Gallipoli (3 page)

Of
the Empire,
for
the Empire, the separate armies must no longer be random pieces of a patchwork but rather be perfectly aligned with each other. They must use the same ammunition and rifles – the .303 Lee-Enfield Rifle SMLE, known to the soldiers as ‘Smelly'
¹⁴
– and be trained in the same manner, because the idea is to ‘make in Australia a territorial division of one grand Imperial army, which could face the world without fear'.
¹⁵

He is extremely impressed with the troops he inspects on his tour, noting that, although ‘still very young, they are full of intelligence and grit. On at least two occasions I have seen brigades tested severely, once by heat and heavy marching, the other time by floods and mud. In each case the men made light of their trying experiences, treating them as an excellent joke.'
¹⁶

Before leaving Australia, Hamilton visits the newly established officer-training college at Duntroon, where he talks long and hard with the Commanding Officer, Brigadier-General William Bridges, together with his director of drill, Lieutenant-Colonel Ewen MacLagan.
¹⁷
He also sits for a time under a gum tree, chatting with one particular officer who has impressed him with the brilliance of his troop manoeuvres, Colonel John Monash, before inspecting the soldiers and aspiring officers.

Shortly before taking his leave, General Hamilton wishes them all ‘plenty of wars and rapid promotion!'.
¹⁸

He is cheered to the echo.

The Dardanelles at this point? Few in Australia are giving them any thought. For most people, the Ottoman Empire – whatever and wherever that is – is the most unheard-of thing they've never heard of.

Australia's eyes are on Europe alone, which appears to be dividing into armed camps of opposing alliances – with the ‘Triple Entente' of Great Britain, France and Russia leading one group, lined up against another group led by the ‘Central Powers' of Germany and Austria-Hungary. This is of some concern, but, as the British Empire has never been stronger, and Australia is puffed-chest proud to be a part of it, there is no doubt whose side we would join in the case of war.

The Ottoman Empire? Even for those who know something of its contours, it is hardly a threat. For, while the sun so famously never sets on the British Empire, quite the reverse is the case for the Ottoman Empire, which is in the darkest shadow of its 500-odd years of existence. Sure, in days of yonder yore, when the soldiers of the feudal armies of Europe were hungry, undisciplined and armed with pikes, Ottoman soldiers were well fed, highly trained and armed with gunpowder weapons, allowing them to straddle three continents. From the Danube to Yemen, from Albania to the northern shores of the Black Sea, and from Algiers to Baghdad, the Muslim Caliphate had covered a fifth of the globe. But those days are long gone, and it is now reduced to just half of its original size.

It has been chipped away at from the outside by the inexorable rise of the European powers, who, by the early 1900s, control 85 per cent of the earth's surface. And it is dissolving from within, as Ottoman subjects, especially its Christian minorities in the Balkans – led by Bulgaria, Montenegro and Rumania – are vigorously chafing at the ties that bind. Greece has already fought and won its independence from Ottoman rule, as has Serbia. In their image, countless other groups all over the Empire are now as rebellious as they are resolved to fight for their own freedom.

For the Europeans, the crux of the ‘Eastern Question', which they love to grapple with and debate in their grand parliaments and palaces, is just which of them is to benefit from the inevitable dissolution of their Ottoman neighbours, known far and wide as ‘the sick man of Europe'. In 1875, the influential Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle had written a letter, published in
The Times
, after the particular ‘Eastern Crisis' of that year, containing the nub of the matter: ‘The only clear advice I have to give is, as I have stated, that the unspeakable Turk should immediately be struck out of the question, and the country left to honest European guidance.'
¹⁹

The phrase ‘the unspeakable Turk' resonates, for it so perfectly captures the European view of a shambolic Muslim people. And there are many potential occupiers in line. Over the centuries, Russia has been the Ottomans' most belligerent foe, wresting the Crimea, much of the northern coast of the Black Sea and the Northern Caucasus from their control. And now, with their Orthodox Christian brethren in the Balkans, the Russian Empire is well positioned to swoop in there, too. But Germany and Great Britain – the true powerhouses of Europe – are unwilling to see the Balkans brought under the Russian realm and for the moment have backed the Ottomans against Russian designs, awaiting their own time to pounce.

As the first years of the 20th century grind on, the embattled rulers in Constantinople have managed to keep their proud Empire alive. The Sick Man staggers on, though change is not only afoot, it has boots on and is marching hard, straight at the old guard …

On 23 July 1908, a mixed bag of dissidents, intelligentsia, liberal thinkers, and modern military and naval officers, roughly united by a common desire for democratic change – a group known as the Young Turks, led by the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) – succeed in a near bloodless revolution. The supreme leader of both the state and the entire Islamic community, Sultan Abdul Hamid II, agrees to the Young Turks' proposals to work towards modernisation, so long as he can remain in power …

This is followed by a counter-revolution, and then a
counter
-counter-revolution in April 1909 – yes, the Ottoman Empire is now that kind of place – led by powerful Young Turks in the army. The Sultan is deposed, and replaced by his younger and more malleable brother, Mehmed V, while a new Grand Vizier – effectively, the Prime Minister – is instated.

A brief period of relative quiet ensues in the capital, though many continue to foment dissent in the Balkans, which grows more fervent with every passing month. And finally, the conflagration comes. The First Balkan War of 1912 sees a coalition of Montenegro, Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria capturing much of the European Christian territory of the Ottomans – a third of the total European territory and a fifth of its population – with the Bulgarians even advancing to within 30 miles of Constantinople, before being pushed back. It is a swift and devastating blow to the Ottomans, as in the space of just two months they must surrender two of their armies and all of the Christian Balkan states. By the end of the year, the Ottoman Government, now headed by Grand Vizier Kâmil, a man nudging 90 years old, urgently seeks the intervention of the Great Powers, Great Britain and Germany, to save them from disintegration.

