DISSOLUTION OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire (1908-1922) was the period following the decline of
the Ottoman Empire (1828–1908), including the watershed events of the Young Turk Revolution
and the establishment of the second constitutional era, and ending with the partitioning of the
Empire by the victorious sides of World War I in the early part of the 20th century.

Establishment of Constitutional Era, 1908

In July 1908 in a few short weeks the Young Turk Revolution changed the political structure of
Empire.

Abdul Hamid's regime which lasted more than 35 years and the former autocratic system
developed under his control were destroyed. The Armenians, Roman Catholic Syrians, Greeks of
the Archipelago, and Bulgarians of Macedonia forgot Empire inaugurationed the new fraternity
and progress. There was a unification theme and groups which fought against each other wished
to work out the salvation of a common country. Heads of Macedonian bands (ITRO) fraternized
with the members of the "Committee of Union and Progress"; Greeks and Bulgarians embraced
one another under the second biggest party "Liberal Union". The Bulgarian federalist wing
welcomed in the revolution and later joined mainstream political life as the Bulgarian section of
People's Federative Party (Ottoman Empire). Even, some of its leaders like Sandanski and
Chernopeev participated in the march on Istanbul to depose the "attempt to dismantle
constitution (Countercoup (1909))". The former centralist formed the Bulgarian Constitutional
Clubs and like the PFP participated in Ottoman elections. Armenians which formed
"Armenakan", "Social Democrat Hunchakian Party" (Hunchakian ) and "Armenian
Revolutionary Federation" (Dashnak or Tashnag) begin to work openly as there was no Abdul
Hamid's pressure on them.

Dissatisfaction with constitutional regime

Once the first enthusiasm had passed with little progress, dissatisfaction with the new regime
became evident as early as 1909. The theme of unification did not last long. The newly
established political system assumed that the citizens of the Empire could unite under one flag
representing Ottomanism. The process of replacing the monarchic institutions with constitutional
institutions and electoral policies was neither as simple nor as bloodless as the regime change
itself. The periphery of the Empire continued to splinter under the pressures of local revolutions.

Due to Abdul Hamid's policies, equilibrium between Muslims and Christians was impossible to
reach. Overburdened with religious and ethnic strife, the new government had little ability to
solve the problems of the empire.

Cretan union with Greece, 1908

Just after the revolution (1908), the Cretan deputies declared union with Greece by taking
advantage of revolution as well as the timing of Zaimis's vacation away from the island.[1] The
1908 left the issue unsolved between the Empire and the Cretans. In 1909, after the parliament
elected the governing structure, CUP decided that if order was maintained and the rights of
Muslims were respected, the issue would be solved with negotiations.

Albanians and Latin Alphabet, 1909

The Albanians of Tirana and Elbassan were among the first groups to join the constitutional
movement. However, due to shifting national borders in the Balkans, the Albanians had been
marginalized as a nationless people. The most significant factor uniting the Albanians, their
spoken language, lacked a standard literary form and even a standard alphabet. Each of the three
available choices, the Latin, Cyrillic, and Arabic scripts, implied different political and religious
orientations opposed by one or another element of the population. In July 1908, a month after a
Young Turk rebellion in Macedonia supported by an Albanian uprising in Kosovo and
Macedonia escalated into widespread insurrection and mutiny within the imperial army, Sultan
Abdül Hamid II agreed to demands by the Young Turks to restore constitutional rule. Many
Albanians participated in the Young Turks uprising, hoping that it would gain their people
autonomy within the empire. The Young Turks lifted the Ottoman ban on Albanian-language
schools and on writing the Albanian language. As a consequence, Albanian intellectuals meeting
in Bitola in 1908 chose the Latin alphabet as a standard script.

The new government also appealed for Islamic solidarity to break the Albanians' unity and used
the Muslim clergy to try to impose the Arabic alphabet. The Albanians refused to submit to the
Young Turks' campaign to "Ottomanize" them by force.

Attempt to dismantle constitution, 1909

After nine months into the new government, discontent found expression in a fundamentalist
movement which attempted to dismantle the Second Constitutional Era and revert it with a
monarchy under Sultan Abdul Hamid II. The Sultan's countercoup gained traction when he
promised to restore the Caliphate, eliminate secular policies, and restore the rule of Islamic law.

