ports. Russia replied by declaring war on 1 November 1914. Russia's allies, Britain and France, declared war on the Ottoman Empire on 5 November 1914. The reasons for the Ottoman action were not immediately clear.Ali Balci, et al. "War Decision and Neoclassical Realism: The Entry of the Ottoman Empire into the First World War." War in History (2018), The Ottoman government had declared neutrality in the war and negotiations with both sides were underway.
The decision would ultimately lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Ottoman citizens, the Armenian genocide, the dissolution of the empire, and the abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate.Ordered to Die: A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War, by Huseyin (FRW) Kivrikoglu, Edward J. Erickson Page 211."Military Casualties-World War-Estimated", Statistics Branch, GS, War Department, 25 February 1924; cited in World War I: People, Politics, and Power, published by Britannica Educational Publishing (2010) Page 219Totten, Samuel, Paul Robert Bartrop, Steven L. Jacobs (eds.) Dictionary of Genocide. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008, p. 19. .
Background
In the early 20th century, the Ottoman Empire had a reputation as the "sick man of Europe" after a century of slow relative decline. The Ottomans were weakened by political instability, military defeat, civil strife and uprisings by national minorities.
The economic resources of the Ottoman Empire were depleted by the cost of the First Balkan War in 1912 and Second Balkan War in 1913. The French, British, and Germans had offered financial aid. A pro-German faction, which was influenced by the former Ottoman military attaché in Berlin Enver Pasha, opposed the pro-British majority in the Ottoman cabinet and tried to secure closer relations with Germany. In December 1913, the Germans sent General Otto Liman von Sanders and a military mission to Constantinople. The geographical position of the Ottoman Empire meant that Russia, France, and Britain had a mutual interest in the Ottomans's neutrality in a European war.
In 1908, the Young Turks seized power in Constantinople and installed Sultan Mehmed V as a figurehead in 1909. The new regime implemented a program of reform to modernise the Ottoman political and economic system and to redefine its racial character. The Young Turks restored the Ottoman constitution of 1876 and reconvened the Ottoman parliament, which effectively started the Second Constitutional Era. The Young Turk movement members, which was once underground, established declared political parties. Among them were major parties the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) and the Freedom and Accord Party, also known as the Liberal Union or Liberal Entente (LU). A general election was held in October and November 1908 in which the CUP became the majority party.
Germany, an enthusiastic supporter of the new regime, provided investment capital. German diplomats gained influence and German officers assisted in training and re-equipping the Ottoman Army, but Britain remained the predominant power in the region.
The Ottoman Army faced many challenges including the Italo-Turkish War in 1911, the Balkan Wars from 1912 to 1913, unrest on the periphery such as in the Yemen Vilayet and the Hauran Druze Rebellion, and continuous political unrest in the empire such as the 31 March Incident and coups in 1912 and 1913. At the onset of the First World War, the Ottoman Army had already been involved in continuous fighting for three years.
The international political climate in the early 20th century was a multipolar one, with no single or two states pre-eminent. Multipolarity had traditionally afforded the Ottomans the ability to play off one power against the others, which occurred several times with consummate skill, according to the author Michael Reynolds. Germany had supported Abdul Hamid II's regime and acquired a strong foothold. Initially, the newly-formed CUP and LU turned to Britain. The Ottomans hoped to break France and Germany's hold and acquire greater autonomy for the Porte by encouraging Britain to compete against Germany and France.
Hostility toward Germany increased when its ally Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908. The pro-CUP Tanin went so far as to suggest that Vienna's motive in carrying out this act was to strike a blow against the constitutional regime and provoke a reaction to bring about its fall. Two prominent CUP members, Ahmed Riza and Dr. Nazim, were sent to London to discuss the possibility of cooperation with Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign Secretary, and Sir Charles Hardinge, a senior Foreign Office official.
In early 1914, in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars, the CUP became convinced that only an alliance with Britain and the Entente could guarantee the survival of what remained of the empire. Sir Louis du Pan Mallet who became Britain's Ambassador to the Porte in 1914, noted:
The CUP would not accept such proposals since it felt betrayed by what it considered was the European Powers' bias against the Ottomans during the Balkan Wars and so it had no faith in Great Power declarations regarding the empire's independence and integrity. The termination of European financial control and administrative supervision was one of the principal aims of CUP's movement. Ambassador Mallet seemed totally oblivious to this.
