Hey Sarthaka, I have a question regarding TTL Ottoman Navy. Their Naval Bill called for 6 battleships to be built, of which 2 (Turgut Reis and Hayreddin Barbarossa) had already been acquired. I guess that the 2 battleships ordered from the UK will be the Resadiye class (or something similar). What will the remaining 2 battleships be? Will they be a domestic design or foreign orders, and will the Ottomans possibly consider a faster capital ship design such as a battlecruiser for the remaining 2 ships or future naval expansion?
Osman Reborn; The Survival of Ottoman Democracy [An Ottoman TL set in the 1900s]
- Thread starter Sarthak
- Start date
You forgot Sultan Osman-ı-Evvel.
Resadiye class is two ships built in Britain, ordered by Ottomans; Resadiye and Fatih Sultan Mehmet (OTL the former would become HMS Erin while the latter would be cancelled as it had only just begun building)
Sultan Osman was also built in Britain but it was originally ordered by Brazil but later bought by the Ottomans (she would become HMS Agincourt).
So with Turgut Reis, Hayreddin Barbarossa, Resadiye, Fatih Sultan Mehmet and Sultan Osman-ı-Evvel there is only one battleship left.
(Battlecruisers tend to be more expensive so part of me thinks Ottomans shouldn't bother to get one, especially since they are not going to be oceanic but on the other hand a battlecruiser is a much better choice for a carrier conversion (which I wouldn't really advise in Mediterranean/Black Sea but you do you ))
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Would the Ottomans still purchase the Rio de Janeiro from Brazil in this TL? Maybe upcoming chapters will indicate whether such a purchase takes place.
I don't think the two pre-dreadnoughts were counted as part of the 6. Rather a stopgap measure when they failed to buy either Moltke or Blucher from the Germans to counter Averof. I think the interest in Moltke may be part answer to the question though indicated some interest in battlecruisers. @Dorknought ?
No, the Ottomans wanted modern dreadnoughts (hence the interest in Moltke and less so Blucher) so the 2 ex German ships were not part of the 6 ship target.
From an earlier post:
Following the proclamation of the Second Constitution in 1908, efforts to revive the state and its institutions and a desire to regain great power status gained momentum. Views on naval power shifted to a more positive direction where both rulers and the public saw the navy not as a burden or threat but rather as a means for political and social rejuvenation just as it was in other countries at this time. The Navy became a means for Ottoman subjects to mobilise around a patriotic cause. On July 14, 1909, a group of influential merchants led by Yağcızade Şefik Bey founded the “Navy Association” (Donanma Cemiyeti) set out a slogan 'Navy is Life' and aimed to raise funds among the citizens and support the government’s efforts to purchase new battleships. Taxes on matches and cigarette papers were directly channeled to the Navy Association, which was also allowed to organize lotteries and collect special donations during religious holidays. Through these measures, the Navy Association was providing about 952,500 TL (Turkish lira) per year (about £1,047,750). Evidently the procedure was for the government to raise a loan to order and begin paying for the ship and then the Naval Association would pay off the loan.
The Pre-Balkan War Naval rebuilding plan
In light of the lessons learned from the Russo Japanese war, the Ottoman State decided to create a new and powerful fleet based around Dreadnoughts. In 1909, a new naval program was put together. This was a 5 year, 46 ship program of 6 Battleships, 4 Scouts, 20 destroyers, 6 submarines, 2 minelayers, 1 training ship, a repair ship and other auxiliaries and 3 floating docks costing about £17.3m or £3.4m per year.
This 1909 plan was finally put to the Sadaret (Cabinet) in 1910 and postponed awaiting funding. The defense focus was clearly on the Ottoman army which could mobilise 16 Nizain (1st line) and 24 Redif (2nd line) Infantry Divisions or about 350-355,000 troops. There were an additional 6 Nizain Divisons, 18000 cavalry and 2 howitzer regiments. However, the Balkan War a few years later were to show that the Redif formations were unreliable and in need of reform. In November 1910 a £ 4.6m special budget was announced on army equipment over 3 years and £ 4m for Navy construction over 8 years. This Naval program was described as 2 BB, 3 CL and 10 DD although at £ 4m, these ships would be small. They possibly referred to the German pre-Dreadnoughts and Destroyers purchased in 1910 which cost about £2.8m and perhaps the remaining 3CL and 6DD could be ordered new from British yards for £1.2m. As such they would be 750 ton Destroyers and about 3000 tons for small protected cruisers of the type the Ottomans already had. By late 1910 this was being described as a 10 year plan, the limiting factor being suitably trained crews.
To put these programs into perspective, by 1914 the RN was spending £25.4m per year on ship building while Germany spending was at £11m. German and UK GDP were about 10 times that of the Ottoman Empire so the £3.4m per year is an eye watering amount for a purely maritime nation and treble the amount for a military/naval power like the Ottoman Empire. In this light, the 5 year plan is more like a 10 year plan and a more manageable £1.7m per year. In comparison with a nation requiring both an army and a navy, the Ottomans should be able to fund a fleet 1/10th of Germany's ie. 6 Capital ships, 4 cruisers, 14 destroyers, 7 submarines and this approximates the 1909 Programme quite well.
Looking at what was costed, the BB were about 25,000 tons, £1.8m each (the contract for Reşadiye was £1,796,500 over 22 month in 8 installments and £285,000 in interest over 6 years (15%) or 2,304,712 Turkish Lira total. The scouts would be about 4000 tons, the Destroyers 1100 ton and the Subs of about D Class size.
The schedule was as follows
1st year (1909)- 1 BB
2nd Year (1910)- 2 BB, 2 Scouts, 4DD, 2SS, 1 Minelayer, 3 Auxilliaries and 1 Floating Dock
3rd Year (1911)- 1 BB, 2 Scouts, 6DD and 2SS
4th Year (1912)- 1 BB, 5DD, 1SS, 1 Minelayer, 1 Auxilliary and 1 Floating Dock
5th Year (1913)- 1 BB, 5DD, 1SS, 1 Training Ship and 1 Floating Dock
Nearly 2/3rds of the program was to be spent on Battleships, 25% on other warships and 12% on auxiliaries and service ships.