The "31 March Incident" rebelled against the countercoup. On April 13, 1909, Abdul Hamid II
was finally removed from the throne, and Mehmed V became the Sultan. The constitution
granted by the Sultan Mehmed V, 5 August 1909, proclaimed the equality of all subjects in the
matter of taxes, military service (allowing Christians into the military for the first time), and
political rights. The new constitution was perceived as a big step for the establishment of a
common law for all subjects. The position of Sultan was greatly reduced to a figurehead, while
still retaining some constitutional powers, such as the ability to declare war.

The new constitution, aimed to bring more sovereignty to the public, could not address certain
public services, such as the ottoman public debt, the Ottoman Bank or Ottoman Public Debt
Administration because of their international character. The same held true of most of the
companies which were formed to execute public works such as Baghdad Railway, tobacco and
cigarette trades of two French companies the "Regie Compagnie interessee des tabacs de l'empire
Ottoman", and "Narquileh tobacco".
Italian War, 1911
Italy declared war on the Empire on September 29, 1911, demanding the turnover of Tripoli and
Cyrenaica. The empire's response was weak so Italian forces took those areas on November 5 of
that year (this act was confirmed by an act of the Italian Parliament on February 25, 1912).
Although minor, the war was an important precursor of World War I as it sparked nationalism in
the Balkan states. Seeing how easily the Italians had defeated the disorganized Ottomans, the
members of the Balkan League attacked the Empire before the war with Italy had ended.

Balkan Wars, 1912–1913

The three new Balkan states formed at the end of the 19th century and Montenegro, sought
additional territories from the Albania, Macedonia, and Thrace, behind their nationalistic
arguments. The incomplete emergence of these nation-states on the fringes of the Ottoman
Empire during the nineteenth century set the stage for the Balkan Wars. On October 10 12 the
collective note of the powers was handed in at Constantinople. CUP responded to demands of
European powers on reforms in Macedonia on October 14.[2] But before further action could be
taken war broke out. While Powers were asking Empire to reform Macedonia, under the
encouragement of Russia, a series of agreements were concluded: between Serbia and Bulgaria
in March 1912, between Greece and Bulgaria in May 1912, and Montenegro subsequently
concluded agreements between Serbia and Bulgaria respectively in October 1912. The Serbian-
Bulgarian agreement specifically called for the partition of Macedonia which resulted in the First
Balkan War. In 1913 a nationalist uprising broke out in Albania, and on October 8, the Balkan
League, consisting of Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria, mounted a joint attack on the
Ottoman Empire, starting the First Balkan War. The Second Balkan War soon followed. Albania
declared independence on November 28, Empire agreed to a ceasefire on December 2, and its
territory losses were finalized in 1913 in the treaties of London and Bucharest. Albania became
independent, and the Empire lost almost all of its European territory (Kosovo, Sanjak of Novi
Pazar, Macedonia and western Thrace) to the four allies.

Cession of Kuwait, 1913

The Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913 was a short-lived agreement signed in July 1913
between the Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI and the British over several issues. However it was the
issue over the status of Kuwait that came to be the only long-lived result, as its outcome was
formal independence for Kuwait.

During World War I, the Ottoman Empire was financially crippled and the invading British
forces invalidated the Anglo-Ottoman Convention, declaring Kuwait to be an "independent
sheikdom under British protectorate."

Cession of Albania, 1913

Albania had been under Ottoman rule from around 1478. When Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece
laid claim to Albanian-populated lands during Balkan Wars, the Albanians declared
independence.[3]

The European Great Powers endorsed an independent Albania in 1913, after the Second Balkan
War leaving outside the Albanian border more than half of the Albanian population and their
lands, that were partitioned between Montenegro,Serbia and Greece. They were assisted by
Aubrey Herbert, a British MP who passionately advocated their cause in London. As a result,
Herbert was offered the crown of Albania, but was dissuaded by the British prime minister, H. H.
Asquith, from accepting. Instead the offer went to William of Wied, a German prince who
accepted and became sovereign of the new Principality of Albania.

The young state, however, collapsed within weeks of the outbreak of World War I.[3]

Before the War, 1914

In early 1914 the Ottoman Government was concerned with three main issues. The first was
improving relations with Bulgaria; the second was to encourage support from the Germans, and
the third was to settle negotiations with Europe about the Armenian reform.

In regard to the first, Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria showed sympathy to one another because
they suffered as a result of the territories lost with the Balkan Wars (1912-1913). They also had
bitter relations with Greece. It was natural and beneficial for them to work for the development
of policies that enable to gain better positions in the region.

