Gallipoli by Peter Fitzsimons Read Free Book Online Page A

dreadnoughts for Germany.
    And Turkey?
    Well, in the final analysis, Churchill doesn’t care.
    It is not just that Britain is always in need of more vessels to rule the waves, as is her God-given right, it is that Turkey is of uncertain alliance in the coming war – for there can be no doubt that war is indeed upon them – and two warships on Turkey’s side of the equation could alter the whole balance of power in the Balkans. It is what needs to be done.
    While in New York, London and Berlin, the preferred time for serious meetings is in the morning, when all is fresh and clear, in Constantinople the time for meeting is ever nigh at night. Over coffee, whisky and cigarettes, the talk can go into the wee hours as, over the shoulders of those attending, the minarets muse in the moonlight.
    Though unaware of the seizure of the Turkish battleships, the Turkish leadership are already engaged in heated debate over whether to join with the Triple Entente – Great Britain, France and Russia – or side with Germany and Austria-Hungary. Should the Triple Entente prevail, would the Dardanelles be given to the Russians? The Ottoman leadership first and foremost want to remain neutral and non-interventionist for as long as possible, not least because their military remains in disarray since the Balkan Wars. But serious negotiations for a secret alliance with Germany have been taking place throughout July and are swiftly coming to a head. Yet what might happen to Turkey in the event of Germany losing the war? The deliberations rage, and conditions for an alliance with Germany are fine-tuned.
    Still there remains resistance to signing the document … until … a cable arrives from the Turkish Ambassador in London, informing his masters in Constantinople that the two dreadnoughts that Turkey had paid for have just been requisitioned by the British Government. Embargoed on a whim! Among the weary Ottoman leaders, there is uproar. Disbelief. Confirmation. Outrage. Under the circumstances, there is little more discussion.
    4 PM, 2 AUGUST 1914, SAID HALIM’S VILLA, HANDS OFF TURKEY
    Grand Vizier Said Halim and German Ambassador Baron von Wangenheim meet at the former’s waterside residence to write their signatures and their paths to war. Although Turkey has no wish to be in the war, the treaty, if signed, will commit the Germans to coming to Turkey’s aid if it is attacked. The Ottomans also agree that it will allow the German Military Mission to have ‘an effective influence on the general conduct of the army’. 16 Under the circumstances, there is little discussion, and the secret treaty is signed. 17
    Navy Minister Cemal would later explain, ‘Germany, whatever else might be said, was the only power which desired to see Turkey strong. Germany’s interests could be secured by the strengthening of Turkey, and that alone. Germany could not lay hands on Turkey as if she were a colony, for neither the geographical position nor her resources made that possible. The result was that Germany regarded Turkey as a link in the commercial and trading chain, and thus became her stoutest champion against the Entente Governments, which wanted to dismember her, particularly as the elimination of Turkey would mean the final “encirclement” of Germany. Her south-western front remained open thanks to Turkey alone. The only way in which she could escape the pressure of the iron ring was to prevent the dismemberment of Turkey.’ 18
    EVENING, 3 AUGUST 1914, CRY HAVOC AND LET SLIP THE DOGS OF WAR!
    Strangely, it is the politeness of the message that is most shocking. For the note presented on this evening by the German Ambassador to France, Baron Wilhelm Eduard Freiherr von Schoen, to Monsieur le President de la Republique de France, Raymond Poincaré, is nothing if not elaborate in its courtesy:
    M. le President,
    The German administrative and military authorities have established a certain