The Most Sublime Porte - An Ottoman AAR

[Riotkiller]

Could have been worse. Could have been so much worse. Hopefully the House of Osman can survive this, but I'm confident on the whole. We'll definitely need new allies against the Russians; Britain and France are probably our best bets. I actually forget about the far east; what's the situation there?

The Entente certainly needs breaking up if we are to prosper in future, I agree. As for the Far East - China remains a mess as usual, but Japan has performed well and we are currently allied to them.

Truly you won the battle(s) but lost the war. Very enjoyable update, a very tenacious last stand. Overall Croatia and the other concessions aren't a massive loss considering the scope of the war. Be interesting to see exactly what your allies have been forced to pay - I take it Germany has lost out to France and Russia in terms of territory?

Aye, we got off comparatively lightly. I'll be going through the effect of peace on Germany in the next update

That is a very bitter peace. But against those odds mere survival is no small thing.

It is, but it was the best we could manage at the end there.

My commiserations, though I agree with the others that it could have been far worse.

I do wonder if defeat, and having Constantinople itself fall if only briefly will shake the Ottoman state. Could we see a lot of domestic turmoil in the near future?

That is certainly a possibility which troubles the Porte - whilst most of Anatolia bar the eastern edges was relatively untouched, the occupation of all of the European territories and the damage that's done to the local economy there could prove a source of discontent.

A very bitter war, somewhat like in real life where ottomans didn't lose a lot but due the alliance collapsed. unlike in real life though, we got away with only a slap in the wrist. Croatia is valuable but it's incredible we only got away with losing only one state. Definitely we will be hit by the loss of Croatia and war reparations, but it seems it could've been much much worse.

I'll be honest, I would've maybe rage quit at one point or other; but you pressed on through the bitter war and got probably the most favourable outcome given the conditions. Congrats for that and thank you for the excellent writing of the episodes. I'm looking forward to how the aftermath of this is going to shape and if we'll get to exact some kind of revenge.


I don't think there was any right choice to be made, as you said we were simply vastly outnumbered without any meaningful ally help.

Aha, depressing though the war was I didn't quite reach the point of rage-quitting. It does at least provide a new challenge for the future and should be interesting to play & write about!

The Ottomans have fought valiantly -- yet valor alone was not enough.

On the other hand, they could not stave off defeat, but Ottoman territorial integrity is mostly preserved for the moment -- though the breaking of the Sublime Porte's power might well cause opportunistic revolutionary and independence movements to bloom like wildflowers in spring.

On another note, I am quite curious to see how the map of Europe has been redrawn in the aftermath of the German defeat.

Yep, I'll definitely cover the territorial changes in the next update, and there may well be trouble ahead within the Empire after these setbacks

A defeat, but you were able to minimize the lasting impact. Sure got off a helluva lot easier than the Germans. The next five years are going to be tough, but I am confident the Ottomans will be able to hold out.

Hopefully Russia's allies won't be too keen on another offensive war against the Sublime Porte any time soon, now that they've experienced first-hand how expensive a victory it will be. For now, that demobilized army is going to have to be on-guard against Russia and Austria-Hungary, lest they feel emboldened.

Indeed, the fact that we have truces with all of our dangerous neighbours is something of a blessing as it should at least give us time to recover without being constantly attacked by one or the other.

Depending on how bad Germany ends up this would be a reversal of their OTL fates.

Well Germany hasn't quite received the treatment the Ottomans got at Sevres, but they were certainly hit far harder than we were...

 

[Riotkiller]

Germany signs the Treaty of Berlin to officially end the Great War (April 4th 1908)

A map of Post-War Europe in 1908

German East Africa was split between the British and Russian Empires by the Treaty of Berlin​

When the guns fell silent at the end of the Great War and negotiations between the Entente Powers and the defeated Allies began, it was clear to all that the map of Europe would be redrawn in a way not seen since the Congress of Vienna ended the Napoleonic Wars in 1815. With the Russian Tsar Nicholas II a noted Germanophobe who was determined to ensure that Germany could never threaten the Russian Empire again in future, it was clear that Germany would bear the brunt of the pain to be inflicted, and so it proved to be. When the Treaty of Berlin was signed on April 4th 1908, Germany’s humiliation was complete. The Russian Empire directly annexed the majority of East Prussia, leaving only the land around Elbing under German control. But separating this remaining sliver of German clay from the rest of Germany was a series of Russian client states in Pomerania, Poznan, and Silesia. These Russian-backed states were ruled by Poles, with the Tsar hoping that by dividing the Poles into multiple petty-kingdoms then Polish Nationalist dreams of a united independent homeland could be defeated.