With a poor reputation for fulfilling ship contracts, the Turks initially purchased 2 18 year old (refitted) ex German Battleships in 1910. This was due to the inability to acquire a new BB from any navy. The Porte was in a panic after the Greeks acquired a Pisa class armored cruiser from Italy that the Italian Government withdrew funding for and left the Orlando yard to sell. The Italian shipbuilders had initially engaged the Ottomans in negotiations to buy the ship but these dragged on. The yard switched to the Greeks and they purchased the ship, naming her Georges Averoff. The Turks would later pay dearly for this mistake. A British consortium had tried to acquire the just completed Minas Gerais and the under construction Rio de Janerio from Brazil in return for oil exploration rights in Turkey in 1911. The Germans initially offered the new cruiser Blucher for 2m Turkish lira but the Turks regarded the ship expensive for an obsolete design. They expressed interest in new BC under construction such as Cruiser G (Moltke) but the Germans were unwilling to sell. The two refitted battleships were 1,070,000 lira each and were delivered to Turkey by German crews in August 1910. The Ottomans also purchased 4 torpedo boats for an exorbitant 120,000 lira each, the then building S165, S166, S167 & S168. They were renamed in the spirit of the funds raised; Muâvenet-i Millîye ("National Support"), Yâdigâr-ı Millet ("Gift of the Nation"), Nümûne-i Hamiyet ("Exemplar of Patriotism"), Gayret-i Vatâniye ("Endeavour of Homeland"). 13 million marks (715,000 lira) came from the German accounts of the deposed Sultan, the rest from Public Subscription of 1.9m lira raised by mid 1911.
While having an option on 2 additional ex-German Pre-Dreadnoughts, the Ottomans instead placed an order for a Dreadnought with Vickers (Reşadiye) in 1911 for delivery in November 1913. This corresponds with the first year of the program and the Battleship is due for delivery at the end of 1913.
The Izmit Agreement
Coinciding with the purchase of the Rio De Janeiro in late 1913, Turkey was now looking at a much longer range and sustainable plan for rebuilding the navy. The Ministry of Marine signed a £3.6m deal with Vickers and Armstrong to take over the shipyards to service and build ships for the Ottoman Navy. On 1 December 1913 the Izmit Arrangement came into force. This gave Armstrong the authority to erect a navy yard at Golcuk and guaranteed the group all further contracts. They took over interest in Tersane-i Amire and the new yard at Golcuk named Doklar, Tersaneler ve Bahriye Sirketi (Naval Shipbuilding and Drydock Company). Only Englishmen and Turks were to work in these shipyards. A floating dock was ordered in France with French loans. Turkey commits to £1m per year in funding over the next 4 years subject to loan approval to cover the construction of 1BB, 2Scout, 4DD (+2 built in Turkey), 2 SS for £3,972,000. This is very similar to the 3rd year of the 1909 program. However if you add the Osman and the floating dock from France then it is looking very similar to the second year program.
Turkey is probably the smallest of all Naval powers to have a construction capacity. A precedent would be the DD and CL being built in Sydney or the activities going on at Ferrol in Spain. Japanese and Italian yards are also examples but from a much stronger industrial base. To use the 6 River Class Destroyers for the RAN as a benchmark, the 2 ships built in the UK took 550 days. Warrego was built and then disassembled and shipped in pieces to Sydney to be reassembled and launched. The reassembly took 600 days. The last 3 units were built in Sydney from Jan 1913 to mid 1916, about 1200 days, perhaps 1000 days without the war.
The 1914 Program
In addition to the Vickers-Armstrong deal, Turkey is also paying favor with the other western European arms traders. Just days after securing a new £32m French loan, the Ottomans order from France, 6DD with a further 6DD to follow in 1917, 2 subs and 12 torpedo gunboats with an option for 6 more. 4 DD are ordered from from Italy. Army equipment is coming from Germany. In addition to a French built floating dock for Izmit, this is about £1.4m in orders. These were from loans underwritten in partnership with bankers and arms dealers and brokered by the Turkish Naval Minister and most pro-Entente of the 'Three Pashas', Ahmed Djemal Pasha. Djemal was a native of the Aegean island Midili, now Lesbos in Greek hands and as such, quite strongly motivated to eject Greece from the Aegean.
The 6 French Normand type destroyers for Turkey were shortened versions of the Russian Izyaslav class destroyers that the yard was supervising construction of at the Bocker and Lange yards in Reval, Russia. They were 30 ft shorter and had only 2 triple banks of torpedo tubes but carried a heavy armament of 5 4" guns. Probably the 1917 second batch would be built at the Golcok Yard.
The Italian order was for 770 ton Indomito class ships powerfully armed with a single 4.7" gun and 4 3" guns but only 2 17.7" torpedo tubes.
The Destroyers ordered from the Vickers-Armstrong consortium were designed by Armstrongs and sub contracted to Hawthorn Leslie and Co. They were 1,100 tons, 309 ft long and heavily armed with 5 4" guns, two side by side on the forecastle and the other 3 aft. There were 3 twin torpedo tubes with the last twin fitted on the stern. It was intended that 2 more were to be built at Izmit. Hawthorn Leslie were also involved with the Spanish Alsedo class Destroyers at this time to be built in Spain by SECN and so were probably seen as leaders in the field of assisting foreign yards.
Of special note is the names that were put forward. Fatih Sultan Mehmet was the conqueror of Istanbul and brought an end to the Eastern Roman Empire taking South West Europe as far as Bosnia. The Midili was named for the capital of Lesbos (Mytilene). The Greek Destroyers were to be the new gains Kriti, Lesbos, Chios and Samos.
Paying for the warships
The Naval Association was collecting about 880,000 Turkish lira per year prior to the 1st Balkan War. The initial purchase of 2 Pre Dreadnoughts and 4 TB was paid off by mid 1911. At this rate, the loans for Reşadiye and Osman would be paid out by 1916. However, the short term loan for Osman meant a surge in payments from £650k to £1m per annum and this caused temporary financial stress in the first quarter of 1914. It is significant to note that the Naval Association rose to the challenge of the Osman loan and raised £450k between Jan and April, the Civil Servants who had their wages appropriated were back paid. The Fatih, 2 Cruisers, 6 DD and 2 Submarines ordered in 1914 were funded from the sale of the naval shipyards. The 6 French Normand DD, 4 Italian DD and 2 submarines was about £1.4m and this amount would have been paid off by 1918. The 2nd batch of 6 Normand DD slated for order in 1917 would be paid for in 1919. The remaining scouts and submarines that would probably be assembled in the Vickers-Armstrong yard would cost about £650,000 and paid for in 1920. The 4th Battleship of the program , probably 15" armed, could be ordered in 1918 for delivery in 1920 and the loan paid out by 1922. The 5th and 6th Battleships could be ordered and delivered before 1926 and the loans discharged by 1928. By 1920, the annual maintenance bill for a fleet of 3BB, 6 Cruisers, 26 Destroyers and 6 submarines would be close to 500,000 Turkish lira that Vickers/Armstrong would be earning though their Izmit yard that they will run until 1944.
Finally another good Ottoman Time Line. Theirs so few Ottoman stories and the fact you chose to take one after 1900 is astounding to say the least. Like this is at the same level as Nassarimo’s and I’d say you chose the harder path than he did(his being 1876-1878) so kudos.
We’re in May 1913 so we’ve got around 14-15 more months until Franz Ferdinand gets shot, of course due to the Serbs not gaining territory due to no Balkan War the flash point might come from elsewhere. The Black Hand and it’s Serbian backers probably being more focused on the Ottomans than Bosnia.
