Osman Reborn; The Survival of Ottoman Democracy [An Ottoman TL set in the 1900s]
- Thread starter Sarthak
- Start date
Hello,
I guess it depends on how the Ottomans currently sells the Ottoman State to the rest of the world in terms of commerce, trade, the arts, etc. To the rest of the world, what is the State's biggest draw? Do the Ottomans need to address perceived negative stereotypes about themselves? Are there programs to encourage better understanding of the Ottomans such as tourism, educational and arts exchanges, religious conferences, etc?
I tend to think the most visible aspect is the Ottoman State's cosmopolitan makeup in terms of its peoples, collective histories, and a certain level of coexistence among its constituent religions. The only other state that has a similar level of diversity is the United States. For the Ottomans, neighboring states have a more established single identity, such as Greece, Italy, Bulgaria,etc. So the only influence I could see the Ottomans exercising, is popular media (film, radio, literature, music), religious discourse, education (especially at the tertiary level), and popular sports
Somehow related: Roca-Runciman pact was a trade treaty between British Empire and Argentina, with an overwhelming british presence in all the meat supply chain (rails, slaughterhouses, cold storage, etc). With the ottoman influence growing in South America, i can foresee more of these treaties, not only binded to beef, lamb, pork, but to many other food supplies, enriching ottoman cuisine.
I do have to say I do love how you've added details about how Ottoman culture is shifting over time.
Though on the topic of how Central Asia is caught in a massive upraising, well I suspect Enver Pasha will get involved somewhere, after all China's in a massive civil war, Russia's strong but has very bad relations with Germany, Britain, and the Ottoman empire as well as very precarious situation with their own minorities with many in various levels of insurgency. Granted I kind of doubt at this time terrorist organizations could be as run internationally with the infrastructure but Turanism not looking that bad here.
Well looks like the attitude so many people and not a single faithful soul'' never changes no matter the face or time.
Though on the topic of how Central Asia is caught in a massive upraising, well I suspect Enver Pasha will get involved somewhere, after all China's in a massive civil war, Russia's strong but has very bad relations with Germany, Britain, and the Ottoman empire as well as very precarious situation with their own minorities with many in various levels of insurgency. Granted I kind of doubt at this time terrorist organizations could be as run internationally with the infrastructure but Turanism not looking that bad here.
I didn't catch the "Butcher" bit at first, but this does not surprise me in the slightest.
Hello,
www.tastingtable.com
As a final comment on food in this thread....
practicalwanderlust.com
This will depend on how much Mexico encourages Ottoman tourism or if a few enterprising Mexican restauranteurs are willing to set up shop in Constantinople. Incidentally, are there Ottoman cities or region that are considered highly cosmopolitan with a diversified population?
Actually, there is something OTL...
Turkish immigrant who 'invented' the doner kebab at his market stall in West Berlin over 40 years ago dies aged 80
Kadir Nurman, widely credited as the inventor of the popular fast food meal, passed away in Berlin at the age of 80.
www.dailymail.co.uk
The Truth Behind Tacos Al Pastor - Tasting Table
Tacos al pastor: The tacos seen on nearly every Mexican city street corner are the happy marriage of Lebanese shawarma and spice-rubbed grilled pork.
www.tastingtable.com
10 Obscure Mexican Foods You’ve Probably Never Heard Of
From tripe soup to fermented agave sap to ant larvae to corn smut: here are 10 lesser-known Mexican foods that you've probably never heard of!
practicalwanderlust.com
America has some political reform down the road and the progressives will eventually win the presidency. You’ve hinted already at “tri-partisanship” so I believe after an economic crisis the Progressives win and eventually supplant the Democrats as the second major party. Then the Democrats split between economic progressives and social conservatives and reactionaries on one side with them joining forces with economically conservative Republicans to form a Conservative party. Then the Republicans are the socially liberal moderates and the progressives are basically Social Democrats.
Also do you have any plans for the Popes/Vatican?
The Weavers (1905), by the Manaki brothers, was the first film made in the Ottoman Empire. The earliest surviving film made in what is present-day Turkey was a documentary entitled Ayastefanos'taki Rus Abidesinin Yıkılışı (Demolition of the Russian Monument at San Stefano), directed by Fuat Uzkınay and completed in 1914. The first narrative film, Sedat Simavi's The Spy, was released in 1917. Turkey's first sound film was shown in 1931.
^Wikipedia on Turkish Cinema.
ahmedali
Banned
What a beautiful chapter and it was really fun
I enjoyed the concept of Ottoman cuisine and peaceful coexistence with ethnicities in the Ottoman Empire
Who will be the main opponent in the next war (I would prefer Russia or France)
Will Italy, if it enters the wrong side of the war, restore its monarchy (with Savoy or the Bourbons) I feel that Bourbon Italy will be exciting?
I enjoyed the concept of Ottoman cuisine and peaceful coexistence with ethnicities in the Ottoman Empire
Who will be the main opponent in the next war (I would prefer Russia or France)
Will Italy, if it enters the wrong side of the war, restore its monarchy (with Savoy or the Bourbons) I feel that Bourbon Italy will be exciting?
“with the growing Ottoman Zionist ferver in the Ottoman Empire Ze’ev Jabotinsky, the future ‘Butcher of the Middle East’ lamented that ‘The Jews in the Empire of Osman act more like Ottoman Citizens of the Jewish Faith than as actual Zionist Jews.’”
Oh boy. Looks like Jabotinsky is going to be a real jerk. I worry about the Sinai Arabs in particular.
Also, Gurion as governor of Yemen? Himyar restored confirmed? (Joking but that is cool, a Jewish governor of Yemen)
I loved your “cuisine segment” and I have another thought relating to it. Between Booza and Dondurma, I think stretchy ice cream TTL will be known internationally as “Ottoman ice cream” and I could see it expand and become popular even beyond the Empire.
Are the strasserists continuing to expand their influence across the German revanchists?
Oh boy. Looks like Jabotinsky is going to be a real jerk. I worry about the Sinai Arabs in particular.
Also, Gurion as governor of Yemen? Himyar restored confirmed? (Joking but that is cool, a Jewish governor of Yemen)
I loved your “cuisine segment” and I have another thought relating to it. Between Booza and Dondurma, I think stretchy ice cream TTL will be known internationally as “Ottoman ice cream” and I could see it expand and become popular even beyond the Empire.
Are the strasserists continuing to expand their influence across the German revanchists?
First of all. The Fez! It wont fall into disuse in the ME or European parts of the Empire TTL methinks.
I think without the OTL “population exchange” Greek Muslims such as the Pomaks, Thracian Muslims and Cretan Turks will remain.
