Promoting an Alliance, Furthering Nationalism

This book inves­ti­gates how the German-Ottoman Alli­ance affected the Turkish Natio­na­lism during the Second Consti­tu­tional Period (1908–1918), focu­sing on two lesser known but crucial players of the Alli­ance: Ahmed Emin (Yalman, 1888–1972) and Ernst Jäckh (1875–1959). After the First World War, both men had repu­ta­tions as being liberal, pro-American jour­na­lists. This book explores their papers and inves­ti­gates their wartime acti­vi­ties and connec­tions, and shows how they helped the German-Ottoman Alli­ance to take root. Ahmed Emin, a graduate of the German School in Istanbul, was sent by the Ottoman Minister of War, Enver Pasha, to the German Front during World War I and through his German and Turkish writings, advo­cated strongly for the promo­tion of the German-Ottoman Alli­ance. Ernst Jäckh was a consul­tant to Emperor Wilhelm II in his Eastern affairs and made several trips to the Ottoman Empire. In the process he built up a repu­ta­tion as being »Turkish-Jäckh« among German impe­ria­list circles due to his Young Turkish connec­tions. Through their writings and the various insti­tu­tions they enrolled, they both became key figures of the German-Ottoman Alli­ance. Also by evalua­ting the writings of the Ottoman political elite of the Era on Germany this book shows how the so-called »German spirit« was constructed by the Ottoman political elite, inclu­ding Ahmed Emin. It also clari­fies how certain elements of German natio­na­lism were appro­priated into Turkish natio­na­list thin­king by the channel of German impe­ria­lists, inclu­ding Ernst Jäckh. Oppo­sing the comview that the support for the German-Ottoman Alli­ance was limited only to a certain clique of the Committee of Union and Progress, this book seeks to answer how the »main­st­ream intel­lec­tuals« of the Second Consti­tu­tional period who supported the Alli­ance protected their repu­ta­tions after World War I, and how this German-Ottoman Alli­ance gave Turkish natio­na­lism a German