Britain’s efforts though is definitely an uphill battle at best, and not entirely their own fault. France supporting Italy was unfortunate but hey France seems to be gaining its way back in filling the Niche in the Ottoman Air Corp the same thing the Germans did in the army, and Britain the navy. But Russia is the bear in the room, the cat and mouse in northern Iran and discovered the Balkan Pact make the British overtures tough.
After all what use is wasting lives and ammo taking back Bosnia if Russia’s Balkan pact after gorging itself on Austria turns on the Ottomans. Never mind Bulgaria might just stay neutral in the war until the Serbs, Romanians, and Montenegro’s are ready to attack and join in with a fresh army. It’s smart the Ottomans kept it secret they know about the pact cause now it makes neutrality the best move. Let the great powers kill themselves and keep the Ottoman army fresh and ready to hold onto their remaining Balkan possessions.
We’re in May 1913 so we’ve got around 14-15 more months until Franz Ferdinand gets shot, of course due to the Serbs not gaining territory due to no Balkan War the flash point might come from elsewhere. The Black Hand and it’s Serbian backers probably being more focused on the Ottomans than Bosnia.
Britain’s efforts though is definitely an uphill battle at best, and not entirely their own fault. France supporting Italy was unfortunate but hey France seems to be gaining its way back in filling the Niche in the Ottoman Air Corp the same thing the Germans did in the army, and Britain the navy. But Russia is the bear in the room, the cat and mouse in northern Iran and discovered the Balkan Pact make the British overtures tough.
After all what use is wasting lives and ammo taking back Bosnia if Russia’s Balkan pact after gorging itself on Austria turns on the Ottomans. Never mind Bulgaria might just stay neutral in the war until the Serbs, Romanians, and Montenegro’s are ready to attack and join in with a fresh army. It’s smart the Ottomans kept it secret they know about the pact cause now it makes neutrality the best move. Let the great powers kill themselves and keep the Ottoman army fresh and ready to hold onto their remaining Balkan possessions.
There is also https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...turk-returns-2-0-ottoman-resurgent-tl.496209/ by Osama Aga though in 1750's. (It's last few chapter's aren't threadmarked though)
At the time Baghdad had a very large Jewish population
It had already been such in the past
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Chapter 11: New Developments.
Chapter 11: New Developments.
***
“These mountains near Bulgaria, and filled with Turks, Greeks and Slavs living together, will be the death of the Bulgarian invader.” – Mustafa Kemal Pasha.
“The Ottomans had found out in 1912 that the Bulgarians and Serbians were allied together against the Ottomans, as the Ottomans managed to turn the tide against the Italians in the Italo-Ottoman War over Libya. The breaking of the Serbo-Bulgarian Cypher almost elicited panic in the Ottoman capital and the cabinet, however calmer heads prevailed, and the money that was freed up by the reparations and the Ottoman Public Debt Administration was then funneled into the construction of major fortifications in the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman fortifications on the Russian border was already considerable and the addition of the Caucasian Army made the Caucasian defenses already very formidable. That is why the Ottoman government and the Ottoman War Ministry led by Mahmud Shevket Pasha were prioritizing the defense of the Balkans rather than the defense of the Caucasian Mountains. The money that was freed up was going to be used by the Ottoman government to construct new massive fortifications on the Rhodope Mountains. The areas around the Rhodope mountains were filled by Greeks, Slavs and Turks, and no ethnic group had a clear majority in the area, making it easier for the Ottoman central government and the war ministry to get their will done in regards to the issue.
The Rhodope Mountain Range Location.
The Rhodope mountains were filled with high steep mountains at high altitudes that made it an easy place to defend and needed only a small amount of troops to hold. As such Mahmud Shevket Pasha decided that the mountain range would be the perfect defense for the Ottoman Empire against any Bulgarian invasion, and if need be, any Greek invasion as well. He presented the Ottoman War Ministry, Cabinet and the Ministry of Finance the plan for creating the ‘Rhodope Line’ that would hold Bulgaria in place, and preserve the link between the Ottoman Empire’s Asian holdings and the rest of the Balkan parts of the empire. The plan called for the funneling of around 9 million pounds into the massive fortifications, nearly 80% of the entire funds given to the War Ministry, and such a massive investment was by this point unprecedented. Nonetheless Mahmud Shevket Pasha reminded the government that such fortifications would be necessary for the Ottomans to defend its other Balkan possessions and to create a more secure environment in the Ottoman Balkan Empire. The government caved in and the bill was proposed before the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies.
The Ottoman Chamber of Deputies exploded over the costs of the program, and the cost of the fortification line. However as the costs were being financed by the War Ministry and their own budget, the deputies reluctantly agreed to the plan and the program was passed in the Chamber of Deputies. The construction of the fortifications began in early 1913. Immediately major forts, pillboxes etc started construction. Modern fortifications were adapted by the Ottomans with the aid of British, French, Austrian and German supervisors, engineers and firms as well as private Ottoman firms as well. The Ottomans styled their defensive forts on the basis of the French fortifications near Alsace-Lorraine to get the maximum defensive output they could get, as the French defenses were considered to be one of the best in the entire world. Massive artillery compounds were also created in the valleys to fire at the Bulgarian border within a short notice, and an entire network of army compounds and garrison compounds started construction.” A History of Ottoman Fortification In the Balkans, University of Angora, 1998.
“The Ottoman Empire had at one point in history, one of the most complex and richest of economies in Europe. Those days were long gone by 1913, however the Ottoman government wished to overturn that development. The Ottoman dependence on Britain, Germany and Austria-Hungary to build their navy was seen acutely by the Ottoman government during the Italo-Ottoman War with narrowed eyes. The government quickly decided to do something about the ailing Ottoman maritime industry. The Ottoman Ministry of the Navy was ordered to conduct a report on the existing condition of the Ottoman maritime industry and its failings, and possible solutions to that.
The report that the Ministry of the Navy compiled was quite sobering to say the least. The Ottoman Ministry of the Navy’s report stated that the maritime industry of the ottoman empire was inefficient, ill-equipped in the modern technologies and the maritime industry had an extremely small group of capable sailors and proper human resources up for the task in the industry. Older dockyards and slipways in the Ottoman Empire which were used for making warships during the 19th and 18th centuries were laying and rotting on the side. The report concluded that the Ottoman maritime industry was thus, in dire straits, and if something could not be done in a short amount of time, then the industry itself could die out in the empire entirely, a grave prediction. The report however provided an ample list of probable solutions as well. The report stated that the older slipways and dockyards that were rotting away in Mersin, Sinope, Salonika, Izmir, and Beirut could be renovated and brought back to shape. They would not be able to construct warships for a good many years, the report predicted, however convoys and transport ships, as well as gunboats could be built using these extra amount of dockyards. The report also stated that the growth of the maritime industry in this regard to give the Ottoman Economy an avenue of expanding employment in the empire, and it recommended opening up and constructing new dockyards in the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea as well as the Adriatic to create more dockyards in the empire and to augment the maritime industry of the Ottoman empire.
