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War in The Middle East (1914-1916) - From Online Documentary Based On HEW STRACHAN BOOK
War in The Middle East (1914-1916) - From Online Documentary Based On HEW STRACHAN BOOK
The call goes out for Jihad, Holy War. Germany hoped her new ally Turkey would do
just what it was told, and the Allies thought Turkey would be a pushover. But the war
in the Middle East went its own, wild way.
The Kaiser had been cultivating the Ottoman Empire long before the war began.
He wore a fez on state visits. He was nicknamed Haji Wilhelm, following rumours
that he had become a Muslim and made the pilgrimage to Mecca. The 300 million
Muslims scattered across the globe can be assured that the German Emperor is and
will at all times remain their friend.
Part of Germany's interest in Ottoman Turkey was that they shared a common
enemy: Russia.
Turkey's position, controlling the Dardanelle Straits, gave her the power to lock
Russia up in the Black Sea. And Turkey shared a volatile border with Russia in the
Caucasus.
Russia is the hereditary enemy of the Ottoman Empire, and her greatest desire is
the possession of Constantinople. The Ottoman Empire once stretched from the
Arabian Peninsula to the gates of Vienna. But it had lost a third of its territory in a
run of disastrous wars. The Ottoman Empire was the sick man of Europe, broke and
on the verge of collapse. The great powers have grasped us by the throat.
The Government can't pay monthly salaries. All the public services are under the
control of privileged foreign capital. It would be very easy for a patriot to go out of
his mind. But one group of nationalist reformers planned to stop the rot, the Young
Turks.
In 1909, they replaced the Sultan with his brother as a puppet, and started a
programme of modernisation. They looked for an ally to ward off predators and
bankroll the future. The ambitious Minister of War favoured Germany. Just 32 years
old, Enver Pasha had risen through the ranks, married the Sultan's niece, and lived
in splendour in Constantinople, also known as Istanbul.
Enver Pasha had been military attach in Berlin. The Germans had the power his
country needed.
I watched a parade of 33.000 German soldiers. It was so excellent it makes one's
mouth water. The reason I love Germany is not sentimentality, but the fact that she
is not a danger to my beloved country.
On the contrary, our two countries' interests go hand in hand.
Chief of the German General Staff, Helmuth von Moltke, ruled out Turkey as an ally.
Turkey is militarily a non-entity. If Turkey was described before as a sick man, it must
now be described as a dying man.
The flamboyant Baron Max von Oppenheim made the Kaiser think again. An
archaeologist and consular official, Oppenheim passed himself off as an Islamic
expert. He was also a German agent. He advocated a Holy War to bring down the
British Empire. When the Turks invade Egypt and India is set ablaze with the flames