The Europeans are not long in penning their demands. The Ottomans are to cease all further military activities and hand over even more territory, including the Holy City of Edirne, which is to be given to the Balkan states. Oh, the humiliation. But do they have a choice? Without the support of the Great Powers, Constantinople itself might fall to the Bulgarians and their Balkan allies. And so, on 18 January 1913, at the Sublime Porte – the seat of Ottoman power in Constantinople for the last 400 years – Grand Vizier Kâmil meets with his Grand Council of Ministers to agree to the unthinkable …

The scene is set. With a weak government preparing to haul up the white flag, it is time for the Young Turk leadership – mostly proud, nationalistic Turkish military men hailing from the Balkans themselves – to make a move.

By a twist of fate, three particularly ambitious Young Turks are in Constantinople on this very day and agree to take action. They are led by a fearless firebrand like they don't make them anymore, Lieutenant-Colonel Ismail Enver, who has lately come to public notoriety through his military derring-do. The young, energetically impulsive and aggressively nationalistic officer, with the impossibly upturned moustache – waxed to the point that it would do a candle proud – is backed by the well-liked Talaat, now Secretary-General of the CUP, and Staff-Colonel Cemal, a military man of clout.

For these men, the mere thought of Edirne, and any further part of the Ottoman Empire, being ceded to the Europeans is anathema. They are convinced not only of their moral legitimacy in moving against such a craven surrender but also of their support from a significant portion of the armed forces and the public for so doing.

On this afternoon in Constantinople, these three radical rebels, backed by 40 junior officers and soldiers – all of them armed – bring matters to a head.

Ya Namus Ya Ölüm!
Honour or death!

And you can see them there now, on this chilly afternoon.

As Colonel Enver, atop his fine steed, leads his tight band of supporters through the streets to the Porte, one of them pauses to stand atop a step and delivers a speech for all to hear: ‘Countrymen! The Government is ceding Edirne. At this moment, the notes are being signed in there. The Turkish nation will never accept this … Here is the fighter for liberty, [Colonel] Enver, going towards the
Bab-ı âli …
join him. End the administration of incompetents.'
²⁰

A few fearless souls do, bolstering the numbers of the radicals further. So it is that, just as the Council is about to formalise the shameful deal with the Europeans, the plotters storm into the council chambers and seize control. Enver and Talaat take Grand Vizier Kâmil into his adjoining study and make two very telling points with the muzzles of their guns. One way or another, it is clear that, in a minute from now, either the Grand Vizier's signature or his brains will be on a resignation letter.

Kâmil quickly writes his resignation letter to Sultan Mehmed V: ‘Please be so kind as to comprehend with your exalted knowledge that I was, in this respect, forced to submit my humble resignation to the Imperial Presence on the proposal made to me by the people and the military authorities …'
²¹

But the raid is not without bloodshed. For some of the plotters cannot control themselves and gun down War Minister Nazim and his Adjutant-Major.

Enver and Talaat move quickly. They leave the Porte, pausing only for Colonel Enver to address a growing crowd out the front. ‘Kâmil has resigned,' he calls, holding the letter of resignation up for all to see. ‘I am now on my way to the Palace. I will inform His Excellency the Sultan. A Government able to defend the nation's rights will be formed.'
²²

Within hours, the Sultan indeed confirms, at Enver and Talaat's behest, that a brilliant general by the name of Mahmut Şevket is now both the Grand Vizier and War Minister. Talaat is provisionally confirmed as Minister of the Interior, while the new strongman Enver decides to stay close to the source of his strength, and remain as Chief of the Xth Corps and its 40,000 soldiers.

Despite a victory for the day, months of tumult follow. In March, the Bulgarians capture Edirne, while in July Grand Vizier Mahmut Şevket is assassinated. All in all, things keep going from bad to worse for the Ottoman Empire, as the army lies in ruin, the Officer Corps is in a constant state of turbulence, refugees continue to arrive from the now Christian Balkan states, and the direction of the whole Empire is entirely unclear.

But, out of it all, one bright star continues to rise in the darkness: Colonel Enver, the pride of the Fatherland!

For in July 1913, during the Second Balkan War, Enver successfully commands the mission to recapture Edirne, a feat for which he has the gratitude of the people. It is also the newly promoted Major-General Enver who decides that to properly modernise the Ottoman armed forces, they need European help. And so, while a British Naval Mission is already helping with the battered navy, he arranges for a German Military Mission to help reform the tattered army. (A German speaker himself, and former attaché to Berlin, this suits Enver's purpose well.) Under the command of the fastidious General Otto Liman von Sanders, the German Military Mission begins to arrive in December 1913.

From their fickle alliances in Europe, the Germans and British tread warily around each other in Constantinople, each eager to gain the allegiance of the suddenly resurgent Ottomans.

Enver's star continues to rise, to the point that, in January of 1914, he is promoted to the rank of General, becomes Minister for War and Chief of the General Staff – making him the political
and
military leader of the armed forces – while his key ally, Cemal, is appointed Navy Minister and given the rank of General. Talaat remains as Interior Minister.

But General Enver's tightening grip on power is not universally celebrated, and many of his detractors, however minor their complaint, are quickly relegated to out of the way places. Even some of his fellow Unionists are sent where their voices are less likely to be heard. One such man, whom Enver recognises as a possible nuisance, is CUP member and Young Turk Lieutenant-Colonel Mustafa Kemal, who has summarily been sent to the Bulgarian capital of Sofia as Military Attaché. Feeling almost banished, removed as he is from the corridors of power, Mustafa Kemal – an independent and nationalistic man of grand ambition, deep reflection and rather regal bearing – becomes ever more frustrated, but for the moment there is nothing he can do.