Osman Reborn; The Survival of Ottoman Democracy [An Ottoman TL set in the 1900s]

[Sarthak]

Esad Pasha ''they see me rolling, they hating'' curse Muhammad Ali who started the trend of Pashas and to a lesser extent Albanians from betraying the Ottoman empire for their own kingdoms. Much less in a time of Pan Slavic movements, the millions of refuges fleeing into Anatolia was not that long ago and I would expect the same once they've won this campaign.

Indeed. Esad Pasha's betrayal will spark an overhaul of the pasha system.

admit I forgot about China and how the Ottoman reforms would influence them, ironically this might hurt the Ottomans now with Germany at informal war with a large collection of Chinese warlords...then again if the new Empire of China want's to really prove they can rule China they need to bring it back together whole. That means retaking Tibet from the British supported Dali Lama. Plus they might be more open to Islam now given their newfound fondness of the Ottoman empire?

Tibet isn't actually British at this time. Tibet was universally recognized as a de jure part of China even though it was De facto independent.

going to lie a somewhat united, aggressive China is a wildcard that could shake the world. Russia and Britain, hell even France are going to need to raise, train and hold back from their colonies more troops this means the threat of being ganged up on is decreased. For example 100,000 Vietnamese were conscripts and went to Europe to fight and serve on the French battlefront, or work as laborers. If their worried about about their colonial holdings then the Central powers could have local superiority of numbers, least till it's seen what action China will take and how Japan responds to this from their ''lesser'' and I'm guessing very bloodily.

Perhaps in the future. But for now China remains on the side of the entente though against Japan.

 

[Sarthak]

From now own all Ottoman generals and high officials will need to have loyal security details to prevent assasination attempts and prevent another betrayal by ambitious treacherous officers?

They will need them indeed.

 

[Sarthak]

has badly missed the boat; if they've waited so long to enter the war, then all of Germany's islands in the Pacific will have been snapped up by Australia and New Zealand. There's no way they waited around for the IJN to get its act together- that means that Japan has now honoured its treaty obligations after missing the best chance to pick up territory i

Well not all. But majority yeah.

Theoretically, of course, Britain could request its dominions to hand the territory they've been hungering after since the 1850s to the Asian power that's the stuff of nightmares to White Australia and New Zealand. Theoretically.

Given London's aversion to asking its colonies to do anything that it knew they would not do, I doubt it.

Indeed. The Pacific will be interesting to write.

 

[Gokbay]

Considering Japan's capability a few destroyers in the med is possible but other than that I don't really think the Japanese have the capacity to project naval power in the north sea

Kongo class in the Grand Fleet/Battlecruiser Fleet wouldn't really be "Japan projecting power to the North Sea". They would be using British infrastructure and operating as part of larger British formations.

 

[Sarthak]

Kongo class in the Grand Fleet/Battlecruiser Fleet wouldn't really be "Japan projecting power to the North Sea". They would be using British infrastructure and operating as part of larger British formations.

It could send battleships there but the British ports had insufficient logistical support for the RN itself I doubt it would be able to accommodate the Japanese warships.

 

[Wildlife]

How much is the ottomans reward on the wanted posters of Esad Pasha?it should be enough to make Esad pasha very paranoid and also big enough that it dissuade other ambitious or greedy officers or government officials from betraying the empire making treason not worth the risk to a traitor?

 

[Sarthak]

How much is the ottomans reward on the wanted posters of Esad Pasha?it should be enough to make Esad pasha very paranoid and also big enough that it dissuade other ambitious or greedy officers or government officials from betraying the empire making treason not worth the risk to a traitor?

Something like 30,000 pounds would be a small.fortune at the time so I guess around this number. Yeah the officers are going to be screened again for divided loyalties.

 

[Wildlife]

How long will the 10000 pounds last the traitor Esad ?

 

[Sarthak]

How long will the 10000 pounds last the traitor Esad ?

a few years more or less. 10,000 pounds is around the total cost per person today in britain per year, back then, it would be good for some 4 to 7 years.

