"The sick man of Europe", this is the contemptuous name given to the Ottoman Turkish Empire by the great powers. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 For more than 100 years, this once-powerful empire spanning Europe, Asia and Africa has been gradually decayed by political turmoil, military decay, ethnic conflicts, and the impact of modernizing European states. Under the intervention of Britain, France, Russia and other great powers, Greece, Serbia, Montenegro, Wallachia, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria and other imperial territories became independent, and a large number of territories were seized by foreign powers. By the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the crumbling Islamic empire had to survive in the midst of great powers, with many enemies and no allies, because no one considered it worth alliing. However, in the last six years, since the 1908 Young Turk Revolution overthrew the old Sultan "Damned Abdul" and established a government headed by his more reasonable brother and chaired by the "Unity and Progress Council", the empire that once ruled the Mediterranean has gradually shown signs of recovery in the last six years.

Under the leadership of the "little Napoleon" Enverpasha, the Young Turks were determined to rebuild their country and restore the pan-Islamic rule of the Ottoman heyday, but this was obviously not in line with the strategy of Russia, France, and Britain, all of which had ambitions for supremacy in the region, and the German Empire, which was a latecomer to the stage, also had great interests from Berlin to Baghdad. So, the ambitious German emperor decided to act as the protector of the Young Turks. After the end of the First Balkan War, Germany sent a military delegation to Turkey to help it reorganize its army, and it was effective in the Second Balkan War, which won the favor of many Turks.

In the midsummer of 1914, as the European powers were drawn into the great war one by one, the Turks had to consider their side. They were afraid of Russia and could not fully trust Germany, so they were so worried that they were at a loss for what to do. The young and handsome "hero of the revolution" Enver, with his rosy cheeks and black beard curled upwards like that of the Kaiser, was the only one who was wholeheartedly and passionately advocating an alliance with Germany, believing that Germany was the wave of the future.

Enverpasha was one of the three giants who held power in the Ottoman Empire, and the other two giants did not have the same confidence in the Germans as he did in the turbulent situation. Although they felt that Turkey would be rewarded more than the Entente for joining the German camp, they did not have much confidence that the Germans would win the war, and if the Entente won, all the Ottoman possessions would be wiped out under the pressure of the victors.

Turkey's geographical location, precisely its control over the Dardanelles, is its most strategically valuable weight. It is for this reason that for nearly a hundred years the British have acted as protectors of Turkey, preferring to have a weak, incompetent, obedient and obedient monarch on its path to India, and thus supporting the Sultan against all outsiders. A century later, Britain finally began to grow tired of being tied to what Winston Churchill politely called "a discredited, senile, dying Turkey." For a long time, the Turks had a bad reputation for being harsh, corrupt and brutal, and Europeans had been stinking about it. There have even been calls for the expulsion of the indescribably bad Turks from Europe, and the British Liberals, who had been in power since 1906, were the heirs to this famous appeal, and their policies were based on the image of the Turks as half sick men and half scoundrels

In 1909, Winston Churchill visited Constantinople and established what he envisioned "friendly relations" with Enver and the ministers of the Young Turks. Turkey's request for a permanent alliance with Britain was also rejected through Churchill in 1911, who suggested in the usual tone of the British Empire to the countries of the East that it would be better for Turkey not to alienate its friendship with Britain by "returning to the tyrannical methods of the old regime, or seeking to disturb the present state of affairs in Britain." In his capacity as Minister of the Navy, he reminded Turkey that as long as Britain remained "the only country in Europe that maintained sea supremacy," Britain's friendship would be of great use. However, neither Churchill nor any other minister ever gave serious consideration to Turkey's friendship or its position on the war. As a result, the British government pushed the Turks into the arms of the Germans by extremely foolish means - seizing and eventually confiscating two battleships ordered by the Turks, "Ressadih" and "Osama Sultan".

In contrast to the third battleship "Ahmed", which was loaned by the Ottoman Turks to Germany, the "Ressadih" and "Osama Sultan" had a typical British style. "Osama Sultan" was originally built for Brazil "Rio de Janeiro" with a displacement of up to 2. 750,000 tons, designed with 7 twin 305 mm main guns and 20 single 152 mm secondary guns, the firepower is unprecedentedly powerful, but the hull is long, and the main armor belt of the waterline is only 9 inches; "Rissadih" was specially designed and built for Turkey, although the displacement is only 2. 30,000 tons, but equipped with the most powerful 343 mm caliber guns of the British Navy, the main armor belt of the waterline has also reached 12 inches, plus a speed of 21 knots and a endurance of 5,000 nautical miles, it can be called a first-class new warship - if it can be delivered on schedule, the aging Ottoman Empire will enter the threshold of the "super dreadnought club" in one fell swoop.

