ABSTRACT
Because of the aims laid out in the above quotation, the outbreak of World War I had a fundamental impact on the course of Ottoman political life. Immediately after the commencement of hostilities in Europe, the Ottoman government, dominated by members of the CUP (Committee for Union and Progress), ascribing great importance to the freedom of governmental affairs from all internal and external political interventions for the strengthening of the Ottoman Empire, announced the abolition of the capitulations and terminated all the privileges of foreign states in Ottoman lands. All the Great Powers of Europe, including Germany, protested this decision.2 Simultaneously, the CUP leaders began to seek a military alliance with the Great Powers to avoid the possible partitioning of the empire after the conclusion of the war. The failure to receive any guarantee from the Entente powers regarding the integrity of the Ottoman Empire3 pushed the Unionists toward Germany for an alliance in order to realize the aims described in the quotation above. At the end of the process, an alliance treaty was signed with the German government, which gave an equal status to the Ottoman Empire as its ally.4 As a result of intense pressure by Germany, on November 10 the Ottoman cabinet declared war against the Entente powers and their allies Belgium, Montenegro, and Serbia.5
