Republic of Turkey
Government: Parliamentary republic
Ruler: ?smet ?n n
Area: 302,535 sq mi
Population: 17.8 million
Largest cities: Istanbul, Anarka, Izmir, Bursa
Military Personal: 174,000 soldiers and 20,000 officers forming 11 army corps, 23 divisions,
one armoured brigade, 3 cavalry brigades and 7 frontier commands.
Air force: 370 aircraft of all types, 450 pilots and 8,000 men.
Navy: the outdated battle cruiser Yavuz (ex-Goeben), 4 destroyers, 5-6 submarines, 2 light cruisers,
3 mine-sweepers, 2 gunboats, 3 motor torpedo boats, 4 minelayers and a surveying vessel.
After the end of the first World War, the power dynamic in the Middle East changed drastically,
for centuries, the main and most dominate power in the region was the Ottoman Empire,
this empire at it's height had control of most of the Middle East, North Africa, The
Balkans and a large section of South Eastern Europe. But by the start of the first World
War, the once mighty empire had been reduced to its middle eastern possessions, being labeled
as the sick man of Europe . By the end of the Great war, the empire was heavily partitioned
between the victorious powers. Britain and France dividing up the Middle East while Greece
and the newly independent Caucasus nations attempted to split Anatolia between themselves.
Dissolution of the Ottomans, birth of the nation of Turkey and a war of independence
followed which will be covered in a future episode. After this, the rump Turkish nation
implemented massive reforms to westernize and to rebuild the crumbled economy, that
nearly two decades of war had caused.
Turkey began WWII bound to Britain and France by the military alliance of October 1939;
declared neutrality in June 1940 after the fall of France; and ended the war allied with
the Allies. Much of Turkey s proclaimed neutrality was a result of Turkish fears of a Nazi invasion.
In the advent of an invasion from either the Germans or Allies. Turkey started to build
up defenses along it's borders, deploying its peace-time army to the frontiers and increasing
the amount of men under arms from 170,000 to over 230,000. They had equipment problems
though as almost all of the equipment was pre-WW1 with rifles like the Lee Enfield,
Lebel, Masuiers etc. being used, and ammunication stocks being rather inadequate for large-scale
fighting. They also started to build up fortifications along the Dardanelles and along the outer
regions of the country to the East, including heavy works at Erzurum, Kars, Adana.
Turkey also had one main rail-line connecting the country that was in pretty decent shape
but it was only one rail, connecting Instanbul to Adana. Additional rail was being laid down
along the southern coast but had only been a realtivily recent project and wasn't in
much of a useable state, being 5-10% completed. A secondary line was constructed that ran
along the main one, splitting off about half-way between Instanbul and Adana and reconnecting
near Adana.
After the fall of the Balkans to the Nazis, Turkey signed a Treaty of Friendship with
Germany in June 1941 only four days before the start of Operation Barbarossa. The Germans
were very keen on attempting to get Turkey to join their side, offering a number of roles
and supposed benefits if they did. At the head of this effort was ambassador Franz von
Papen, former chancellor of Germany. I suggest you read up on him yourself, as his role during
the war was very interesting. Link in the description. Efforts to create tension between
Turkey and the Soviet union were largely successful, and Stalin held a deep grudge against the
Turkish government until his death, this was to try and force Turkey to join Germany as
an act of saftey against the Soviets. And once Operation Barbarossa started, the german
government tried to persaude Inouo to establish a Turkish-tatar federation, with the acequsition
of large sections of the Russian Caucus and Ural regions. Prior to the invasion of the
Soviet Union, offers of land in Greece, Bulgaria, Syria, and Iraq were promised in return for
support, both of these efforts were quickly and firmly declined.
Throughout the war, Turkey walked a thin line, balancing the needs and expectations of the
Nazis against those of the Allies. Istanbul was a very active network for spys on both
sides. British and American OSS operatives were based within the city, and Papan later
made contact with these agents in 1943, once he understood that Germany was on the losing
end of this war. Neither side tried to push hard against the government to close the others
networks, as it would expose and almost certaintly remove a vital piece of intellegance gathering
for them as well.
In October 1941, Turkey signed an important trade agreement with Germany. In exchange
for raw material, especially chromite ore, Germany would supply Turkey with war materials
and other finished goods. At the same time, Turkey maintained friendly relations with
the U.S. and Britain, which supplied Turkey with modern war equipment in exchange for
chromite ore. Turkey s chromite ore was critical for the Nazis. Turkey was their sole source
for chrome, a vital element in steel making. Albert Speer stated that Turkey s chromite
ore was so vital to the Nazis that war production would come to a complete stop 10 months after
the supply was cut off. The ore was shipped from Turkey by rail through some of the most
rugged country in the world. Towards the end of the war, the allies targeted bridges along
the main rail line to stop the chromite shipments.
In 1941, Turkey was added to the lend-lease nations available to receive equipment. In
January 1943, during the Casablanca Conference, FDR considered asking Turkey to enter the
war. Until 1941, both Roosevelt and Churchill thought that continued Turkish neutrality
would serve the interests of the Allies by blocking the Axis from reaching the strategic
oil reserves of the Middle East. But the early victories of the Axis up to the end of 1942
caused Roosevelt and Churchill to re-evaluate a possible Turkish participation in the war
on the side of the Allies. Turkey had maintained a decently-sized Army and Air Force throughout
the war, and Churchill wanted the Turks to open a new front in the Balkans. Roosevelt,
on the other hand, still believed that a Turkish attack would be too risky, and an eventual
Turkish failure would have disastrous effects for the Allies. In n also wanted assurances
on financial and military aid for Turkey, as well as a guarantee that the United States
and the United Kingdom would stand beside Turkey in case of a Soviet invasion of the
Turkish Straits after the war. In November 1943, all three of the big leaders, Churchill,
Roosevelt, and Stalin, called for Turkey s entry into the war. In February 1944, after
Turkey made its entry into the war contingent upon massive military assistance and a significant
Allied military presence, Britain and the U.S. stopped their aid program. By 1943, the
Allies foresaw no threat from a Nazi invasion. It wasn t until April 1944 before Turkey ceased
the chromite exports to Germany, and then only after being threatened with the same
economic sanctions that the other neutral countries were under. Later in August, Turkey
suspended all diplomatic relations with Germany. Late in February 1945, on the eve of establishing
the United Nations, Turkey declared war on Germany.