On 28 July, the same day that Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, the British Navy officially announced the gratuitous requisition of "Ryssadih" and "Osama Sultan". The two warships cost Turkey 30 million dollars, which was a huge amount of money at the time. The money was raised by donations after Turkey's defeat in the Balkan wars awakened the public at home to the need to regroup its armed forces. The peasants of Anatolia all donated a few pennies. The news of the seizure of the two warships, although not yet known to the public, caused "great mental anguish" on the Ottoman government, which was not exaggerated in the words of Admiral Zemar Pasha.

The British did not bother to spend any effort to appease the Turks. Foreign Secretary Grey, in formally informing Turkey of this out-of-the-road act of piracy on the Tyne, was confident that the Turks would understand the British for taking the two warships "out of their own need in this crisis." As for Turkey's financial and other losses, which His Majesty's Government "sincerely regrets", Gray said dryly, would be given "due consideration". He didn't mention the word compensation at all. Under the influence of the combination of the two ideas of "sick man" and "bad horse", Britain finally decided that the whole Ottoman Empire was less important than two additional warships. Gray's telegram expressing regret was sent on 3 August. On the same day, Turkey and Germany signed an alliance.

Now that the Covenant had been signed, Ottoman Turkey did not immediately declare war on Russia, blockade the Black Sea, or openly take any practical action to jeopardize its neutral status. Turkey's performance in forming an alliance with a great power on its own terms suggests that it is in no hurry to help its new allies, and its undecided ministers prefer to wait and see what the first few battles of the war will look like. After Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August, the Turks became more and more hesitant, after all, Germany's military capabilities were obvious to all, but they were thousands of miles away, and at this time Turkey did not border the Central Powers, but the threat from Russia and Britain was close at hand.

On the evening of 8 August, Wilhelm Zuchon led "von der Tann" and "Breslau" to the entrance to the Darniere Strait. By this time, the news of the defeat of the British main fleet by the German navy had spread all over the world with radio signals, but the senior officials of Constantinople were still questioning its authenticity. Regardless of their attitude, there were hundreds of German military advisers who remained in the Turkish army at this time, and they were not only supported by the Turkish Army, but also had a significant influence on the rebuilding Turkish Navy - during the Balkan War, the two old Brandenburg-class battleships operated by the Turkish crew performed poorly, and the German officers and men operated the R and T submarines and high-speed torpedo boats performed convincingly, and then Germany assisted the Turks in building two modern dry docks, And on loan to build 2 for Turkey. The 50,000-ton new dreadnought "Ahmed", it can be said that Britain's influence in the Ottoman Navy is gradually being replaced by German forces.

Almost as the two German warships knocked on the Turks' door, the German ambassador to Turkey, Baron von Drex, the military attaché, Colonel Watko, and the Kaiser's envoy, Colonel von Madeska, dined at the same table as Enverpasha. At this time, the power of the Ottoman Empire was in the hands of the Big Three, with Talpasha as Prime Minister, Zemar Pasha as the head of the Navy, and Enver as Minister of Defense, and in charge of the defense of the Dardanelles, and it was clear that he was the key figure who directly determined the access of the Zuchon fleet to the Strait.

During dinner, Colonel von Kress, a member of the German military advisory group who had assisted the Turkish army in maintaining the fortified group at the southern end of the Dardanelles, hurried in and reported to Enver that the von der Tann and the Breslau had requested permission to enter the strait. Enver sat silently for several minutes, and then suddenly said, "Let the fortress let them in!" ”

The German officials at the table breathed a sigh of relief.

Then Kress asked, "If the British warships follow them, do you want to open fire on the British?" ”

Once again, Enver refused to reply, on the pretext that he had to consult the Cabinet. However, Kress insisted that the fortress could not be left without clear instructions.

"Do you want to open fire on the British?"

Finally, Enver replied, "Yes." ”

One hundred and fifty miles away, at the entrance to the strait, a Turkish destroyer sailed out of the shore and approached the "von der Tann", and all the eyes on deck were staring at it with great concern. A signal flag fluttered for a while, and was recognized as "follow me". In the middle of the night on 8 August, the von der Tann and the Breslau sailed into the Dardanelles and, in Churchill's poignant admit, brought "a slaughter, suffering, and destruction of a magnitude unprecedented for a warship."

The news was immediately telegraphed throughout the world, reaching Malta that evening, and Admiral Milne, who was still cautiously sailing eastward, was informed of it by noon the following day. Apparently, his superiors knew too little about the von der Tann's mission and ordered him to set up a blockade to block the Dardanelles "in case the German warships came out."

(End of chapter)