I think in the Middle East with regards to sectarianism it will be better because the Empire will have more checks and balances than the OTL effective Caudillos that took root that used sectarian tensions to benefit themselves. So more tolerance overall there. Not to say it will become a “sect blind” unicorn Loveland, but it will be far more “calm” with regard to tensions
Chapter 60: For the Want of Independence and Radicalism
Chapter 60: For the Want of Independence and Radicalism
Excerpts from ‘David Ben-Gurion: The Rise of the First Jewish Grand Vizier’
“……. When David Ben-Gurion was appointed as the Governor of rebellious Yemen, no one really thought that the man would be able to keep his position and administrate properly. Many spoke behind his back that he was a placeholder governor for the time being. Of course, Ben-Gurion’s ascension to the governorship was completely coincidental. The previous candidates had either all opposed being shunted off to a rebellious vilayet or had taken up other jobs leaving only him for the job. And Ben-Gurion was eager for the job, unlike the other contenders for the post. Many Islamic fundamentalists decried the posting of Ben-Gurion as well, for there had never been a Jewish governor of an Ottoman Vilayet before. Christians had been appointed since the 1600s but there was no precedent for a Jewish governor. Mustafa Kemal Pasha was not one to cater to the needs of fundamentalists and people out of government and instead encouraged Ben-Gurion to do his best against all the opposition.
A young David Ben-Gurion in the official Ottoman photo as Governor of Yemen
That was easier said than done. Only the major cities and important railway and transport links between them in Yemen were under Ottoman control. Taiz was under perpetual siege with only a 900-man garrison defending the city and its medieval fortress against hordes of tribesmen. Moving outside of the Ottoman controlled cities without a military guard was tantamount to suicide for anyone. The situation in Yemen was very much near anarchy and the Ottoman government wanted to restore something akin to order and stability in the region whilst the military dealt with the insurgents. Furthermore, Ben-Gurion had to deal with foreign irritants as well.
The British were Ottoman allies, true, however they could see an opening to further their control of the Red Sea, and being allies had never stopped Britain from exploiting them. In early 1925, a tepid offer arrived from London asking the Ottoman government in Yemen to drop its claims on the Hanish Islands, which were strategically placed right in between the Red Sea’s opening into the Indian Ocean. Ben-Gurion categorically rejected this offer. Of course, he didn’t have the proper authority to hand over the islands even if he wanted and the Hanish Islands were teeming with Zaidi Shia Rebels, which was a problem to contend with. On January 18, Ben-Gurion ordered 300 Ottoman Marines to take the Hanish Islands and secure Ottoman legitimacy over the islands once and for all, first and foremost to deal with the rebels, and secondly to pre-empt all British, French, and Austrian interest in the islands.
Ben-Gurion immediately began to whip the administration of Yemen into place. Having the support of the Yemeni Jewish population, he began to systematically attack the religious nature of the Shiite Zaidi uprising by opening up Shia mosques in the Ottoman-controlled regions, and also granted the fair commission to all Sunnis, Shias, Ibadis, Christians, and Jews in the region. This was a cunning ploy on part of Ben-Gurion who wanted to make sure that the religious aspect of the war was dampened by smart decisions. And to this end, Ben-Gurion was successful as many beside the most willing and most believing of Zaidis began to melt away into the mountains as the Ottomans loosened their Zaidi Shia restrictions in Yemen under Ben-Gurion.
Though Ben-Gurion had been appointed governor most of the staff was filled to the brim with the very people who had precipitated and brought the rebellion on. As such on February 4, Ben-Gurion did something no one anticipated at the time but probably should have in hindsight. He sacked every single administrative officer in the Yemeni Vilayet’s headquarters in Sana’a associated with the previous governorship and then began to a process of streamlining new applications to make sure that the next set of administrators were efficient and talented. This led to several complaints coming in from fired administrators to Constantinople, with them asking for the resignation of Ben-Gurion and that their positions be reinstated. Mustafa Kemal simply dispersed them into Ottoman Libya and into the Island Vilayet (Rhodes-Samos-Chios) as he was unwilling to listen to the civil servants who had arguably fed to the Yemeni Rebellion. With this indirect measure, Mustafa Kemal Pasha was supporting Ben-Gurion’s administrative efforts down in Yemen.
Map of Ottoman Sana'a c. 1920
Alongside his administrative efforts to make the Yemeni administration more efficient, the Jewish governor asked for the aid of Mehmet Cavit Bey, a prominent Ottoman Economist. Mehmet Cavit was enlisted by Ben-Gurion and by February 21, the man was in Sana’a where he was devising a plan alongside Ben-Gurion to make sure that the economic status of Yemen could be used to beat back the rebellion. Additional railway plans were created to make sure that the inter-connectedness between Yemeni cities was enlarged to Ottoman benefit and to expand the Ottoman power projection in inner Yemen. Official work began in late February with the military providing cover for Hejazi and Palestinian workers who made up the bulk of the construction crews for the new railways that were devised up by Mehmet Cavit as a means to increase Ottoman power projection inside of Yemen’s rural regions.
Speaking of railways, the Hejaz Railway was used by Ben-Gurion to its absolute advantage and more and more anti-insurgent Ottoman troops were transported from the Ottoman Arab provinces to deal with the tribesmen who were fighting under the control of Imam Yahya. One of Ben-Gurion’s greatest earlier victories during his governorship came when his forces managed to capture Muhammad bin-Yahya, the second son of Imam Yahya after he tried to lead a raid into Sana’a. Muhammad was brought to the government headquarters in Sana’a and interrogated. The second son of Imam Yahya at first refused to break, not wishing to betray his father, however after several hours of psychological pressure, the man broke, and several key commanders and key positions in the Zaidi rebellion were given to the Ottoman government. This led to a sweeping campaign in Northern Yemen under the command of Mehmet Essat Pasha who managed to clear the far northern areas of Yemen of any rebel activity with the aid of the information gleaned from Muhammad bin Yahya. Ben-Gurion did offer Muhammad to become a rival Zaidi Imam fighting for the Ottoman government, but on this issue, Muhammad refused absolutely.
Ben-Gurion also became one of the first members of the Ottoman government to truly use the Ottoman Special Organization (OSO) in a modern sense. Before the 1908 Revolution, the OSO had basically been Sultan Abdulhamid II’s own version of the Russian Okhrana and had used the OSO to crack down upon his internal political enemies and not used it for OSO’s stated goal – espionage and intelligence gathering. After the 1908 Revolution, the OSO had undergone a small freeze with most members not doing much and considering the scale of the war, OSO had only been used in light capacity during the Ottoman-Libyan War and the Balkan War. But that was about to change under the leadership and authority of Ben-Gurion. The Ottoman Special Organization Governate of Yemen (OSOGY) was established under his command and the leadership of OSOGY was given to Abkhazian intelligence leader Rauf Orbay.
