Sick man of Europe : Ottoman Empire, 1914

[makif130289]

OTTOMAN EMPIRE

1914

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I : INTRODUCTION

PART II : ASSASSINATION OF FRANZ FERDINAND

PART III : JULY CRISIS

PART IV : THE GREAT WAR

PART V : GERMAN OFFENSIVE

PART VI : ESCAPE OF GOEBEN AND BRESLAU

PART VII : DECLARATION OF HOLY WAR

PART VIII : MOBILIZATION

PART IX : BULGARIA JOINS CENTRAL POWERS

[HMAS-Nameless]

woo!

[eleinvisible]

Sorry, I'm quite dense. Is that man leaning forward Ataturk? Just seems familiar...

[makif130289]

Sorry, I'm quite dense. Is that man leaning forward Ataturk? Just seems familiar...

Yes, he is Ataturk, at Gallipoli.

[makif130289]

PART I : INTRODUCTION

Enver Pasha, leader of Ittihadi Party, strongly pro-German

Ittihadis took power after the restoration of the constitutional monarchy in 1908. Between 1908 and 1913, Ittihadis governed the country indirectly. With Bab-ı Ali putch in 1913, Ittihadi Party became the only power in the country. Triumvirate of Talat, Enver and Cemal Pashas are shaping the policies of Ottoman Empire. They also cooperate with old Abdulhamid II era pashas like Said Halim to protect balance of the country and to gain more experience.



Ottoman cabinet in 1914

Empire lost huge amount of territory in the last millenium. The entire Balkans, Egypt and Libya have been lost. The one of the primary objectives of Ittihadis is to restore lost territories.



Ottoman Empire in 1914

The Army is in bad shape and highly politicized. It lost substantial amount of territory to Balkan states. Balkan wars decreased the morale very much. All European Powers expected Ottomans to win the Balkan War of 1912, but Ottoman Army's performance was a disaster. Even Edirne, the old capital of the Empire was occupied by the Bulgarians. The Army have many divisions on paper but most of them are severely understrength. Now, Ittihadis are trying to rearrange the Army again. Navy sits at docks since Abdulhamid II and it is very obsolete.





Situation of Army and Navy

Economical situation of the Empire is simply miserable. Industry is very limited and economical concessions given to European Powers make it almost impossible to protect the local producers. The empire is unable to raise tariffs and European machine-produced goods dominated the market. Liberal industralisation policies of Cavid Bey didn't produce much results. Ottoman economy is under control of European goods. Furthermore, loss of Balkans meant the loss of one third of entire Ottoman economy. But now, Ittihadis seek ways to abolish economical capitulations to follow more protectionist policies. Industrialisation is the common and most important aim of Young Turks. Manpower situation is also no good. Birth rates are slow due to malnutrition and poverty, also the Empire lost huge amount of population in Balkan Wars three years ago.

Ottoman industrial capacity is 29 IC. Comparing this with German 170 IC and British 149 IC is enough to show economical situation of the Empire.



Ottoman Economy in 1914

[Cybvep]

What are those shadow ministers doing there?

[makif130289]

What are those shadow ministers doing there?

you should ask this to DH devs. Mehmed Djaved should also be Mehmed Cavid. Mustafa Ismet also has nothing to do with Chief of the Army position.

[fizy45]

Lots of terrible mistakes in ministers Ismet was just a officer at those times and Enver was the most powerful man in the Empire...

[makif130289]

Lots of terrible mistakes in ministers Ismet was just a officer at those times and Enver was the most powerful man in the Empire...

Representation of Enver Pasha is true. Said Halim Pasha was sadrazam in 1914. Head of State is naturally the Sultan. So, the most suitable place for Enver Pasha is Chief of Staff. However, Ismet is simply absurd.

[Maj. von Mauser]

The Ottoman Empire seems to be plagued by terminal poor research.

[^_AC_^]

Regarding the ministers, please post your suggestions in the Suggestions subforum of DH. Obviously we'll correct them if wrong. Thanks.

[fizy45]

Representation of Enver Pasha is true. Said Halim Pasha was sadrazam in 1914. Head of State is naturally the Sultan. So, the most suitable place for Enver Pasha is Chief of Staff. However, Ismet is simply absurd.

No its not Enver Pasa was like the dictator of the Ottoman Empire he was the person who agreed with Germans to enter the war....

[makif130289]

No its not Enver Pasa was like the dictator of the Ottoman Empire he was the person who agreed with Germans to enter the war....

yes but, in game terms sadrazam corresponds to the head of government which is clearly Said Halim Pasha. Three Pashas were the real power in the Empire, Talat was in charge of interior affairs ( minister of security is suitable for this), Cemal Pasha was officially Bahriye Nazırı ( Chieff of the Navy) and Enver Pasha has control of the Army which corresponds to Chief of Staff in game terms.

[Tobit]

My first game, was as the ottomans and I only got about an hour into it. My problem is that you really can't do much of anything to prepare for war. So I decided to go Democratic for the heck of it.

[makif130289]

PART II : ASSASSINATION OF FRANZ FERDINAND

Assassination of Archiduke Franz Ferdinand

Istanbul Technical University is given the task of bringing some new industrial techniques to the country. Enver Pasha who is commander-in-chief of the armed forces began to institute new rules into military in order to increase discipline of the Ottoman Army.




Minister of Economy Cavid Bey began to implement more interventionist economic policies. According to the most of Ittihadi politicians, protectionism is the only way for Ottoman Empire to improve its bad economy.