The Treaty of Berlin also saw the creation of the French Protectorate of the Saarland over the German industrial city of Saarbrucken in the west, along with the renunciation of any German dreams of reclaiming Alsace-Lorraine from the French. Northern Schleswig was also ceded back to Denmark to further weaken the German state. Finally, the German colonies in East Africa were mostly handed over to the British, save for a narrow coastal strip opposite Zanzibar which was made into the new Russian East Africa province, which the Tsar intended to be used as a coaling station should the Russian Imperial Navy head to the Pacific in future.

The rest of the Alliance powers avoided any territorial concessions at the end of the war, but all members of the Alliance were forced to pay huge war reparations to the Entente, and military expenditure was to be severely curtailed for the five year duration of these reparations. Squabbling between the victors curtailed attempts to seize further lands from the defeated powers, with Spain in particular avoiding the dismemberment of its colonies due to the British and French delegations being unable to agree on who should gain what - and thus the status quo ante bellum being the only compromise possible.

The Sublime Porte defaults on loans following the end of the Great War (April 1st 1908)​

Nevertheless the cost of the war had been extremely high, and with the heavy cost of the reparations now being added, it was a bill that the Sublime Porte was simply unable to pay. To the disgust of international creditors, Grand Vizier Hilmi Pasha was forced to declare the Empire bankrupt on April 1st 1908 and default on our huge loans that had been run up in the wartime, most of which had come from German bankers. The ill-feeling this caused between Berlin and Constantinople contributed to a major souring of relations that had already become toxic when both governments began to blame the other for the failure of the war effort, and by June 21st the Ottoman-German Alliance had been officially ended. The Porte had been involved in three major wars in a decade, and the Grand Vizier was not prepared to risk being dragged into a fourth by an unstable and ungrateful ally. And so a period of Ottoman Isolationism officially began.

Universal Suffrage and the ending of gerrymandering were among a number of liberal bills passed by Hilmi Pasha in Summer 1908

Democracy triumphs in the Ottoman Empire with the Sultan being reduced to a symbolic, unifying figurehead (June 19th 1908)​

Meanwhile on the home front, the disaster of the defeat of the war threatened to spill over into violence on the streets. The Ottoman public had been shocked by the brief Russian occupation of Constantinople, and the image of Russian troops in the city itself remained large in the minds of the public. That occupation had been comparatively brief compared to the Habsburg occupation of much of the Balkans though, and industry in Ottoman Rumelia had been devastated. Fearing the hordes of unemployed workers turning revolutionary, Sultan Abdulhamid II demanded that measures be taken to placate any protesters and head off any revolts in advance. And so in early 1908 the liberal dawn was once more embraced, and bills ending the gerrymandering of parliamentary constituencies and finally abolishing the weightings of votes to enact true Universal Suffrage within the Empire were passed. With these bills the final powers of the Sultan were passed over to Parliament and the Ottoman Empire became a Crowned Democracy, like much of the rest of the Europe had before it.

Hilmi Pasha was not finished there though. Knowing that despite the embracing of Ottomanism, many of the minorities in the Empire remained second-class citizens whose loyalty was wavering following occupation by Habsburg, Russian, and British forces, the Hatt-i Hümayan, or “Imperial Reform Edict”, was drawn up in summer 1908. The concept of Ottomanism was taken to its logical conclusion by allowing each religious group within the Empire to be judged under its own religious law, with the Bosniak, Bulgarian, Misri, and Azerbaijani peoples being fully embraced within the Ottoman state bureaucracy as a result. Thus Hilmi Pasha at a stroke slashed the risk of revolt in a number of the most populous ethnic groups within the Empire, and secured for himself a legacy that he hoped may yet overshadow the calamity of the defeat in the Great War.

The Hatt-i Hümayan concludes the long process of Ottomanisation in the Empire (July 10th 1908)

The effects of the Hatt-i Hümayan​

While the Ottoman-German Alliance had been ended, the agreements signed with the United States of America were maintained by the Sublime Porte, and when America went to war with Peru over Peruvian aggression against Ecuador, the Grand Vizier agreed to sever ties with the Peruvian government and officially declare war, although no troops were sent to the new world for the duration of this minor conflict. Instead, the eyes of the world were focused on the Americas for different reasons when the long overdue Panama Canal was officially opened by the French on February 28th 1909. Many thousands of workers had perished in its construction, which had proven far more difficult than the (Ottoman-built) Suez Canal – something which secretly pleased many an Ottoman engineer. The newly built canal dramatically shortened the journey time for a ship to go from the east coast of America to the west coast, and may prove a hotly-contested strategic base in future.