Rauf Orbay
Orbay was the game changer for the OSO. He established a counter-intelligence unit in Yemen and began to feed wrong information into the forces of the Zaidi rebels and a strong economic intelligence corps was created to aid in the railway power projection projects as well. He also used the religious motivations of Sunni rebels to bribe them back to the government’s side and used them as spies within the Zaidi revolt, who managed to feed information back to the Ottoman government. Orbay was also not embarrassed with the idea of foreign aid, and he enlisted the aid of the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) operating from Aden to aid his growing intelligence network as well. For his actions in creating a proper intelligence network from the ground up, Rauf Orbay would in 1926 be elevated to the position of Director of the Special Organization, the highest position within the OSO throughout the entirety of the empire.
Gurion’s apt use of the Special Organization under Orbay meant that unlike before, the Ottomans had a good idea of rebel movements, rebel positions, rebel supplies and manpower. This meant that Ben-Gurion and the military commanders in the region – mainly Mehmet Essat Pasha and Fahreddin Pasha – were able to properly predict rebel movements and move in time to counteract the rebel’s moves. This became the beginning of the end for the Yemeni Rebellion and by the end of 1925, the rebellion would splutter out in its whole entirety….”
Excerpts from The Central Asian Dream: The Revolt of 1924 by Alexander Morrison
“…. The Central Asian revolt raged throughout Russian Central Asia and even affected Persia and Afghanistan, both of whom were nations still trying to come out of their respective feudal aspects. The spillover of conflict into Afghanistan and Iran was a prospect that neither Russia, Britain, or the Ottomans wanted in the delicate situation that was Russian Central Asia. In Samarkand, the Samarkand Congress signed the declaration of independence on January 2, 1925 and declared the Republic of Turkestan as an independent and sovereign nation, with the rights of all Central Asians guaranteed. It was a move towards Central Asian unity, but cracks began to show immediately as the religious undertones of the congress made Christian and Jewish Central Asian leaders boycott the resolution. Many Central Asian leaders disapproved of the idea of total independence, knowing that without Russia they would be falling prey to either the resurgent Chinese Empire to the east or the British to the south, neither of which sounded like good ideas to many. But the Congress did manage to gain the support of Sayyid Mir Muhammad Alim Khan, the powerful Emir of Bukhara, and his talented general, Ibrahim Bek, who aided Imanov in attacking and destroying Russian army columns whenever and wherever they could.
Sayyid Mir Muhammad Alim Khan
Amidst this turmoil, another leader rose up in Central Asia, and it was the man who doomed the dream of a Central Asian state. Enver Pasha. Having become a big shot name during the Italo-Ottoman War for coordinating the defenses of Benghazi and then later on becoming the founder of the Ottoman Nationalist Party, Enver Pasha was a rapid turanist and pan-Turkic nationalist. He had quietly become disillusioned with the idea of a multi-ethnic and multi-religious democratic Ottoman State and had left the Ottoman nation in disgust after a furious last verbal attack on Mustafa Kemal’s government in the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies in 1923. He had wandered throughout the middle east before settling down in Northern Afghanistan in early 1924. With the Central Asian Revolt however he saw an opportunity for Turanism that couldn’t be missed at all. Enver Pasha immediately moved into Central Asia when the revolt began and began to show himself as a leader in the region. This complicated the situation for the Ottoman Empire who had until that moment decided not to interfere in the region. The Ottoman Empire’s ambassador in St. Petersburg, Lord Mario Carraciolo (a member of the medieval derived Old Italian Ethnic Group in the Ottoman Empire) on orders from Constantinople issued a warrant in the Russian Empire for the arrest and seizure of Enver Pasha, who was inadvertently drawing pro-Turanist military officers from the Ottoman Empire into the Central Asian Revolt. The Russians demanded that every ottoman file on Enver Pasha be handed over to the Russian government, for they could not allow anything to fall by chance. The Ottoman government, though wary decided to acquiesce to Russian demands and on January 27, all Ottoman files from the Ottoman Archives regarding Enver Pasha and his allies were copied and then sent to the Russian government.
Enver Pasha in Central Asia
Enver Pasha quickly used his military experience to gain the support of the Central Asian militia groups and led them to victory on more than one occasion and throughout his time in the region, he was quickly elevated to become the General of the Western Front, leading the Western Kazakh front against the incoming Russian invasion. But Enver Pasha was a fool, vain and strutting. He demanded more and more troops from the Samarkand Congress – which was later given by Samarkand – and his weaknesses decided to exert themselves. He was vain, strutting and liked to play with titles, uniforms and medals. His official title within the Central Asian leadership was not simply General or Pasha or Leader of the Front, but ‘Amir of all Kazakhs, Representative of the Prophet and Leader of the Army of Islam’. It was certainly grandiose and not conductive to gaining the support of the Central Asian Emirs and Amirs who were supporting the rebellion against Russian authority.
Russian Troops before the Battle of the Ural River
Enver decided that a grand defeat in detail would make sure that the Russians were thrown out of Central Asia and decided to draw all of his forces against the main incoming Russian Army at Atyrau at the Battle of the Ural River. The XXI and XXII and XXIII Imperial Russian Corps under the command of Lieutenant General August Kork had taken up defensive positions west of the Ural River the moment they heard of Enver’s attack on the 27th of February. Enver was good at guerilla warfare – he had infinite experience in that field against the Italians in 1911 and 1912 – but his skill in direct battles left much to be desired. With more than 50,000 Central Asian troops, around a third of them former Imperial troops, Enver had a lot of resources to maneuver with, but instead he chose to directly assault the 35,000 entrenched Russian troops across the Ural river. What happened was an absolute massacre. At Yerkinkala and Damba the Russians slaughtered and beat back all attack and at Kzyl-Balyk, the Russians crossed the Ural River and then cut Enver’s entire army into two. Kork, seeing the battle change in his favor, ordered a general encirclement of the two pockets that had been created and the result was extremely bloody as the Russians gave no quarter. News of Slavic villages and residents in Central Asia being manhandled and mistreated had inflamed the rage of the mostly Russian and Ukrainian troops and they showed no mercy in the battlefield. By the end of the battle out of the ~50,000 rebels that Enver had led into battle, only ~3000 managed to escape alongside Enver.
