The subtitle of this book written by Daniel Allen Butler is “The Destruction of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East.” I found this book to be absolutely fascinating. The book is only 235 pages long before you reach the Author’s Notes, and perhaps that isn’t enough space for an accurate description of an empire that lasted more than six centuries. However, I found the book informative and interesting.
The Ottoman Empire thrived, prospered, and expanded for several centuries What most people know about it relates to the decision of the politicians in the Empire to join with Germany in the Great War, which provided the Empire no apparent advantages, and had tremendous impact on history of the region and the world. This book, if it is nothing else, should be a primer about how arrogance and ignorance of national leaders can create misery and sacrifice of life for soldiers who have little invested except for loyalty to their countries and fellow soldiers.
A quick summary is that the “…Ottoman Empire would be destroyed through a combination of battles, blunders, bureaucrats, and buffoons.” The author offers the opinion that the “…Empire essentially destroyed itself…while greedy and ambitious (and I will add imperialist) politicians in London and Paris plotted and schemed over how they would dismember the corpse of what had been called ‘the Sick Man of Europe’.” That last quote makes it obvious the empire was in trouble before the bad decision was made to join as an ally of Germany in World War I.
The book summarizes the early successes. Osman was a talented and intelligent leader of the beginning in the late thirteenth century, and his careful and successful aggression expanded the reaches of power. He declared himself a sultan, or “sovereign authority.” His son Orhan and eight generations of sultans would expand the empire culminating in the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent who led Ottoman armies in stunning conquests. Sultans lived in luxury. There were more than five thousand men and women who lived and worked to fulfill the Sultan’s every need and wish. Part of that was the Arabic word harim, which means forbidden. The decline of the Ottoman Empire began in1683 when the Austrian-Polish army successfully defended Vienna from a Turkish siege in what was the last surge of the Empire into Europe.
Things also went downhill internally after Suleiman when successors began to execute all of their male relatives who might have a claim to power. The wealth created by overland trade routes was reduced by the seagoing trade routes. At the same time “…the empire’s intellectual community refused to study or even acknowledge the advances being made by the ‘infidels’.”
The “Sick Man of Europe was in critical condition in the beginning of the twentieth century. People were arrested and often executed at the whim of the Sultan or favored subordinates. Arabs were expected to accept religious teachings “…rather than risk overburdening their intellects with…basic skills such as reading, writing, or mathematics.” The strongly nationalist “Young Turks” emerged determined to drag the Ottoman Empire into a stable European-style state.” They unintentionally wrote the final chapter of the Empire. The Sultan’s position was preserved while being stripped of power. Revolutionaries called the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) warned that “…the dynasty would be in danger…” without reforms. Discontent with the Sultan’s rule was turned into popular support for revolution. A new constitution rendered sharia law subordinate to secular law. Officials appointed by the Sultan were removed from office. Sultan loyalists proclaimed they wanted sharia law, and loyalists briefly prevailed.
Mixed in with the politics and intrigue of the battle between the Young Turks and the Sultan loyalists is the “Armenian Genocide.” There were large numbers of Armenian irregulars who fought for the Russian Czar in World War I, and the Ottomans viewed Armenians with distain. I was uncomfortable that the author made a point of that the slaughter and starvation of between 300,000 and 1.5 million Armenians was not genocide. That argument seemed to me to be an “apologist Turkish response.” Another “bone I have to pick” with the author is that he continually refers to Enver, an opponent of Mustafa Kemal, as being “intellectually limited.” Another source says that Enver and Kemal traded being number one and number two in their military class. There is no doubt Enver was a brutal man who had no hesitation at killing someone who stood in his way. He called a cabinet meeting to say they needed to declare war on Russia and placed his revolver on the table in an obvious threat. He must have been surprised when every member of the cabinet produced firearms. There was no declaration of war that day.
The Germans manipulated Turkish rulers into declaring war on the allies while there was nothing for Turkey to gain from their alliance with the Germans. There was a cynical joke that the Ottoman imperial anthem would be called “Deutschland uber Allah.”
The book details the military actions of the allies against the Turks, and the battles were just as bloody as in France. Gallipoli is one example. The British were at a disadvantage because of faulty intelligence provided to Churchill by a young officer named T.E. Lawrence. (Chapter Eight is dedicated to Lawrence of Arabia or El Aurens). The allied commanders also had a misplace lack of respect for Turkish soldiers. The Turks held the Allies in check until they finally gave up and withdrew. Mustafa Kemal, who began to gain recognition for his leadership is said to issue a command to his soldiers, “I do not expect you to attack, I order you to die! In the time which passes until we die, other troops and commanders will take your place.”
The leaders of Young Turks, were given the opportunity to seek peace after their soldiers had exhausted the Allies. They did not take advantage of that opportunity,Baghdad and Damascus fell, and the Turks finally decided to quit. Food, clothing, and medical supplies were almost nonexistent by the end of the war. Diseases were killing large numbers as the Allies began carving up the empire. Mustafa Kemal skillfully began consolidating his political power. The allies dissolved the recently elected parliament and Kemal announced that the Grand National Assembly would convene. He became the first prime minister and obtained war supplies from the Soviet Union and purchased French and Italian arms. The Russians took over Armenia and the Greeks attacked but within weeks had been driven back. The Allies realized they had to negotiate with Kemal, and an armistice was signed that guaranteed Turkish independence. The Sultanate was abolished and the caliph stripped of power. The author writes, “How Kemal guided the transformation of the Turkish nation is one of the most fascinating stories of the twentieth century—but that is…a story for another time.” I can’t wait to read it.
I will close with a brief description of a famous World War I battle that occurred at the city of Beersheba (currently in Israel). The city was important because there were six wells. The Australian Light Horse Division charged the four thousand entrenched Turks and, because of an error by the Turkish commanders, took the town with the wells intact. The battle was recreated in two movies, and there is a ten minute You Tube from the one made in 1987 that explains why the charging Light Horsemen weren’t mowed down by the rifles of the entrenched soldiers. You will enjoy the You Tube if you are moved by courage or like horses.