In regard to the second, there were three military missions active at the turn of 1914. These were
British Naval Mission led by Admiral Limpus, French Gendarme Mission led by General
Moujen, and German Military Mission led by Goltz. German Military Mission become the most
important among these three. The history of German military relations went back to the 1880s.
Grand Vizier the Sait Halim Pasha and Minister of War Ahmet Izzet Pasha was instrumental in
developing the initial relations. Kaiser Wilhelm II ordered Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz to
establish the initial mission. General Goltz served two periods in within two years. In the early
1914, the Minister of War was a former military attache to Berlin, Enver Pasha, was at the helm.
About the same time, General Otto Liman von Sanders, was nominated to the command of the
1st Army. 1st Army was the biggest which was located in the European side. General Liman von
Sanders and Enver Pasha practically shared the commander-in-chief position.

In regard to the third, an Armenian reform package was negotiated with Russia. Russia, the
protector of Armenians and acting on behalf of the Great Powers, was instrumental of
introduction of reforms to the Armenian citizens of the empire. Armenian reform package, which
was solidified in February 1914, was based on the arrangements nominally made in 1878.
According to this arrangement the inspectors general, whose powers and duties constituted the
key to the question, were to be named for a period of ten years, and their engagement was not to
be revocable during that period.

Capitulations & Public Debt

When the Capitulations were first established it was supposed that foreign assistance could
benefit the Empire. Capitulations stipulated that the privileges was based on religion. The
intercourse of the Christian world with the Mohammedan world was founded upon different
principles. Foreigners had secured many privileges or "capitulations" that they could not be
brought under local jurisdiction, but were subject only to the codes of justice of their own
countries, administered through their own consular courts. As a result, almost all the business of
the country was in the hands of non-Muslim people — Armenians, Greeks, Jews, Italians,
French, Germans, and English, which were under non-ottoman (local) jurisdiction. Wherever
mines have been developed, railroads or irrigation works constructed, foreign capital and foreign
brains have been chiefly responsible. This system produced and environment which he Muslim's
of the Empire stayed poor, and the standard of education for this group never increased. And so
it would, if it were not that foreigners occupy a privileged position in the country. In fact,
citizens of Great Britain, Italy, France, Germany, and Austria-Hungary were in many respects in
a separate class from Muslim citizens, whether Turks, Greeks, Armenians, or Jews. The Empire
also perceived the capitulations as a reason for corruption. Officials, representing different
jurisdictions, sought bribes at every opportunity, withheld the proceeds of a vicious and
discriminatory tax system, ruined every struggling industry by graft, and fought against every
show of independence on the part of Empire's many subject peoples. A citizen of any of the great
powers was practically exempt from the payment of income taxes and several other kinds of
taxes to which the Turk was subject. He was immune from search, could secure passports from
his own consul, and could be tried in courts of his own nationality. All these special privileges
together constituted a body of privileges known as "Capitulations." On September 10, 1915,
Talat Pasha abolished the "Capitulations", which the capitulation holders refused to recognize
her action.

Ottoman public debt was part of a larger schemes of political control, through which the
commercial interests of the world had seek to gain advantages that may not be to Empire's
interest. The total pre-war debt of Empire was $716,000,000. France had 60 percent of the total,
Germany was 20 percent, and Great Britain was 15 percent. The debt was administered by a
Ottoman Public Debt Administration and its power was extended to the Imperial Ottoman Bank
(Central bank). Debt Administration controlled many of the important revenues of the empire.
The Council had power every financial affairs. Its control even extended to determine the tax on
live stock in districts. Siding with Germany, with the minimum dept holder put the Empire in the
position to pay its dept or even pay a war indemnity.

World War I, 1914–1918

German light cruiser Breslau's after the Pursuit of Goeben and Breslau bombarded the Black Sea
port of Theodosia

At the outbreak of the war Ottoman government declared neutrality with the "Notification of
Neutrality" on August 18, 1914.[4] On September 10 Grand Vizier Said Halim Pasha annulled the
Capitulations, which ended the special privileges they granted to foreign nationals.