Ali Kemal discussing the NEP with his ministers.
This coincided with the Ottoman government’s compilation of multiple plans for the creation of a new economic plan for the Ottoman Empire. These were all included in the ‘New Economic Plan ‘or the NEP by Grand Vizier Ali Kemal when the presented the NEP in front of the Chamber of Deputies on June 17th, 1913. The NEP consisted of the following points:-
“The Beginning of the Ottoman Cinema Industry is one filled with dependence on foreign film contractors, and censoring available films, especially by Sultan Abdul Hamid II who censored the release of the tapes of the Hamidian Massacres in the 1890s and early 1900s. However civilian interest in the film industry was starting to grow by the time of the Italo-Ottoman War and the war provided a further incentive for the civilian sector of the empire to get involved in the cinema industry as the tapes of the Italo-Turkish War began to trickle back home. The Constantinople Office of the Cinema (COC) was the first major cinematic company established in the Ottoman Empire in late 1912 by the group of Turkish and Greek businessmen and firms.
The COC was instrumental in many regards for the early development of the Ottoman Empire into the twentieth century. The COC was responsible for the shooting of many documentaries of the empire detailing the changing situation in the empire. These tapes and documentaries where then sold all throughout Europe and the empire in good order. The COC’s own commercial success soon after garnered the interest of many other business groups and the government as well.
In June 26th, 1913 a group of ethnic Pontic Greek educators filed a permission request in the Ottoman Ministry of the Interior asking for permission to create linguistic tapes for teaching young Pontic greeks their ethnic language in a more efficient manner. This request was an odd one, as most requests regarding the cinema industry were largely in line with commercial business’s, and not education, but nonetheless, the Ministry of Interior gave permission to the request and the Pontic Greek Language and Linguistics Studio (PGLLS) was then established in Trabzon on the 18th of July, 1913. At first it limited itself to the Pontic Greek language, however by the 1930s and 1940s it would expand itself to cover Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian, normal Greek, and Arabian distributing its tapes to multiple universities and schools throughout the Ottoman Empire. It provided an excellent medium for Ottoman scholars to learn languages in the Ottoman Empire as well.
The military under Mahmud Shevket Pasha was also interested in the cinema industry, with Shevket Pasha stating that the use of tapes could be employed in training exercises to study the army, their successes and their failures, making it easier for the Ottoman military to discern their own weaknesses and to move against them. Consequently on August 2nd, 1913, the Military Office of the Cinema or the Merkez Ordu Sinema Dairesi was established by Mahmud Shevket Pasha as a part of the Ministry of War.
Thus from humble origins, began the Ottoman Cinema Industry.” Angora Valley: The Eastern Cinema Powerhouse, a History. Penguin Publishing, 2007.
“British negotiations with the Ottoman Empire regarding a division of Arabia continued with the prospect of a possible alliance being thrown up between the foreign ministers. Both, Vlora and Grey were eager for an alliance between the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire, however many in both countries were more eager for a non-aggression pact and cooperation deal rather than a full-fledged alliance. In both Constantinople and London, the idea of a full alliance between each other, raised the questions of the reaction from St. Petersburg. Under Alexander III of Russia, the Russians and Ottomans had managed to finally after many centuries of warfare have good relations with one another, however Alexander III’s son, Nicholas II of Russia was slowly overturning that policy of friendship between the Sublime Porte and Russia, and there were fears that Russia would invade the Ottoman Empire if the empire formally allied with Britain. Similarly British politicians pointed out that breaking the Entente over the Ottoman Empire was not something to take lightly. Britain still had an invested policy in making sure that the Germans did not achieve hegemony over mainland Europe.
FM Syrja Bey Vlora.
To an extent the British and Ottoman worries were well-founded. St. Petersburg had expressed disgust at the ongoing negotiations and Sazonov had even warned Sir Edward Grey that the negotiations with the Ottoman Empire were putting the Triple Entente in danger. The French not wishing to loose either of their allies were raising the question of an alliance of the Ottoman Empire with Russia and raising the question of stopping the negotiations with Britain, playing both sides, hoping for one to cave in and mend the rifts in the Triple Entente.
On August 1913, Prime Minister Asquith succinctly summarized the current situation by stating ‘We stand at an uneasy precipice. The Russian response to our negotiations with the Sublime Porte will decide everything.’
Finally late in the month of August the British Parliament and the House of Commons decided to use the negotiations to end the Arabian question once and for all and postpone the idea of an alliance for later, and instead to sign a non-aggression pact with the Sublime Porte. The Ottomans who were relieved with the idea of not having to go to war with the Russians quickly agreed to the plan proposed by the British.
With the need to make sure that the Russians kept their goodwill and to keep the entente alive, both Grey and Vlora met and worked with extraordinary speed and the Convention of Beirut was signed on August 28th, 1913 by the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire. The terms of the Convention of Beirut were:-
Arabia after the Convention of Beirut.
A week later both Westminster and the Sublime Porte ratified the convention’s treaty. This convention finally ended the Arabian Question in the east once and for all and the goodwill between Britain and the Ottomans were starting to grow. Despite a small irritation between London and Constantinople regarding the game of cat and mouse the Ottomans played with the Russians in Iranian Azerbaijan, the relationship between the Ottomans and the British were starting to become better than ever before. Thankfully for the Russians, that relationship did extend to an alliance, but a mere non-aggression pact for the time being.” A History of the Relationship between the Ottoman Empire and the British Kingdom, Osprey Publishing, 1996.
“Jews have always had a special place in the Ottoman Empire. Sephardic Jews from Iberia after the Spanish Inquisition threw them out, the Jewish Poles fleeing the Partitions of Poland, as well as the Arabic Jews from Jerusalem and Baghdad as well as the Jewish peoples of Lebanon and the Balkans also created a massive Jewish subculture in the Ottoman Empire.
A Sephardic Jewish family in Baghdad.
The permission of the Ottoman foreign ministry to allow increased Jewish immigration into the empire also added to this cultural dimension of the Ottoman Empire. Of course, the quota for Palestine immigration was heatedly taken up by the Jews from all over Europe wishing to live in their sacred holy lands. They presented their best CVs and learned Turkish in earnest, taking Turkish exams and showing their certificates to Ottoman embassies throughout Europe to gain citizenship. The battle to live in the Jewish Quotas of Palestine were so heated that Ottoman Foreign Minister Vlora jokingly called it the ‘Jewish Crusade’ in the Ottoman Empire. Nonetheless, around 20,000 Jewish peoples from Europe were given permission to settle down in Palestine and were given citizenship.
