World War I

Turkey (Ottoman Empire then) came into the war by the end of October 1914, which had not yet recovered from its wars of 1911 to 1913. Turkey's treasury was empty. Its leader, a thirty-three year-old military officer and national hero, Enver Pasha, saw the war in Europe as an opportunity for Turkey to take back lands that had been absorbed by the Russian Empire. Enver dreamed of reinvigorating Turkey's empire. And Enver feared that if Britain, France and Russia won against Germany and Austria-Hungary, they might deprive Turkey of more of its empire. So he decided to take Turkey into the war on the side of Germany.

Ottoman Government ordered two battleships to England just before the war broke out and paid for them. But close relationship between Turkey and Germany scared the Allies and thus Britain decided to not to deliver those battleships which have already been paid. This caused an uproar among the Turks against Britain and their friends. This would be a great opportunity for Enver Pasha to use it against the Allies. Turkey cooperated with two German warships in the bombardment of two Russian seaports: Odessa and Nikolayev. Russia responded three days later, on November 2, by declaring war on Turkey. France declared against Turkey on November 5, and so too did Britain. And Britain found this an opportune time to annex Cyprus and Egypt, lands that had been nominally a part of Turkey's empire while under British authority.

Turkey closed the straits (Bosphorus and Dardanelles) between the Mediterranean and Black Seas, preventing Russia from exporting her wheat or receiving shipments of materials from her allies. To protect its oil wells in the Middle East, Britain moved a military force up the Persian Gulf to Iraq, where it began engaging Turkish forces. And in December, Turkey began an assault into Russia's Caucasus Mountains.

Frustration came with Turkey's failed offensive against the Russians in the Caucasus Mountains. In a five-day battle ending January 3, the Russians smashed Turkey's offensive, and of the 95,000 men that Turkey sent on the offensive only 18,000 returned, about 50,000 of them having frozen to death. The shocked Turkish people wondered who to blame for this disaster.