The Last Days of an Empire

By 1913, the once-mighty Ottoman Empire had entered its twilight years. The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), commonly known as the Young Turks, had consolidated power following the assassination of Grand Vizier Mahmud Shevket Pasha in June 1913. This political murder marked revenge for the earlier killing of Nazim Pasha during the Raid on the Sublime Porte, and effectively removed the last significant opposition to Young Turk rule. The empire now stood at the precipice of World War I, an event that would ultimately seal its fate.

The Young Turks established an authoritarian regime reminiscent of Sultan Abdul Hamid II’s absolute rule. From their more radical factions emerged a ruthless triumvirate that would dominate Ottoman politics until the empire’s collapse. This powerful trio – Enver Pasha, Cemal Pasha, and Talat Pasha – would make decisions that shaped not only the empire’s final years but the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East for generations to come.

The Young Turk Triumvirate

At the head of this ruling group stood Enver Pasha, the youngest and most charismatic of the three. A revolutionary hero in his twenties, Enver had become the living symbol of the Young Turk freedom movement. Now serving as Minister of War, general, and pasha, he would soon marry an Ottoman princess, acquiring the prestigious title of “Damad” (son-in-law to the Sultan). His rapid rise fueled growing vanity – contemporaries noted that “Enver Pasha had killed Enver Bey,” suggesting the revolutionary idealist had been consumed by the ambitious politician.

The second member, Cemal Pasha, was nine years older than Enver. A career military officer from a military family, Cemal was short in stature but formidable in presence, with piercing black eyes and a reputation for decisive action. After the coup, he became military governor of Istanbul, where he demonstrated remarkable organizational skills in restructuring the police force to serve the CUP’s interests. Later appointments as Navy Minister and military commander of Syria would showcase both his administrative talents and authoritarian tendencies.

The most capable of the three was Talat Pasha, the only civilian in the group. Of humble origins from the Adrianople region, Talat took pride in his peasant background. Beginning his career as a postal clerk and telegraph operator in Salonica, he rose through the CUP ranks to become Interior Minister. Despite his rough exterior and jovial manner, Talat possessed sharp political instincts and ruthless pragmatism. His patriotic fervor bordered on chauvinism, earning him comparisons to Georges Danton of the French Revolution.

The German Connection and Military Reforms

With the empire weakened after the disastrous Balkan Wars, Enver Pasha turned to Germany for military assistance. Having trained with German military missions in his youth and served as military attaché in Berlin, Enver admired the efficiency of the German military system. In early 1914, he initiated sweeping reforms to modernize the Ottoman army, forcibly retiring hundreds of older officers deemed too conservative or incompetent.

The most significant development was the arrival of a large German military mission led by General Otto Liman von Sanders. This provoked an international crisis when von Sanders was appointed to command the Ottoman First Army guarding Constantinople. Russia viewed this as German encroachment on the strategically vital Turkish Straits, nearly causing a diplomatic rupture between the European powers. A face-saving compromise was reached by promoting von Sanders to field marshal, making him too senior for a mere corps command.

The Road to War

As Europe marched toward war in the summer of 1914, the Ottoman leadership faced a critical decision. Repeated attempts to form alliances with Britain and France had been rebuffed. On August 2, 1914, with Enver’s strong backing, the empire secretly allied with Germany, agreeing to enter the war if Russia intervened in the Austro-Serbian conflict.

The Ottoman position became increasingly precarious when Britain confiscated two battleships being built in British shipyards for the Turkish navy. This provoked widespread anti-British sentiment that the pro-German faction skillfully exploited. The situation escalated when two German warships, the Goeben and Breslau, sought refuge in Ottoman waters in August 1914. After a fictitious “sale” to Turkey, these ships became the core of a revitalized Ottoman navy under German command.

The Empire’s Final Gamble

On October 28, 1914, the Ottoman fleet, under secret orders from Enver, bombarded Russian Black Sea ports without warning. This unprovoked attack brought declarations of war from Russia, Britain, and France by November 5. The decision to enter the war proved disastrous. As moderate finance minister Cavid Pasha warned in his resignation: “Even if we win, we shall be utterly ruined.”

The war exposed the empire’s weaknesses on multiple fronts. Enver’s ill-fated winter offensive in the Caucasus (1914-15) resulted in catastrophic losses. Cemal Pasha’s ambitious campaign to capture the Suez Canal failed miserably. Only at Gallipoli, under Mustafa Kemal’s brilliant leadership, did Ottoman forces achieve a decisive victory against the Allies in 1915-16.

The Armenian Genocide and Internal Collapse

With the empire under tremendous strain, the Young Turk leadership implemented a horrific campaign against the Armenian population in 1915-16. Using alleged collaboration with Russia as pretext, they orchestrated the deportation and massacre of over a million Armenians – an atrocity that remains controversial to this day.

By 1918, the empire was exhausted. British forces advanced through Palestine and Mesopotamia, while Arab revolts undermined Ottoman authority across the Arabian Peninsula. The October 30, 1918 armistice of Mudros marked the formal end of Ottoman participation in the war and set the stage for foreign occupation and partition.

From Empire to Republic

The postwar settlement envisioned dismembering what remained of Ottoman territory. However, Mustafa Kemal (later Atatürk) organized a nationalist resistance movement that defeated both occupying forces and the Sultan’s government. In 1923, he abolished the centuries-old sultanate and proclaimed the Republic of Turkey, ushering in a new era for the Turkish people.

The Ottoman Empire’s collapse reshaped the Middle East, creating the modern state system while leaving unresolved tensions that continue to influence regional politics. Its final years under the Young Turks represent both a tragic end to a once-great civilization and the difficult birth of new nations from its ashes.