This was the death knell for the rebellion. The Samarkand Congress had been so sure of Enver’s military record that they had placed their bets on his forces winning a grand decisive victory. The Turkestan Republic still had some reserves they could call up, but all of the most professional and exceptionally well trained and well equipped troops from Central Asia were either dead near the shores of the Ural river or being carted off to Siberian prisons. By March 20, A Russian Cavalry detachment under Major General Konstantin Monstrov entered Samarkand and raised the Imperial flag, bringing an end to the Central Asian rebellion throughout the region. All of the Congress’s members were taken, prisoner. Enver Pasha managed to escape into Afghanistan at the last minute, and this wouldn’t be the last time people heard his name. He would go on to earn the name ‘The Constant Rebel’ for the sheer amount of rebellions he would lead in the name of pan-Turanism and would continue to be a headache for Ottoman Diplomacy for years to come.
Back in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the Rebellion, though it had ended military, became a political problem. Prime Minister Peter Struve, recognizing the danger that the Snowstorm Detachment of the Guildists and the Republican Guard could pose to stability in Russia began to seek a moderate solution to an already festering problem. He was not aided in this endeavor by Tsar Nicholas II who believed that Struve’s idea of simple house arrest was not going to send a good message to anyone domestically or abroad. Rebels would have to be treated as rebels was his message. Struve, who had proven to be an economically sound Prime Minister (the economy had overtaken the American economy in mid-1924 and was now gearing to approach the British Empire), was sacked for his moderate reprisal scheme and instead Tsar Nicholas II, much to the horror of the State Duma, appointed Vladimir Purishkevich. Purishkevich was a controversial choice if only for the fact that he had participated in the Blood Libel Charge against the Jewish populace of the Russian Empire most enthusiastically, was involved in the murder of Rasputin in 1915 and was known for his pro-democratic yet ultra-nationalist motives. His inability to latch on one subject made him a loose cannon in the eyes of many in the Duma as well. And indeed, his premiership would make Russian seep one step closer to the ever-approaching Russian Civil War.
Prime Minister Vladimir Purishkevich
The Samarkand Congress members were judged by their level of involvement. Leaders were put to the sword under Purishkevich’s order and the rest were thrown into the cold Siberian prisons with no hope of ever escaping. Instead of stamping down on the violence created by the Republican Guard and the Snowstorm Detachment, who were pushing their own ideologies of radical republicanism and Guildism respectively the new Russian Prime Minister and his approved cabinet began to ‘use’ the two paramilitary wings against each other in a classic divide and conquer strategy and established the Russian National Guard (RNG) as a paramilitary wing of the Okhrana if it ever needed to defend itself against paramilitary attacks from the Republican Guard and the Snowstorm Detachment. While cities in Russia remained safe to be in, soon enough these three paramilitary groups began to fight it out in the rural areas, where radicalism was loosely monitored and soon enough, opposition against the government began to grow, and Purishkevich’s role in creating the Russian Civil War began with his creation of the RNG, which beckoned trying times for Russia….”
Excerpts from The Balkan Torchlight by Frederick J. Anderson
“…. The death of King Nikola I of Montenegro and the ascension of King Danilo II of Montenegro was an unseen seminal moment in Balkan history. Though Montenegro’s own influence in the events that led up to the Second Great War is often forgotten today, at the time the events happening in Montenegro were worrisome for many. Danilo II was in many respects much like his father, but better in many aspects and bad in many aspects. He saw the futility of trying to create a massive southern Slavic state against a joint Anglo-Ottoman alliance and pursued a policy of trying to reconcile the Montenegrin state with the Ottoman State. His state visit to Ottoman Albania in 1923 was a landmark moment in Ottoman-Montenegrin History. But the situation back at home in Montenegro was not calm nor was it stable.
Prime Minister Milo Matanovic, despite being a Serbian by ethnicity and birth and raising, was a Montenegrin by heart, and he resisted calls from the mostly pro-slavic unity populace to do something about the growing reconciliatory movement with the Ottoman Empire. Matanovic knew very well that the Ottomans hadn’t annexed anything from Montenegro during the Balkan War was because they had bigger opponents – namely Serbia and Bulgaria – to deal with and had ignored Montenegro as a result. Furthermore, Matanovic had to deal with increasing amounts of political refugees from Serbia as the Serbians continued to be ruled by the Triumvirate of King Alexander I, Prime Minister Vulkicevic, and Deputy Prime Minister Josif Kostic. Communists, neutrals, and pro-Ottomans had all been expelled from Serbia under the Triumvirate and Matanovic rightly believed that an alliance with the Ottomans could perhaps restore order in the Balkans by expelling the triumvirate from power.
Danilo II
The most prominent danger to Danilo II and Matanovic came in the form of the People’s Party. A dangerous political party that fought for pan-Slavic, ultra-nationalistic, and ultimately union with Serbia. They were led by Adrija Radovic who had by 1925 been reduced to all but a figurehead and this was because Radovic supported parliamentary democracy and democratic civic nationalism and a democratic way of integrating with Serbia, and had opposed the growing undemocratic fervor in Serbia and had decided to put off any pro-Serbian attitude until Serbia could return back to the democratic fold. This view did not please most in the party and the true leader of the party quickly became Bishop Dorde Dozic, the Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral. A Montenegrin with ultra-nationalistic Slavic viewpoints, and a man who was known to support unconditional union with Serbia, as well as a person who had solid links with the Black Hand, Dozic was not a man that could be taken lightly, if only for the fact that he was exceedingly charismatic and influential at the same time.
But Matanovic clearly underestimated the man and his sphere of influence, which included the military as well. The military was disheartened by their defeat in 1915 and had tried to call for reform, and expansion. Matanovic had responded with reform but hadn’t expanded the army deeming it too dangerous and provocative. The military led by General Janko Vukotic refused any idea of pro-Ottoman policy as well, which meant that conflict within Montenegro was more likely than not. Bishop Dozic met up with Matanovic on the 18th of January and the military and the People’s Party made their new plan. The military would coup Danilo II (who did not enjoy the same popularity as his father) and Matanovic from power and then Vukotic, who had briefly held power as a Prime Minister of Montenegro in 1914 would become the interim President of an interim Republic of Montenegro. After that with negotiations preceding onwards a union would be declared with Serbia. Vukotic was eager for the first parts of the plan but expressed doubts that without a land connection they would even be able to create a unified country with Serbia. But these concerns were swept aside by the secretive euphoria spreading amongst the Slavic nationalistic military and the People’s Party.
On the 31st of January, the Montenegrin military gathered around the Royal and Governmental Palace in Cetinje and demanded the abdication of Danilo II and the resignation of Matanovic as Prime Minister. Danilo II had however managed to slip away with the aid of a secret tunnel underneath his residence and Matanovic refused to surrender. The government’s guard had thankfully remained loyal and an hour long battle ensued outside the Governmental Palace which saw most of the government’s guard killed or taken prisoner. The military then entered the governmental palace to find Matanovic having committed suicide, knowing that his fate would not be anything less after the coup. Danilo II fled with the remnants of loyalist militias and armies into Ottoman Kosovo where he was stopped by General Kostas Ninou, an Ottoman Greek General who commanded the Monastir Military Region and the II, III, and V Army corps.
