Why The Ottomans Entered The First World War

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Why The Ottomans Entered The First World War

The Ottoman Empire had been declining since the sixteenth century

because of economic, intellectual and technological stagnation.

Britain and France as well as The Russian and Habsburg empires, became

increasingly involved in Ottoman affairs and in competition for

political and economic influence in the Ottoman Empire. The turning

point came in the 1880s when Germany appeared on the scene in an

attempt to extend her economic, political, and military influence in

the Empire. By this time The Ottomans financial situation was

desperate because of the West's economic strangulation and on 28th

July 1914 a formal Ottoman alliance proposal was presented to Germany

which meant the Ottomans had decided to enter the First World War.

The prewar relationship between the Ottoman Empire and Germany is

something that there is no consensus on. There is a division between

those that believe dominance of German influence in Istanbul was the

reason the Ottomans entered the war and those that do not.

However, despite Germany's strong economic and financial power in the

Ottoman empire which was gained by an increase in trade with the

empire and in German investments from the 1880s-1914, Germany did not

control the Ottoman economy and other European powers were still

equally, if not more, involved in the Empire. Thus the reasons why the

Ottomans would have freely chosen to enter the war can begin to be

examined as it is unlikely that they were forced to enter into an

agreement with Germany.

It has been argued that the Ottomans entered the First World War

because they believed an alliance with one of th...

... middle of paper ...

...(in the

phrasing of the historian Howard M. Sachar) a "stupendous" coup by

Berlin, which pulled the wool over the eyes of the credulous Ottomans.

The Karshes find this exactly wrong; they show how Ottoman leaders

initiated talks with Germany to explore an alliance, and document the

lukewarm reception accorded to these addresses by many German

officials. It was also "by far the most important decision in the

history of the modern Middle East," leading as it soon did to the fall

of the empire and the emergence of the strife-filled order that still

prevails today.

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[1] Trumpener

[2] Efraim Karsh and Inari Karsh Empires of the Sand: The Struggle for

Mastery in the Middle East, 1789-1923

[3] Malcolm Yapp The Making of the Modern Near East

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