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…The intervention of the Greeks was the signal for British and French units in the Middle Eastern theater to advance. The passes had cleared and preparations had been made over the winter. Positions painstakingly scouted over the course of months were hit with precisely planned assaults backed by the gas combination that proved so deadly against the Germans. By the 27th of April the British had breached the Cicilian Gates and the French broke out of their perimeter in Antalya.

The mountainous terrain they were fighting in allowed the Ottomans to prevent things from becoming a total rout, with small Ottoman rearguards able to put up fierce resistance in the passes before they could be gassed out or outflanked by Mountain troops. However this was only delaying the inevitable, there was no way to actually stop the Entente, not without German reinforcements that could no longer reach the Ottoman Empire and could not be spared even if they could. Worse there was nothing significant in the way of the Greeks breaking onto the Anatolian plateau. The only bright spot was that the Army of Islam and Third Army were within days of Baku and Yerevan respectively. If the Empire could hold on another two weeks then the Armenian state could be crippled and the Empire would have a negotiating position. To do that the Greeks would have to be stopped.

The Ottoman Navy raised steam on April 28th for the last time, with Goeben, Breslau, three older cruisers and ten destroyers and torpedo boats. They left the Dardanelles on the 30th, with the intent to slip through the British blockade and attack the Greek supply lines to Ionia. This was not to be and the Royal Navy intercepted them off Tenedos with the Battleships Agamemnon and Lord Nelson, along with four light cruisers and twelve destroyers.

While the lighter units dueled the heavies engaged. Goeben was a battlecruiser compared to her battleship opponents, but they were pre dreadnoughts, if among the best of the breed. The British ships however were in good shape, with motivated crews that had plenty of time and ammunition to practice, Goeben had none of these. Despite this Goeben was able to find the range on Agamemnon first due to the inherent advantages of ten guns versus four. Within twenty minutes of finding the range she had silenced the battleship’s guns, but in doing so gave her sister a free target shoot and lost two turrets in the process. Lord Nelson was able to silence Goeben’s remaining guns and disable her guns before she could find the range. It was then Lord Nelson’s captain made is mistake as he closed in to finish Goeben with torpedoes rather than call in a destroyer to do it. In doing so he gave Goeben a shot with her torpedoes, and in exchange for putting two into her took one. Goeben managed to stay afloat for the better part of an hour and got most of her crew off, Lord Nelson turned turtle within minutes with the loss of almost all her crew.

Of the lighter units the British suffered two damaged light cruisers and four destroyers, with one lost, while only two destroyers and two torpedo boats escaped on the Ottoman side…

…Italian reinforcements arrived in Antalya on the 1st of May. While unneeded from a military point of view, and arguably unwanted by the French, the Italians were there for political reasons. They wanted to ensure that they got the slice of the Ottoman Empire that was promised them at London in the peace treaty, and there was no better way of doing that than putting boots on the ground…

…On May 5th the Ottoman cause suffered an irreversible setback. Outside Baku armored cars belonging to the British Dunsterforce under General Dunsterville managed to slip around the Ottoman besiegers into their rear areas. In an audacious raid they destroyed a number of supply and ammunition dumps that left Enver Pasha’s Army of Islam in a precarious position. Enraged Enver ordered a massive frontal assault the next day into the teeth of prepared British and Armenian defenses. The attack failed and a counterattack set the Ottoman forces to rout.

With the rout at Baku and Third Army stalled in front of Yerevan the Ottoman government felt there was no point in continuing the war. Every further day risked another disaster that would evaporate their position. On May 9th the Ottoman empire asked for a ceasefire in preparation for peace negotiations…

-Excerpt from European Wars for Americans, Harper & Brothers, New York, 2004



A/N Well work today was a shaggy dog story, I go in to cover for someone who has the day off, three hours later, I choose to go in early to get out early, he shows up his plans for the day having fallen through and our manager didn't tell me that. So ugh, here is an update anyways