 

[EmperorBuaya]

Awesome development so far. A pity that Japan misses the boat. Also didn't expect Ottoman reforms will affect on China. Tho' Yuan Shikai's dynasty is not my preferred choice for China but this one is quite interesting. Such is butterfly affects. Regardless, a more stable and stronger China earlier than OTL is going to impact on the world. Hopefully, the warlords or Republican extremists won't mess things up for China.

Still, imagine an alliance between Ottoman Empire and Imperial China in the future.

 

[Zulaq]

The British can probably support them, the Kongos are a British designed (and partially British built) battlecruisers, so they shouldn't have problems sourcing spare parts and ammunition. But the question is more one of political will, do the Japanese want to project power that far, and do the British want to enable them?

 

[Gokbay]

The British can probably support them, the Kongos are a British designed (and partially British built) battlecruisers, so they shouldn't have problems sourcing spare parts and ammunition. But the question is more one of political will, do the Japanese want to project power that far, and do the British want to enable them?

I'm pretty sure British asked for them (or at least some if not all of the class) and the Japanese said no as they wanted them closer to home.

 

[Sarthak]

just a small notice - the last pre-written chapter will drop in tomorrow. After that i cannot guarantee a chapter for 2 months.

Awesome development so far. A pity that Japan misses the boat. Also didn't expect Ottoman reforms will affect on China. Tho' Yuan Shikai's dynasty is not my preferred choice for China but this one is quite interesting. Such is butterfly affects. Regardless, a more stable and stronger China earlier than OTL is going to impact on the world. Hopefully, the warlords or Republican extremists won't mess things up for China.

China will be having a very interesting future thats for sure

Still, imagine an alliance between Ottoman Empire and Imperial China in the future.

Well, its a possibility but not a strong one.

The British can probably support them, the Kongos are a British designed (and partially British built) battlecruisers, so they shouldn't have problems sourcing spare parts and ammunition. But the question is more one of political will, do the Japanese want to project power that far, and do the British want to enable them?

The political will is indeed the greatest question

I'm pretty sure British asked for them (or at least some of not all of the class) and the Japanese said no as they wanted them closer to home.

This is likely the Japanese answer too.

 

[Deleted member 117308]

Hype

 

[Hawabin]

Still, imagine an alliance between Ottoman Empire and Imperial China in the future.

The Union of Harem and Concubines?

 

[Sarthak]

Chapter 23: The Cameroon Affair

***

“1,000 German troops are being interned in Spanish camps. This is a Crisis of the Highest Kind. We will be at war soon enough.” – King Alfonso XII of Spain

“During the Great War, the Germans were in control of Cameroon which was under the administration of German Camerun, which controlled the area as a colony. The German government at first was confident that the colonies would be quite overlooked by the British and French governments during the war, however this was not to be. On August 3, 1915, a small French colonial force of 2,000 men entered southern Cameroon from French Gabon under the command of Divisional General Joseph Gauderique Aymerich whilst a British force of 3,500 men from British Cameroon under the command of Lieutenant General Charles M. Dobell entered Western Cameroon from British Nigeria.

The commander of the German forces in German Cameroon at the time in southern Cameroon was Major General Carl Heinrich Zimmermann who held command over 3,000 Colonial troops in German Cameroon, southern division. He was under command from the Governor of German Cameroon, Karl Ebermaier to defeat the French incursion and bleed the French as dry as was possible in the region. However the Zimmermann reported back to the central colonial government stating that he did not have the needed amount of men to pursue such a course of action. He replied back to the government stating that the troops did not have ammunition for the needed tasks ahead of them. The central colonial government did not reply, as they deemed the British incursion to be off major importance. Zimmermann engaged the French near Ntem in what culminated in the Battle of Ntem. However the French troops knew of the German advance against their positions and managed to defend themselves and during a counter-attack routed the incoming German forces. General Aymerich managed to encircle the entirety of the German forces under command of General Zimmermann and was closing in for a kill, which if successful would make the entirety of southern German Cameroon in danger of a full-fledged French invasion. Zimmermann was sufficiently desperate enough for a miracle that he ordered his troops to hit the weakest part of the French encirclement near the southwest of the perimeter, and broke through the French lines. The German troops broke the encirclement and marched 30 miles southwest to get away from the French and regroup, as well as to fight a new day.

