So it Beginnings
Constantinople
Ottoman Foreign Ministry
March 9 1937
German Foreign Minister Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck was standing next to the Ottoman Foreign Minister Hursit Nadir. The flags of both the German and Ottoman Empire stood proudly from the flag poles behind the two men. The room had the prompt of a signing of major treaty and was what they were hear for. The Treaty of Constantinople had been in the works since 1936, but the two sides had only just reach the terms they both could live with. As such the foreign ministers of both nations were here to sign the treaty.
As Paul watched his Ottoman counterpart sign the treaty he briefly thought about the road that led him here. In 1894 Paul had been a promising Oberleutnant in the service of his Majesty’s Wilhelm the Second’s Imperial Army. He had been one of the troops who was sent to fight the Americans in those god forsaken jungles in the Southwest Pacific. He commanded troops during the final battle of that war at Simpsonhafen or as the Americans now called it Franklin. He had performed well in that battle all things that was going against Germany in that war, he was even awarded the Iron Cross 2nd and 1st Class for his actions in that battle. Yet on the last day of it an American Artillery shrapnel piece had torn his right calf off along with breaking Fibula. In those days, he had been lucky to keep his leg.
On his return to Germany after a brief stay in the United States as a prisoner of war, Paul knew his days in the army were numbered. He needed a cane to get around after that day and he knew full well the German Army didn’t need a crippled junior officer who needed a cane to walk. Even through, he was entitled to disability pension because of his wounds in the Island War, that wasn’t the life Paul wanted to live at the age of 25. With help from his father, Paul was able to join the diplomatic corp of the foreign office in 1896. Once in the diplomatic corp Paul once again began a rising star in that corp. During the Great War Paul had been the First Secretary to the mission United States where he played a critical role in helping shape American option into a pro German stance. For his work which was highly prized he was awarded the Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd Class.
Following his work at the Washington Embassy, he was promoted to being the counselor to the new nation of Quebec. He was on the fast track after that promotion. He reached the peak of his service with his appointed to his current job last May by Chancellor von Kaspar when he formed his government. Yet what brought Paul here, was simple, oil. In the aftermath of the Great War the Ottoman Empire was looking for nations to help modernize its industries. Very few were willing to help in the aftermath of the war. Once the Russians turned red through more nations were willing to help the Ottoman Empire to turn it into a bulwark against the Soviets. Germany was one such nation. They were able to get over the Americans the highly sought after oil exploration contact in 1923 as Germany offered better terms to the Ottomans. Long and behold the Ottoman Empire was setting on a lot of oil.
In the early 1930s Germany started looking for oil in the Eastern Arabian Peninsula. This area was a legally gray as it hadn’t been claimed by the British at New York in that peace treaty. On paper, it was still own by the Ottoman Empire, but the Ottomans had very little control in that area of its empire. It was simply worthless desert then and if not for the oil that had been found there it would still be worthless desert. The Germans believed, and rightly that there was oil there. Once oil was found in 1936 it was a question of what next. The Ottomans simply didn’t have the power project to deal with those fucking assholes under Ibn Saud. The raiders under Saud had caused major headaches for Arabische Ölgesellschaft which was the company that had formed to drill for oil in the Arabian Peninsula. It was to the point Arabische Ölgesellschaft had formed a small military unit to guard its engineers and crews from the raiders under Saud.
As it was clear the Ottomans couldn’t deal with that nut Saud so the Germans entered into talks about buying what remained of Ottoman Arabia. It wasn’t such much that the Ottoman Army couldn’t deal with it, but it was getting there that was the problem. This was because the Ottoman Navy simply couldn’t project power in the region. Not between the growing Soviet threat out of Sevastopol and the British fleet at Alexandria they didn’t dare send their small fleet that far from home. Yet Germany wanted that oil, a resource it was critically short in. The British also tried to make a play for it but the Ottomans basically told the British to drop dead. Like Germany the British Home Islands were critically short of oil, something they learned the hard way during the Great War. The Germans were at least treating the Ottomans as equals were the British offer was a joke, a bad joke.
It was only in the past week that a deal was stuck to sell Ottoman Arabia to the Germans. The deal was 5 billion Marks in cash with a further 3 billion Marks in economic aid to the Ottoman Empire. The latter was in the form of building up industries within the Ottoman Empire. This included building an aircraft engine plant Eskişehir, improving shipways to the point they could handle building destroyer size ships, and other industrial projects designed to help put the Ottoman Empire on firmer ground so it could stand on its own. They further got the rights to make the German Flak 8.8 cm anti-aircraft gun with German help to expand their arsenal to handle making guns that large as currently they could only make 75 mm size weapons well.
Once Foreign Minister Hursit Nadir finished signing the treaty, Paul stepped forward somewhat unevenly as his bad leg wasn’t getting any better with age. He then signed for the German Empire. With this signing The German Colonial Empire grew for the first time since the Treaty of New York. German Arabia through now agreed to by both nations wouldn’t take full effect till May 1 this year with the official hand over of the territory.
