The Ottomans Enter the Great War

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the Berlin-Baghdad railway and the arrival of the SMS Goeben battleship that caused the Turks to join the alliance that pulled them into World War I. The paper describes in detail the weeks before the actual declaration of war against the Allied powers.

From the Paper:

"In November of 1914, the once-mighty "sick man of Europe," the Ottoman Empire, joined the 'war to end all wars' as a Central Power. Having concluded a secret alliance with Germany against her long-time rival Russia, the conditions for war were met, and on 11 November, Sultan Mehmed V declared jihad. This would prove, as with so many other empires, to be the downfall of Turkey as a Mediterranean power, and, in fact as an empire at all. The terms of the alliance pulled the Ottomans into the war, but the real question remains; what led them to sign it? The answers can be found in two places: the Berlin-Baghdad Railway, and the arrival of the SMS Goeben."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Ferguson, Niall. The Pity of War: Explaining World War I. New York: Basic Books, 1999.
• Joll, James. The Origins of the First World War. Essex, U.K.: Pearson Education, 1992.
• Keegan, John. The First World War. New York: Random House, 1998.
• Massie, Robert K. Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea. New York: Ballantine Books, 2003.
• O'Connell, Robert. Of Arms and Men: A History of War, Weapons, and Aggression. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.

More papers on The Ottomans Enter the Great War:

• Research Paper # 93458 : "The Great War"
• Comparison Essay # 6789 : "The Odyssey" and "The Mill on the Floss"
• Comparison Essay # 92307 : "The Odyssey" and "The Aeneid"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: