This was Britain’s answer to the Turkish proclamation of war. The Turks had not taken this warlike course with entire unanimity. The Sultan, the Grand Vizier, and Djavid Bey were in favor of peace, but Enver Pasha and his colleagues overruled them. The Odessa incident was unjustified aggression, deliberately planned to provoke hostilities. The tricky and corrupt German diplomacy had won its point.
It is interesting to observe that the proclamation of the holy war, a favorite German scheme, fell flat. The Kaiser, and his advisers, had counted much upon this raising of the sacred flag. The Kaiser had visited Constantinople and permitted himself to be exploited as a sympathizer with Mohammedanism. Photographs of him had been taken representing him in Mohammedan garb, accompanied by Moslem priests, and a report had been deliberately circulated throughout Turkey that he had become a Moslem. The object of this camouflage was to stir up the Mohammedans in the countries controlled by England, risings were hoped for in Egypt and India, and German spies had been distributed through those countries to encourage religious revolts. But there was almost no response. The Sultan, it is true, was the head of the Church, but who was the Sultan? The old Sultan, now dethroned, and imprisoned, or this new and insignificant creature placed on the throne by the young Turk party? The Mohammedan did not feel himself greatly moved.
At the beginning of the war Turkey found herself unable to make any move to recover her provinces in Thrace. Greece and Bulgaria were neutral, and could not be attacked. Placing herself, therefore, in the hands of her German advisers, she moved her new army to those frontiers where it could meet the powers with whom she was at war. In particular Germany and Austria desired her aid in Transcaucasia against the Russian armies. An attack upon Russia from that quarter would mean that many troops which otherwise would have been used against the Central Powers must be sent to the Caucasus. The Suez Canal, too, must be attacked. An expedition there would compel Great Britain to send out troops, and perhaps would encourage the hoped-for rebellion in Egypt and give an opportunity for religious insurrection in India, where the Djehad was being preached among the Mohammedan tribes in the northwest. The Dardanelles, to be sure, might be threatened, but the Germans had sent there many heavy guns and fortifications had been built which, in expert opinion, made Constantinople safe.
The Turkish offensive along her eastern frontier in Transcaucasia and in Persia was first undertaken. The Persian Gulf had long been controlled by Great Britain; even in the days of Elizabeth the East India Company had fought with Dutch and Portuguese rivals for control of its commerce. The English had protected Persia, suppressed piracy and slavery, and introduced sanitary measures in the marshes along the coast. They regarded a control of the Persian Gulf as necessary for the prosperity of India and the Empire. The Turkish Government had never had great power along the Persian Gulf. Bagdad, indeed, had been captured by Suleiman the Magnificent in the sixteenth century, but in eastern Arabia lived many independent Arabian chieftains who had no idea of subjecting themselves to Turkish rule.
For years Germany had been looking with jealous eyes in this direction. Her elaborate intrigues with Turkey were mainly designed to open up the way to the Persian Gulf. She had planned a great railway to open up trade, and her endeavor to build the Bagdad Railway is a story in itself. Her efforts had lasted for many years, but she found herself constantly blocked by the agents of Great Britain.
Before the Ottoman troops were ready, the British in the Gulf had made a start. On November 7th a British force under Brigadier-General Delamain bombarded the Turkish fort at Falon, landed troops and occupied the village. Sailing north from this point they disembarked at Sanijah, where they entrenched themselves and waited for reinforcements. On November 13th reinforcements arrived, and on November 17th the British army advanced toward Sahain. From there they moved on Sahil, where they encountered a Turkish force. Some lively fighting ensued and the Turks broke and fled. Turkish casualties were about one thousand five hundred men, the English killed numbered thirty-eight.
The British then moved on Basra, moving by steamer along the Shat-el-Arab River. On November 22d Basra was reached and it was found that the Turks had evacuated the place. A base camp was then prepared, for it was certain that there would be further fighting. Bagdad was only about three hundred miles distant; and fifty miles above Basra, at the junction of the Tigris and the Euphrates, lies the town of Kurna where the Turks were gathering an army. On December 4th an attack was made on Kurna but without success. The British obtained reinforcements, but on December 9th the Turkish garrison surrendered unconditionally. The British troops then entrenched themselves, having established a barricade against a hostile advance upon India.
Farther north the war was between Turkey and Russia. Since Persia had no military power, each combatant was able to occupy that country whenever they desired. The Turks advanced into Persia south of Lake Urmia, and, meeting with no resistance from Persia, moved northward toward the Russian frontier. On the 30th of January, 1915, Russian troops heavily defeated the invaders and followed them south as far as Tabriz, which they occupied and held. The Russian armies had also undertaken movements in this section. In the extreme northwest of Persia a Russian column had crossed the frontier, and occupied, on the 3d of November, the town of Bayazid close to Mt. Ararat. Other columns entered Kurdestan, and an expedition against Van was begun. Further north another Russian column crossed the frontier and captured the town of Karakilissa, but was held there by the Turks.
These were minor expeditions. The real struggle was in Transcaucasia, where the main body of the Turkish army under Enver Pasha himself was in action. At this point the boundaries of Turkey touch upon the Russian Empire. To the north is the Great Russian fortress of Kars, to the south and west the Turkish stronghold of Erzerum. The whole district is a great mountain tangle, the towns standing at an altitude of 5,000 and 6,000 feet, surrounded by lofty hills. None of the roads are good, and in winter the passes are almost impassable. In all the wars between Russia and Turkey, these mountain regions have been the scenes of desperate battles.
The Turkish plan of battle was to entice the Russians from Sarakamish across the frontier, leading them on to some distance from their base, then, while holding their front, a second force was to swing around and attack them on the left flank. The plan was simple, the difficulty was the swing of the left flank, which had to be made through mountain paths, deeply covered with snow. The Turkish army was composed of about 150,000 men under the command of Hassan Izzet Pasha, but Enver, with a large German staff, was the true commander. The Russian army, under General Woronzov was about 100,000 men.