However during the flurry of the campaign and the battle, Zimmermann had forgotten one fact. His army was now on Spanish soil. The Spanish border in Spanish Equatorial Guinea was lightly secured, and the Spanish forces were only alerted to the fact when the citizens of Ebebyin complained back to a Spanish garrison in Maboe. The Spaniards sent a detachment of 200 soldiers under the command of Augustin Luque set out and found a German camp of 1,000 soldiers under the command of Zimmermann in northern Messo on August 17. The Spanish General told Zimmermann that the German troops were now on Spanish soil, and as per the Spanish declaration of neutrality in the conflict, the German troops would have to be interned in Spanish authority.

​

To Zimmermann this was unacceptable. His troops were the only thing stopping the French from invading all of southern Cameroon and acting in favor of the colony, Zimmermann agreed to retreat back to German territory however refused to be interned. Luque called back to the colonial government based out of Bata to ask for advice, however the Colonial government stressed that the Spanish government could not favor the Germans and break their own Spanish neutrality clause, and ordered Luque to take the Germans as interns. Luque was not a fool to assume that the Germans would come easily and ordered for 250 reinforcements which arrived on August 20, swelling his numbers to 450 men. On August 21, he ordered Zimmermann to be interned once again and this time, Zimmermann declined again. Luque forced the issue and a shot rang out. Someone among the two armies had fired a shot. After that a battle was inevitable.

The Spanish pushed the Germans to force their back against the Messo River near the border, and Luque had the entire German army encircled, and the Spanish interned the German army under Zimmermann by force.

The aftermath was far reaching. On August 22, the German government found out about the Messo Affair, and Foreign Minister Gottlieb von Jagow was ordered to find the release of the troops. He spoke with Spanish Prime Minister Eduardo Dato and demanded that the German troops along with the General be released. Dato replied by stating that doing as such would violate Spanish neutrality and was not possible. Chancellor Bethmann-Hollwegg had wanted to keep the issue under wraps and let the Spaniards have the small disposition writing Cameroon off in the war already however this was unacceptable for Kaiser Wilhelm II and the German Heer and Army.

Von Jagow was ordered to find a way to release the troops again and to no avail. The Allies on the other hand were pressuring Spain to keep the troops as well. The French government declared that the Spanish government would have to keep their word and keep the german troops in Equatorial Guinea as the troops posed a threat to French Gabon when free. The British also found that their invasion of Cameroon would be easier without the troops and pressured Spain to keep the troops interned. On August 28, a small group of German guerillas in southern Cameroon were caught by Spanish authorities to have crossed the border in an attempt to free the interned troops as well.

​

By this point Spanish neutrality was broken completely. Eduardo Dato reconvened the Spanish Cortes on August 30, and told the Cortes that the vaunted Spanish neutrality was over, and was breached by Germany too many times to count by that point (an exaggeration). The Cortes voted 228 to 180 to declare war on Germany on the charge of breaches of neutrality in Spanish Equatorial Guinea. On September 1, 1915 King Alfonso XII officially declared war on the German Empire and the 180,000 strong Spanish Army was mobilized for war.

A secret Allied commission in Spain consisting of Russian, British, Belgian and French diplomats in Madrid during that time also promised to the Spaniards that in return for Spanish aid in war, Spain would gain German Cameroon after the war, and the Spanish debts owed to Russia and Belgium were annulled and voided whilst the Spanish debts owed to France and the UK were reduced by a large amount, adding a sweetener for the Spanish government to act. The scope of the Great War had just increased.” Spain in the Great War.

Spanish Prime Minister
Eduardo Dato. (^)
***

“The Italians will conquer.” – Armando Diaz

“The Italian entry into the Great War had been of great concern for the entente and France as it exposed the French in their flanks. Thanks to the British economic dominance of Italian trade and economic power, the Italians had been unable to make a move in the French Alps as the Italian economy recovered from the entry into the war. As such the French and Italian Alps had seen little fighting other than a few skirmishes here and there. However on august 18, the Italians decided that their army was ready, and with Austro-Hungarian supplies and planes aiding them in their bases in Northern Italy, the Italian General Staff to go on the offensive in France.

