Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs 34. (1981)
BRIDGE, Francis Roy: Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire in the Twentieth Century
Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman empire 269 This was well illustrated by two incidents in 1918. In January, in the course of the negotiations at Brest-Litovsk, the head of the Ottoman admiralty, Rauf Bey, suggested to an Austro-Hungarian naval officer that Austria-Hungary and Turkey ought to conclude a naval convention. This would give them security after the war against any attempts by the British to split, or by the Germans to dominate, the alliance. Austria-Hungary would have to supply Turkey with money to reorganize her navy; and a start should be made by accrediting a naval attaché to the embassy at Constantinople185). In February, the Austro-Hungarian Navy Ministry recommended these proposals to the Ballhausplatz: ‘Linienschiffskapitän Rauf Bey kann zweifellos als einer der befähigsten und weitblickendsten türkischen Seestabsoffiziere angesehen werden’; Turkey would probably remain mistrustful of the Entente Powers for some years to come; as for Germany, the Turks were finding ‘das unter dem Zwange des “Muß” stehende gegenwärtige Zusammenhalten und im Vereine arbeiten ... als schwere Bürde’, and would resist energetically any German attempts to prolong it after the war. For Austria-Hungary, therefore, ‘stünden die Chancen äußerst günstig, einen ganz bedeutenden Einfluß in der Türkei zü gewinnen und sich bei der Verwirklichung der ottomani- schen Zukunftspläne zu betätigen’186). At any rate, as the Turks had had a naval attaché in Vienna since 1916, it was time to reciprocate, especially in view of the ‘bei dem türkischen Wesen innewohnender Empfindlichkeit und Neigung, sich zurückgesetzt zu fühlen’187). But this advice fell on insensitive ears in the Ballhausplatz and nothing was done. Burián soon had a more serious intervention to worry about, from the other branch of the armed forces, when he learned in July that discussions between Enver Bey and Colonel Pomiankowski, military attaché at Constantinople, initiated as early as December 1917 and with the emperor’s express approval, had reached the stage of a draft military convention designed to establish Austro-Hungarian officers in the Ottoman army after the war as a countervailing force to the Germans188). Burián felt compelled to express his ‘Erstaunen’ that such serious matters had been discussed without informing the Ballhausplatz — let alone behind the backs of the Germans, without whose approval the scheme could not be realised anyway189). By August, the Armeeoberkommando itself was beginning to appreciate the difficulties190); and Burián was still extremely sceptical in September, ‘da, solange der gegenwärtige Krieg anhält, eine solche Abmachung überflüssig ist, nach Kriegsende jedoch der Wert derselben mir problematisch erscheint, da die Orien185) PA I 522: Wulff to Kriegsministerium, Marine-Sektion, 18 January 1918, enclosed in Armeeoberkommando Op. geh. n. 1014, to Pomiankowski, 9 February 1918. 186) pa 1 522: K. u. k. KM Marine-Sektion to Armeeoberkommando Op. geh. n. 1014, 9 February 1918. 187) Ibid. 188) PA I 522: Trauttmansdorff to Burián, ZI. 31.314, 22 July 1918. 189) PA I 522: Burián to Trauttmansdorff, No. 249, 5 August 1918. 190) PA I 522: Trauttmansdorff to Burián, ZI. 31.933, 16 August 1918.
