Three Pashas
Encyclopedia
"The Three Pashas", also known as the "dictatorial triumvirate", of the Ottoman Empire
included the Ottoman minister of the interior, Mehmed Talaat (1874–1921), the minister of war, Ismail Enver
, (1881–1922) and the minister of the Navy
, Ahmed Djemal
, (1872–1922). As organizers of the Young Turks
they were the dominant political figures in the empire during World War I
.
, these three men became the de facto rulers of the Ottoman Empire
until its dissolution following World War I
(Emin, 310; Kayali, 195). They were members of the Committee of Union and Progress
(Derogy, 332; Kayali, 195) a party with goals of creating a “Pan-Turkish”
state (Allen, 614) which meant, in the words Enver Pasha, “relocating the dhimmi
,” (Joseph, 240; Bedrossyan, 479) the non-Muslim population of the Ottoman Empire. These eventually resulted in the Armenian Genocide
, killing 1.5 million Ottoman-Armenian citizens, and the Assyrian Genocide
.
The Three Pashas were principal players in the Ottoman-German Alliance
and the Ottoman Empire's entry into World War I
on the side of the Central Powers
. One of the three, Ahmed Djemal, was opposed to an alliance with Germany, and French and Russian diplomacy attempted to keep the Ottoman Empire out of the war, but Germany was agitating for a commitment. Finally on 29 October, the point of no return was reached when Admiral Wilhelm Souchon
took SMS Goeben
, SMS Breslau
and a squadron of Turkish warships into the Black Sea (see pursuit of Goeben and Breslau
) and raided the Russian ports of Odessa
, Sevastopol
and Theodosia
. It was claimed that Ahmed Djemal agreed in early October 1914 to authorize Admiral Souchon to launch a pre-emptive strike.
Ismail Enver
had only once took the control of any military activity (Battle of Sarikamis
), and left the Third Army
in ruins. The First Suez Offensive
and Arab Revolt
are Ahmed Djemal
's most significant failures.
, Enver, Talaat and Djemal, fled from Istanbul
. All three were later tried in absentia at Turkish Courts-Martial of 1919-20
and were sentenced to death. Talaat and Djemal were assassinated by Operation Nemesis
and Enver was killed by a Red Army soldier in Russian Central Asia during the Basmachi Revolt
Journalist Hrant Dink
claimed that the Parliament granted the bereft families of the Party's sentenced members, most of whom were later assassinated abroad by Armenian nationalists, a stipend using assets left over from Armenians.
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
included the Ottoman minister of the interior, Mehmed Talaat (1874–1921), the minister of war, Ismail Enver
Ismail Enver
Enver Pasha or Ismail Enver Pasha , title was changed with his military ranks such as Enver Efendi , Enver Bey , Enver Pasha, higher than Mirliva) was an Ottoman military officer and a leader of the Young Turk revolution...
, (1881–1922) and the minister of the Navy
Ottoman Navy
The Ottoman Navy was established in the early 14th century. During its long existence it was involved in many conflicts; refer to list of Ottoman sieges and landings and list of Admirals in the Ottoman Empire for a brief chronology.- Pre-Ottoman:...
, Ahmed Djemal
Ahmed Djemal
Djemal Pasha or Ahmed Djemal , was a Young Turk and member of the Three Pashas. Ahmed Djemal was also Mayor of Istanbul.- Biography :...
, (1872–1922). As organizers of the Young Turks
Young Turks
The Young Turks , from French: Les Jeunes Turcs) were a coalition of various groups favouring reformation of the administration of the Ottoman Empire. The movement was against the absolute monarchy of the Ottoman Sultan and favoured a re-installation of the short-lived Kanûn-ı Esâsî constitution...
they were the dominant political figures in the empire during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Legacy
Western scholars hold that after the Coup of 1913Coup of 1913
The Coup of 1913 in the Ottoman Empire resulted in the grand vizier Kamil Pasha being driven from power and the replacement of Minister of War Nazim Pasha by İsmail Enver...
, these three men became the de facto rulers of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
until its dissolution following World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
(Emin, 310; Kayali, 195). They were members of the Committee of Union and Progress
Committee of Union and Progress
The Committee of Union and Progress began as a secret society established as the "Committee of Ottoman Union" in 1889 by the medical students İbrahim Temo, Abdullah Cevdet, İshak Sükuti and Ali Hüseyinzade...
(Derogy, 332; Kayali, 195) a party with goals of creating a “Pan-Turkish”
Pan-Turkism
Pan-Turkism is a nationalist movement that emerged in 1880s among the Turkic intellectuals of the Russian Empire, with the aim of cultural and political unification of all Turkic peoples.-Name:...
state (Allen, 614) which meant, in the words Enver Pasha, “relocating the dhimmi
Dhimmi
A , is a non-Muslim subject of a state governed in accordance with sharia law. Linguistically, the word means "one whose responsibility has been taken". This has to be understood in the context of the definition of state in Islam...
