Page 334 - Le Operazioni Interforze e Multinazionali nella Storia Militare - ACTA Tomo I

334 XXXIX Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

as a weak enemy from 1856. In the early years of the 20th century, the “Young Turks”
emerged from the Committee of Union and Progress and succeeded in overthrowing
the Sultan. Before the start of the First World War, a triumvirate known as “the Three
Pashas, Enver, Djemal and Talat” was in power.
As for the Great Expansionist Powers, that is Imperialistic Powers, were lining up
th
against each other in two mighty alliances in the beginning of XX Century. On one
side, Great Britain, France and Russia had combined in what was termed the “Triple
Entente”; on the other side, Germany and Austria–Hungary together constituted “the
Central or Axis Powers”. Regarding the Ottomans, they sought to steer a middle course
between these two massive power blocs by cultivating friendships with both sides. Sev-
eral attempts were made to conclude a non-aggression pact with the “Entente Powers”
but all approaches failed. Britain rejected the Ottomans’ overtures. In late May 1914, the
Young Turks went to Russia in search of a suitable pact as well but once again made no
headway.
th
Subsequently, on June 28 , 1914 the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife
were assassinated in Sarajevo, Serbia. Austria held Serbia responsible for the murders
rd
and issued an ultimatum to the Serbian government on July 23 , 1914 . Russia resented
Austria’s strident demands and stood by its ally, Serbia. Over the next few days, the
complex web of alliances rapidly drew all the great European powers into the Great War.
nd
Enver Pasha signed a secret alliance with Germany on August 2 , 1914, the day after
the Central Powers had declared war on Russia. By the time of August 4 1914, a gen-
th
eral state of war existed between the Entente and the Central Powers. Enver Pasha had,
for the moment, kept his country out of the war. His pact with Germany ensured that he
had a powerful ally if any other nation attacked them. By the same token, the pact also
threatened to draw the Ottomans into the new European battlefields.
When in early 1915 the British War Council had to reconsider its future military
policy, the British War Council unwisely concluded to open a new front at Gallipoli
(Channakkale) due to the stalemate in the Western front and the pleas of the “Russian
Czar” to relieve the pressure at the Caucasus Theater of War.
Firstly, it was decided to pass from Dardanelles Strait through only the Allied Ar-
th
mada on March 18 , 1915 and this naval combined assault resulted in the defeat of the
Allied fleet towards the late afternoon of the same day.

4. Turkish joint operation against allied naval assault in Dardanelles
th
At the beginning of the XX century, after the Japan-Russian Naval War, in the light
of new experiences which were obtained from that war, in 1906, the British Royal Navy
launched the revolutionary HMS Dreadnought. In other words, in the first years of the
XX century, several navies worldwide experimented with the idea of a new type of
th
battleship with a uniform armament of very heavy guns. Dreadnought sparked a new
arms race, principally between Britain and Germany but reflected worldwide, as the new
class of warships became a crucial element of national power. No doubt, Ottoman State
accessed this gigantic arms race in order to ensure the dreadnoughts to its Navy.
In the last era precedent of World War I, in 1914, the main concern of the Turkish