For the most part however, the eyes of the Sublime Porte remained fixed upon internal matters throughout 1909 and 1910. Middle Class conservatives had begun pushing the issue of temperance and prohibition, inspired by the movement in the United States, and brewery owners were horrified by the Porte’s refusal to guarantee that no steps would be taken in this direction – Hilmi Pasha was unwilling to lose the middle class vote by taking a clear stance on the issue. The conservative Hükumet-i Hümayan (Imperial Government Party) party however took up the cause of prohibition with gusto, and under their new leader Rifat Pasha they began to show signs of a conservative recovery after a very bleak decade.

The Temperance Movement exposes divisions in the Ottoman Cabinet, boosting conservative prospects (September 22nd 1909)

General Rifat Pasha rebrands the conservatives as the Osmanli Demokrat Firkasi (January 6th 1910)​

Rifat Pasha had risen to national attention as a general during the Croatian War when he had been assigned command of the Army of Cyrenaica, and his performances both in that war and in the Great War had been solid if unspectacular. He was by now one of the most senior generals in the Ottoman Army however, and for a conservative bereft of leadership since the fall of Ferid Pasha’s government in the liberal landslide of 1900, Rifat was a gift. Born in Ankara on September 8th 1846, Rifat had first trained as an architect but after struggling for work, he had joined the army aged 28 and worked his way up through the ranks. He retained a lifelong interest in architecture and pushed for the conservatives to embrace plans to redevelop the shattered Ottoman cities in Europe. With the Sultan now no longer anything more than a figurehead, he was also keen to shed the Hükumet-i Hümayan’s label as a branch of the Topkapi Palace, and so at the party convention in January 1910 he succeeded in persuading the party to rebrand itself as the Osmanli Demokrat Firkasi and make clear that the party did not want to roll back the recent shift to democracy in the Empire.

While the conservatives had been revitalised under Rifat Pasha, the socialists were also keen to make their mark in the Empire. A mining accident in Tlemcen, Algeria saw the loss of several lives and the maiming of many others on November 21st 1909, and the government response supporting the mining company had incensed labourers in the region. Barbs were exchanged in parliament throughout the winter and on May 6th 1910, a group of senators left the Hürriyet ve Itilâf Firkasi and the Sosyal Demokrat Firkasi to join the socialist Osmanli Ahali Firkasi in protest over the issue. Further flashpoints came to a head after the widespread unionisation of workers in the vilayet of Bulgaria later that month, as Hilmi Pasha struggled to keep the issue from turning violent.

Disputes over Labour Rights and Unionisation triggered mass defections to the opposition socialists in 1910

The Ottoman transition to democracy is completed with the requirement for Secret Ballots in future elections (April 10th 1910)​

One key piece of legislation that the government did pass in 1910 was a new Voting Act that demanded that all elections take place with Secret Ballots, bringing Ottoman democracy finally on par with most of the rest of the Europe. But even despite this success, the Grand Vizier was struggling to maintain control of his party, and when the party convention began in June, he announced that he would retire after the election, win or lose. His replacement as head of the Hürriyet ve Itilâf Firkasi was to be another Ottoman war hero – General Pertev Pasha. By running a general of their own (and indeed the most senior general in the entire Ottoman army), the liberals hoped to take the wind out of Rifat Pasha’s sails. Even as the electoral campaign was ongoing, Pertev further increased his star by rapidly putting down a minor nationalist insurrection in Algeria & Tunisia in July 1910. Pertev’s energetic persona was in sharp contrast to his rivals, Husseyin Bey of the socialists and Rifat Pasha of the conservatives, and helped him garner immense popularity with the Ottoman electorate.

Elsewhere in 1910, a German exploration team became the first to reach the South Pole on April 18th, narrowly beating an Ottoman expedition there. This wasn’t enough to calm tensions in Germany though, and rising public anger over the Treaty of Berlin and the harsh war reparations was causing chaos there. Protests in July turned violent, and after government orders to disperse them by force failed to end the riots, the situation changed drastically once more. On August 4th 1910 the revolutionaries stormed the Reichstag and forced Kaiser Wilhem II to abdicate. The House of Hohenzollern, which had ruled Prussia and then Germany for centuries, was forced into exile while a new liberal regime called for immediate elections.

