In Chapter XXI. of our second volume I told you that the two German cruisers Goeben and Breslau were chased by a British squadron in the Mediterranean, but that they managed to escape, and on 10th August took refuge in the Dardanelles. It was the duty of Turkey as a neutral Power to see that these ships did not pass through the Strait, and that they were either sent off to sea again in the course of twenty-four hours, or were disarmed and interned until the end of the war. Next day, to the astonishment of the world, the Turks announced that they had bought the cruisers from Germany because Britain had seized the ships which had been built for them on the Tyne. I have already told you that Britain had every right to take over the Turkish ships. On the other hand, Turkey had no right whatever to buy warships from a nation that was at war with another nation. To do so was a friendly act to Germany and an unfriendly act to Britain, France, and Russia. If the Turks had acted according to international law, they would have ordered the Goeben and Breslau out of their waters, in which case the Allied ships in the Mediterranean would have captured them. By buying them, the Turks prevented Britain from reducing the enemy's naval strength, and at the same time they assisted Germany by paying over their price. By means of these ships the Turks hoped to make themselves masters of the Black Sea.
This unfriendly act in itself afforded Great Britain good grounds for declaring war on Turkey; but she was very patient, and confined herself to protests. The Turkish Government promised to send away the German officers and crews of the Goeben and Breslau, but did not do so. All the while the Turkish Prime Minister was protesting that Turkey wished to be neutral; but he was merely playing for time. Attempts were being made to stir up rebellion in Egypt and India, and Turkey was holding her hand until the Moslems in these countries should be ready to rise.
Towards the end of October the British Government learned that Turkish ships, without any declaration of war, and without warning of any kind, had wantonly attacked open, undefended Russian towns on the Black Sea. It was well known, too, that Enver Bey, the Turkish Minister of War, was strongly pro-German, and that since the war began German officers in large numbers had poured into Constantinople. Certain rights enjoyed by foreigners living in Turkey had been abolished; the army had been mobilized, and there was no doubt that an attack was being prepared against Egypt. On 29th October a horde of Bedouins[172] invaded the Sinai Peninsula,[173] and seized certain wells. The same day Turkish torpedo boats raided Odessa, sank and damaged several ships, and bombarded the town.
Next day the ambassadors of the Allies had interviews with the Sultan and his advisers. The Sultan and the Prime Minister were in favour of peace, but Enver Bey and the military party overruled them. On 1st November the ambassadors left Constantinople, and four days later the King issued a proclamation which began as follows:—
"Owing to hostile acts committed by Turkish forces under German officers, a state of war now exists between Us and the Sultan of Turkey."
Before I describe the part played by Turkey in the war during the year 1914, let me tell you something about the army which she was able to put into the field. Every man in Turkey is supposed to serve, but as a rule only Mohammedans are called upon to do so. The conscript belongs to the army for twenty years—nine in the Nizam, or first line; nine in the Redif, or Active Reserve; and two in the Mustafiz, or Territorial Militia. Probably, at a pinch, the Turks could put into the field between 700,000 and 800,000 men, providing there was equipment for them. Their artillery had suffered heavily in the Balkan War; but since then Turkey had bought many quick-firing guns from Krupp and the famous Austrian firm of Skoda. Germany had also provided the Turks with a number of heavy batteries.
The Turkish foot-soldier has always been famous as a fighting man. He is, as a rule, strong and well built, his nerves are steady, he is very stubborn in defence, and he can bear fatigue wonderfully well. But, as you know, he did not come off with flying colours during the Balkan War, probably because the German discipline to which he had been subjected had robbed him of his old dash and go, and because he was not in full sympathy with the German officers who commanded him. As a soldier, he was half Turk, half German; he had lost many of his Turkish virtues as a fighting man, and had not fully acquired those of Germany. Nevertheless, he is still brave, still dogged, still much enduring, and will always prove a formidable foe.
An American caricature of the time showed the Sultan laying his head upon a block and chopping it off with his own hand. Most observers in Western Europe felt that by acting as the cat's-paw of Germany, Turkey was deliberately committing suicide. She was solving the century-old problem—Shall Turkey remain a European Power? However the war might end, Turkey was bound to be wiped off the map of Europe as an independent state. There were many people in this country who were deeply sorry to see a brave people thus tricked into disaster for a cause which they could not understand, and for which they had no sympathy. Before long, however, the children of Osman[174] were fighting and dying amidst the snows of the Caucasus or on the sands of the desert in their old fearless, uncomplaining fashion—fighting and dying for no purpose save to ensure the destruction of their race as a ruling power.
