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The Central Powers and The Second Turkish Alliance, 1915

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2017

Gerard E. Silberstein
Gerard E. Silberstein*
Affiliation:
The University of Kentucky
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Extract

An examination of the second Turkish alliance as it developed in the late months of 1914 between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey forces the rejection of two interpretations generally accepted by students of the First World War: that the Turkish government was in leading strings to the Central Powers from the time the war began and that Austria-Hungary pursued a diplomatic policy which merely reflected its subordination to German will. Materials available in the German and Austrian Foreign Ministry archives show that these two interpretations are largely incorrect. Turkey forced the Central Powers to accept an agreement which strengthened its own international position. Austria-Hungary maintained a policy which furthered its own interests. Secondary accounts dealing with the relationships between Turkey and the Central Powers consider the German-Turkish Alliance of August 2, 1914, but they either do not treat at all the second alliance, signed January 11, 1915, or mention it in only the most cursory manner. Yet the two alliances have a close relationship, and the attitudes and policies of the powers concerned cannot be fully understood unless the second alliance is examined.

Type
Articles
Information
Slavic Review , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , March 1965 , pp. 77 - 89
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies. 1965

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References

1 Gottlieb, W. W., Studies in Secret Diplomacy (London, 1957), pp. 34–36 Google Scholar, discusses briefly the alliance of August 2, but does not consider the negotiations of the following months and makes no mention of the second alliance. Albertini, Luigi, The Origins of the War of 1914 (London, 1957), III, 607–15 Google Scholar, considers the formation of the alliance of August 2, but goes no further. Taylor, A. J. P., The Struggle for Mastery in Europe (Oxford, 1954), pp. 533–34 Google Scholar, considers Turkey's joining the Central Powers in only cursory fashion. Howard, Harry, The Partitions of Turkey, 1913-1923 (Norman, Okla., 1931), pp. 83–87, 113–14 Google Scholar, examines the first alliance, mentions the existence of a second, but does not examine the negotiation for the latter; a footnote presents the basic stipulations of the accord. Mühlmann, Carl, Deutschland und die Türkei, 1913-1914 (Berlin, 1929), pp. 28–31, 41-47Google Scholar, discusses both alliances but, while offering the kernel of the second, does not consider the pact in depth. Pasha, Djemal, Memories of a Turkish Statesman, 1913-1919 (New York, 1922), pp. 107–13 Google Scholar, as one involved in high-echelon Turkish government, discusses the alliance of August 2, but does not treat the second.

2 Mühlmann, pp. 28-29. Howard, p. 32. Emin, Ahmed, Turkey in the World War (New Haven, 1930), p. 65Google Scholar. Kautsky, Karl, ed., Die Deutschen Dokumente zum Kriegsausbruch (Charlottenburg, 1919), No. 285 Google Scholar, Wangenheim to Berlin, July 28, 1914. “Posthumous - Memoirs of Talaat Pasha,” The New York Times Current History, XV, No. 2 (Nov. 1921), 228. Langer, William L., European Alliances and Alignments (New York, 1950), p. 335.Google Scholar

3 Kautsky, No. 45, Foreign Secretary Jagow to Ambassador von Tschirschky in Vienna and Ambassador von Wangenheim in Constantinople, July 14, 1914. German Foreign Ministry Archives, Series I, Reel 13, No. 349, Wangenheim to Berlin, July 18 (subsequent citations of this source as GFMA refer in all cases to Series I, Reel 13). Kautsky, marginal note to No. 117, Wangenheim to Berlin, July 22; Nos. 13, 14.

4 For the stipulations of the alliance of August 2, see Albertini, III, 614.

5 Bompard, Maurice, “L'Entree en Guerre de la Turquie,” La Revue de Paris, No. 13 (July 1), 1921, p. 69 Google Scholar. Kautsky, No. 398, Wangenheim to Berlin, July 29, 1914. Osterreich- Ungarische Ministerium des Äussern, Österreich-Ungarns Aussenpolitik von der Bosnischen Krise, 1908, bis zum Kriegsausbruch, 1914 (Vienna, 1930), Vol. VIII, No. 11056, Berchtold to Pallavicini, July 30; No. 10969, Pallavicini to Vienna, July 29; No. 11153, Pallavicini to Vienna, July 31.