Chief of General Staff Luigi Cadorna ordered the Italian 2nd Alpine Army to move against the French near the Ligurian Sea and take the valuable port city of Menton. The 1st Army was under the command of General Armando Diaz. Diaz was ordered to make a headlong assault into French positions and attack it until the French were worn out and retreated back to Nice, which was the French base of operations in the area.

​

Armando Diaz was of the opinion that such an offensive was foolish and a waste of blood in the army, however he was outranked by Luigi Cadorna who ordered the general to move and take the port at all costs. Diaz was not going to throw his men to the French however, and in secret began to create a whole new offensive plan to take the sought objective. The Italian army reforms after the Italo-Ottoman War had made some progress in the quality of the army and as such Diaz was properly in touch with the capability of the 130,000 men under his direct command.

On August 23, 1915, his troops started to move from Bevera and to take positions against the French border. They would be confronted by the French 17th Army under the command of Jean Cesar Graziani, ironically a Frenchman of Italian ethnic origins. His father was an immigrant to France from Italy before unification. Diaz enjoyed a numerical advantage over the French forces in the area, as the French numbered only 105,000 men in the area, however Diaz knew that his numerical advantage was not great and the French fortifications likely made his numerical advantage null by all rights.
On August 24, the Battle of Menton officially started becoming the 1st large scale battle in the Alpine Front of the Great War. The 5th Italian Alpine Corps moved against the French 3rd Alpine Corps who were stationed in the Alpine fortress of West Castellar on the Franco-Italian border. The Italians bombarded the outer reaches of the fortifications as the French Corps inflicted heavy losses on the uphill charge that the Italians led against the French forces. The French held the higher ground and used it to their utmost advantage.

From Torri, the 7th Italian Alpine Corps moved against the French 4th Alpine Corps based in west Castilon and was forced back as the French 4th Corps managed to defeat the Italian incursion near the Baisse de Faiche Fonda. However the Italian presence in the region continued to make French reinforcements from the north unlikely to the bulk of the French army based in the south facing the brunt of the Italian attack. The Italians maneuvered to the south, flanking the positions of the Fortress of St. Paul and the French garrison on the fort managed to fight a brave rearguard action as the French corps retreated to the second line of defense near Maglioc.

On August 27, the battle shifted towards Maglioc after the fort of St. Paul fell to the Italians as the Italians burst into the fort and took it by siege. The French defeated the Italians near Maglioc and halted any Italian reinforcement and attack during that time and managed to stall the Italian advance. However on August 28, Diaz managed to regroup the Italian 1st Alpine Army, and the Italian troops pierced the French defenses on that day near Maglioc, forcing the French to retreat back to Balmettes and La Vigne.

Diaz was unable to properly capitalize on this victory. The British Royal Air Corps based in Marseille had arrived to interfere in the battle alongside the French Air Corps and were starting to bomb the Italians as they were out on the open and the Italian general was forced to wait for Austro-Hungarian and Italian planes to arrive in the region on August 30. The Austro-Hungarian and Italian planes pushed the French and British out of the region temporarily allowing the Italian 1st Army to move against La Vigne, the biggest bump in the road towards Menton. Diaz attacked La Vigne in a probing attack during the night of August 30 however the French repelled the attack. This made Diaz wary of the cost of taking the fort and he decided to conduct a pincer movement to take out the fort.

The Italian corps were divided near De Fossan and de L’Ormea and attacked the French at La Vigne from 3 sides as the French were pinned down and unable to respond to the attack with proper fortitude. As the French were in danger of being encircled at La Vigne, the French commander, general Graziani ordered the French to retreat back to Nice, and abandon Menton. The French retreated and the Italians took La Vigne. On 1 September, the Italians occupied the port city of Menton after a short fight with the French Gendarmerie in the city.

​

The battle was an Italian victory however the effect it had on the French war effort was not the one that the Central Powers thought it would have. The Spanish entry into the war made the victory by all means null and void as the Spanish agreed to send 150,000 men to the Alpine front allowing the French maneuver with their manpower with better ease, and was able to reinforce their borders with relative ease, making the victory a bland and light one for the Italians. Nonetheless it was a victory and showed that the Italians were not joking about the war.” The Alpine Front; France, Spain and Italy locked in combat. University of Ajaccio, 2019.

***

“We do not trust the American economy. It has failed our investments for far too long. Sweden, Canada and the other dominions are suitable replacements.” – David Lloyd-George speaking to the Commons in 1915 on the outbreak of war.
Italian troops during the Battle of
Menton (^^)

“The Great Depression of 1914 – 1916 was the second strongest depression in American history. The failure of the government’s commissions to regulate the economy meant that the recession led to the closure and suspensions of the thousands of throughout the country. Financial institutions failed for several reasons, including unregulated lending procedures, confidence in the Gold Standard, and consumer confidence in future economics, and agricultural defaults on outstanding loans. With these compounding issues, the banking system failed to hold up in the recession and was unable to meet the public’s demand for cash withdrawals. This decrease of money supply instead led to banks liquidating assets in the system to meet demands.

The outbreak of the Great War managed to heal the recession a bit as British and French companies began to buy war armament from America, however the failure of the American economic system meant that the governments of London and Paris were unwilling to invest too much into the American economy. As such the Swedish, Norwegian, Canadian, Australian and South African economies boomed during the Great War, receiving a slew of war orders from Britain and France which prompted a great growth of the armament industries in the aforementioned countries.

In terms of the fiscal policy, the US government under Woodrow Wilson failed to reach a proper consensus. In order to stimulate the economy Wilson began to expand federal spending, and set up governmental revitalization companies to provide emergency assistance to institutions on the verge of bankruptcy. This policy was an abysmal failure and aided the recession instead. This made the already low supply of money and cash in the market even lower and made the crisis deepen and unemployment rocketed in the United States. The Canadian government managed to give a loan of $50 million to the USA with British acceptance in June 1915, which alleviated some of the monetary concerns, however the recession continued. Wilson also advocated to keeping the wage rates high, as he believed that the high wage rates would maintain a steady level of purchasing power, and keep the economy turning and working. The high wage rates made employment during the recession all the more harder to come by and the high wage rates creating a wage crisis in the American economy as well.

​

All of these measures and effects made the recession all the more widespread throughout the United States of America and made the recession spread throughout the nation down to every family. The eviction of 120,000 people from their homes in 1915 is evident of the fact that the recession was reaching the common people and their day to day living.

Amidst this backdrop the 1915 American Gubernatorial Elections were taking place. As expected by many the recession managed to hit the Democrats by a massive amount and the Democrats lost Kentucky, Maryland to the Republicans whilst the Republicans held Massachusetts. Mississippi and Louisiana held onto the Democrats, however their elections were far from easy either.

In Kentucky there was growing dissent against the Democratic Governor Augustus Owsley Stanley. Stanley’s unclear fiscal position had made the recession worse in the state and around 200 big firms in Kentucky had been suspended or closed, increasing unemployment by a massive rate in the province. The republicans took advantage of this plight and the republican candidate Edwin P. Morrow campaigned in the state hitting the fiscal and economic policy of Stanley and showing himself as a new and better candidate for Kentucky. The election was extremely close. Despite the recession Kentucky had been a Democratic stronghold for many years now and as a result the Democrats campaigned heavily in the state. However in the end Edwin P. Morrow (Republican) won 219,991 votes or 49.06% of the total votes whilst Stanley (Democrat) won 219,520 of the votes or 48.96% of the total votes. The rest of the votes were scattered among the Progressive, Socialist and Prohibition candidates.