Other important areas of Jewish settlement by immigrants were Tripoli, Benghazi, Beirut, Izmir, Mersin, Sinope, Tirana and Baghdad. All of these places in the empire were regional capitals and the ottomans were all the more happy to have Jewish manpower and riches in these parts of the empire, secretly thankful that the battle for gaining access to living in Palestine had not been as heated as they had thought it would be. The Arab population of these areas were at first apprehensive of the Jewish immigration into the empire, however the Ottoman government remained true to their promise and stated that the Palestinian Quota for Jews would remain at 20% for the foreseeable future, and would not be expanded upon without the approval of the Arab Committees of the Empire.
Jewish Immigrants arriving in Benghazi.
The Arab Committee of Cyrenaica was the first openly pro-Jewish Arab Lobby in the Empire. Jewish peoples in Libya had been instrumental in the Italo-Ottoman War where they formed partisan groups against the invading Italians, and the people of Cyrenaica were in the gratitude of these brave peoples. Arabs in Benghazi, and the rest of Cyrenaica happily welcomed their new Jewish compatriots. A new word began to rise in the Arab population that was used to describe the Jewish immigrants. Yahud Jadad or the ‘New Jews’ which was used as a term to distinguish between the new Jewish immigrants and the older Salonika and Sephardic Jews. Life for the new Jewish immigrants in the empire was at first, obviously hard, as they received lower jobs, and lower living standards, however the pro-semitism of the Empire garnered much goodwill in the Yahud Jadad jews, and they would become the cornerstone of Ottoman Loyalism in the Ottoman minorities in the future.” Immigration Patterns in the Ottoman Empire. OttomanGov.com.
***
Benghazi, Ottoman Libya, 1913
Abraham Aaronovich sighed as he wiped his eyes to get rid of the burning heat. He was from the Russian Empire, and he and his family weren’t used to the immense heat of Northern Africa. Nonetheless he smiled at the passing Arab family and waved at them.
“Abraham Effendi!” Ahmed Hassan, his neighbor greeted him with a smile.
“Ahmed, how are you?” Abraham replied back with a smile in broken Arabic. He knew rudimentary Turkish, however his Arabic language skills left much to be desired. Thankfully Ahmed didn’t seem to mind and seem to understand his broken Arabic.
“My dear friend, you need to get a job.” Ahmed told him as he looked at the small amount of clothes Abraham had and the smaller amount of food that Abraham’s children were eating than usual. “Your part time job in the synagogue obviously doesn’t pay as much as you’d like it seems.”
“It seems by dear Ahmed, that you are right.” Abraham sighed as he looked at his wallet and saw the meager amount of Ottoman Lira in it. “I made an account in the Bank of Cyrenaica at the main square, and I was quite embarrassed to give in only around 200 Lira as my starting amount for the account.”
“Hm, what did you do in Kharkov Abraham Effendi?” Ahmed asked speculatively as he rubbed his chin in deep thought.
“I worked in the…..army. I was a junior corporal in the 18th Don Cossack Regiment. Well that was before the government found out I was a jew.” Abraham muttered. “After that I was ‘honorably’ discharged from the Imperial Russian Army.”
“Well that means you have the experience!” Ahmed smiled looking on the bright side. “Do you have any proof of your previous occupation as a corporal?”
“Erm yes, It is included in the papers I brought with me when we immigrated.” Abraham muttered as a response.
“Good then, we can enlist you in the army as a junior officer! The army pays pretty well.” Ahmed replied and dragged Abraham through the streets as Abraham protested.
“But-but a corporal is nothing in the army! I bet Colonels, Lieutenants, Lieutenant-Colonels get the better benefits!” Abraham spluttered.
Ahmed raised his eyebrow as he looked at his Jewish friend. “Here in Libya, during peacetimes, Corporals are often as high as officers we can get. You will get paid well, my friend. I was a trooper during the war, I have some contacts in the army.”
Abraham quieted down. Of course, he knew that many in Cyrenaica and Tripolitania had military backgrounds due to the Italo-Ottoman war, but it was still very construing to hear it often.
After a few minutes Abraham found himself in front of the army recruitment office where Abraham shifted his feet slightly. The main officer spoke with Ahmed and then turned to Abraham and spoke up in Turkish. “You are Abraham Aaronovich?”
“Erm, yes.” Abraham replied in rudimentary and heavily accented Turkish.
“You were a Corporal? In Little Russia?” The officer asked again as he lifted his eyebrows.
“Yes.” Abraham nodded.
“I will need proof you realize?” The officer folded his hands.
“I can send you the papers and my badge later on through the postal service.” Abraham offered.
“Yes, that would be best. My name is Asuman Pasha. I am the Lieutenant-Colonel of the region.” Asuman introduced himself. “Send me the papers, I will send my response then. You can take him away Ahmed, I assure you old friend that I will make an exception for your friend here. Its good to see the new Jews mingling in the population so quickly.”
“Thank you my old friend!” Ahmed slapped Asuman’s back and then turned to Abraham. “Now, Abraham Effendi, you must go home quickly and send your papers to Asuman Effendi here quick!”
Abraham nodded. That night he packed his papers regarding his service in the Imperial Russian Army and sent it to Asuman Pasha. The next he received a letter stating that he would be enlisted for the Ottoman Benghazi Military Academy for three months after which he would be enlisted as a regional corporal with a salary of 550 Lira a month. Abraham would forever be indebted to Ahmed for this act of charity.
***
“The first Ottoman designed plane would enter planning phase on August 12th, 1913 when the Ottoman government allowed the aeronautical engineers in Constantinople to start their own aeronautical designs. The Sky Wolf I Gokyuzu Kurt Ben or the Sky Wolf I was the first prototype Ottoman designed plane that was designed by a group of Ottoman aeronautical engineers. It was mainly based off the design of the Bleriot IX plane of the French and was intended for reconnaissance missions. The Sky Wolf II that was being planned by the Ottoman government was being designed as a bomber instead.
The Sky Wolf I.
The Sky Wolf I was a two seat model, with side by side seating and non-lifting triangular tailplane with a semi-elliptical trailing edge elevators, with several variations such as floats extended nose, modified tail skid and other changes to the Bleriot class planes. It’s overall length was 8.32 meters, and its wingspan was around 10.97 meters. Overall, it was an above average plane and the Constantinople Aeronautical Industrial Estate, the only aeronautical industrial estate in the Ottoman Empire started the construction of the planes from the end of August, 1913.” Ottoman Planes: The Beginning. Tirana Publishing, 2009.
***
Somewhere in Serbia, inside a Black Hand Society Meeting Room
“Those damned muslims. The Turks have upped their game. Several of our members in Macedonia have been arrested. The Turkish intelligence has improved.”
“Damn them to hell and back…….”
“And back again…..”
“So what do we do now?”
“Our only way forward lies now with conflict. We will do what we can to liberate the Serbian peoples from the Turkish yoke. Violently if we must. You haven’t forgotten your oaths have you?”
“No.”
Logo of the Black Hand Society.
“Then what are we to do?”