Russian position Russia's expanding economy was quickly becoming dependent on the Ottoman Straits for exports. A quarter of Russian products passed through the Straits. Control of the Straits and Constantinople were high priorities for Russian diplomatic and military planning.Ronald Bobroff, Roads to Glory: late imperial Russia and the Turkish Straits (IB Tauris, 2006). During the public disorders of the Young Turk Revolution and 31 March Incident, Russia considered landing troops in Constantinople. In May 1913, the German military mission assigned Otto Liman von Sanders to help train and reorganize the Ottoman army. That was intolerable for the Russians, and Russia developed a plan for invading and occupying either the Black Sea port of Trabzon or the eastern Anatolian town of Bayezid in retaliation. Russia could not find a military solution for a full invasion, which the small occupation might become.
As there was to be no solution by the naval occupation of Constantinople, the next option was to improve the Russian Caucasian Army. In supporting its army, Russia established local links to regional groups within the Empire. It resolved that the army and navy, as well as the ministries of finance, trade and industry, would work together to solve the transport problem, achieve naval supremacy, and increase the number of men and artillery pieces assigned to amphibious operations. Russian Army would need to carry out these operations during mobilisation. They also attempted to expand Russia's Caucasian rail network toward the Ottoman Empire. Russia demanded the implementation of an Armenian reform package.
German position More than any other country, Germany had been paying favourable attention to the Ottoman Empire in preceding decades. There was collaboration in terms of finance, trade, railroads, and military advice. In 1913, German General Liman von Sanders started working to modernise the Ottoman Army. When the war began, he was given command of the defence of Gallipoli, which was a defeat for the Allies.Ulrich Trumpener, "Liman von Sanders and the German-Ottoman alliance." Journal of Contemporary History 1.4 (1966): 179-192.
Germany had harboured imperial ambitions since 1890, which had not been successful. By 1909, it became clear that the Germans would not prevail in the Anglo-German naval arms race. Even with its technological superiority, Germany's energy infrastructure was unable to support battleships in distant waters. Germany was weak relative to the other European colonial powers and sought a strategic alliance with the Ottomans. The Baghdad Railway would have advanced Germany's imperial ambitions, including the settlement of Germans in Anatolia, and given the Germans greater flexibility in transporting their troops to the Persian Gulf and then to British India. As soon as the railway was proposed, it became a point of tension between the Germans and the British. The latter considered southern Persia to be within their sphere of influence, and that German influence should not have been projected there.
However, in June 1914, Berlin agreed not to construct the line south of Baghdad. They also agreed to recognise Britain's preponderant interest in the region. The issue was resolved to the satisfaction of both sides and did not play a role in causing the war.
Alliances During the July Crisis over the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914, German diplomats offered the Ottomans an anti-Russian alliance and territorial gains in Caucasia, north-western Iran and Trans-Caspia. The pro-British faction in the cabinet was isolated because the British ambassador had taken leave until 18 August. As the crisis deepened in Europe, the Ottomans had a policy to obtain a guarantee of territorial integrity and other potential advantages. They were unaware that the British might enter a European war. On 30 July 1914, two days after the outbreak of the war in Europe, the Ottoman leaders agreed to form a secret Ottoman-German Alliance against Russia. The alliance did not require them to undertake military action.
On 22 July, Ottoman Minister of War Enver Pasha proposed an Ottoman–German alliance to Baron Hans Freiherr von Wangenheim, the German ambassador in Constantinople. Germany turned down the proposal since it considered the Ottomans as having nothing of value to offer. Grand Vizier Said Halim Pasha had made similar propositions to the Austro-Hungarian ambassador. Enver had been military attaché in Berlin from 1909 to 1911. Despite this his relations with the German military mission, mainly personal relation to Otto Liman von Sanders, were not good. He put his faith in his soldiers and army and deeply resented German military intervention. Neither diplomat accepted the proposals. Cemal Pasha was sent to Paris in July 1914 for the same purpose and returned to Constantinople with French military decorations but no alliance. Initially, the Ottoman government, especially Minister of State Talaat Pasha, had advocated siding with the British. The British declined the offer.
On 28 July 1914, Winston Churchill asked for the requisition of two modern warships being built by British shipyards for the Ottoman navy. They were , which had been completed and was making preparations to leave, and . Despite questions about the legality of such a seizure, the request was granted at a Cabinet meeting on 31 July, together with an offer to the Ottomans to pay for the ships. On 2 August, the British requisitioned them, which alienated pro-British elements in Constantinople. Enver Pasha, knowing that the Ottomans would lose them, had offered to sell the ships to Germany in a renewed attempt at obtaining an alliance.. After Enver's 22 July approach to Germany had been rejected, Kaiser Wilhelm II ordered for an alliance to be reconsidered. Renewed negotiations started on 28 July, involving Enver, Talaat and Said Halim Pasha. In the resulting secret defensive treaty, signed on 1 August, Germany undertook to defend the Ottomans' territory if it was threatened. The Ottomans would join with Germany if German treaty obligations with Austria-Hungary forced it into war but would not fight on Germany's side unless Bulgaria also did so.