Similarly in Maryland, the race for the governorship was largely being competed between Emerson C. Harrington (Democrat and incumbent) and Ovington Weller (Republican). Weller managed to frame Harrington to the voters as the one responsible for the recession’s effects in Maryland, especially the closure of 3 big shipping companies in Baltimore. Harrington was partially responsible for the recession having been the Chief Controller of the Maryland Treasury, however the Harrington had been by all rights, been able to mitigate a lot of the effects of the recession in Maryland. His coherent balanced budgeting fiscal system had been able to keep a balanced budget in the state and the state was one of the least hit on the American eastern seaboard. However Harrington was the controller of the treasury and it wasn’t hard for many to frame the man as responsible for the recession in the state. A slip up from Harrington also made it clear that Harrington supported women’s suffrage which prompted the conservative half of the state to campaign directly in favor of Weller who remained ambiguous onto the issue. In the end, Weller (republican) won 119,317 or 49.16% of the vote whilst Harrington (Democrat) won 116,136 or 48.67% of the total vote, making Maryland turn Republican as well.

​

Whilst the Democrats retained Louisiana and Mississippi, the rising prominence of the Progressive Party and the Socialists raised heavy eyebrows in the country. In Louisiana, the main competitors of the gubernatorial election were Ruffin G. Pleasant (D) and John. M. Parker of the Progressive Party. Parker managed to campaign throughout the state and managed to win 47% of the total vote whilst Pleasant won 51% of the total vote in Louisiana. This was the best showing of a Progressive candidate for quite some time and it is sometimes said that this would the moment when the Progressive Party became permanent in US politics as a proper third party. In Mississippi the recession was quite more severe than Louisiana, and the main opponent to Democratic candidate Theodore G. Bilbo was J. T. Lester, the socialist candidate. Lester ran on a platform of racial equality and labor reform throughout the state and managed to garner quite a good amount of votes from the labor class of the state and the black population of the state. Bilbo won 67% of the total vote in the state, whilst Lester won 31% of the total vote in the elections, leading the way with the best gubernatorial show for the Socialists in a long time.

The 1915 Gubernatorial elections laid the foundations for the fall of the Democrats in 1916.” US Politics during the Great War. University of Chicago, 2011.

***

“The Pincer is closing. If we can win the fight for Eastern Bulgaria then this war is ours to win.” – Mustafa Kemal Pasha.

“After being sufficiently reinforced and well supplied the Ottoman troops in Burgas were given orders to advance. Mustafa Kemal had been planning to end the war with Bulgaria in one full stroke with this upcoming Operation. Operation Tervel as it was named was an obvious insult against Bulgaria, naming an operation against Bulgaria after one of their more famous kings. Nonetheless, Operatio Tervel was not named one of Mustafa Kemal Pasha’s masterpieces for nothing. Within Burgas there were some 60,000 troops under the command of General Mustafa Fevzi Pasha and in Haskovo there was some 100,000 troops under the command of General Yaver Pasha. In between them stood two Bulgarian Armies, the 2nd and 3rd Armies under the command of General Mihail Savov and General Ivan Fischev amounting to 200,000 men to fight against the 180,000 troops that the Ottomans had gathered. The Ottomans began the operation on August 16, 1915 with a great barrage all across the Bulgarian front as artillery shells began to shell the enemy positions with deafening artillery fire as from Salonika and Constantinople, the Ottoman Air Corps started to bomb the Bulgarian positions as well. This was the signal to the Bulgarians that the expected great offensive was coming. The Ottomans bombarded the Bulgarian positions for the entire day and night from the 16th into the 17th not giving the Bulgarians any respite. A proper system of rotation initiated by Mahmud Shevket Pasha and Mustafa Kemal Pasha had allowed the artillery men to rotate their service amplifying the amount of shells they could fire at the Bulgarians. By the night, the Ottoman Artillery Corps were firing so fast the Ottoman Logistical Corps were complaining to the Ministry of War that they were firing too fast for the Corps to supply them with shells.

​

On the 17th of August the 11th Infantry Division left Burgas and clashed the Bulgarian 11th Danubian Division at Debelt at the Battle of Debelt and pushed the shell shocked and wary Bulgarians and managed to pursue them. Mustafa Fevzi Pasha knew that he could not dilly dally and fight with caution as doing as such with his inferior numbers would see his small army massacred by the Bulgarians. He needed to act fast and group up with Yaver Pasha’s army culling as many of the Bulgarian army as he could whilst he marched across the Bulgarian countryside.


