Ottoman War Losses 1911-15

Italy demanded Tripolitania (Libya) and declared war on September 29, 1911. The Ottoman navy could not stop the 50,000 Italians who invaded Tripoli on October 4 nor ship reinforcements. The Ottoman garrison had only 15,000 men, and the Italians gained control of the coast while meeting resistance inland. The CUP accepted a coalition government on September 30 with Said as grand vizier. The Freedom and Accord Party demanded an investigation of the Italian war, but the CUP was still more organized and won the elections again. Major Enver brought about fifty officers by way of Egypt to lead the Arab resistance in Tripolitania. The Italians bombarded the entrance to the Dardanelles in April 1912 and took over Rhodes and the Dodecanese Islands in May. Turks rallied behind the CUP, which gained seats in Said’s cabinet. On November 5 Italy proclaimed their annexation of the Tripolitanian provinces even though they only controlled the coast. The Ottoman empire organized a boycott of Italian goods, and they fought a guerrilla campaign at Derna, Tripoli, Benghazi, and Tobruk. A treaty was finally signed on October 18, 1912; but the resistance continued for twenty years, and the Italians refused to evacuate the Dodecanese.

When the CUP became autocratic, Col. Sadik formed a group called the Savior Officers with rebel officers in Rumelia and brought the government down. Mahmud Shevket lost his authority and resigned on July 9, 1912, followed by the grand vizier eight days later. On July 21 Sultan Mehmet replaced Said with the war hero Gazi Ahmed Muhtar and a coalition cabinet that included several former grand viziers. The Sultan dissolved the Chamber of Deputies on August 5 and called for new elections. The cabinet proclaimed martial law three days later and suspended the CUP’s organ Tanin on September 3.

In March 1912 Serbia and Bulgaria had begun negotiating how they could divide Macedonia, and in May they formed a military convention. On October 2 Greece and Montenegro joined with Serbia and Bulgaria in demanding control of Macedonia and mobilized for war. The Ottoman government had only 250,000 men in arms but refused to give up its sovereignty. On October 8 Montenegro invaded northern Albania, and in the next few days the Balkan states declared war. The Ottoman army did not withdraw and was defeated at Kirklareli and Lüleburgaz by the Bulgarians and at Kumanovo by the Serbians, who also took Kosovo and then Pristina and Novipazar with the Montenegrans. Having taken Thrace, the Bulgarians also surrounded Edirne and Istanbul. The Muhtar cabinet resigned, and Kamil became grand vizier again at the end of October. In November the Balkan allies advanced within forty miles of Istanbul, and violent demonstrations broke out in the capital. The Ottomans agreed to an armistice on December 3. At the London conference they asked the European powers to give up their capitulary provisions that had allowed them to control customs duties and avoid taxes.

On January 23, 1913 Enver led a coup d’état by CUP officers in Istanbul who shot dead the minister of War Nazim and forced the Grand Vizier Kamil to resign. General Mahmud Shevket became grand vizier and War minister, and Cemal Bey was made commander of the First Army in Istanbul. They refused to give up besieged Edirne and suspended the talks. A Committee of National Defense was led by the Sultan, and on February 14 general amnesty was proclaimed. Janina fell to the Greeks on March 6, and starving Edirne submitted on March 28. After a second armistice in April the Ottoman empire signed the Treaty of London on June 9, ceding its European territory west of a line from Enos on the Aegean Sea to Midia on the Black Sea. After Mahmud Shevket was assassinated on June 15, the CUP launched a campaign to crush opposition. A new cabinet was appointed that was dominated by the CUP with Said Halim as grand vizier. Cemal put the capital under martial law again. The military government was dominated by the pashas Enver, Talat, and Cemal for the next five years. Talat had served in the CUP government, mostly as minister of the Interior.

Bulgarians, dissatisfied with the territorial results, launched a pre-emptive strike against Serbia and Greece on June 29, but they were defeated by Serbia, Greece, Montenegro, and Rumania. During this second Balkan War the Ottoman army led by Enver managed to recapture Edirne from Bulgaria on July 23. Bulgaria lost its recent gains in Macedonia in the Treaty of Bucharest on August 10 and Edirne in a treaty signed on September 29. Bulgaria did retain some of eastern Macedonia, giving them eighty miles of coast on the Aegean Sea. In these wars the Ottoman empire lost five-sixths of its European territory, more than two-thirds of its population who were mostly Christians, and revenues and food that supplied Istanbul. The Asian portion of the empire remained, but the capital was stressed and turned to strong leadership. The capitulations to the Europeans were abolished, and the same laws applied to everyone. They gave local administrators more authority and attempted to end corruption. Elementary education was made free and compulsory, and Turkish was used in all schools. Enver became minister of War in January 1914, and he organized an elite force led by Suleyman Askeri, who promoted pan-Islamism and pan-Turkism.

