Ottoman Empire in World War I
The Ottoman Empire came into World War I as one of the Central Powers. The Ottoman Empire entered the war by carrying out a small surprise attack on the Black Sea coast of Russia on 29 October 1914, with Russia responding by declaring war on 2 November 1914. Ottoman forces fought the Entente in the Balkans and the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. The Ottoman Empire's defeat in the war in 1918 was crucial in the eventual dissolution of the empire in 1922.
Economy[edit]
1915[edit]
On 10 September 1915, Interior Minister Talat Pasha abolished the "Capitulations". On 10 September 1915 Grand Vizier Said Halim Pasha annulled (Vizer had the authority on annuls) the Capitulations, which ended the special privileges they granted to foreign nationals. The capitulation holders refused to recognize his action (unilateral action).[2] The American ambassador expressed the Great Power view:
Beside the capitulations, there was another issue which evolved under the shadow of capitulations. The debt and financial control (revenue generation) of the empire was intertwined under single institution, which its board was constituted from Great Powers rather than Ottomans. There is no sovereignty in this design. The public debt could and did interfere in state affairs because it controlled (collected) one-quarter of state revenues.[30] The debt was administered by the Ottoman Public Debt Administration and its power extended to the Imperial Ottoman Bank (equates to modern central banks). Debt Administration controlled many of the important revenues of the empire. The council had power over every financial affair. Its control extended to determine the tax on livestock in districts. Ottoman public debt was part of a larger scheme of political control, through which the commercial interests of the world had sought to gain advantages that may not be to Empire's interest. The immediate purpose of the abolition of capitulations and the cancellation of foreign debt repayments was to reduce the foreign stranglehold on the Ottoman economy; a second purpose - and one to which great political weight was attached - was to extirpate non-Muslims from the economy by transferring assets to Muslim Turks and encouraging their participation with government contracts and subsidies.[31]
Aftermath[edit]
Casualties[edit]
Ottoman casualties of World War I, the Ottoman Empire mobilized a total of 3 million men. It lost 325,000 killed in action, and hundreds of thousands more due to disease or other causes, other 400,000 were injured. 202,000 men were taken prisoner, mostly by the British and the Russians, and one million deserted, leaving only 323,000 men under arms at the time of the armistice. The British Empire engaged in the conflict 2,550,000 men on the various Ottoman fronts, or 32% of its total strength; the Russian Empire, up to 7,020,000 men in September 1916, or 19% of its forces; France, 50,000 men, mainly to the Dardanelles, and Italy, 70,000 men in Libya against a pro-Ottoman rebellion. In total, both sides, Ottomans and Allies, lost 1,400,000 men.
Without the Ottoman entry into the war, it is likely that the Allied victory would have been faster.[46]