In 1911, the Ottoman kingdom was merely a shadow of it's former glory. During the 1500's, the kingdom's vast holdings reached from Tunisia to the persian gulf, to the Caspian sea, and the very gates of Vienna itself. Now, 400 years later, the ottomans had little more than pieces of the old, mainly the middle east, Libya, small parts of the Balkans and the rest were either sovereign countries of their own, or under the rule of foreign powers.
And more trouble was yet to come. The newly independent and highly prideful Balcan states, especially the Bulgarians and Greeks grew ever more greedy and ambitious. This is where it all begins.
It was the night after the new year's celebration, or however it could be celebrated, given the circumstances. Sultan Mehmed the fifth, now a mere figurehead for the rule of the three Pashas, was taking a stroll in the garden, and listening to the distant sounds.
Pasha (to self): Hmm must be bad weather coming on tonight. Better get the dogs inside the palace, and wear something warm.
A breathless aide rushes in to the garden.
"Excellency! It is terrible news! *gasp*
Excellency, the navy holding off the allied balkan states' navy and the Russian third fleet has been totally wiped out! Italian troops have landed in Cyrenaica, Rhodes, and near Antalya. The English have taken all of the middle east, and are now crossing over to the Anatolias, and our fifth army has been slaughtered by the Russians."
"And what of the bad news aide?"
"The Bulgarian and Greek armies are one hour away from where you are now standing."
"What?!"
At the same moment, a particularly powerful sound of thunder erupted in the distance. The aide ran away in horror, and only a few moments later, heavy artillery shells started ripping apart the palace grounds.
A single shell landed only 5 feet in front of Pasha, and his face and body caught hundreds of small shrapnels, one entering through his left eye, and killing him instantly.
Pasha: AAAAHHHH!!! What... How... Ohh, thank Allah, it was only a dream.
He heard a voice in the room.
"Not a dream, but a warning of the things to come.. Reclaim your destiny of be annihilated!"
A bright flash of light covered the room for a short while, and then it was dark and quiet again. After a while, Pasha fell asleep again.
Next morning, 10 am council meeting with the three Pashas and the military leadership.
As usual, the sultan opened the meeting with a speech.
"Good morning gentlemen. Before we start this meeting and burrow into the matters at hand, let me just say this. To the three Pashas, you are as of now, stripped from any and all rights to the leadership of this country, and will be here only by my suffrance as military generals. If you resist, you will be executed at once.
At the same moment, 3 heavily armed guards took positions between the three Pashas and each aimed a heavy rifle at the back of Pashas' necks.
"No dissention? Good, we can begin. For a time now, the new Balcan countries, especially the Greeks, have been an unusually great pain in the ass. I have decided this must end NOW! Kemal Pasha, i am ordering you to gather our entire armies, amass them at the Bulgarian border and invade as soon as they are ready. No contact with their government shall be made, except to hand over the declaration of war, and the entire diplomatic staff of each and every one of the balcan nations are to be evicted from our country effective immediately! Use whatever force you deem necessary, and tell them, that if they havent left by this time tomorrow, they and their families will be executed.
Now, to our second matter at hand, we need larger navy, so i have taken the liberty of contacting our chief of navy Limpus, promoted him to grand admiral, and placed all of our coastal industries at his disposal, to build us 6 new heavy cruisers.
Obviously, this will not be enough, so i have ordered Limpus to give his research teams something useful to do. He has already reported to me, that he has personally obtained plans for a Super Dreadnought class ship, and the teams are working around the clock to implement them to our needs. Also, he is personally teaching our captains and admirals how to combat large enemy formations with our own dreadnaughts and other heavy ships more effectively.
Well, i think this just about covers it, and if i need anything more of you Pashas, i will let you know, but until further notice, each of you will be escorted everywhere by 3 guards who are answerable only to me directly, if anything other than a natural death should occur to me, you three will not live to see the next day."
The newly envigorated sultan left the room with his personal assistants and bodyguards. And everyone else was left to pick up their jaws from the floor.
And more trouble was yet to come. The newly independent and highly prideful Balcan states, especially the Bulgarians and Greeks grew ever more greedy and ambitious. This is where it all begins.
It was the night after the new year's celebration, or however it could be celebrated, given the circumstances. Sultan Mehmed the fifth, now a mere figurehead for the rule of the three Pashas, was taking a stroll in the garden, and listening to the distant sounds.
Pasha (to self): Hmm must be bad weather coming on tonight. Better get the dogs inside the palace, and wear something warm.
A breathless aide rushes in to the garden.
"Excellency! It is terrible news! *gasp*
Excellency, the navy holding off the allied balkan states' navy and the Russian third fleet has been totally wiped out! Italian troops have landed in Cyrenaica, Rhodes, and near Antalya. The English have taken all of the middle east, and are now crossing over to the Anatolias, and our fifth army has been slaughtered by the Russians."
"And what of the bad news aide?"
"The Bulgarian and Greek armies are one hour away from where you are now standing."
"What?!"
At the same moment, a particularly powerful sound of thunder erupted in the distance. The aide ran away in horror, and only a few moments later, heavy artillery shells started ripping apart the palace grounds.
A single shell landed only 5 feet in front of Pasha, and his face and body caught hundreds of small shrapnels, one entering through his left eye, and killing him instantly.
Pasha: AAAAHHHH!!! What... How... Ohh, thank Allah, it was only a dream.
He heard a voice in the room.
"Not a dream, but a warning of the things to come.. Reclaim your destiny of be annihilated!"
A bright flash of light covered the room for a short while, and then it was dark and quiet again. After a while, Pasha fell asleep again.
Next morning, 10 am council meeting with the three Pashas and the military leadership.
As usual, the sultan opened the meeting with a speech.
"Good morning gentlemen. Before we start this meeting and burrow into the matters at hand, let me just say this. To the three Pashas, you are as of now, stripped from any and all rights to the leadership of this country, and will be here only by my suffrance as military generals. If you resist, you will be executed at once.
At the same moment, 3 heavily armed guards took positions between the three Pashas and each aimed a heavy rifle at the back of Pashas' necks.
"No dissention? Good, we can begin. For a time now, the new Balcan countries, especially the Greeks, have been an unusually great pain in the ass. I have decided this must end NOW! Kemal Pasha, i am ordering you to gather our entire armies, amass them at the Bulgarian border and invade as soon as they are ready. No contact with their government shall be made, except to hand over the declaration of war, and the entire diplomatic staff of each and every one of the balcan nations are to be evicted from our country effective immediately! Use whatever force you deem necessary, and tell them, that if they havent left by this time tomorrow, they and their families will be executed.
Now, to our second matter at hand, we need larger navy, so i have taken the liberty of contacting our chief of navy Limpus, promoted him to grand admiral, and placed all of our coastal industries at his disposal, to build us 6 new heavy cruisers.
Obviously, this will not be enough, so i have ordered Limpus to give his research teams something useful to do. He has already reported to me, that he has personally obtained plans for a Super Dreadnought class ship, and the teams are working around the clock to implement them to our needs. Also, he is personally teaching our captains and admirals how to combat large enemy formations with our own dreadnaughts and other heavy ships more effectively.
Well, i think this just about covers it, and if i need anything more of you Pashas, i will let you know, but until further notice, each of you will be escorted everywhere by 3 guards who are answerable only to me directly, if anything other than a natural death should occur to me, you three will not live to see the next day."
The newly envigorated sultan left the room with his personal assistants and bodyguards. And everyone else was left to pick up their jaws from the floor.