On September 28 the Turkish Straits were closed to naval traffic. The Straits were vital for
Russian commerce and for the communications between the Western Allies and Russia. On
October 19, after the Pursuit of German battle cruiser Goeben and German light cruiser Breslau,
the ships were donated by Germany to the Ottoman Navy. Along an agreement with the German
military mission, the Committee of Union and Progress did not discharge the crews of these
ships. On October 21, six hundred more German officers reported to arrive along the military
mission. Then, on October 29, the Breslau bombarded the Black Sea port of Theodosia. On
November 2 the Grand Vizier expressed regret to Allies for the operations of the Navy. Russian
Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Sazonov declared that it was too late and that Russia
considered this raid an act of war. The Ottoman Cabinet explained in vain that hostilities were
begun without its sanction by German officers serving in the Navy. The Allies insisted on
reparation to Russia, the dismissal of German officers from the Goeben and Breslau, and the
internment of the German ships until the end of the war. But on November 5, before the Ottoman
Government responded, Great Britain and France also declared war on the Ottoman Empire. The
official Declaration of War by the Committee of Union and Progress followed on November 14.
[5]

Also on October 29, the Allies had presented a note to Grand Vizier Said Halim Pasha that they
had an agreement with Egypt and that any hostility towards Egypt would be treated as a
declaration of war.

There were objective reasons for the Ottoman government's choice. Initially the government,
especially Minister of State Talaat Pasha, had advocated choosing the British side. But Britain
had not maintained an isolated position in Europe. Russia was the pivotal point. When Britain
was drawn into the Triple Entente and began to cultivate relations with Russia, the Porte became
distrustful. The Porte had gradually drifted, with opposition from the parliament, into close
political relations with Germany. The relationship between Great Britain and France had
encouraged Italy to seize Tripoli. Russian designs on the Straits (for open access to the
Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean from its Black Sea ports) were well known.[citation needed]
These conditions put Great Britain, France, and Russia against Germany. The Porte's policy
would naturally be inclined toward dependence on the Berlin. The Ottoman-German Alliance
promised to isolate Russia. Ottoman-German alliance was negotiated. In exchange for money
and future control over Russian territory, the Ottoman Government abandoned a neutral position
and sided with Germany.

The Empire fall into disorder with the declaration of war along with Germany. On November 11
a conspiracy was discovered in Istanbul against Germans and the Committee, in which some of
the Committee leaders were shot. This followed the November 12 revolt in Adrianople against
German military mission. On November 13 a bomb exploded in Enver Pasha's palace, which
killed five German officers but missed the Enver Pasha. These events followed on November 18
more anti-German plots. Committees formed around the country to rid country siding Germany.
Army and navy officers protested against assumption of authority by Germans. On December 4
widespread riots throughout the country. On December 13 anti-war demonstration by women in
Konak and Erzurum. Throughout December CUP dealt with mutiny among soldiers in barracks
and among naval crews. The head of German Military Mission Field Marshal von der Goltz had
a conspiracy against his life.

Empire with Russia

Ottoman's entrance to war greatly increased the Triple Entente's military burdens. Russia had to
fight on the Caucasus Campaign alone and Persian Campaign along with the Great Britain.

İsmail Enver Pasha was set off for the Battle of Sarıkamış (Caucasus Campaign), with the
intention of recapturing Batum and Kars, overrunning Georgia and occupying north-western
Persia and the oil fields. Fighting the Russians in the Caucasus, however, the Ottomans lost
ground—and over 100,000 soldiers—in a series of battles.

The 1917 Russian revolution gave the Ottomans presented a new chance. Neither the Russian
soldiers nor the Russian people wanted to continue the war. On March 9 1917, Special
Transcaucasian Committee was established with Member of the State Duma V. A. Kharlamov as
the Chairman to replace the Imperial Viceroy Nicholas Nikolaevich by the Russian Provisional
Government as the highest organ of civil administrative body in the Transcaucasia. On
December 5, 1917, the armistice of Erzincan (Erzincan Cease-fire Agreement) signed between
the Russians and Ottomans in Erzincan that ended the armed conflicts between Russia and
Ottoman Empire.[6] On March 3, the Grand vizier Talat Pasha signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
with the Russian SFSR. It stipulated that Bolshevik Russia cede Batum, Kars, and Ardahan.
These lands had been captured by Russia during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878).

Empire with British & France

Great Britain was obliged to defend India and her southern Persian oil territory by undertaking
the Mesopotamian campaign. She had also to protect Egypt against the Sinai and Palestine
Campaign. These campaigns strained Allied resources and relieved Germany.

Initially Ahmed Djemal Pasha was ordered to gather an army in Palestine with which to threaten
the Suez Canal. In response, Allies—including the newly formed Australian and New Zealand
Army Corps ("ANZACs")—opened another front with the Battle of Gallipoli.

The Ottomans were eventually defeated due to key attacks by the British general Edmund
Allenby.