Ottoman Foreign Ministry
March 9 1937
German Foreign Minister Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck was standing next to the Ottoman Foreign Minister Hursit Nadir. The flags of both the German and Ottoman Empire stood proudly from the flag poles behind the two men. The room had the prompt of a signing of major treaty and was what they were hear for. The Treaty of Constantinople had been in the works since 1936, but the two sides had only just reach the terms they both could live with. As such the foreign ministers of both nations were here to sign the treaty.
As Paul watched his Ottoman counterpart sign the treaty he briefly thought about the road that led him here. In 1894 Paul had been a promising Oberleutnant in the service of his Majesty’s Wilhelm the Second’s Imperial Army. He had been one of the troops who was sent to fight the Americans in those god forsaken jungles in the Southwest Pacific. He commanded troops during the final battle of that war at Simpsonhafen or as the Americans now called it Franklin. He had performed well in that battle all things that was going against Germany in that war, he was even awarded the Iron Cross 2nd and 1st Class for his actions in that battle. Yet on the last day of it an American Artillery shrapnel piece had torn his right calf off along with breaking Fibula. In those days, he had been lucky to keep his leg.
On his return to Germany after a brief stay in the United States as a prisoner of war, Paul knew his days in the army were numbered. He needed a cane to get around after that day and he knew full well the German Army didn’t need a crippled junior officer who needed a cane to walk. Even through, he was entitled to disability pension because of his wounds in the Island War, that wasn’t the life Paul wanted to live at the age of 25. With help from his father, Paul was able to join the diplomatic corp of the foreign office in 1896. Once in the diplomatic corp Paul once again began a rising star in that corp. During the Great War Paul had been the First Secretary to the mission United States where he played a critical role in helping shape American option into a pro German stance. For his work which was highly prized he was awarded the Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd Class.
Following his work at the Washington Embassy, he was promoted to being the counselor to the new nation of Quebec. He was on the fast track after that promotion. He reached the peak of his service with his appointed to his current job last May by Chancellor von Kaspar when he formed his government. Yet what brought Paul here, was simple, oil. In the aftermath of the Great War the Ottoman Empire was looking for nations to help modernize its industries. Very few were willing to help in the aftermath of the war. Once the Russians turned red through more nations were willing to help the Ottoman Empire to turn it into a bulwark against the Soviets. Germany was one such nation. They were able to get over the Americans the highly sought after oil exploration contact in 1923 as Germany offered better terms to the Ottomans. Long and behold the Ottoman Empire was setting on a lot of oil.
In the early 1930s Germany started looking for oil in the Eastern Arabian Peninsula. This area was a legally gray as it hadn’t been claimed by the British at New York in that peace treaty. On paper, it was still own by the Ottoman Empire, but the Ottomans had very little control in that area of its empire. It was simply worthless desert then and if not for the oil that had been found there it would still be worthless desert. The Germans believed, and rightly that there was oil there. Once oil was found in 1936 it was a question of what next. The Ottomans simply didn’t have the power project to deal with those fucking assholes under Ibn Saud. The raiders under Saud had caused major headaches for Arabische Ölgesellschaft which was the company that had formed to drill for oil in the Arabian Peninsula. It was to the point Arabische Ölgesellschaft had formed a small military unit to guard its engineers and crews from the raiders under Saud.
As it was clear the Ottomans couldn’t deal with that nut Saud so the Germans entered into talks about buying what remained of Ottoman Arabia. It wasn’t such much that the Ottoman Army couldn’t deal with it, but it was getting there that was the problem. This was because the Ottoman Navy simply couldn’t project power in the region. Not between the growing Soviet threat out of Sevastopol and the British fleet at Alexandria they didn’t dare send their small fleet that far from home. Yet Germany wanted that oil, a resource it was critically short in. The British also tried to make a play for it but the Ottomans basically told the British to drop dead. Like Germany the British Home Islands were critically short of oil, something they learned the hard way during the Great War. The Germans were at least treating the Ottomans as equals were the British offer was a joke, a bad joke.
It was only in the past week that a deal was stuck to sell Ottoman Arabia to the Germans. The deal was 5 billion Marks in cash with a further 3 billion Marks in economic aid to the Ottoman Empire. The latter was in the form of building up industries within the Ottoman Empire. This included building an aircraft engine plant Eskişehir, improving shipways to the point they could handle building destroyer size ships, and other industrial projects designed to help put the Ottoman Empire on firmer ground so it could stand on its own. They further got the rights to make the German Flak 8.8 cm anti-aircraft gun with German help to expand their arsenal to handle making guns that large as currently they could only make 75 mm size weapons well.
Once Foreign Minister Hursit Nadir finished signing the treaty, Paul stepped forward somewhat unevenly as his bad leg wasn’t getting any better with age. He then signed for the German Empire. With this signing The German Colonial Empire grew for the first time since the Treaty of New York. German Arabia through now agreed to by both nations wouldn’t take full effect till May 1 this year with the official hand over of the territory.
