Two war years in Constantinople : $b sketches of German and Young Turkish ethics and politics — John Shaqi
Two war years in Constantinople : $b sketches of German and Young Turkish ethics and politicsStürmer, Harry
History
Two war years in Constantinople : $b sketches of German and Young Turkish ethics and politics
Stürmer, Harry
World War, 1914-1918 -- Turkey
It is a remarkable fact that for a second time, in the first days
of September, the fate of Constantinople was again hanging in the
balance--a fact which is no longer a secret in England and France.
The British had extended their line northwards from Ariburnu to
Anaforta, and a heroic dash by the Anzacs had captured the summit
of the Koja-Jemen-Dagh, and so given them direct command of the
whole peninsula of Gallipoli and the insufficiently protected
Dardanelles forts behind them. It is still a mystery to the people of
Constantinople why the British troops did not follow up this victory.
The fact is that this time again the money and archives were hurried
off from Constantinople to Asia, and a German officer in Constantinople
gave me the entertaining information that he had really seriously
thought of hiring a window in the Grand' Rue de Péra, so that he and
his family might watch the triumphal entry of the Entente troops! It
would be easier to enjoy the joke of this if it were not overshadowed
by such fearful tragedy.
I have already indicated the dilemma in which I was placed on my first
and second visits to the Gallipoli front. I was torn by conflicting
doubts as to whom my sympathies ought ultimately to turn to--to the
heroic Turkish defender, who was indeed fighting for the existence of
his country, although in an unsuccessful and unjust cause, for German
militarism and the exaggerated jingoism of the Young Turks, or to those
who were officially my enemies but whom, knowing as I did who was
responsible for the great crime of the war, I could not regard as such.
In those September days I had already had some experience of Turkish
politics and their defiance of the laws of humanity, and my sympathies
were all for those thousands of fine colonial troops--such men as one
seldom sees--sacrificing their lives in one last colossal attack,
which if it had been prolonged even for another hour might have sealed
the fate of the Straits and would have meant the first decisive step
towards the overthrow of our forces; for the capture of Constantinople
would have been the beginning of the end. I am not ashamed to confess
that, German as I am, that was the only feeling I had when I heard of
the British victory and the subsequent British defeat at Anaforta.
The Battle of Anaforta was the last desperate attempt to break the
resistance in the Dardanelles.
While the men of Stamboul and Anatolia--the nucleus of the Ottoman
Empire--were defending the City of the Caliph at the gate of the
Dardanelles, with reinforcements from Arab regiments when they were
utterly exhausted in the autumn, the other half of the metropolis,
the cosmopolitan Galata-Pera, was trembling for the safety of the
attacking Entente troops, and lived through the long months in a state
of continual tension, longing always for the moment of release.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account