Though the Ottoman
Empire
had signed a secret treaty with Germany to declare war on Russia early
in August, the Ottoman government had been reluctant to honor this treaty
(partly on the grounds it was debatable if the treaty was legally valid as it
had not been signed by the Ottoman Head of State). Despite the fact that the
Ottoman military had been eager to join the war the nation had remained neutral.
On October 29, 1914 the Ottoman Navy forced the Ottoman Empire's hand. When the
German Navy turned over the ships the Goeben and the Breslau to the Ottoman Navy
it also permitted the captains of these ships to become advisors for the
Ottoman navy and Admiral Wilhelm Souchon, who commanded the Breslau was made
commander of the Ottoman Navy. On October 29, 1914 two ships from the Ottoman
navy, under orders from Admiral Wilhelm Souchon, attacked the Russian navy
while in port in the Russian city of Odessa. The Ottoman government had not
sanctioned the attack and tried to resolve the situation diplomatically. The Russian
government would have none of this, and would declared war on the Ottoman
Empire on November 2, 2014. This gave the factions in the Ottoman Empire that
wanted war what they hoped for and it dragged the factions that were trying to
avoid war into supporting the military because what choice did they have. War
had come and if it had to be fought, then it had to be won.
No comments:
Post a Comment