Erich von Drygalski led a successful German expedition to win the race to the South Pole (April 18th 1910)

Kaiser Wilhelm II is forced to abdicate in the German Revolution (August 4th 1910)​

It was thus with this background that the Ottoman election of 1910 took place, and as the results came in it was another strong victory for the liberals despite minor gains for both the socialists and the conservatives. Out of 700 seats, the ruling Hürriyet ve Itilâf Firkasi had won 299, which was in fact a drop of 11 despite 100 seats being uncontested due to the war in the prior election of 1907. They once more went into coalition with the Sosyal Demokrat Firkasi and the Ahrar Firkasi which had won 70 seats and 52 seats respectively. This was an improvement of 21 seats for the former and 5 for the latter as both grew at the expense of the ruling party following strong campaigns.

The opposition was once more led by the socialist Osmanli Ahali Firkasi, who had improved from 97 seats up to 132 on the back of very strong performances in the vilayets most damaged by occupation in the Great War, in Europe & Mesopotamia. Conservative hopes that the party rebranding would lead them back into government were crushed, with the Osmanli Demokrat Firkasi picking up just 85 seats, a paltry increase of 19. The Islamist Teceddüt Firkasi doubled their seats to 24, and the Pan-Turkic Ittihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti also doubled their tally to 36. The latter, the party led by the organisation known as the “Young Turks”, wanted the primacy of Turks within the Empire and for minority rights to be stripped away by abolishing Ottomanism, but failed to make the big breakthrough the organisation had been expecting. Finally the communist Ihtilalci Avam Firkasi also gained another seat in Sofia to go with the one they already held in Salonika.

The results of the 1910 Ottoman General Election​

The failure of the conservatives to win the election led to much soul-searching within the Right of Ottoman politics, but it was the disappointing results for the socialists that saw a much more immediate reaction. Just one month later socialist protesters took to the streets in a series of violent riots centred in Europe and the Levant, demanding a revolution like the one in Germany. Even worse for the Sublime Porte, it was confirmed that some of the protests had been infiltrated by Croatian Nationalists who looked to carve an independent homeland for the Croats in the vilayets of Slavonia, Bosnia, and Dalmatia. And so as Hilmi Pasha passed the baton of leadership to his successor Pertev Pasha, it was clear that it would be a challenging start for the general.

 

[Jape]

Ouch. The Liberal have fared well given bankruptcy and the war. The growing socialist and nationalist unrest may put an end to Ottamanism.

 

[Wixelt]

Muslim countries really shouldn’t get generic temperance events.

 

[Riotkiller]

Muslim countries really shouldn’t get generic temperance events.

Well, there are many non-Muslim subjects in the Empire, and they have been allowed (taxed) alcohol since at least the 17th century

 

[stnylan]

Well, there are many non-Muslim subjects in the Empire, and they have been allowed (taxed) alcohol since at least the 17th century

And the prohibition against alcohol was always somewhat ... sporadically ... enforced for significant periods of Islamic history, depending on time and place and individual inclination.

As to the developments, well, it could be oh so much worse. So much worse.
I can imagine the German explorer being treated as an all-conquering hero, a way to try and restore a little pride.

 

[diskoerekto]

Well, there are many non-Muslim subjects in the Empire, and they have been allowed (taxed) alcohol since at least the 17th century

Actually Muslims were also allowed alcohol, there are only a few occurrences of prohibition and they were always noted as they’re the exception (most famous being during the reign of Murat IV)

Thanks for the great aftermath episode. Russia must be destroyed, but how?

 

[Specialist290]

And now the Ottomans begin the long, painful road of reconstruction. It looks like their first steps are a little shaky, but the nation is moving forward nonetheless.

The new government in Germany will certainly bear watching, though of course the Germans are most fortunate they didn't fall prey to some sort of extremist demagogue or a military dictatorship. Still, I imagine revanchist sentiments are riding high there, even if there's little they can do at present.

EDIT: Also, Filchner to the Pole, woo!

 

[Jape]

Actually Muslims were also allowed alcohol, there are only a few occurrences of prohibition and they were always noted as they’re the exception (most famous being during the reign of Murat IV)

It was certainly an established part of court culture. There's some interesting rulings by the Grand Muftis of Constantinople during the Ottoman period on booze. When Selim 'the Sot' ruled and was blackout drunk 24/7, the Mufti basically proclaimed "If the Sultan does it, it must be alright" and after one of the more conservative Sultans passed away the Mufti confirmed it was cool again by saying "Drunks as a group are immoral and gross but an individual who is balanced and learned can enjoy a cup of wine". Its amazing just how many balanced and learned men the Empire had.

