How To Save the ottomans on the early 1900's?

I wonder...

If general European War had broken out earlier, say in 1905 over the Tangiers Crisis, then perhaps the Italo-Turkish War might have been avoided. If Turkey stays neutral while the other big powers fight it out, they could emerge as a major oil power in the 30s.

A timeline that looks kind of like this:

  1. British support for France isn't as definitive as OTL in the Tangiers Crisis, and they refuse to commit to anything (this would be the biggest difficulty).
  2. As a result, Morocco remains independent with competing German and French corporations and diplomats in the country.
  3. Eventually an important German diplomat is assassinated in Morocco, and France is blamed (perhaps the shooter was a Moroccon from French Algeria or something).
  4. Germany declares war on France, all hell breaks loose.
 
Well,the title says it all. Help me,my althistorian friends.
It is safe to say that avoiding, or rolling the proverbial Natural 20 and winning, the Italian War would have avoided the last few rounds in the Balkans. Of course the Young Turk coup probably did not help.
 
Well, the title says it all. Help me, my althistorian friends.
Just to be clear, when you say 'early 1900s' do you mean just the 1900-1909 period or the early 20th century up to say the 1920s? The first is achievable but a bit more difficult whilst the second somewhat easier. If we have more time then the obvious solution is for the Ottomans to stay neutral during the Great War which neatly avoids the British fomenting the Arab Revolt and allowing them to maintain control of the Levant, Mesopotamia and Arabia plus playing both sides off against the other to get the Capitulations and possibly even some of their debts written off.


It is safe to say that avoiding, or rolling the proverbial Natural 20 and winning, the Italian War would have avoided the last few rounds in the Balkans. Of course the Young Turk coup probably did not help.
IIRC didn't the Ottomans nearly surround and completely annihiliate the original Italian invasion force of 20,000 troops? The other powers were already getting a bit annoyed with the whole affair dragging on longer than expected so it might be something.
 

Orry

Donor
Monthly Donor
Joining with the allies in WW1. It would have been the best call for a number of nations

It means being far sighted enough to over look a number of slights by the British and a better control over the Government by its nominal head.

Is also a bonus for the Allies as it makes it easier to supply Russia which is not distracted by events to the south.
 

Cook

Banned
Joining with the allies in WW1.
That was not an option available to them; the Young Turks tried repeatedly to form an alliance with Britain, in 1908, 1909, then in 1911 during their war with Italy and finally in January 1913, each time with no success. The problem was that, as the British Foreign Secretary Viscount Grey told the Turks, the Ottoman Empire was as weak, unstable, and likely to draw the British into conflict (most probably with their new Entente partners) and completely unable to assist the British in any way; a liability, not an asset. The French wouldn’t consider any alliance that upset the Russians and the Tsar’s court were already mentally measuring out the rooms of the Sublime Porte for new furniture; their goal was Constantinople.
No Balkan Wars, or no WWI.
The Balkan Wars were a consequence of Ottoman weakness, not the cause of it.
Of course the Young Turk coup probably did not help.
The Young Turk coup, if anything, came too late to save the empire; the reforms initially proposed by the Committee of Union and Progress (the Young Turks) were long overdue and obvious to all, unfortunately 1908 was just way too late, the rot in the empire ran too deep and was too clearly visible to opportunistic neighbours.

Well,the title says it all. Help me,my althistorian friends.

You really can’t save the Ottoman Empire by starting in the twentieth century; the country had missed the industrial revolution and slipped too far behind and the manufactured goods that the Sublime Porte imported were far too expensive for the empire to afford with the basic agrarian exports that were all it produced in bulk; by 1875 the interest alone on the empire’s loans from European banks was equal to half the gross national product of the entire empire. Things got even worse when, in an effort to modernise, the Turks imported locomotives and rolling stock, steam ships and everything else a modern economy needed in abundance, that the Turks didn’t produce and couldn’t afford to pay for or do without.
 
Top