Ottoman troops during the Battle of Debelt (^)

Whilst this was going on the Ottoman army from Haskovo left their positions from the city and began marching towards the Maritsa river near Simeongrad and came into contact with the enemy 2nd Army near Dimitrovgard. The original plan was for the Ottomans to take the city and then march across the Maritsa into Stara Zagora and take Simeongrad without having to make a river crossing into Simeongrad from the south. However Savov had stocked too many supplies and men into the city and Yaver Pasha was unable to crack the city. The city continued to hold out and on August 27, Yaver Pasha irritated by the resistance that the city was conducting against his army, inflicting heavy defeats, decided it was time to use the operational autonomy given to him by Mustafa Kemal Pasha. He ordered reinforcements from the 6th and 8th Salonika Reserve Divisions from Kardzhali and the two divisions were transferred north. The Ottoman Greek divisions were kept in place with siege artillery and one division was detached from the army of Yaver Pasha. The new force consisting of 50,000 men were ordered to keep up the siege in Dimitrovgrad whilst Yaver Pasha and his 80,000 men continued into Bulgarian Thrace.

​

Using the cover of night, Yaver Pasha force marched his army into Cherngorovo into Konstantinovo throughout the night and took the Bulgarians in Simeongrad by surprise and storm as the Ottoman troops stormed the city on the 28th taking the city’s defenders by surprise and the city fell to the Ottomans quickly.

From Dombay in Ottoman Thrace, the second linchpin in Operation Tervel began to move. Under the command of Djevat Pasha, the Ottoman Thracian Reservist Army (TRA) consisting of the 9th Mountaineer Division, 5th Reserve Infantry Division, 9th Reserve Cavalry Division and the 7th Reserve Infantry Division had been mobilized (80,000 men) and were now moving into Bulgarian Thrace to snuff out the Bulgarian eastern flank once and for all along with the armies of Mustafa Fevzi Pasha and Yaver Pasha.

Whilst the Bulgarians had mobilized a lot of troops, their population and industrial capability still paled in comparison to the Ottomans who were a great power in their own right. The Balkan plan had failed. The Ottoman reserves had been fully mobilized and equipped allowing the Ottomans to temporarily outnumber the Bulgarians all across the Thracian Front. Combined with the military and industrial reforms of the past half a decade, the Ottoman Army was now ready to show itself.

​

The TRA moved to the north across the Melnica road and encountered an army of 40,000 strength near the fields of Knyazhevo under the command of Ivan Fischev himself. This was the 7th Bulgarian Corps, and was the southern flank of the 3rd Bulgarian Army. The TRA had managed to take the Bulgarians by surprise and forced the 7th Bulgarian Corps out of Knyazhevo. The Bulgarians retreated north to the fortified city of Elhovo. The TRA continued to move north and surrounded the city of Elhovo taking up positions near Pchela, Izgrev and Topchia. A reservist force of 25,000 Bulgarians from northern thrace under the command of Georgi Todorov tried to relieve the besieged city on the 6th of September, however Ottoman aerial scouts had already informed Djevat Pasha of the Bulgarian movements, and the Ottomans managed to hold firm during the Battle of Pchela and made it impossible for Todorov to reinforce the besieged city as the Ottomans defended their siegelines.



Dejvat Pasha, the commander of the TRA (^)

On September 8, King Ferdinand ordered all of the Bulgarian troops south of Fakiya Line to retreat north in order to make their forces more compact and easier to account for as the Bulgarian situation worsened. This allowed Fevzi Pasha and his troops from Burgas, or more importantly from Debelt to move towards Golyamo. This virtually linked the Ottoman Burgas Expeditionary Army with the TRA and this was a huge boon for the Ottomans as the added siege equipment of the troops under Fevzi Pasha allowed Djevat Pasha to breach the fortifications of Elhovo which fell to the Ottomans on September 17, 1915. The TRA then turned its attention to Harmanli, the final goal in the 1st Layer of Operation Tervel. Yaver Pasha had been unable to move against Savov and towards Harmanli due to Savov defeating the Ottomans at the Battle of Svirkovo, forcing the Ottomans to stay grouped up in Simeongrad, at least in the case of Yaver Pasha.