Empire with Armenia

In 1917 the Russian Caucasus Army deserted the frontline. The Armenian soldiers under Russian
Empire, Armenian volunteer units, realigned themselves under the command of General Tovmas
Nazarbekian, with Dro as a civilian commissioner. The frontline had three main divisions:
Movses Silikyan, Adrianic and Mikhail Areshian. There were Armenian partisian guerrilla
detachments accompanying these main units. The line from Van to Erzincan was organized
through these units.

On March 3 1918, the Grand vizier Talat Pasha signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the
Russian SFSR. It stipulated that Bolshevik Russia cede Batum, Kars, and Ardahan. These lands
had been captured by Russia during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). In addition to these
provisions, a secret clause was inserted which obligated the Russians to demobilize Armenian
national forces.[7]
Between March 14 - April 1918 the Trabzon peace conference held among the Ottoman Empire
and the delegation of the Transcaucasian Diet (Transcaucasian Sejm). Enver Pasha offered to
surrender all ambitions in the Caucasus in return for recognition of the Ottoman reacquisition of
the east Anatolian provinces at Brest-Litovsk at the end of the negotiations.[8] On April 5, the
head of the Transcaucasian delegation Akaki Chkhenkeli accepted the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk as
a basis for more negotiations and wired the governing bodies urging them to accept this
position[9]. The mood prevailing in Tiflis was very different. Tiflis acknowledge the existence of
a state of war between themselves and the Ottoman Empire[9].

In April 1918, the Ottoman 3rd Army finally went on the offensive. In early May, 1918, the
Ottoman army faced with the newly declared Democratic Republic of Armenia. The conflict led
to the Battle of Sardarapat, the Battle of Kara Killisse (1918), and the Battle of Bash Abaran.
Although the Armenians managed to inflict a defeat on the Ottomans at the Battle of Sardarapat,
the Ottoman army won the later battle and scattered the Armenian army. On May 28 1918, the
Dashnaks of Armenian national liberation movement declared the Democratic Republic of
Armenia through the Armenian Congress of Eastern Armenians (unified form of Armenian
National Councils) with the dissolution of Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic[citation
needed]
. The new Republic of Armenia was forced to sign the Treaty of Batum.

in June, 1918, Armenians in the mountainous Karabag region, under the leadership of Andranik
Toros Ozanian, established the Republic of Mountainous Armenia and resisted the Ottoman 3rd
army.[10] In July, Ottomans faced with the Centrocaspian Dictatorship at the Battle of Baku, with
the goal of taking Baku on the Caspian Sea.

Empire in Home front

Ottoman Empire dealt with the Arab Revolt. Sharif Hussein ibn Ali rebelled against the Ottoman
rule during the Arab Revolt of 1916. An exchange of letters with British High Commissioner
Henry McMahon convinced him that his assistance on the side of the Triple Entente would be
rewarded by an Arab empire encompassing the entire span between Egypt and Persia, with the
exception of imperial possessions and interests in Kuwait, Aden, and the Syrian coast. Hussein
was the official leader of the Arab Revolt against the Ottomans.

During World War I, the Ottoman government also faced difficulties on the home front,
including isolated Armenian rebellions in eastern Anatolia that led to an order for the Tehcir Law
of June 1, 1915 to February 8, 1916 (deportation) of Armenians from the region. Some
academics define the deportations as the Armenian Genocide.[11] This view is disputed by the
Turkish Government, which maintains that most of the Armenian mortalities were the result of
conditions that had effect on World War I casualties, and the civil war within the historical roots
of the region, which pushed Armenian and Muslim populations, back-and-forth within the war
zone. Turkish authorities also claim that deportations (Tehcir Law) were not the main
contribution to total Armenian mortality during World War I and the claims for an organized
crime against the Armenians, by Teskilati Mahsusa or the special organization were also in
dispute, even if the very bad conditions of the Armenians (also some Muslims) were not.
Armistice, October 30, 1918

The WW I years were a disaster to Ottoman Empire. The land loss was enormous, human loss
was bigger, which Ottoman Muslim casualties was only one part of the story. The former
Breslau was sunk by a mine at the entrance to the Dardanelles, on January 20 1919. The battle
cruiser Goeben was beached by British warships on the same day.

Partitioning of the Empire

The initial peace agreement with the Ottoman Empire was the Armistice of Mudros. This was
followed by Occupation of Istanbul. The partitioning of the Ottoman Empire brought
international conflicts which were discussed during the Paris Peace Conference, 1919. The peace
agreement, Treaty of Sevres, was signed by the Ottoman Empire and Allies.