 

[darkhaze9]

Another good update, nice to see the Sublime Porte came out of the Great War relatively well (all things considered).

Hopefully Pertev Pasha is up to the task of holding the unruly empire together.

 

[shade55]

I've been lurking on this aar for a while now, and currently its one of my favorite reads in the Vic 2 section. You've done incredibly well with the Ottomans.
While it's unfortunate that you were unable to win the Great War, the fact that you more or less preserved the empire's territorial integrity is a miracle on its own. I imagine you'll be looking to rectify the loss of Croatia once you're able to rebuild the army.

 

[Riotkiller]

Ouch. The Liberal have fared well given bankruptcy and the war. The growing socialist and nationalist unrest may put an end to Ottamanism.

Well the socialists are generally supportive of Ottomanism, but the communists and the nationalists are indeed grave threats.

And the prohibition against alcohol was always somewhat ... sporadically ... enforced for significant periods of Islamic history, depending on time and place and individual inclination.

As to the developments, well, it could be oh so much worse. So much worse.
I can imagine the German explorer being treated as an all-conquering hero, a way to try and restore a little pride.

Yeah, I think it makes sense that the conservatives would attempt to enforce prohibition while the liberals would have a more laxer view.

The Germans certainly needed a boost after losing 20% of their population in the war or to its partitions, and the expedition can definitely have given them a bit of national pride back.

Actually Muslims were also allowed alcohol, there are only a few occurrences of prohibition and they were always noted as they’re the exception (most famous being during the reign of Murat IV)

Thanks for the great aftermath episode. Russia must be destroyed, but how?

Indeed. The biggest issue facing the Sublime Porte is the ever-growing closer relationship between Russia, France, Austria-Hungary, and Britain. It is clear that we cannot hope to take on all of them, so the retreat to isolationism until cracks show in their alliance makes sense - if they leave us alone in turn!

And now the Ottomans begin the long, painful road of reconstruction. It looks like their first steps are a little shaky, but the nation is moving forward nonetheless.

The new government in Germany will certainly bear watching, though of course the Germans are most fortunate they didn't fall prey to some sort of extremist demagogue or a military dictatorship. Still, I imagine revanchist sentiments are riding high there, even if there's little they can do at present.

EDIT: Also, Filchner to the Pole, woo!

Indeed, the fall of the Kaiser actually changed very little in Germany given the fact that the monarchy had already lost its powers, but the spectre of revolution still looms large in the background with other more radical forces waiting in the wings

It was certainly an established part of court culture. There's some interesting rulings by the Grand Muftis of Constantinople during the Ottoman period on booze. When Selim 'the Sot' ruled and was blackout drunk 24/7, the Mufti basically proclaimed "If the Sultan does it, it must be alright" and after one of the more conservative Sultans passed away the Mufti confirmed it was cool again by saying "Drunks as a group are immoral and gross but an individual who is balanced and learned can enjoy a cup of wine". Its amazing just how many balanced and learned men the Empire had.

Hahaha. I'm sure many of them thought of themselves as more balanced and learned after a couple of drinks, too.

Another good update, nice to see the Sublime Porte came out of the Great War relatively well (all things considered).

Hopefully Pertev Pasha is up to the task of holding the unruly empire together.

Yes, keeping the Anatolian heartlands free from occupation, along with most of Africa, has meant the recovery is somewhat easier than the tasks facing Spain or Germany, but there's no doubt that Pertev will need to prove as strong a politician as he has been a general to keep the Empire on the right path.

I've been lurking on this aar for a while now, and currently its one of my favorite reads in the Vic 2 section. You've done incredibly well with the Ottomans.
While it's unfortunate that you were unable to win the Great War, the fact that you more or less preserved the empire's territorial integrity is a miracle on its own. I imagine you'll be looking to rectify the loss of Croatia once you're able to rebuild the army.

Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Yes, retaking Croatia is certainly a goal for the mid-term, but it will require a shift in the current European alliance structure for it to be achievable

 

[Riotkiller]

Socialist and Nationalist forces take to the streets to protest against the 1910 Ottoman election results

Pertev Pasha officially succeeds Hilmi Pasha as Grand Vizier (December 4th 1910)​

Grand Vizier Pertev Pasha found the Sublime Porte in disarray as he took office, with socialist protesters in Constantinople itself as well as across the Balkan Peninsula and in the Levant and Africa. With the Ottoman Army still chafing under the restrictions of the Treaty of Edirne, it was clear that despite the relatively low number of protesters, using force to put down the rebellion would be difficult for the Porte to achieve. Furthermore, Pertev Pasha found the coalition that his predecessor had put together following the election results to be extremely unwieldy, as one of his coalition partners (the Sosyal Demokrat Firkasi) favoured making concessions to the socialists while the other (the Ahrar Firkasi) was vehemently opposed to any increase in government spending or oversight in people’s lives.

With his own Hürriyet ve Itilâf Firkasi 51 seats short of majority, Pertev found himself with the difficult choice of siding with the social liberals [1] for a workable majority of 19, or siding with the libertarians for a majority of just 1. While keeping both on side was the safest way to a strong majority (of 71 seats), it was by no means clear that Pertev would be able to keep up the balancing act that Hilmi Pasha had so successfully managed before him. Pertev therefore decided to buy himself some time by dispatching the Ottoman 1st Army, which had been stationed in Europe, to clear the capital of protesters before heading to Croatia to deal with the secessionists.

For the Ottoman military, this was not an enticing prospect. Forced to demobilise by the Treaty of Edirne and operating under its severe restrictions of manpower, the old system of assigning armies to different regions of the Empire had been abolished by Pertev himself as Chief of Staff in the aftermath of the war. In its place had come a continental system of numbered armies, with the 1st and 3rd Armies being full strength armies of almost 70,000 men, and the 2nd Army being a corps-strength unit of half of that which could be rapidly shipped by the Ottoman Navy to assist either of the main forces. The 3rd Army was at this time stationed in North Africa where it was putting out the last remnants of the Algerian nationalist insurgency, and the 1st Army had been stationed in Thessalia where it had been keeping an eye on the Greek border following political unrest there. The 2nd Army was meanwhile stationed in the port of Adana in Eastern Anatolia.

Unfortunately, the widespread nature of the socialist protests meant that the 2nd Army had to be kept separate and focus on the pacification of some of the more minor revolts in the Levant, so clearing the streets of the Empire entirely was simply not a plausible option. Pertev Pasha therefore decided that a compromise had to be made: Concessions would indeed be granted. After meeting with both Husseyin Bey, leader of the opposition socialist Osmanli Ahali Firkasi, and with his coalition partner and Interior Minister Ahmet Bey of the Sosyal Demokrat Firkasi, Pertev agreed to sideline the Ahrar Firkasi and pass a bill providing government subsidised healthcare for both veterans of the Great War and for their widows and children, a key demand of the socialists. The bill passed through parliament on December 20th 1910 to the fury of the conservatives and the libertarians, with the Ahrar Firkasi walking out of the coalition in disgust.

The Healthcare Act of 1910 provided subsidised healthcare to veterans of the Great War and their families

Socialists in the vilayet of Gibe in Ethiopia make a short-lived attempt to secede from the Ottoman Empire (January 10th 1911)​

To the delight of the Porte however, the move worked. Protesters melted away in its aftermath, allowing the army to crush the Croat nationalists as they no longer had the crowds to blend into in January 1911. In Africa the rebellion lingered longer, with socialists demanding nothing less than the total decolonisation of the Dark Continent (a ludicrous proposal that even most of the Osmanli Ahali Firkasi thought to be too extreme), and the vilayet of Gibe in Abyssinia even briefly dared to claim independence (a situation unrecognised by any world power, with all of them extremely wary of giving a voice to the same sentiments in their own Empires). But in non-Croatian Europe and the Levant the protests ended peacefully, and by February the last holdouts in Africa had been crushed by the 3rd Army, finally allowing Pertev Pasha’s government to move forward on domestic matters.

The long-term demographic stagnation of the Kingdom of France finally began to improve in 1911​

Elsewhere in the world, worrying news arrived from the Kingdom of France that the strangely low population growth of the previous century, which had seen the population of France fall far behind that of Germany prior to the Treaty of Berlin, had finally stabilised and returned to normal levels. Whilst there remained no satisfactory explanation for the French people’s previous reluctance to breed, it was nonetheless concerning for the Porte that their persistent enemy may find itself boosted in the mid-term future. Still, the Grand Vizier sent a telegram congratulating the French King Philippe VIII and his government, as he looked to repair the status of the Ottoman Empire in the world.