“The Sultan is rumored to be coming to Tirana to meet with the Albanian officials in a month and to take the oath of the First Albanian Premier, signaling the start of an autonomous Albania in the empire with Prishtina’s list being implemented. There we will strike.”
“Sounds like a good plan.”
“Aye, and we will succeed…….”
***
***
“These mountains near Bulgaria, and filled with Turks, Greeks and Slavs living together, will be the death of the Bulgarian invader.” – Mustafa Kemal Pasha.
“The Ottomans had found out in 1912 that the Bulgarians and Serbians were allied together against the Ottomans, as the Ottomans managed to turn the tide against the Italians in the Italo-Ottoman War over Libya. The breaking of the Serbo-Bulgarian Cypher almost elicited panic in the Ottoman capital and the cabinet, however calmer heads prevailed, and the money that was freed up by the reparations and the Ottoman Public Debt Administration was then funneled into the construction of major fortifications in the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman fortifications on the Russian border was already considerable and the addition of the Caucasian Army made the Caucasian defenses already very formidable. That is why the Ottoman government and the Ottoman War Ministry led by Mahmud Shevket Pasha were prioritizing the defense of the Balkans rather than the defense of the Caucasian Mountains. The money that was freed up was going to be used by the Ottoman government to construct new massive fortifications on the Rhodope Mountains. The areas around the Rhodope mountains were filled by Greeks, Slavs and Turks, and no ethnic group had a clear majority in the area, making it easier for the Ottoman central government and the war ministry to get their will done in regards to the issue.
The Rhodope Mountain Range Location.
The Rhodope mountains were filled with high steep mountains at high altitudes that made it an easy place to defend and needed only a small amount of troops to hold. As such Mahmud Shevket Pasha decided that the mountain range would be the perfect defense for the Ottoman Empire against any Bulgarian invasion, and if need be, any Greek invasion as well. He presented the Ottoman War Ministry, Cabinet and the Ministry of Finance the plan for creating the ‘Rhodope Line’ that would hold Bulgaria in place, and preserve the link between the Ottoman Empire’s Asian holdings and the rest of the Balkan parts of the empire. The plan called for the funneling of around 9 million pounds into the massive fortifications, nearly 80% of the entire funds given to the War Ministry, and such a massive investment was by this point unprecedented. Nonetheless Mahmud Shevket Pasha reminded the government that such fortifications would be necessary for the Ottomans to defend its other Balkan possessions and to create a more secure environment in the Ottoman Balkan Empire. The government caved in and the bill was proposed before the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies.
The Ottoman Chamber of Deputies exploded over the costs of the program, and the cost of the fortification line. However as the costs were being financed by the War Ministry and their own budget, the deputies reluctantly agreed to the plan and the program was passed in the Chamber of Deputies. The construction of the fortifications began in early 1913. Immediately major forts, pillboxes etc started construction. Modern fortifications were adapted by the Ottomans with the aid of British, French, Austrian and German supervisors, engineers and firms as well as private Ottoman firms as well. The Ottomans styled their defensive forts on the basis of the French fortifications near Alsace-Lorraine to get the maximum defensive output they could get, as the French defenses were considered to be one of the best in the entire world. Massive artillery compounds were also created in the valleys to fire at the Bulgarian border within a short notice, and an entire network of army compounds and garrison compounds started construction.” A History of Ottoman Fortification In the Balkans, University of Angora, 1998.
“The Ottoman Empire had at one point in history, one of the most complex and richest of economies in Europe. Those days were long gone by 1913, however the Ottoman government wished to overturn that development. The Ottoman dependence on Britain, Germany and Austria-Hungary to build their navy was seen acutely by the Ottoman government during the Italo-Ottoman War with narrowed eyes. The government quickly decided to do something about the ailing Ottoman maritime industry. The Ottoman Ministry of the Navy was ordered to conduct a report on the existing condition of the Ottoman maritime industry and its failings, and possible solutions to that.
The report that the Ministry of the Navy compiled was quite sobering to say the least. The Ottoman Ministry of the Navy’s report stated that the maritime industry of the ottoman empire was inefficient, ill-equipped in the modern technologies and the maritime industry had an extremely small group of capable sailors and proper human resources up for the task in the industry. Older dockyards and slipways in the Ottoman Empire which were used for making warships during the 19th and 18th centuries were laying and rotting on the side. The report concluded that the Ottoman maritime industry was thus, in dire straits, and if something could not be done in a short amount of time, then the industry itself could die out in the empire entirely, a grave prediction. The report however provided an ample list of probable solutions as well. The report stated that the older slipways and dockyards that were rotting away in Mersin, Sinope, Salonika, Izmir, and Beirut could be renovated and brought back to shape. They would not be able to construct warships for a good many years, the report predicted, however convoys and transport ships, as well as gunboats could be built using these extra amount of dockyards. The report also stated that the growth of the maritime industry in this regard to give the Ottoman Economy an avenue of expanding employment in the empire, and it recommended opening up and constructing new dockyards in the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea as well as the Adriatic to create more dockyards in the empire and to augment the maritime industry of the Ottoman empire.
Ali Kemal discussing the NEP with his ministers.
This coincided with the Ottoman government’s compilation of multiple plans for the creation of a new economic plan for the Ottoman Empire. These were all included in the ‘New Economic Plan ‘or the NEP by Grand Vizier Ali Kemal when the presented the NEP in front of the Chamber of Deputies on June 17th, 1913. The NEP consisted of the following points:-
- The renovation of older slipways and dockyards in the Ottoman Empire to invigorate the maritime industry more.
- The creation and construction of new maritime dockyards in Jeddah, Basra and the Persian Gulf as well as Beirut.
- To create shares of the new dockyards to be sold to the general Ottoman population.
- The creation of industrial ‘estates’ in the Ottoman empire for the better supervision of the industrial sector of the Ottoman Empire.
- The creation of ‘puppet industries’ in the Ottoman Empire which would become the base for future industrial expansion in the Ottoman Empire.
- The mineral wealth of Anatolia and the Balkans to be exploited in the construction of mines.
- The creation of more service sector employment through the tourism and religious pilgrimage industry.
- The creation of the National Investment Board which would survey, supervise and guide national investment schemes in the empire.
- The creation of the Izmir Aeronautical Industrial Estate to serve as the second aeronautical industry of the Ottoman Empire.
- Increase of 10% in public spending in the empire to create more infrastructure in the empire, creating more innovation and growth in the empire.
“The Beginning of the Ottoman Cinema Industry is one filled with dependence on foreign film contractors, and censoring available films, especially by Sultan Abdul Hamid II who censored the release of the tapes of the Hamidian Massacres in the 1890s and early 1900s. However civilian interest in the film industry was starting to grow by the time of the Italo-Ottoman War and the war provided a further incentive for the civilian sector of the empire to get involved in the cinema industry as the tapes of the Italo-Turkish War began to trickle back home. The Constantinople Office of the Cinema (COC) was the first major cinematic company established in the Ottoman Empire in late 1912 by the group of Turkish and Greek businessmen and firms.