The Treaty of Sèvres presented one of the thorniest problems before the Paris Peace Conference,
1919. The text of the treaty with Ottomans was not made public until May, 1920. Contrary to
general expectations, Sultanate was not terminated and allowed to retain Istanbul and a small
strip of territory around the city. The shores of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles planned to be
internationalized, so that the gates of the Black Sea kept open. The interior of Asia Minor
(Anatolia), the first seat of Ottoman power six centuries ago, continues to be under Turkish
sovereignty.

The United Kingdom obtained virtually everything it had sought—according to the secret Sykes-
Picot Agreement made together with France in 1916, while the war was still going on—from the
empire's partition. Its terms were admittedly severe, and they were widely criticized as
vindictive. The subsequent years showed that it was also impracticable. Sèvres was the end of
the Ottoman Empire.

Question of the CUP

Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) was the ruling party during this period. Turkish Courts-
Martial of 1919–1920 were courts-martials, which the leadership of the CUP and selected former
officials were court-martialled with/including the charges of subversion of the constitution,
wartime profiteering, and the massacres of both Greeks and Armenians.[12] The courts-martial
became a stage for political battles. The trials helped the Liberal Union root out the CUP from
the political arena.

Question of the Sultanate

Treaty of Sèvres was destined never to be ratified. Elections were held throughout Anatolia and
with the participation of some parliamentarians, who had escaped from Istanbul, a new
government was formed in Ankara. The rest of the story is the Turkish War of Independence.The
Treaty of Lausanne announced the new Turkish State internationally. This new state gave the
'coup de grâce' to the Ottoman state, in 1922, with the overthrow of Sultan Mehmet VI Vahdettin
by the new republican assembly of Turkey.
Question of the Caliphate

Abdülmecid II the last Caliph of the Ottoman Caliphate

Besides the control of the physical lands, another question of importance was originated from the
Ottoman Caliphate. The Ottoman Caliphs never claimed to be religious descendant of the
Prophet but they were nonetheless an important authority figure within the Ottoman Empire.
Muslims of India and of Anatolia supported and recognized the Ottoman caliphate for instance.
As Sultans of the Empire, the Ottoman rulers had a very strong position, but the Sultan of
Morocco, the Mahdists of the Egyptian Sudan, the Senussi in the Libyan Desert, the Wahabis in
central Arabia, never acknowledged the title of Caliph as being higher than the Sultans' as the
leader of state. Such recognition was also not given by the Arabs of the Hedjaz, Palestine, and
Syria, which contain the holy places of Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem.

The last official remnant of the empire—the title of caliphate—was constitutionally abolished on
3 March 1924. With the abolishment of the Ottoman Caliphate by the Grand National Assembly
of Turkey, throughout the country from Mecca to Aleppo, the Ottoman Caliph's name was
replaced in the Friday liturgy by that of Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, the hereditary guardian
of the holy cities of the Hedjaz, who is referred to as "The Commander of the Faithful".

References
1. ^ Ion, Theodore P., "The Cretan Question," The American Journal of International Law,
April, 1910, pp. 276-284
2. ^ Archives Diplomatiques, third series, vol. 126, p. 127.
3. ^ a b Raymond Zickel and Walter R. Iwaskiw, editors. (1994). ""NATIONAL
AWAKENING AND THE BIRTH OF ALBANIA, 1876–1918," Albania: A Country
Study". [1]. http://countrystudies.us/albania/20.htm. Retrieved 9 April 2008.
4. ^ Notification of Neutrality
5. ^ CUP Declaration of War, November 14
6. ^ Tadeusz Swietochowski, Russian Azerbaijan 1905–1920, page 119.
7. ^ Hovannisian. "Armenia's Road to Independence", pp. 288-289. ISBN 1-4039-6422-X.
 8. ^ Ezel Kural Shaw History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey. Page 326
9. ^ a b Richard Hovannisian "The Armenian people from ancient to modern times" Pages
292-293
10. ^ Mark Malkasian, Gha-Ra-Bagh": the emergence of the national democratic movement
in Armenia page 22
11. ^ Josh Belzman (April 23, 2006). "PBS effort to bridge controversy creates more".
MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12397821/. Retrieved 2006-10-05.
12. ^ Armenien und der Völkermord: Die Istanbuler Prozesse und die Türkische
Nationalbewegung. Hamburg: Hamburger Edition. 1996. p. 185.

Further reading
• Lewis, Bernard (2001-08-30). The Emergence of Modern Turkey (3 ed.). Oxford
University Press, USA. p. 568. ISBN 0195134605.