This reputation had taken a damaging hit both in the defeats of the Ottoman-Persian War and the Great War, and then even more so in the declaration of financial insolvency that had followed. Finances remained extremely tight for the Porte, and the reparations continued to bite hard into the budget (a matter not helped by the healthcare reform despite its low level of investment). Pertev Pasha was determined to repair the prestige of the Empire however, and so despite the tight budgets, he ordered the hosting of a colonial exposition to be prepared, as he aimed to prove that the Ottoman Empire was open for business once more. While bureaucrats fretted over how to pay for this, the Grand Vizier was secretly working with the Ottoman Museum to outfit an expedition into the Andes Mountains, where the recent discovery of Machu Picchu had awakened interest in the archaeological community. Pertev hoped that the discovery of priceless artefacts could both boost Ottoman prestige and provide him with something that would very much be worth selling, in order to balance the books…

Pertev Pasha uses some unorthodox sources of funding to begin planning a new colonial exposition in summer 1911

Long-held anti-British sentiments in Ireland finally erupt into the Irish War of Independence (September 15th 1911)​

September 1911 saw the peace in Europe disrupted for the first time since the end of the Great War and its associated conflicts, when the Irish War of Independence began. The Irish had been disgusted by the conscription introduced during the Great War by the British government and the immense loss of life suffered as a result, with the persistent military humiliations that the Brits suffered in the war rubbing salt into the wounds. With the potato famine of the 1840s still in the memory, the thousands of Irish dead in the deserts of Arabia and the frozen heights of the Caucasus burnt raw, and the failure of the Home Rule bills in the UK Parliament saw a wave of violence culminate in a declaration of independence of September 15th 1911. For the British this was yet another problem, with the army still reeling from its immense casualties in the Great War causing a lack of manpower that had seen the British hold on India begin to fall apart in recent years [2].

The rest of the world watched on as the stung Brits declared war and attempted to salvage the situation, though it soon became clear that the chance of a full reversion to British control had passed, and the Brits began to push for just a retention of the heavily protestant populated county of Ulster and for the rest of Ireland to accept dominion status like Australia and New Zealand. Soon however, events elsewhere in Europe saw war reignite in far more dangerous ways. Austria-Hungary, buoyed by its victory in the Great War, saw an opportunity to reclaim control over its former territory in the Kingdom of Galicia-Lodomeria. After an ultimatum demanding the Galician government’s full submission to the Habsburg Crown suggesting a tripartite monarchy with the Poles elevated alongside the Germans and the Hungarians was rejected on January 1st 1912, Austria-Hungary declared war.

The 2nd Great War begins following an Austro-Hungarian declaration of war on Galicia-Lodomeria (January 1st 1912)​

The Kingdom of Galicia-Lodomeria had long been protected by Germany, and its King Carol I was a cousin of the deposed German Kaiser Wilhelm II. The Habsburg’s had believed that the German Revolution meant that the Germans would not come to the aid of their ally with the royal links dead, but they were to prove mistaken. Germany declared war on Austria-Hungary in response and once more called in their ally the United States of America. The Habsburg’s responded by triggering secret agreements they had signed with France, Britain, Switzerland, and Sweden. The Second Great War had begun; though some would later debate that it was a mere continuation of the first, following Habsburg dissatisfaction that it had been ignored by the Treaty of Berlin due to its late entrance into a war that it had initially claimed to be fighting separately.

While the Germans and the Americans both pleaded with the Ottoman government to intervene on their behalf once again, Pertev Pasha was not moved. The dissolution of the Ottoman-German Alliance meant that no debt was owed to the former (except for the financial debts that the Porte had failed to pay, of course), and Pertev Pasha now publically ended the alliance with the United States as well to avoid being dragged into this war. In truth, the Porte was in no shape to fight a new war even without the Russians being involved, and nobody could guarantee that the Russians wouldn’t intervene regardless. The eyes of the Grand Vizier were instead fixed on the troublesome neighbour of Oman, where a military junta had recently deposed Sultan Sayyid in favour of his son Taimur and declared itself a Fascist State, with Ottoman citizens being attacked in the streets in the violence that followed.