Danilo II pleaded with Ninou to come to the aid of the legitimate Montenegrin government and restore him and the constitutional rule to Montenegro. Ninou uncomfortable told the man that he didn’t have the authority to invade Montenegro. He sent a dispatch to Constantinople and a diplomatic crisis developed as Serbia announced partial mobilization in support of the Coup as Vukotic became the President of Montenegro under the authority of Dozic who became the Minister-President. Surprisingly, when Mustafa Kemal Pasha voiced support for intervening in Montenegro, he was supported internationally by the Russian Empire. Nicholas II had dynastic links with the Montenegrin Royal Family and abandoning them to the wolves was not something he wished to endorse and as long as ‘Montenegrin territorial and political sovereignty were not changed in the aftermath, Nicholas II expressed his support for an Ottoman intervention in the region. Danubia, who had never looked at Serbian and Slavic ultra-nationalism with a positive lens also supported an intervention. Britain and France held no positions regarding the matter, as they had little to no interest in the near microstate. On February 15, 1925, the Ottoman II and V corps under the command of General Kostas Ninou invaded Montenegro after tacit support from Russia and Danubia was obtained. The Montenegrins had created a barrier of defense at Kolasin where they deemed that Ottoman numerical superiority would not be able to come into their favor. The Ottoman General, who was experienced from the Balkan War decided not to fall for the trick and instead the Ottoman 545th Squadron from Prishtina bombed the small alleyway dispersing Montenegrin military resistance and entering the key border passageway. From there the I Corps under Ninou took to the north and attacked Niksic whilst the V Corps under the command of Djevat Pasha veered to the south towards Podgorica and Cetinje.
Montenegrin troops fighting in Kolasin
In Serbia, the government of Alexander I was appealed to intervene but Alexander I and the triumvirate were not fools. They could see easily that their military was not ready for any sort of reprisal against the Ottoman Empire. And unlike the last time, it was nearly guaranteed that the Bulgarians would remain neutral. Niksic fell on the 28th of February whilst Djevat Pasha laid siege to Podgorica. Vukotic had whipped the populace into spurts of anti-Islamic violence as he used the war as a means of whipping nationalism against the Ottomans and appealed to the 2.2 million or so Slavs that lived in the Ottoman Balkans. Unsurprisingly the Ottoman Slavs responded with apathy and even pro-Ottoman feelings, much to the surprise of many ultra-nationalist slavs – which in retrospect should not have happened considering the Ottoman slavs in 1915 had remained loyal to the Sublime Porte.
Ottoman troops enter Podgorica
Podgorica fell and soon after Cetinje was captured on March 4, 1925, ending the one-month-long tenure of the Slavic Republic of Montenegro. Like the Ottomans had agreed with Russia and Danubia, the Ottomans annexed not a single inch of land from Montenegro and Danilo II and the previous Montenegrin cabinet was restored to power with Lazar Mijuskovic becoming the interim Prime Minister of Montenegro. Danilo II and Mijuskovic’s wrath on the traitors was fierce and Vukotic and Dozic were hanged to death and most of the Montenegrin military was purged. On March 26, the Ottomans withdrew from Montenegro after it managed to wrangle economic concessions in Montenegro. The Ottomans had made sure that the Montenegrins did not fall to radicalism by brute force, which would prove to be a mistake in the future, as Danilo II and Mijuskovic decisively lost the peace after the brief war which became known as the Ottoman Intervention in Montenegro……”
Excerpts from ‘David Ben-Gurion: The Rise of the First Jewish Grand Vizier’
“……. When David Ben-Gurion was appointed as the Governor of rebellious Yemen, no one really thought that the man would be able to keep his position and administrate properly. Many spoke behind his back that he was a placeholder governor for the time being. Of course, Ben-Gurion’s ascension to the governorship was completely coincidental. The previous candidates had either all opposed being shunted off to a rebellious vilayet or had taken up other jobs leaving only him for the job. And Ben-Gurion was eager for the job, unlike the other contenders for the post. Many Islamic fundamentalists decried the posting of Ben-Gurion as well, for there had never been a Jewish governor of an Ottoman Vilayet before. Christians had been appointed since the 1600s but there was no precedent for a Jewish governor. Mustafa Kemal Pasha was not one to cater to the needs of fundamentalists and people out of government and instead encouraged Ben-Gurion to do his best against all the opposition.
A young David Ben-Gurion in the official Ottoman photo as Governor of Yemen
That was easier said than done. Only the major cities and important railway and transport links between them in Yemen were under Ottoman control. Taiz was under perpetual siege with only a 900-man garrison defending the city and its medieval fortress against hordes of tribesmen. Moving outside of the Ottoman controlled cities without a military guard was tantamount to suicide for anyone. The situation in Yemen was very much near anarchy and the Ottoman government wanted to restore something akin to order and stability in the region whilst the military dealt with the insurgents. Furthermore, Ben-Gurion had to deal with foreign irritants as well.
The British were Ottoman allies, true, however they could see an opening to further their control of the Red Sea, and being allies had never stopped Britain from exploiting them. In early 1925, a tepid offer arrived from London asking the Ottoman government in Yemen to drop its claims on the Hanish Islands, which were strategically placed right in between the Red Sea’s opening into the Indian Ocean. Ben-Gurion categorically rejected this offer. Of course, he didn’t have the proper authority to hand over the islands even if he wanted and the Hanish Islands were teeming with Zaidi Shia Rebels, which was a problem to contend with. On January 18, Ben-Gurion ordered 300 Ottoman Marines to take the Hanish Islands and secure Ottoman legitimacy over the islands once and for all, first and foremost to deal with the rebels, and secondly to pre-empt all British, French, and Austrian interest in the islands.
Ben-Gurion immediately began to whip the administration of Yemen into place. Having the support of the Yemeni Jewish population, he began to systematically attack the religious nature of the Shiite Zaidi uprising by opening up Shia mosques in the Ottoman-controlled regions, and also granted the fair commission to all Sunnis, Shias, Ibadis, Christians, and Jews in the region. This was a cunning ploy on part of Ben-Gurion who wanted to make sure that the religious aspect of the war was dampened by smart decisions. And to this end, Ben-Gurion was successful as many beside the most willing and most believing of Zaidis began to melt away into the mountains as the Ottomans loosened their Zaidi Shia restrictions in Yemen under Ben-Gurion.