The COC was instrumental in many regards for the early development of the Ottoman Empire into the twentieth century. The COC was responsible for the shooting of many documentaries of the empire detailing the changing situation in the empire. These tapes and documentaries where then sold all throughout Europe and the empire in good order. The COC’s own commercial success soon after garnered the interest of many other business groups and the government as well.
In June 26th, 1913 a group of ethnic Pontic Greek educators filed a permission request in the Ottoman Ministry of the Interior asking for permission to create linguistic tapes for teaching young Pontic greeks their ethnic language in a more efficient manner. This request was an odd one, as most requests regarding the cinema industry were largely in line with commercial business’s, and not education, but nonetheless, the Ministry of Interior gave permission to the request and the Pontic Greek Language and Linguistics Studio (PGLLS) was then established in Trabzon on the 18th of July, 1913. At first it limited itself to the Pontic Greek language, however by the 1930s and 1940s it would expand itself to cover Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian, normal Greek, and Arabian distributing its tapes to multiple universities and schools throughout the Ottoman Empire. It provided an excellent medium for Ottoman scholars to learn languages in the Ottoman Empire as well.
The military under Mahmud Shevket Pasha was also interested in the cinema industry, with Shevket Pasha stating that the use of tapes could be employed in training exercises to study the army, their successes and their failures, making it easier for the Ottoman military to discern their own weaknesses and to move against them. Consequently on August 2nd, 1913, the Military Office of the Cinema or the Merkez Ordu Sinema Dairesi was established by Mahmud Shevket Pasha as a part of the Ministry of War.
Thus from humble origins, began the Ottoman Cinema Industry.” Angora Valley: The Eastern Cinema Powerhouse, a History. Penguin Publishing, 2007.
“British negotiations with the Ottoman Empire regarding a division of Arabia continued with the prospect of a possible alliance being thrown up between the foreign ministers. Both, Vlora and Grey were eager for an alliance between the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire, however many in both countries were more eager for a non-aggression pact and cooperation deal rather than a full-fledged alliance. In both Constantinople and London, the idea of a full alliance between each other, raised the questions of the reaction from St. Petersburg. Under Alexander III of Russia, the Russians and Ottomans had managed to finally after many centuries of warfare have good relations with one another, however Alexander III’s son, Nicholas II of Russia was slowly overturning that policy of friendship between the Sublime Porte and Russia, and there were fears that Russia would invade the Ottoman Empire if the empire formally allied with Britain. Similarly British politicians pointed out that breaking the Entente over the Ottoman Empire was not something to take lightly. Britain still had an invested policy in making sure that the Germans did not achieve hegemony over mainland Europe.
FM Syrja Bey Vlora.
To an extent the British and Ottoman worries were well-founded. St. Petersburg had expressed disgust at the ongoing negotiations and Sazonov had even warned Sir Edward Grey that the negotiations with the Ottoman Empire were putting the Triple Entente in danger. The French not wishing to loose either of their allies were raising the question of an alliance of the Ottoman Empire with Russia and raising the question of stopping the negotiations with Britain, playing both sides, hoping for one to cave in and mend the rifts in the Triple Entente.
On August 1913, Prime Minister Asquith succinctly summarized the current situation by stating ‘We stand at an uneasy precipice. The Russian response to our negotiations with the Sublime Porte will decide everything.’
Finally late in the month of August the British Parliament and the House of Commons decided to use the negotiations to end the Arabian question once and for all and postpone the idea of an alliance for later, and instead to sign a non-aggression pact with the Sublime Porte. The Ottomans who were relieved with the idea of not having to go to war with the Russians quickly agreed to the plan proposed by the British.
With the need to make sure that the Russians kept their goodwill and to keep the entente alive, both Grey and Vlora met and worked with extraordinary speed and the Convention of Beirut was signed on August 28th, 1913 by the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire. The terms of the Convention of Beirut were:-
- The Ottoman control of Hejaz and Northern Yemen to be recognized by the British Empire.
- The Ottoman control of the Nejd Sanjak to be re-asserted and re-recognized by the British Empire.
- The Ottoman government to recognize the British control of Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar, all formerly beneficiaries of the Sublime Porte.
- The recognition of the Kingdom of Rashidi Arabia as the sole governmental authority in the interior of Arabia.
- Both the British Empire and the Ottoman Empire to sign a non-aggression pact for 8 years until 1921, up for renewal again until 1925.
- The British Empire and Ottoman Empire to sign a mutually beneficial trade deal with one another (textiles and chromium exports for the Ottoman Empire and Machinery and technology exports for the British Empire).
Arabia after the Convention of Beirut.
A week later both Westminster and the Sublime Porte ratified the convention’s treaty. This convention finally ended the Arabian Question in the east once and for all and the goodwill between Britain and the Ottomans were starting to grow. Despite a small irritation between London and Constantinople regarding the game of cat and mouse the Ottomans played with the Russians in Iranian Azerbaijan, the relationship between the Ottomans and the British were starting to become better than ever before. Thankfully for the Russians, that relationship did extend to an alliance, but a mere non-aggression pact for the time being.” A History of the Relationship between the Ottoman Empire and the British Kingdom, Osprey Publishing, 1996.
“Jews have always had a special place in the Ottoman Empire. Sephardic Jews from Iberia after the Spanish Inquisition threw them out, the Jewish Poles fleeing the Partitions of Poland, as well as the Arabic Jews from Jerusalem and Baghdad as well as the Jewish peoples of Lebanon and the Balkans also created a massive Jewish subculture in the Ottoman Empire.
A Sephardic Jewish family in Baghdad.
The permission of the Ottoman foreign ministry to allow increased Jewish immigration into the empire also added to this cultural dimension of the Ottoman Empire. Of course, the quota for Palestine immigration was heatedly taken up by the Jews from all over Europe wishing to live in their sacred holy lands. They presented their best CVs and learned Turkish in earnest, taking Turkish exams and showing their certificates to Ottoman embassies throughout Europe to gain citizenship. The battle to live in the Jewish Quotas of Palestine were so heated that Ottoman Foreign Minister Vlora jokingly called it the ‘Jewish Crusade’ in the Ottoman Empire. Nonetheless, around 20,000 Jewish peoples from Europe were given permission to settle down in Palestine and were given citizenship.
Other important areas of Jewish settlement by immigrants were Tripoli, Benghazi, Beirut, Izmir, Mersin, Sinope, Tirana and Baghdad. All of these places in the empire were regional capitals and the ottomans were all the more happy to have Jewish manpower and riches in these parts of the empire, secretly thankful that the battle for gaining access to living in Palestine had not been as heated as they had thought it would be. The Arab population of these areas were at first apprehensive of the Jewish immigration into the empire, however the Ottoman government remained true to their promise and stated that the Palestinian Quota for Jews would remain at 20% for the foreseeable future, and would not be expanded upon without the approval of the Arab Committees of the Empire.
