8. Turkey Joins the War¶
Core Argument¶
In the terminal decline of the Ottoman Empire, the Young Turks seized power in 1908, driven by a vision of modernisation and imperial resurgence. Enver Pasha, the supreme commander, harboured ambitions to reconquer Central Asia from Russia, while pro-German sentiment pervaded the officer corps. Unable to remain neutral despite the empire’s semi-feudal structure, economic collapse, and military exhaustion, the Ottomans signed a secret alliance with Germany in August 1914 and entered the First World War on the side of the Central Powers. Germany sought to exploit Turkey’s position to incite Muslim revolt against Britain in India and Afghanistan. In October 1914, Enver Pasha ordered the Ottoman fleet to attack Russian ports in the Black Sea, formally bringing the empire into the conflict.
The ensuing Turkish offensive against Russia in the Caucasus culminated in December 1914 at the Battle of Sarikamish, a catastrophic defeat in which the Ottomans suffered 86 per cent losses. Enver Pasha blamed Christian Armenians for the disaster, setting the stage for the Armenian genocide of 1915–17, during which approximately 1.5 million Armenians were deported and killed. Meanwhile, Winston Churchill, as First Lord of the Admiralty, pushed for a naval expedition to seize the Dardanelles Straits. The attack failed, and Allied troops landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, only to be pinned down on beachheads. The Allies underestimated the tenacity of Ottoman soldiers defending their homeland, and the campaign degenerated into a bloody stalemate mirroring the Western Front.
The Allies’ August 1915 offensive at Suvla Bay, Anzac Cove, and Helles initially advanced against light opposition but stalled due to hesitant commanders, allowing Ottoman reinforcements to solidify their defences. An Ottoman attack on 19 May failed with heavy losses; a British renewal on 6 August landed 20,000 troops but was defeated by Mustafa Kemal’s forces after he ordered his men to die. Allied troops endured heat, thirst, flies, sickness, and winter cold; 15,000 were evacuated in November with frostbite and trench foot. General Hamilton requested 95,000 reinforcements but received barely a quarter. By mid-October, evacuation was considered; Hamilton opposed it, claiming fifty per cent casualties, but was replaced by Monro, who recommended evacuating 105,000 troops. The evacuation began on 7 December 1915 and ended on 9 January 1916, succeeding without Ottoman attack. The campaign cost the Allies 350,000 casualties (46,000 dead) and the Ottomans 250,000 casualties (65,000 dead). Churchill resigned as First Lord of the Admiralty. For Turkey, the victory was a national triumph; Kemal later became Kemal Atatürk, founder of modern Turkey.