The Great War, also known as the Great Global War, was perhaps one of the most important turning points in the history of the Ottoman Empire.
The events leading up to the war are numerous, and many argue such a war, regardless of who was allied to who, was itself unlikely to not
have occurred do to the internal problems of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and relations between some of the European empires.
In 1916 the Hungarian Prime Minister Máté Kovács was assassinated and Austrian Prince Lukas wounded by a member of the 'People's Fist',
a Revolutionary Socialist movement advocating the independence of the Galicia region.
When the news reached Hungary the Hungarian parliament was outraged and sought to declare war on Bosnia, however the Austrians were
not at first convinced, however after evidence came to light that showed that certain members of the Bosnian government, who had themselves
been arrested, had been aiding the group the Austrians agreed and on May 9th of 1916 the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on the
Bosnian Republic, believing that it would be a relatively quick war.
Following the news of the declaration Bosnia's allies Serbia, Romania, Greece and the Ottoman Empire all officially sided with Bosnia,
declaring war on Austria-Hungary.
This would in turn lead Austria-Hungary to seek German aide, and after consideration Germany reluctantly sided with Austria-Hungary and
entered a formal military alliance with them, however at the same time German officials had been secretly meeting with representatives from
the Ottoman Empire and came to an agreement wherein while the two sides would technically be at war, they would confine their fighting
to the Austro-Hungarian lands and would only engage at sea if fired upon first.
The next month Italy, having had good relations with the Ottomans and their allies since the mid 19th century and seeking to annex
'Italian lands' formally allied itself with Bosnia, declaring war on Austria-Hungary and Germany.
The first few months of the war were somewhat one sided as the Alliance pushed through and captured the borderlands before facing
any real resistance.
On August 5th the French and Russian governments came to an agreement and on the 10th of the month the French Republic and
Russian Empire simultaneously declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary.
The war raged on for the rest of the year with the Alliance captured more territory while France occupied most of Alsace-Loraine and
dug-in and Russia sent its army into Eastern Germany and Galicia.
The beginning of 1917 was a major turning point in the war for the Alliance as the Ottomans new tank brigades were deployed to the
front lines in Carinthia.
While Russia had seen gains early on with Germany's military now fully mobilized and not having to do much fighting in Austria-Hungary
it focused on Russia and by June had managed to not only retake the Russian occupied territories but also occupy part of Russian Poland
and a significant portion of the Russian Baltic coast.
The Summer of 1917 would become the beginning point for many changes as rebellions favouring sprung-up in Bohemia and Galicia and
revolutionary groups began to rise in Russia.
Though small at first these, and others would grow over time.
By September of 1917 the Alliance had managed to occupy roughly half of Austria-Hungary while the rebellions in Bohemia had grown
and spread, resulting in the Austro-Hungarian forces, already battered, to be weakened further.
In Russia Germany continued to push forward, capturing more of the Baltic coast and pushing the battlefield further back in Poland
and establishing a beachhead in Finland, however the fighting remained fierce as both sides were determined not to lose.
As the war raged on and the Russian army was gradually pushed back more and more uprisings took place, leading to the capture of
St. Petersburg by Socialist Revolutionaries shortly after the Imperial government had vacated to Moscow, away from the fighting and revolts,
meanwhile other uprisings and rebellions had gained steam in the Crimea and the Caucasus.
While Russia had the numerical advantage it soon became clear that Germany's superior military technology and training meant that Russia
would not be able to 'hold the borderlands', and in December of 1917 the military used the winter to retreat further East to try and dig-in
and establish a defence line.
The beginning of 1918 was a time of revelation for some as many began to realize that they were on the losing side.
On January 21st, with Bohemia, Moravia and the Slovak lands mostly in the control of the rebel groups the Republic of Czechoslovakia
was proclaimed and immediately recognized and aided by the Alliance.
By February less than a quarter of the Austro-Hungarian empire was still under its control, with most of that being in Austria itself.
With most of the Hungarian lands occupied the Alliance approached several prominent Hungarian nationalist groups, and on February 19th
the Republic of Hungary was proclaimed, though the fledgling nation was for the most part under Alliance control.
In Russia many in the government and military began to realize that it was growing more and more likely that they would lose as Germany
had now occupied nearly all of the Baltic, Russian Poland and a significant chunk of Southern Finland while the nationalist revolts in Finland,
Estonia and the Caucasus and the Socialist Revolutionaries in the capital region and Ukraine were growing in popularity and strength.
On March 10th the Republic of Estonia was declared, siding with Germany.
On April 15th the Republics of Lithuania and Latvia were declared, and, like Estonia sided with Germany against Russia.
Near the end of the month the Transcaucasian Federal Republic was declared, however Persia would be the only country to initially
recognize it, in return for a referendum in lower Azerbaijan on joining Persia itself.
On May 17th the Republic of Poland was declared, however, unlike the Baltic republics, where their were significant organized independence
movements the movements in Poland were unorganized, leading to the newly founded nation to be even more dependent and connected
to Germany.
In June, with Vienna occupied the Austro-Hungarian Empire ceased to be upon the signing of the Treaty of Prague which resulted in the
formal dissolution of the empire and the formal independence and recognition of Czechoslovakia & Hungary and the ceding of territory
to Italy, Romania, Serbia and Bosnia.
By September Germany had pushed well into Russia, controlling a broad area of territory in between the areas controlled by Socialist
Revolutionaries in the North and the South, who they'd come to an uneasy agreement with.
On December 5th Finland declared independence from Russia.
The declaration itself was'nt reputed by the Russian government, as the others had been for the simple fact that many realized the end
was soon approaching as large chunks of the country were either controlled by Germany or revolutionaries who themselves were growing
in number every day.
In a last resort the remainder of the loyal military was ordered to retreat to further East in a last stand.
By the beginning of 1919 most of the Ukraine, North-West Russia and Central Asia were in the hands of revolutionaries and the German,
while having stopped, had reached far into Russia
In April the 'Astara Referendum' was held in the TFR, resulting in the 'Astara Region' voting to join Persia.
On April 3rd the 'Battle of Moscow began, ultimately leading to the defeat of the Imperial government.
On May 1st, with the St. Petersburg, Moscow and most of the country controlled by revolutionaries the Confederal Union of Socialist Republics
was proclaimed.
On the 10th the 'Treaty of Berlin' was signed, officially ending the war and resulting in the CUSR recognizing the independence of Lithuania,
Latvia, Estonia,, Poland, Finland and the TFR.
Each slide represents a month;