Chapter 125: Ottoman Coup
At the time Eder was making improvements to rail transport, peace talks in London were just beginning. The British Empire has not yet gone through two major wars, and although it is no longer as prosperous as it was in the Victorian era, it is still so majestic and inviolable in the eyes of the Balkan countries.
Representatives of the Balkan countries had already arrived in London to await the representatives of the Ottoman Empire, including Bulgarian Foreign Minister Dilas Sloch, Serbian Foreign Minister Milanovic, Greek Foreign Minister Konstantin, Montenegrin Foreign Minister Nidenov, and Romanian Foreign Minister Barnosk. Ottoman's representative, Foreign Minister Kakhovich, also arrived in London on 11 December.
In the negotiations that began on the 12th, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Dolasloch took the lead in handing the conditions given by the Balkan countries to the Ottoman representative, Foreign Minister Kakhovich. The conditions were simple: the Ottoman continental possessions west of the line from Enez to Midiah on the Black Sea were ceded to the Balkan states, and all the islands in the Love Sea were also assigned to the Balkan states. There was no requirement in the treaty for the Ottoman Empire to pay reparations or reduce the number of troops.
Kakhvich looked at the conditions in front of him, which was a very harsh condition for Ottoman peace talks. Still, he didn't forget his professional ethics and asked. "This condition was too harsh for the Ottoman Empire."
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Dolasloch replied to him with a swagger. "That's our last condition. If you feel that it is too harsh, you can let the Ottoman army take it back on the battlefield. ”
After finishing speaking, he also looked at Romanian Foreign Minister Barnosk, Barnosk knew what he meant, he had talked about it before, and now Bulgaria still owes Romania 4,000 square kilometers of territory, and it is the uncle who owes money, so he had to speak up. "Romania also thinks that this condition is already the biggest concession for the Ottomans, and you don't want to push the border outside of Istanbul."
Hearing the words of Romanian Foreign Minister Barnosk, Kakhovich also had to think about it, now Romania, the most powerful country in the Balkans, has not ended, the Ottomans have been defeated, and if they join Romania, Istanbul will also be seized by the Balkan countries.
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Dolasloć's words were also echoed by Serbian Foreign Minister Milanovic. "This is the opinion of all the Balkan countries, and I hope that Your Excellency will consider it. Forget to mention that we in Serbia have already sent an army to guard the front line together with Bulgaria. ”
After Kakhvić heard the words of Serbian Foreign Minister Milanovic, he didn't feel it in his heart, they had long known that there was a Serbian army arriving outside Adrianople, after all, the uniforms were different and easy to recognize, but they didn't know the scale. Hearing it in person now makes him a little unsure of how to answer.
"The conditions you gave, I need to report to the government for decision, and I am out of company."
With a short word, Foreign Minister Kakhovich hurried away with the Ottoman negotiators, leaving the rest behind.
After the Ottoman deputies, Foreign Minister Kakhevich, left in embarrassment, the representatives of the Balkan countries present burst out laughing, which was the best mockery of the Balkan peoples against the Ottomans who had oppressed them in the past.
The conditions of the Balkan countries towards the Ottoman Empire were sent back to the country by the Minister Kakhvich, and the harsh conditions made the government shocked and angry, but they did not have a good way to deal with the 700,000 troops of the Balkan countries. They had approached Austria-Hungary and Germany before, but in the face of the performance of the Ottoman army, they could not support them, so there was nothing good to do about it.
But the government's predicament has given the opposition Ottoman al-Shabaab an opportunity. Al-Shabaab had also ceded Libya, which had shaken their prestige in the Ottoman Empire. The Freedom and Harmony Party took the opportunity to overthrow the Ottoman youth in July 1912, but retained the United Progressive Council thanks to the military prestige of the party leader Envel. Now faced with the fact that the Ottomans were about to cede territory again, the al-Shabaab saw an opportunity.
At a secret rally within Al-Shabaab, Enver told al-Shabaab members. "As you can see, the Freedom and Harmony Party accuses us al-Shabaab of betraying the country by ceding Libya to the region. However, they were not merciless in the face of the cession of Macedonia and Thrace, and they could only sue for peace in the name of fighting. But everyone saw that the newly appointed commander-in-chief of the army, Nizam Pasha, was a man who knew nothing about military affairs, look at what kind of battle he fought, the 350,000 elite Ottoman army was exhausted by him in only one month, and the enemy was coming to the city, for the sake of the Ottomans of the motherland, we must do something. ”
His words resonated within the Al-Shabaab, which was dominated by young students, military officers, and intellectuals, who began to prepare for the overthrow of the government of the Liberal and Pacist Party.
The leader of the Al-Shabaab party, Enver, whose full name was Ismail Enver Pasha, was born in Constantinople on November 22, 1881, to a family of Albanian origin. His father was a local bridge keeper and his mother was an Albanian farmer. In 1903, he graduated from the Military Academy in Istanbul. In 1906 he became a major and was sent to the Third Army, stationed in Thessaloniki. During this time, he joined a local organization called the Joint Progress Committee.
In 1908, Austria-Hungary, Tsarist Russia, and Britain plotted to split the weakened Ottoman Empire. The Young Turks declared "opposition to the government and the Revere Agreement" and demanded "freedom, equality, fraternity" and launched a revolution to overthrow Sudan. Enver joined the Revolutionary Army at this time and became the leader of the army. After his successful seizure of power, he urged Germany to form a military alliance and asked Germany to help reform the Ottoman army.
So the German government prefers Enver's Ottoman leadership, and they do the same. When Enver was preparing to change the current situation of the Ottomans through a coup d'état, the German government increased its funding for him, raising it from 200,000 marks to 500,000 marks per month. He was also assisted and facilitated by his operations through the military advisory group and ambassadors in the Ottomans.
The current Ottoman government was unaware of this and was still discussing negotiations, but was prepared to accept the humiliating terms of the Balkan states in the face of no concessions.
By this time al-Shabaab was ready for a reactionary coup, and on January 23, 1913, marked by the shooting and death of Army Commander-in-Chief Nizam Pasha in the mouth of the army department, Al-Shabaab staged a coup d'état, and the government was not at all prepared for their coup. These al-Shabaab people have bloodied senior government officials, including the current Prime Minister Mohamad Kay, and other high-ranking officials died in the coup.
After Al-Shabaab came to power, they tore up the armistice with the Balkan countries, and the war in the Balkans began again. 8)