Though Ben-Gurion had been appointed governor most of the staff was filled to the brim with the very people who had precipitated and brought the rebellion on. As such on February 4, Ben-Gurion did something no one anticipated at the time but probably should have in hindsight. He sacked every single administrative officer in the Yemeni Vilayet’s headquarters in Sana’a associated with the previous governorship and then began to a process of streamlining new applications to make sure that the next set of administrators were efficient and talented. This led to several complaints coming in from fired administrators to Constantinople, with them asking for the resignation of Ben-Gurion and that their positions be reinstated. Mustafa Kemal simply dispersed them into Ottoman Libya and into the Island Vilayet (Rhodes-Samos-Chios) as he was unwilling to listen to the civil servants who had arguably fed to the Yemeni Rebellion. With this indirect measure, Mustafa Kemal Pasha was supporting Ben-Gurion’s administrative efforts down in Yemen.
Map of Ottoman Sana'a c. 1920
Alongside his administrative efforts to make the Yemeni administration more efficient, the Jewish governor asked for the aid of Mehmet Cavit Bey, a prominent Ottoman Economist. Mehmet Cavit was enlisted by Ben-Gurion and by February 21, the man was in Sana’a where he was devising a plan alongside Ben-Gurion to make sure that the economic status of Yemen could be used to beat back the rebellion. Additional railway plans were created to make sure that the inter-connectedness between Yemeni cities was enlarged to Ottoman benefit and to expand the Ottoman power projection in inner Yemen. Official work began in late February with the military providing cover for Hejazi and Palestinian workers who made up the bulk of the construction crews for the new railways that were devised up by Mehmet Cavit as a means to increase Ottoman power projection inside of Yemen’s rural regions.
Speaking of railways, the Hejaz Railway was used by Ben-Gurion to its absolute advantage and more and more anti-insurgent Ottoman troops were transported from the Ottoman Arab provinces to deal with the tribesmen who were fighting under the control of Imam Yahya. One of Ben-Gurion’s greatest earlier victories during his governorship came when his forces managed to capture Muhammad bin-Yahya, the second son of Imam Yahya after he tried to lead a raid into Sana’a. Muhammad was brought to the government headquarters in Sana’a and interrogated. The second son of Imam Yahya at first refused to break, not wishing to betray his father, however after several hours of psychological pressure, the man broke, and several key commanders and key positions in the Zaidi rebellion were given to the Ottoman government. This led to a sweeping campaign in Northern Yemen under the command of Mehmet Essat Pasha who managed to clear the far northern areas of Yemen of any rebel activity with the aid of the information gleaned from Muhammad bin Yahya. Ben-Gurion did offer Muhammad to become a rival Zaidi Imam fighting for the Ottoman government, but on this issue, Muhammad refused absolutely.
Ben-Gurion also became one of the first members of the Ottoman government to truly use the Ottoman Special Organization (OSO) in a modern sense. Before the 1908 Revolution, the OSO had basically been Sultan Abdulhamid II’s own version of the Russian Okhrana and had used the OSO to crack down upon his internal political enemies and not used it for OSO’s stated goal – espionage and intelligence gathering. After the 1908 Revolution, the OSO had undergone a small freeze with most members not doing much and considering the scale of the war, OSO had only been used in light capacity during the Ottoman-Libyan War and the Balkan War. But that was about to change under the leadership and authority of Ben-Gurion. The Ottoman Special Organization Governate of Yemen (OSOGY) was established under his command and the leadership of OSOGY was given to Abkhazian intelligence leader Rauf Orbay.
Rauf Orbay
Orbay was the game changer for the OSO. He established a counter-intelligence unit in Yemen and began to feed wrong information into the forces of the Zaidi rebels and a strong economic intelligence corps was created to aid in the railway power projection projects as well. He also used the religious motivations of Sunni rebels to bribe them back to the government’s side and used them as spies within the Zaidi revolt, who managed to feed information back to the Ottoman government. Orbay was also not embarrassed with the idea of foreign aid, and he enlisted the aid of the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) operating from Aden to aid his growing intelligence network as well. For his actions in creating a proper intelligence network from the ground up, Rauf Orbay would in 1926 be elevated to the position of Director of the Special Organization, the highest position within the OSO throughout the entirety of the empire.
Gurion’s apt use of the Special Organization under Orbay meant that unlike before, the Ottomans had a good idea of rebel movements, rebel positions, rebel supplies and manpower. This meant that Ben-Gurion and the military commanders in the region – mainly Mehmet Essat Pasha and Fahreddin Pasha – were able to properly predict rebel movements and move in time to counteract the rebel’s moves. This became the beginning of the end for the Yemeni Rebellion and by the end of 1925, the rebellion would splutter out in its whole entirety….”
Excerpts from The Central Asian Dream: The Revolt of 1924 by Alexander Morrison
“…. The Central Asian revolt raged throughout Russian Central Asia and even affected Persia and Afghanistan, both of whom were nations still trying to come out of their respective feudal aspects. The spillover of conflict into Afghanistan and Iran was a prospect that neither Russia, Britain, or the Ottomans wanted in the delicate situation that was Russian Central Asia. In Samarkand, the Samarkand Congress signed the declaration of independence on January 2, 1925 and declared the Republic of Turkestan as an independent and sovereign nation, with the rights of all Central Asians guaranteed. It was a move towards Central Asian unity, but cracks began to show immediately as the religious undertones of the congress made Christian and Jewish Central Asian leaders boycott the resolution. Many Central Asian leaders disapproved of the idea of total independence, knowing that without Russia they would be falling prey to either the resurgent Chinese Empire to the east or the British to the south, neither of which sounded like good ideas to many. But the Congress did manage to gain the support of Sayyid Mir Muhammad Alim Khan, the powerful Emir of Bukhara, and his talented general, Ibrahim Bek, who aided Imanov in attacking and destroying Russian army columns whenever and wherever they could.
Sayyid Mir Muhammad Alim Khan
Amidst this turmoil, another leader rose up in Central Asia, and it was the man who doomed the dream of a Central Asian state. Enver Pasha. Having become a big shot name during the Italo-Ottoman War for coordinating the defenses of Benghazi and then later on becoming the founder of the Ottoman Nationalist Party, Enver Pasha was a rapid turanist and pan-Turkic nationalist. He had quietly become disillusioned with the idea of a multi-ethnic and multi-religious democratic Ottoman State and had left the Ottoman nation in disgust after a furious last verbal attack on Mustafa Kemal’s government in the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies in 1923. He had wandered throughout the middle east before settling down in Northern Afghanistan in early 1924. With the Central Asian Revolt however he saw an opportunity for Turanism that couldn’t be missed at all. Enver Pasha immediately moved into Central Asia when the revolt began and began to show himself as a leader in the region. This complicated the situation for the Ottoman Empire who had until that moment decided not to interfere in the region. The Ottoman Empire’s ambassador in St. Petersburg, Lord Mario Carraciolo (a member of the medieval derived Old Italian Ethnic Group in the Ottoman Empire) on orders from Constantinople issued a warrant in the Russian Empire for the arrest and seizure of Enver Pasha, who was inadvertently drawing pro-Turanist military officers from the Ottoman Empire into the Central Asian Revolt. The Russians demanded that every ottoman file on Enver Pasha be handed over to the Russian government, for they could not allow anything to fall by chance. The Ottoman government, though wary decided to acquiesce to Russian demands and on January 27, all Ottoman files from the Ottoman Archives regarding Enver Pasha and his allies were copied and then sent to the Russian government.
