The Ottoman Empire in a Central Powers victorious world

[Abdul Hadi Pasha]

Not in a victorious CP scenario. In OTL, the Ottomans pretty much fleeced Germany - the transfer of Gold was shocking, plus all the free war materiel (the Ottoman aircraft marking was a black square - most efficient way to paint over the German cross) and rail equipment. Possession of Baku would go some way towards dealing with the empire's financial issues.

An economy based upon agriculture can recover fast from a war, and the Ottomans, even faced with tribulations that a Western society could never endure, never suffered the social upheavals that many of the other powers did. If it is a late win, Syria might take a while to recover from the damage - but if it's by early 1918, I would expect a fast Ottoman recovery.

Note how well the Turks bounced back in OTL from not only losing the war and having much of the empire stripped away, but being invaded and having most of the country laid waste and suffering significant population loss and dislocation.

While I think the Turks handle privation particularly well, it's mostly that a non-industrial society has some distinct advantages in recovery from war - the capital loss is generally much lower - the hardest things to replace are animals, which can fortunately be moved...

I see things being quite bad for the Ottoman Empire actually, as they are for all of Germany's allies.

If this is a late win the Ottomans are going to be highly financially dependent on Germany to maintain their position outside the Anatolian heartlands, and presumably this will worsen as they are dragged into whatever economic system the Germans impose on Europe, extra territory will do nothing to solve that weakness.

Like Austria-Hungary you have to ask what the Ottomans ever really got out of the German alliance, other than protection from Russia of course.

 

[Faeelin]

Once the war is over, it will be impossible to maintain the CUP dictatorship and the government will have to return to its liberal-democratic path. Kemal's dictatorship and personality cult were only possible due to the extreme circumstances and his equally extreme success.

At the risk of being pedantic, how is this ending?

America and Britain blockade a starving Germany that took Paris in 1917?

No America in the war? No England?

If it's Germany triumphant, neutral America, and a chastened England, has democracy been dealt a serious blow in the eyes of Ottomans?

 

[Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy]

They were also engaged on the Salonika front, in Galicia, and against Romania - seven of their best divisions.

That's 9 fronts then, though not at the same time.

 

[LordVorKon]

At the risk of being pedantic, how is this ending?

America and Britain blockade a starving Germany that took Paris in 1917?

No America in the war? No England?

If it's Germany triumphant, neutral America, and a chastened England, has democracy been dealt a serious blow in the eyes of Ottomans?

First, let me apologize for dredging up this ancient thread; I'm new here, so it's all new to me, even the ancient history.

If Roosevelt had won the 1912 presidential elections in the US, is it plausible that America was either neutral in Germany's favor, or actively involved in the war? If the USN was attacking British and French shipping in the Atlantic and putting pressure on the Russian Far East, might make it difficult for the UK to carry on an effective war on the continent.

I see lots of other possible ramifications that I'm not going to take the time to get into right now, also.


LVK