THE SIGNING PROCESS OF THE MONDROS ARMISTICE
MONDROS MÜTAREKESİ’NİN İMZALANMA SÜRECİ

Author : Neslihan BOLAT BOZASLAN
Number of pages : 497-507

Abstract

The fact that the First World War lasted longer than expected made the Ottoman State economically, politically, militarily and socially difficult. The Union and Progress Government resigned in the last year of the war, and important names such as Talat Pasha, Cemal Pasha and Enver Pasha fled abroad. The presence of Ottoman soldiers on the fronts has been reduced. Nevertheless, as with the Syrian fronts, defeat news started to increase from the fronts. On the one hand, while inflationary movements increased, on the other hand, changes and transformations occurred in social life. Due to these problems, the Ottoman Empire started to look for remedies to end the war. He initially wanted to do this through his allies, rather than directly start peace talks. For this purpose, he made negotiations with America first through Spain and then made contacts with France and England. As a result of the prolonged contacts, peace negotiations with England started as a result of the aid of General Towsend in a period when the Ottoman Empire almost started to lose hope. However, before and after the Armistice negotiations started, it caused serious political crises in the Ottoman State. There have been discussions especially about who will go to peace talks. He said that he wanted to send Ahmet Izzet Pasha, Nureddin Pasha, Erkan-i Harbiye Chief Sadullah and Undersecretary Reşat Hikmet Bey. However, the Sultan stated that sending soldiers would not be correct, and that those who shed each other's blood would fail to make peace, not to send these names. While the Sultan suggested that Damat Ferit Pasha go, Grand Vizier Ahmet Izzet Pasha absolutely opposed this name. The Assembly did not want Damat Ferit Pasha to be sent either. The Assembly requested that the Minister of the Navy, Rauf Bey, be sent as the first executive director. Rauf Bey went to the negotiations with the support of the Assembly and Ahmet Izzet Pasha. In our study, the political developments in the Ottoman State during the signing of the Mondros Armistice and the behind-the-scenes issue were discussed.

Keywords

Mondros Ceasefire, Ottoman Empire, First World War, Sultan Vahidettin, Talat Pasha, Ahmet İzzet Pasha

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