Jewish Immigrants arriving in Benghazi.
The Arab Committee of Cyrenaica was the first openly pro-Jewish Arab Lobby in the Empire. Jewish peoples in Libya had been instrumental in the Italo-Ottoman War where they formed partisan groups against the invading Italians, and the people of Cyrenaica were in the gratitude of these brave peoples. Arabs in Benghazi, and the rest of Cyrenaica happily welcomed their new Jewish compatriots. A new word began to rise in the Arab population that was used to describe the Jewish immigrants. Yahud Jadad or the ‘New Jews’ which was used as a term to distinguish between the new Jewish immigrants and the older Salonika and Sephardic Jews. Life for the new Jewish immigrants in the empire was at first, obviously hard, as they received lower jobs, and lower living standards, however the pro-semitism of the Empire garnered much goodwill in the Yahud Jadad jews, and they would become the cornerstone of Ottoman Loyalism in the Ottoman minorities in the future.” Immigration Patterns in the Ottoman Empire. OttomanGov.com.
***
Benghazi, Ottoman Libya, 1913
Abraham Aaronovich sighed as he wiped his eyes to get rid of the burning heat. He was from the Russian Empire, and he and his family weren’t used to the immense heat of Northern Africa. Nonetheless he smiled at the passing Arab family and waved at them.
“Abraham Effendi!” Ahmed Hassan, his neighbor greeted him with a smile.
“Ahmed, how are you?” Abraham replied back with a smile in broken Arabic. He knew rudimentary Turkish, however his Arabic language skills left much to be desired. Thankfully Ahmed didn’t seem to mind and seem to understand his broken Arabic.
“My dear friend, you need to get a job.” Ahmed told him as he looked at the small amount of clothes Abraham had and the smaller amount of food that Abraham’s children were eating than usual. “Your part time job in the synagogue obviously doesn’t pay as much as you’d like it seems.”
“It seems by dear Ahmed, that you are right.” Abraham sighed as he looked at his wallet and saw the meager amount of Ottoman Lira in it. “I made an account in the Bank of Cyrenaica at the main square, and I was quite embarrassed to give in only around 200 Lira as my starting amount for the account.”
“Hm, what did you do in Kharkov Abraham Effendi?” Ahmed asked speculatively as he rubbed his chin in deep thought.
“I worked in the…..army. I was a junior corporal in the 18th Don Cossack Regiment. Well that was before the government found out I was a jew.” Abraham muttered. “After that I was ‘honorably’ discharged from the Imperial Russian Army.”
“Well that means you have the experience!” Ahmed smiled looking on the bright side. “Do you have any proof of your previous occupation as a corporal?”
“Erm yes, It is included in the papers I brought with me when we immigrated.” Abraham muttered as a response.
“Good then, we can enlist you in the army as a junior officer! The army pays pretty well.” Ahmed replied and dragged Abraham through the streets as Abraham protested.
“But-but a corporal is nothing in the army! I bet Colonels, Lieutenants, Lieutenant-Colonels get the better benefits!” Abraham spluttered.
Ahmed raised his eyebrow as he looked at his Jewish friend. “Here in Libya, during peacetimes, Corporals are often as high as officers we can get. You will get paid well, my friend. I was a trooper during the war, I have some contacts in the army.”
Abraham quieted down. Of course, he knew that many in Cyrenaica and Tripolitania had military backgrounds due to the Italo-Ottoman war, but it was still very construing to hear it often.
After a few minutes Abraham found himself in front of the army recruitment office where Abraham shifted his feet slightly. The main officer spoke with Ahmed and then turned to Abraham and spoke up in Turkish. “You are Abraham Aaronovich?”
“Erm, yes.” Abraham replied in rudimentary and heavily accented Turkish.
“You were a Corporal? In Little Russia?” The officer asked again as he lifted his eyebrows.
“Yes.” Abraham nodded.
“I will need proof you realize?” The officer folded his hands.
“I can send you the papers and my badge later on through the postal service.” Abraham offered.
“Yes, that would be best. My name is Asuman Pasha. I am the Lieutenant-Colonel of the region.” Asuman introduced himself. “Send me the papers, I will send my response then. You can take him away Ahmed, I assure you old friend that I will make an exception for your friend here. Its good to see the new Jews mingling in the population so quickly.”
“Thank you my old friend!” Ahmed slapped Asuman’s back and then turned to Abraham. “Now, Abraham Effendi, you must go home quickly and send your papers to Asuman Effendi here quick!”
Abraham nodded. That night he packed his papers regarding his service in the Imperial Russian Army and sent it to Asuman Pasha. The next he received a letter stating that he would be enlisted for the Ottoman Benghazi Military Academy for three months after which he would be enlisted as a regional corporal with a salary of 550 Lira a month. Abraham would forever be indebted to Ahmed for this act of charity.
***
“The first Ottoman designed plane would enter planning phase on August 12th, 1913 when the Ottoman government allowed the aeronautical engineers in Constantinople to start their own aeronautical designs. The Sky Wolf I Gokyuzu Kurt Ben or the Sky Wolf I was the first prototype Ottoman designed plane that was designed by a group of Ottoman aeronautical engineers. It was mainly based off the design of the Bleriot IX plane of the French and was intended for reconnaissance missions. The Sky Wolf II that was being planned by the Ottoman government was being designed as a bomber instead.
The Sky Wolf I.
The Sky Wolf I was a two seat model, with side by side seating and non-lifting triangular tailplane with a semi-elliptical trailing edge elevators, with several variations such as floats extended nose, modified tail skid and other changes to the Bleriot class planes. It’s overall length was 8.32 meters, and its wingspan was around 10.97 meters. Overall, it was an above average plane and the Constantinople Aeronautical Industrial Estate, the only aeronautical industrial estate in the Ottoman Empire started the construction of the planes from the end of August, 1913.” Ottoman Planes: The Beginning. Tirana Publishing, 2009.
***
Somewhere in Serbia, inside a Black Hand Society Meeting Room
“Those damned muslims. The Turks have upped their game. Several of our members in Macedonia have been arrested. The Turkish intelligence has improved.”
“Damn them to hell and back…….”
“And back again…..”
“So what do we do now?”
“Our only way forward lies now with conflict. We will do what we can to liberate the Serbian peoples from the Turkish yoke. Violently if we must. You haven’t forgotten your oaths have you?”
“No.”
Logo of the Black Hand Society.
“Then what are we to do?”
“The Sultan is rumored to be coming to Tirana to meet with the Albanian officials in a month and to take the oath of the First Albanian Premier, signaling the start of an autonomous Albania in the empire with Prishtina’s list being implemented. There we will strike.”
“Sounds like a good plan.”
“Aye, and we will succeed…….”
***
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