Fascists in Oman cause an international incident after attacking Ottoman citizens (January 18th 1912)​

Some in the Empire, including Rifat Pasha and the conservatives, cried for the Sublime Porte to declare war and finally annex the upstart heretics, but diplomat back-channels alerted Pertev Pasha to an agreement between Oman and Great Britain, which would see Britain intervene in any war. And so, much to the surprise of the outside world, the most decorated general in the Ottoman military once more rejected calls to go to war, as the mantra of isolationism was now fully embraced. It was far from the last time that fascists would cause the Vizier problems though.

In February 1912 the Young Turks, with fascist ideals of their own under their pan-Turanist leader Enver Pasha, attempted to form an anti-socialist trade union in Trabizond, where they had allied with local Turkish businesses by making verbal and occasionally physical attacks on the large Greek minority there. The socialists were outraged, and Pertev Pasha was pressured by Ahmet Bey to permit the banning of this new trade union, which was duly delivered. And in the neighbouring Kingdom of Greece, fascists in the military led by chief of staff Ioannis Metaxas seized power following mass street protests on March 21st. This new and violently nationalist ideology was spreading, fast.

The Pensions Act expands military pensions for Great War veterans (October 16th 1911)​

An anti-socialist trade union affiliated to the Young Turk organisation is banned in Trabizond (February 19th 1912)

Fascists in the Greek military seize control after massive street protests against the government (March 21st 1912)
​

To combat the spectre of street protests, Pertev Pasha had passed another reform giving expanded pensions to army veterans in late 1911, and now found himself considering increasing these and expanding them to include navy veterans and civil servants to ensure that they did not prove fertile soil for the Young Turks to recruit in. The Ottoman army had a very mixed background, with traditionalist officers such as Rifat Pasha being deeply conservative, but many others who had grown up in the Tanzimat Era being far more liberal, such as Pertev Pasha himself. With Oman and Greece both having seen ultra-nationalists in the military seize power, Pertev was determined to make sure that the conservatives in the Ottoman military did not follow the same path.

Meanwhile on the other flank, communists following the militant philosophy of Karl Marx also launched a series of riots in April 1912, calling for a working class rebellion to rise up and overthrow the Sublime Porte entirely. The communist demands for an end to religion and the abolition of the Caliphate deeply troubled Sultan Abdulhamid II, but Pertev Pasha resisted his pressure to meet this new threat with force, lest the street battles spiral and the Young Turks take advantage of the chaos. Instead the riots petered out naturally, but the communists were much emboldened by them, and even an increase in pensions in August 1912 and the opening of the colonial exposition to much international fanfare failed to quieten the streets. Ottoman politics were entering a new and more divisive era, and it was from clear that the Sublime Porte could emerge from it unscathed.

Political anger in the Empire spreads following a series of communist riots in April 1912

Summer 1912 sees the opening of the new Ottoman colonial exposition and an expansion of the state pension to more Ottoman citizens​

[1] Social Liberalism is an ideology added in the PDM mod and given political parties by Divide by Zero. Social Liberals support all political and social reforms in game terms.

[2] A number of Princely States have broken free from the British in the years following the Great War

 

[stnylan]

I would not wish to be Germany's Chief of Staff about now. Staying well out of it.

 

[darkhaze9]

Oh dear, Germany are in for it now...

The Sublime Porte is best to remain above such petty disagreements.

 

[HIMDogson]

Whatever it is that Germany's President is smoking, I want it.

 

[Specialist290]

The extremists on both sides of the aisle are getting more and more strident. On the one hand, clamping down on one faction or the other may drive them into open revolt; on the other, if the government does nothing, they might well erode the public's faith in their leaders and gain much stronger bases of support, which would have dire consequences in the long run. Either way, I wouldn't want to be standing under the sword of Damocles that is almost certainly dangling over the Porte's head.

I almost have to admire Germany's pluck in thinking that they can take on another set of Great Powers so soon after losing the first Great War, but I have a feeling things will not go well for them. (Of course, I could be wrong -- maybe the Americans will finally cross the sea, swoop in to rescue the Irish, then use that as a springboard to dictate a new Pax Americana while brave Doughboys march through the streets of London and Paris. One can dream...)

 

[diskoerekto]

Maybe we should find a small unguaranteed neighbour to keep the minds of people busy

Not that I'd not cherish a People's Socialist Empire of Ottoman

EDIT: added a not. Still unsure if my grammar is correct. I wanted to say I want socialist ottomans

 

[blitzthedragon]

That's it, let the other Great Powers exhaust themselves. Though the Sublime Porte is going to be in for a ride all its own, methinks.

 

[Telcharinogrod]

Did I read that right? Are the Irish actually winning against Great Britain all by themselves?