6 GFMA, No. 1205, Wangenheim to Berlin, Nov. 2. Austria, Staatsarchiv, Politische Akten, Box 521, Nos. 760 and 778, Pallavicini to Berchtold, Oct. 31 and Nov. 2 (source hereafter cited as PA, referring in all cases to Box 521).

7 GFMA, No. 1205. PA, No. 688, Pallavicini to Berchtold, Oct. 10; No. 778. Djemal Pasha, pp. 132-33. Seignobosc, H., Turcs et Turquie (Paris, 1920), p. 63 Google Scholar. Nossig, Alfred, Die Neue Türkei und Ihre Führer (Halle, 1916), p. 69 Google Scholar. Those who resigned their cabinet posts were Djavid Bey, minister of finance; Effendi El Bustani, minister of agriculture and commerce; Mahmoud Pasha, minister of public works; Oskan Effendi, minister of posts. These offices were filled by Talaat Bey, Achmed Bey, Halim Pasha, and Shukri Bey, respectively.

8 PA, Nos. 778, 781, Pallavicini to Berchtold, Nov. 2 and 3. GFMA, No. 1205.

9 PA, No. 776, Berchtold to Hohenlohe, Nov. 3; No. 647, Hohenlohe to Berchtold, Nov. 4; No. 780, Berchtold to Hohenlohe, Nov. 4.

10 OGFMA, No. 97, Bethmann-Hollweg at Headquarters to the Foreign Office, Nov. 15. PA, No. 655, Hohenlohe to Berchtold, Nov. 6.

11 GFMA, No. 1262, Wangenheim to Berlin, Nov. 7.

12 PA, Nos. 647; 655; 816, Pallavicini to Berchtold, Nov. 9; No. 668, Hohenlohe to Berchtold, Nov. 10. GFMA, No. 100, Bethmann at Headquarters to the Foreign Office, Nov. 10.

13 PA, No. 799, Pallavicini to Berchtold, Nov. 6; Report No. 68P/C, Pallavicini to Berchtold, Nov. 19.

14 PA, Report No. 68P/C; Memo No. S312, Berchtold to Hohenlohe, Nov. 20; No. 714, Hohenlohe to Berchtold, Nov. 25; No. 794, Berchtold to Hohenlohe, Nov. 7; No. 699, Hohenlohe to Berchtold, Nov. 21; No. 828, Berchtold to Hohenlohe, Nov. 23.

15 PA, Report No. 70P/A-F, Pallavicini to Berchtold, Dec. 1. The report contains the original Turkish draft.

16 Ibid. PA, No. 936, Berchtold to Hohenlohe, Dec. 14; No. 953, Pallavicini to Berchtold, Dec. 21. GFMA, No. 1459, Jagow to Wangenheim, Dec. 15; No. 1508, Wangenheim to Berlin, Dec. 4 (a second draft, containing the clause on England, is found here).

17 GFMA, No. 1508; No. 1642, Wangenheim to Berlin, Dec. 17. PA, No. 920, Pallavicini to Berchtold, Dec. 10; No. 953.

18 PA, No. 918, Berchtold to Pallavicini, Dec. 26; No. 984, Pallavicini to Berchtold, Dec. 27; No. 987, Pallavicini to Berchtold, Dec. 28; Report No. 79P/A-B, Pallavicini to Berchtold, Dec. 31. GFMA, No. 1223, Von Tschirschky in Vienna to Berlin, Dec. 20.

19 PA, unnumbered memorandum, Folio B, the German Foreign Office to Berchtold through Von Tschirschky, Jan. 4.

20 PA, No. 10, Berchtold to Pallavicini, Jan. 5, 1915. A copy of Berchtold's instructions was sent to Hohenlohe in Berlin as No. 19, on the same day. No. 19, Pallavicini to Berchtold, Jan. 6; No. 3/P, Pallavicini to Berchtold, Jan. 7.

21 GFMA, No. 72, Berlin to Wangenheim, Jan. 9, 1915; No. 102, Wangenheim to Berlin, Jan. 11. For the original text of the alliance, see Abschrift zu A.S. 383. PA, Report No. 6/P, Pallavicini to Berchtold, Jan. 16. The report contains a copy of the alliance and explicative note.

22 PA, No. 114, Pallavicini to Burian, Feb. 10; No. 107, Burian to Pallavicini, Feb. 13; Report No. 19/P, Pallavicini to Burian, March 6; No. 1538, Burian to Pallavicini, March 11; No. 265, Pallavicini to Burian, March 21; Report No. 62/P, Pallavicini to Burian, July 29.