Enver Pasha in Central Asia
Enver Pasha quickly used his military experience to gain the support of the Central Asian militia groups and led them to victory on more than one occasion and throughout his time in the region, he was quickly elevated to become the General of the Western Front, leading the Western Kazakh front against the incoming Russian invasion. But Enver Pasha was a fool, vain and strutting. He demanded more and more troops from the Samarkand Congress – which was later given by Samarkand – and his weaknesses decided to exert themselves. He was vain, strutting and liked to play with titles, uniforms and medals. His official title within the Central Asian leadership was not simply General or Pasha or Leader of the Front, but ‘Amir of all Kazakhs, Representative of the Prophet and Leader of the Army of Islam’. It was certainly grandiose and not conductive to gaining the support of the Central Asian Emirs and Amirs who were supporting the rebellion against Russian authority.
Russian Troops before the Battle of the Ural River
Enver decided that a grand defeat in detail would make sure that the Russians were thrown out of Central Asia and decided to draw all of his forces against the main incoming Russian Army at Atyrau at the Battle of the Ural River. The XXI and XXII and XXIII Imperial Russian Corps under the command of Lieutenant General August Kork had taken up defensive positions west of the Ural River the moment they heard of Enver’s attack on the 27th of February. Enver was good at guerilla warfare – he had infinite experience in that field against the Italians in 1911 and 1912 – but his skill in direct battles left much to be desired. With more than 50,000 Central Asian troops, around a third of them former Imperial troops, Enver had a lot of resources to maneuver with, but instead he chose to directly assault the 35,000 entrenched Russian troops across the Ural river. What happened was an absolute massacre. At Yerkinkala and Damba the Russians slaughtered and beat back all attack and at Kzyl-Balyk, the Russians crossed the Ural River and then cut Enver’s entire army into two. Kork, seeing the battle change in his favor, ordered a general encirclement of the two pockets that had been created and the result was extremely bloody as the Russians gave no quarter. News of Slavic villages and residents in Central Asia being manhandled and mistreated had inflamed the rage of the mostly Russian and Ukrainian troops and they showed no mercy in the battlefield. By the end of the battle out of the ~50,000 rebels that Enver had led into battle, only ~3000 managed to escape alongside Enver.
This was the death knell for the rebellion. The Samarkand Congress had been so sure of Enver’s military record that they had placed their bets on his forces winning a grand decisive victory. The Turkestan Republic still had some reserves they could call up, but all of the most professional and exceptionally well trained and well equipped troops from Central Asia were either dead near the shores of the Ural river or being carted off to Siberian prisons. By March 20, A Russian Cavalry detachment under Major General Konstantin Monstrov entered Samarkand and raised the Imperial flag, bringing an end to the Central Asian rebellion throughout the region. All of the Congress’s members were taken, prisoner. Enver Pasha managed to escape into Afghanistan at the last minute, and this wouldn’t be the last time people heard his name. He would go on to earn the name ‘The Constant Rebel’ for the sheer amount of rebellions he would lead in the name of pan-Turanism and would continue to be a headache for Ottoman Diplomacy for years to come.
Back in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the Rebellion, though it had ended military, became a political problem. Prime Minister Peter Struve, recognizing the danger that the Snowstorm Detachment of the Guildists and the Republican Guard could pose to stability in Russia began to seek a moderate solution to an already festering problem. He was not aided in this endeavor by Tsar Nicholas II who believed that Struve’s idea of simple house arrest was not going to send a good message to anyone domestically or abroad. Rebels would have to be treated as rebels was his message. Struve, who had proven to be an economically sound Prime Minister (the economy had overtaken the American economy in mid-1924 and was now gearing to approach the British Empire), was sacked for his moderate reprisal scheme and instead Tsar Nicholas II, much to the horror of the State Duma, appointed Vladimir Purishkevich. Purishkevich was a controversial choice if only for the fact that he had participated in the Blood Libel Charge against the Jewish populace of the Russian Empire most enthusiastically, was involved in the murder of Rasputin in 1915 and was known for his pro-democratic yet ultra-nationalist motives. His inability to latch on one subject made him a loose cannon in the eyes of many in the Duma as well. And indeed, his premiership would make Russian seep one step closer to the ever-approaching Russian Civil War.
Prime Minister Vladimir Purishkevich
The Samarkand Congress members were judged by their level of involvement. Leaders were put to the sword under Purishkevich’s order and the rest were thrown into the cold Siberian prisons with no hope of ever escaping. Instead of stamping down on the violence created by the Republican Guard and the Snowstorm Detachment, who were pushing their own ideologies of radical republicanism and Guildism respectively the new Russian Prime Minister and his approved cabinet began to ‘use’ the two paramilitary wings against each other in a classic divide and conquer strategy and established the Russian National Guard (RNG) as a paramilitary wing of the Okhrana if it ever needed to defend itself against paramilitary attacks from the Republican Guard and the Snowstorm Detachment. While cities in Russia remained safe to be in, soon enough these three paramilitary groups began to fight it out in the rural areas, where radicalism was loosely monitored and soon enough, opposition against the government began to grow, and Purishkevich’s role in creating the Russian Civil War began with his creation of the RNG, which beckoned trying times for Russia….”
Excerpts from The Balkan Torchlight by Frederick J. Anderson
“…. The death of King Nikola I of Montenegro and the ascension of King Danilo II of Montenegro was an unseen seminal moment in Balkan history. Though Montenegro’s own influence in the events that led up to the Second Great War is often forgotten today, at the time the events happening in Montenegro were worrisome for many. Danilo II was in many respects much like his father, but better in many aspects and bad in many aspects. He saw the futility of trying to create a massive southern Slavic state against a joint Anglo-Ottoman alliance and pursued a policy of trying to reconcile the Montenegrin state with the Ottoman State. His state visit to Ottoman Albania in 1923 was a landmark moment in Ottoman-Montenegrin History. But the situation back at home in Montenegro was not calm nor was it stable.