Enver Pasha ordered the formation of new infantry divisions. Due to the lack of domestic military industry, necessar weapons for new formations cannot be produced at full speed. Enver Pasha also ordered the understrength divisions to call reserves. We need 250.000 men to fully mobilize our troops. Currently, we only have 100.000 reserves.




June 28, 1914

Serbian nationalist named as Gavrilo Princip assasinated Archiduke Franz Ferdinand.





We have 10 divisions near Russian border under command of Cevat Pasha. Enver Pasha ordered 3 more divisions to move to the Russian border but arrival of these divisions will take months as they are moving on foot. Necessary railway transportation system is not available in these regions.



Ottoman Army near Russian border

[makif130289]

PART III : JULY CRISIS

Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Leopold Berchtold, favouring decisive war against Serbia

July 18, 1914

Austria-Hungary delivered a very harsh ultimatum to Serbia following the assassination of the Archiduke. The terms were so harsh that Austro-Hungarian diplomat Count Hayos said that "the demands were really of such a nature that no nation that still possessed self-respect and dignity could possibly accept them”. Immediately after the issue of ultimatum, Serbian regent Alexander went to Russia and met with Russian Foreign Minister Sazonov. Sazonov promised that Tsar would support its Slavic brothers under any circumstances, including the possibility of the war.




July 26, 1914

Serbian government accepted all the conditions of the ultimatum except for the sixth point which is the operation of Austro-Hungarian police in the Serbian territory. With the tensions rising to the alarming levels in the Europe, Enver Pasha ordered the acceleration of conscription.




July 30, 1914

French socialist leader Jaures who is known as ardent anti-militarist was assassinated.




Ottoman Western Army consists of 9 divisions under command of Hasan Izzet Pasha.



Ottoman Western Border

[makif130289]

PART IV : THE GREAT WAR

German troops moving to the front, A message on the car spells out "Trip to Paris"

August 1, 1914

Austria-Hungary declaresd war on Serbia. Russia began to mobilize immediately to go to war against Austria-Hungary. Wilhelm II of Germany sent a letter to Tsar Nicholas demanding demobilization of Russia. Nicholas rejected the demand and wanted Wilhelm II to prevent Austria- Hungary from going too far. Germany whose all miltiary plans depended on the late Russian mobilization, began to mobilize as well. German military plans anticipate that Germany will finish the War in the West before the long Russian mobilization is completed. Thus, Russian mobilization meant that Germany should be quick to take action.






August 2, 1914

Germany asked France that if she would remain neutral in case of a war between Russia and Germany. The French replied that France would fulfill the obligations of the Alliance treaty of 1894. Germany decided to implement its military plans without losing time. German Plans anticipate the quick defeat of France in the West and then turning to the East against Russia. Germany declared war on France early this morning.






August 3, 1914

German Army is preparing for major offensive against the French.




August 4, 1914

German troops began to cross Belgian border in order to implement Schlieffen Plan. According to Schlieffen Plan, German Army will invade France through Belgium and will win rapid victory over France. The plan is devised upon the difference of speed of mobization between France and Russia. Germany have to defeat France before Russian mobilization is complete. For this purpose, neutrality of Belgium will be disregarded and Germany will sweep Northern France and then will turn towards the South in order to encircle the French Army in the South. However, The British guaranteed the independence of Belgium and warned Germany about not to invade neutral Low countries.






Schlieffen Plan


August 5, 1914

Following the beginning of invasion of Belgium, The British government declared war on Germany. Now, local Austrian - Serbian War turned into the European War.

[makif130289]

I decided to play WWI scenario with 1.01.1 patch and to see how good it became. If anyone is interested, I am reviving this Ottoman AAR.

[makif130289]

PART V : GERMAN OFFENSIVE

French soldiers in the Battle of Nancy

August 8, 1914

Greece refused to enter Entente.




August 14, 1914

Japan declared war on Germany to grab German colonial possessions in the Pacific. Luxemburg surrendered to Germany




August 16, 1914

German Army captured Warsaw.




August 18, 1914

German Army captured Nancy.




Ittihadi Views on the War

Enver Pasha and Talat believe that Germany would win decisive victory over France and Russia. According to them, If Ottoman Empire ally with Germany, then it may take Caucasus from Russia and Egypt from Britain. Furthermore, German victory over Entente would put an end to all economical concessions and thus would allow Ittihadis to implement effective industrialisation policies.

Cemal Pasha believes that Entente would eventually win the war and it would be better to ally with them. This way, Ottoman Empire would gain the goodwill of Entente Powers and they would be willing to end economical concessions after the war.

Apart from Three Pashas, A lot of people in Ittihadi Party believes that the best choice for Ottoman Empire is to stay neutral. According to them, The Empire lacks necessary industrial production, manpower and infrastructure to wage war against Entente or Central Powers. Such a war would only bring destruction to already exhausted Empire.


September 7, 1914

German advancement in France so far :




September 8, 1914

Conscription continues throughout the Empire. 30.000 men were conscripted since the beginning of the War. Formations of new divisions were stopped in favor of conscription to existing divisions.




September 12, 1914

In the East, German advance slowed down.




September 13, 1914

Germans cancelled our trade agreement with them. This will make our foreign exchange deficit even bigger. We have to find new resources to import necessary military materials and to fund our researches.

[Leviathan07]

interesting. germany is not doing well in the west. Here's to hoping you will have an interesting war