the beginnings of ottoman-german partnership - Bilkent University

Ottoman opposition to any such plan caused the Russians to delay, and ultimately
abandon the plan. 153
There were few reasons for the Ottoman Empire to ally with Russia. In the
spring of 1914, however, Germany feared that such an arrangement might in fact take
place. The German military mission in Turkey was doing well, and Colonel Friedrich
Bronsart von Schellendorf was appointed as the first Assistant Chief of Staff of the
Ottoman General Staff. Despite this, Kaiser Wilhelm II feared that the presence of the
mission was not adequate to keep the Ottomans on his side. In Eagles on the
Crescent, Weber reports that German ambassador Wangenheim learned at this time
that Enver had conferred several times with Russian agents in order to use their
money to bribe the internal Ottoman police as a means of strengthening his
dictatorship. 154 Weber further states that the Austria-Hungarian ambassador to
İstanbul, Pallavicini was accusing Wangenheim of indifference in the face of
warming Ottoman relations with Rumania, Bulgaria, and Russia in order to secure a
Balkan alliance. 155
Before the summer of 1914, Germany tried to keep the Ottoman Empire in
its orbit without any commitment or guarantee except the military mission. However,
the Ottoman Empire was not fully committed to the German cause. 156 The German
military leaders did not even think that the mission could in fact improve the Ottoman
Army. In March 1914, the German Chief of Staff von Moltke wired the Austrian
Chief of Staff Hötzendorf that the Ottoman Empire was not worth anything militarily,
153 Muhtar, pp. 215-216. As a diplomat, M. Muhtar argued that if Turkey had tried to negotiate with
Russia over the Straits, it would take advantage of the clash of interests between the Great powers and
would acquire an international guarantee for the Straits, like the Convention of London of 1840.
154 Frank G., Weber, Eagles on the Crescent: Germany, Austria, and the Diplomacy of the Turkish
Alliance 1914-1918, (New York: Cornell University Press, 1970), p. 38.
155 Weber, pp. 47-48.
156 MUZC, D III/C 1/İçt. 1, Appendix 2.
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