Ziya Gokalp (1876-1924) was the first sociologist at the University of Istanbul, and in 1911 he began helping Yusuf Akçura publish Turkish Homeland. He advocated reforming education with equal opportunities for women. He also wrote poetry and children’s stories based on Turkish legends to instill Turkish traditions. He taught that tribes developed into religious communities and then into nations. Culture is national, but the advances of civilization are international. Thus the scientific and technological advances of the West could be adopted while retaining Turkish culture. Gokalp emphasized the ethical aspects of Islam that would not interfere with modern Turkish culture. Gokalp has been called the “father of Turkish nationalism,” and in 1911 he suggested that Turks are the “supermen” described by Nietzsche. He believed that nationalism was the new religion of the twentieth century. He also emphasized modernity and took Japan as a model.  He has been accused of advocating that Muslims should dominate others. In 1915 he proposed that the religious courts, schools, and foundations be secularized, and this was implemented in the next two years. Gokalp also urged the CUP to give women equal rights in marriage, inheritance, education, and in economic and social reforms. Women could attend schools, but in the higher schools and colleges they had to attend separate classes from men. In 1916 a law was passed that enabled women to divorce a husband for adultery, polygamy, or violation of the marriage contract.

Germany caught up with Britain and France in its economic involvement in the Ottoman empire. After the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist on June 28, 1914, Cemal asked the government in Paris for an alliance; but France and Britain declined the Ottoman offer. Enver proposed a defensive alliance with Germany to the German ambassador Wangenheim on July 28. Enver, Talat, and Grand Vizier Said Halim secretly negotiated with the Germans and signed an agreement on August 2, one day after Russia mobilized against Austria and Germany. Both sides would be neutral in an Austro-Serbian conflict; but if Russia forced Germany into the war, the Ottoman empire would join the Central Alliance; Germany would protect the Ottoman empire. The agreement was to be ratified within a month by the Kaiser and Sultan and would remain secret. The Sultan ratified the agreement without the Chamber of Deputies by sending them home until the end of November. Enver founded the Special Organization (Teshkilati Mahsusa) to eliminate Armenians from the Ottoman empire.

On August 1 Winston Churchill of the British Admiralty had commandeered two new battleships that the British had built and sold to the Ottomans, making Turks who had contributed to this purchase angry. Two German ships had bombarded French bases in North Africa on August 3 and were pursued by the British navy. Enver let them pass into Ottoman waters, and he responded to British complaints by taking them into the Ottoman fleet to help defend the Dardanelles. The Ottomans cancelled the capitulations to the Europeans on September 7, and one week later Navy minister Cemal authorized Admiral Souchon to attack Russian ships. Enver wanted more time to prepare for war, but he gave in to German pressure and financial guarantees on October 25. Two days later Admiral Souchon led a naval squadron to attack the Russian fleet in the Black Sea and destroyed several ships. Russia declared war on the Ottoman empire on November 2 and was followed by Britain and France three days later. The British annexed Cyprus, and on December 18 they promised to protect independent Egypt. On November 11 the Sultan declared war and called upon all Muslims to help fight a holy war against the British, French, and Russians. Three days later the sheikh-ul-Islam Mustafa Hayri formally declared a jihad in Istanbul. Armenian men between the ages of 20 and 45 were conscripted into the army, and a few months later men 45-60 were put to work in army labor battalions.

The British captured Basra on November 21, but their advance up the river toward Baghdad was very slow. Russians attacked on the Caucasus front in November; but the Ottoman army stopped them, and Enver led a counter-attack in December. However, the Turks were defeated at Sarikamish in January 1915, and only 12,000 of 90,000 troops survived the winter cold. Also in January 80,000 Ottoman troops led by Cemal tried to take over the Suez Canal, but they were defeated. A second attempt in 1916 also failed. The early defeats led to making Armenians the scapegoats, and on February 25 the Armenians in the army were disarmed and  put in the labor battalions. Dr. Behaeddin Shakir was put in charge of the Special Organization in the east, and he formed killing squads to exterminate Armenians. British and French warships attacked the Dardanelles Straits in February and March 1915. An amphibious attack on Gallipoli by British and Australians began on April 25, but they could not overcome the Ottoman defenses. More landings occurred in August, and in January 1916 the Entente troops withdrew. The British suffered 213,980 casualties and the Ottomans 120,000.

Entente forces invaded Greece on September 12, 1915 but had to pull back as the Austro-German-Bulgarian alliance conquered Serbia in October. The Austrians occupied Albania, and the Bulgars invaded most of Macedonia.