the beginnings of ottoman-german partnership - Bilkent University

Wilhelm II and Abdulhamid II created friendship between the two
countries, which was basically fictitious since they were really acting entirely for the
interests of their respective countries. Abdulhamid II was trying to end his Empire’s
diplomatic isolation and to use the German card as leverage against France, Britain
and Russia. Wilhelm II was trying to make the Ottoman Empire favor Germany
politically and militarily in order to achieve its economic interests in the Ottoman
territories.
The Ottomans tried to turn to Britain, France and Russia after the
Revolution of 1908. But since they were rejected by France and Britain and
threatened by Russia, they continued Abdulhamid's policy of promoting German
railroad projects and economic investments as a means of securing German
protection and support. It was for this reason as much as anything else that the
Young Turk leaders welcomed the German Military Reform Mission headed by Von
der Goltz in 1909. Germany also helped the Ottoman Empire financially with a state
loan of 30,000,000 francs in 1910, after Britain and France refused to provide the
same amount of money, a clear diplomatic victory for the Germans. As a result, the
Ottoman leaders began to believe that the Germans were their most likely protectors.
German help was not so much the product of admiration and friendship as it was the
simple result of Wilhelm II's policy of Reelpolitik, which required keeping on good
terms with the Ottomans without actually making a commitment in the form of an
alliance. The year 1910 was the peak of German-Ottoman rapprochement before
August 1914, when the Treaty of Alliance was finally signed.
The Revolution of 1908 was the product of Young Turks who were mostly
organized under the umbrella of the CUP. Enver Paşa, one of the heroes of the 1908
Young Turk revolution, was the product of the military schools, which had been
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