The TRA managed to reach the outskirts of Harmanli which was being clenched by the Thracian Armies blockade of the city on September 26, and attacked the city. The city defended itself for a week before falling to the Ottoman onslaught on the 3rd of October. The 1st initiative of Operation Terveli had ended, and the Ottomans moved onto the second initiative. However before they could do this, revolution was brewing in Sofia, which would skid the Bulgarian front to a halt throughout the Balkan War. One Dimitar Blagoev had been very busy these past few months.” Operation Terveli: Kemal’s Masterstroke. Penguin Publishing 2009.

***

“We will fight.” – King Ferdinand of Romania

“On September 1, the Romanians landed at Ada Kaleh and raised the Romanian flag besides the Ottoman flag at the main square. The Ottoman national anthem was played once more whilst the Romanians shouted ‘Long Live the Sultan!’ in Ada Kaleh one last time before the Ottoman flag was brought down and the Romanian national anthem was blared for everyone to hear. The Ottoman governor of Ada Kaleh gave the sovereignty of the island to the Romanians. Meanwhile Romanian warships were being concentrated at Corabia under the command of Admiral Eustatiu Sebastian. This group consisted of 3 monitors, 6 torpedo boats and two gunboats which attacked the 4 gunboats and 4 motorboats that the Bulgarian possessed in that region of the Danube. The Bulgarian navy was ill-quipped to fight off an actual naval attack the motorboats were defeated in quick order whilst the remaining 4 gunboats were actually scuttled by the Bulgarians. The Romanians landed the 5th Romanian Corps (30,000) at Nikopol under the command of General Ioan Culcer and was confronted by the 3rd Danubian Corps (21,000) of the Bulgarian Army led by General Nikola Zhekov. The battle was a lopsided one. Even without the naval and aerial support the Romanians had a clear equipment and numerical advantage against the Bulgarians. The Battle of Nikopol as a result ended in Romanian victory and the city of Nikopol and its outskirts were occupied by the Romanians on September 11.

​

The Romanians began to spread out, however as they did so, they began to encounter the so-called Redshirts. They too were becoming aware that something was not correct in Sofia. The Bulgarian Revolution was happening after all.” The Bulgarian Revolution: The Aborted Republic.

***


Romanian warships during the Battle of Nikopol (^)

 

[Sarthak]

And the roamnian intervention begins as something ominous begins in Bulgaria! Thoughts and Predictions?

 

[SenatorChickpea]

I didn't expect to see the Spanish enter the war, but, if I may, it's a clever way for the author to place their thumb on the scales to ensure that the war in the west remains balanced- diverting the attention of the Great Powers from the east and the timeline's focus.

 

[TimTurner]

the future of the Ottoman Empire is bright as long as it is allied with Romania.

 

[boredviewer1234]

I admit I did not predict the Spanish getting involved in the war, I wonder what repercussions that will have, with them around the Mediterranean is locked down, while the mountainous terrain makes it a issue, it factories and infrastructure can be set up in Spain connecting to France it will help solve the threat of Frances breadbasket and industrial areas vulnerability.

Granted I wonder if here we will see a African to Middle East offensive, using colonies like French Algeria, Tunisia, Spanish Morocco ect and British Egypt to take over Libya to link up, then push's their way from Palestine Basra.

Then again the British and Russians can always try calling in Persia or sending an Indian army through it to attack Iraqi Basra.

Ah Luigi Cadorna, a man who brought back decimation and probably starved tens of thousands of his own men to death as punishment and used his machine guns as blocking detachments while using the same strategy ten times at Isonzo till the Italian army collapsed.

Bulgaria becoming communist is something I did not expect, but I guess it means their not out of the war yet, it could take hundreds of thousands of troops to hold down a communist insurgency, something that could buy entente months if not years.