the beginnings of ottoman-german partnership - Bilkent University

interests in Europe at the time, but that is about it. The Ottoman diplomatic archives
suriving from this period have yet to be made available or explored.
Just at the time that Franz Ferdinand, Heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne,
was assassinated in Sarajevo, in June, 1914, the Ottomans were attempting to secure
alliances to avoid a general European War with minimum damage or even with some
gains for the Empire. The Entente Powers, however, rejected all Ottoman attempts for
an alliance, and among the Balkan states only Bulgaria was willing to join in such an
alliance with the Ottomans. It was the subsequent Austro-Hungarian declaration of
war against Serbia on July 28, 1914, with German consent, which changed the
German attitude toward an alliance with the Ottomans.
The German ambassador to the Porte, Wangenheim, was the most
influential factor, which took the Ottoman Empire into the Triple Alliance that had
been formed many years before by Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.
Wangenheim was a keen observer of affairs in the Ottoman Empire at the time, and
his reports to Berlin reflected reality. He did not react, however, whenever the
German government did not accept his views or act on them. On July 14, he shared
the view of von Jagow, the German Foreign Minister that “Turkey could be regarded
only as passive factor for next few years because of her unfavorable army situation,
and Turkey, in her present situation could assume no other position than that of
swinging like a pendulum between powers, eventually joining the stronger and more
successful group”. 171 On July18, in answering von Jagow, Wangenheim opposed the
ideas of the Austrian ambassador to the Porte, Pallavicini on the grounds that it was
needless “to induce Turkey to join Austria through Bulgaria”. He added that:
“Without doubt, Turkey today is totally incapable of carrying an alliance…For the
171 Jackh, pp. 10-11.
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