Prime Minister Milo Matanovic, despite being a Serbian by ethnicity and birth and raising, was a Montenegrin by heart, and he resisted calls from the mostly pro-slavic unity populace to do something about the growing reconciliatory movement with the Ottoman Empire. Matanovic knew very well that the Ottomans hadn’t annexed anything from Montenegro during the Balkan War was because they had bigger opponents – namely Serbia and Bulgaria – to deal with and had ignored Montenegro as a result. Furthermore, Matanovic had to deal with increasing amounts of political refugees from Serbia as the Serbians continued to be ruled by the Triumvirate of King Alexander I, Prime Minister Vulkicevic, and Deputy Prime Minister Josif Kostic. Communists, neutrals, and pro-Ottomans had all been expelled from Serbia under the Triumvirate and Matanovic rightly believed that an alliance with the Ottomans could perhaps restore order in the Balkans by expelling the triumvirate from power.
Danilo II
The most prominent danger to Danilo II and Matanovic came in the form of the People’s Party. A dangerous political party that fought for pan-Slavic, ultra-nationalistic, and ultimately union with Serbia. They were led by Adrija Radovic who had by 1925 been reduced to all but a figurehead and this was because Radovic supported parliamentary democracy and democratic civic nationalism and a democratic way of integrating with Serbia, and had opposed the growing undemocratic fervor in Serbia and had decided to put off any pro-Serbian attitude until Serbia could return back to the democratic fold. This view did not please most in the party and the true leader of the party quickly became Bishop Dorde Dozic, the Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral. A Montenegrin with ultra-nationalistic Slavic viewpoints, and a man who was known to support unconditional union with Serbia, as well as a person who had solid links with the Black Hand, Dozic was not a man that could be taken lightly, if only for the fact that he was exceedingly charismatic and influential at the same time.
But Matanovic clearly underestimated the man and his sphere of influence, which included the military as well. The military was disheartened by their defeat in 1915 and had tried to call for reform, and expansion. Matanovic had responded with reform but hadn’t expanded the army deeming it too dangerous and provocative. The military led by General Janko Vukotic refused any idea of pro-Ottoman policy as well, which meant that conflict within Montenegro was more likely than not. Bishop Dozic met up with Matanovic on the 18th of January and the military and the People’s Party made their new plan. The military would coup Danilo II (who did not enjoy the same popularity as his father) and Matanovic from power and then Vukotic, who had briefly held power as a Prime Minister of Montenegro in 1914 would become the interim President of an interim Republic of Montenegro. After that with negotiations preceding onwards a union would be declared with Serbia. Vukotic was eager for the first parts of the plan but expressed doubts that without a land connection they would even be able to create a unified country with Serbia. But these concerns were swept aside by the secretive euphoria spreading amongst the Slavic nationalistic military and the People’s Party.
On the 31st of January, the Montenegrin military gathered around the Royal and Governmental Palace in Cetinje and demanded the abdication of Danilo II and the resignation of Matanovic as Prime Minister. Danilo II had however managed to slip away with the aid of a secret tunnel underneath his residence and Matanovic refused to surrender. The government’s guard had thankfully remained loyal and an hour long battle ensued outside the Governmental Palace which saw most of the government’s guard killed or taken prisoner. The military then entered the governmental palace to find Matanovic having committed suicide, knowing that his fate would not be anything less after the coup. Danilo II fled with the remnants of loyalist militias and armies into Ottoman Kosovo where he was stopped by General Kostas Ninou, an Ottoman Greek General who commanded the Monastir Military Region and the II, III, and V Army corps.
Danilo II pleaded with Ninou to come to the aid of the legitimate Montenegrin government and restore him and the constitutional rule to Montenegro. Ninou uncomfortable told the man that he didn’t have the authority to invade Montenegro. He sent a dispatch to Constantinople and a diplomatic crisis developed as Serbia announced partial mobilization in support of the Coup as Vukotic became the President of Montenegro under the authority of Dozic who became the Minister-President. Surprisingly, when Mustafa Kemal Pasha voiced support for intervening in Montenegro, he was supported internationally by the Russian Empire. Nicholas II had dynastic links with the Montenegrin Royal Family and abandoning them to the wolves was not something he wished to endorse and as long as ‘Montenegrin territorial and political sovereignty were not changed in the aftermath, Nicholas II expressed his support for an Ottoman intervention in the region. Danubia, who had never looked at Serbian and Slavic ultra-nationalism with a positive lens also supported an intervention. Britain and France held no positions regarding the matter, as they had little to no interest in the near microstate. On February 15, 1925, the Ottoman II and V corps under the command of General Kostas Ninou invaded Montenegro after tacit support from Russia and Danubia was obtained. The Montenegrins had created a barrier of defense at Kolasin where they deemed that Ottoman numerical superiority would not be able to come into their favor. The Ottoman General, who was experienced from the Balkan War decided not to fall for the trick and instead the Ottoman 545th Squadron from Prishtina bombed the small alleyway dispersing Montenegrin military resistance and entering the key border passageway. From there the I Corps under Ninou took to the north and attacked Niksic whilst the V Corps under the command of Djevat Pasha veered to the south towards Podgorica and Cetinje.
Montenegrin troops fighting in Kolasin
In Serbia, the government of Alexander I was appealed to intervene but Alexander I and the triumvirate were not fools. They could see easily that their military was not ready for any sort of reprisal against the Ottoman Empire. And unlike the last time, it was nearly guaranteed that the Bulgarians would remain neutral. Niksic fell on the 28th of February whilst Djevat Pasha laid siege to Podgorica. Vukotic had whipped the populace into spurts of anti-Islamic violence as he used the war as a means of whipping nationalism against the Ottomans and appealed to the 2.2 million or so Slavs that lived in the Ottoman Balkans. Unsurprisingly the Ottoman Slavs responded with apathy and even pro-Ottoman feelings, much to the surprise of many ultra-nationalist slavs – which in retrospect should not have happened considering the Ottoman slavs in 1915 had remained loyal to the Sublime Porte.
Ottoman troops enter Podgorica
Podgorica fell and soon after Cetinje was captured on March 4, 1925, ending the one-month-long tenure of the Slavic Republic of Montenegro. Like the Ottomans had agreed with Russia and Danubia, the Ottomans annexed not a single inch of land from Montenegro and Danilo II and the previous Montenegrin cabinet was restored to power with Lazar Mijuskovic becoming the interim Prime Minister of Montenegro. Danilo II and Mijuskovic’s wrath on the traitors was fierce and Vukotic and Dozic were hanged to death and most of the Montenegrin military was purged. On March 26, the Ottomans withdrew from Montenegro after it managed to wrangle economic concessions in Montenegro. The Ottomans had made sure that the Montenegrins did not fall to radicalism by brute force, which would prove to be a mistake in the future, as Danilo II and Mijuskovic decisively lost the peace after the brief war which became known as the Ottoman Intervention in Montenegro……”