,” (Joseph, 240; Bedrossyan, 479) the non-Muslim population of the Ottoman Empire. These eventually resulted in the Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
, killing 1.5 million Ottoman-Armenian citizens, and the Assyrian Genocide
Assyrian genocide
The Assyrian Genocide refers to the mass slaughter of the Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac population of the Ottoman Empire during the 1890s, the First World War, and the period of 1922-1925...
.
The Three Pashas were principal players in the Ottoman-German Alliance
Ottoman-German Alliance
The Ottoman–German Alliance was established between the Ottoman Empire and the German Empire on August 2, 1914. It was this binding alliance that ultimately led the Ottoman Empire to enter the First World War on the side of the Central Powers....
and the Ottoman Empire's entry into World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
on the side of the Central Powers
Central Powers
The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...
. One of the three, Ahmed Djemal, was opposed to an alliance with Germany, and French and Russian diplomacy attempted to keep the Ottoman Empire out of the war, but Germany was agitating for a commitment. Finally on 29 October, the point of no return was reached when Admiral Wilhelm Souchon
Wilhelm Souchon
Wilhelm Anton Souchon was a German and Ottoman admiral in World War I who commanded the Kaiserliche Marine's Mediterranean squadron in the early days of the war...
took SMS Goeben
SMS Goeben
SMS Goeben was the second of two Moltke-class battlecruisers of the Imperial German Navy, launched in 1911 and named after the German Franco-Prussian War veteran General August Karl von Goeben...
, SMS Breslau
SMS Breslau
SMS Breslau was a Magdeburg-class light cruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine , built in the early 1910s. Following her commissioning, Breslau and the battlecruiser were assigned to the Mittelmeerdivision in response to the Balkan Wars...
and a squadron of Turkish warships into the Black Sea (see pursuit of Goeben and Breslau
Pursuit of Goeben and Breslau
The pursuit of Goeben and Breslau was a naval action that occurred in the Mediterranean Sea at the outbreak of the First World War when elements of the British Mediterranean Fleet attempted to intercept the German Mittelmeerdivision comprising the battlecruiser and the light cruiser...
) and raided the Russian ports of Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, Sevastopol
Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
and Theodosia
Theodosia
Feodosiya is a port and resort city in Crimea, Ukraine, on the Black Sea coast. During much of its history the town was known as Caffa or Kaffa .- History :...
. It was claimed that Ahmed Djemal agreed in early October 1914 to authorize Admiral Souchon to launch a pre-emptive strike.
Ismail Enver
Ismail Enver
Enver Pasha or Ismail Enver Pasha , title was changed with his military ranks such as Enver Efendi , Enver Bey , Enver Pasha, higher than Mirliva) was an Ottoman military officer and a leader of the Young Turk revolution...
had only once took the control of any military activity (Battle of Sarikamis
Battle of Sarikamis
The Battle of Sarikamish was an engagement between the Russian and Ottoman empires during World War I. It took place from December 22, 1914 to January 17, 1915 as part of the Caucasus Campaign. The outcome was a Russian victory. The Ottomans employed a strategy which demanded that their troops be...
), and left the Third Army
Third Army (Ottoman Empire)
The Ottoman Third Army was originally established in the Balkans and later defended the northern and eastern parts of the Ottoman Empire. Its initial headquarters was at Salonica. With the onset of World War I, it moved to Erzurum Fortress. The headquarters was moved to Susehir after the Battle...
in ruins. The First Suez Offensive
First Suez Offensive
The First Suez Offensive took place between the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I...
and Arab Revolt
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt was initiated by the Sherif Hussein bin Ali with the aim of securing independence from the ruling Ottoman Turks and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen.- Background :...
are Ahmed Djemal
Ahmed Djemal
Djemal Pasha or Ahmed Djemal , was a Young Turk and member of the Three Pashas. Ahmed Djemal was also Mayor of Istanbul.- Biography :...
's most significant failures.
Fate of triumvirate
On November 2, after the Armistice of MudrosArmistice of Mudros
The Armistice of Moudros , concluded on 30 October 1918, ended the hostilities in the Middle Eastern theatre between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies of World War I...
, Enver, Talaat and Djemal, fled from Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
. All three were later tried in absentia at Turkish Courts-Martial of 1919-20
Turkish Courts-Martial of 1919-20
Turkish Courts-Martial of 1919–20 were courts-martial of the Ottoman Empire after the armistice of Mudros during the aftermath the World War I, which the leadership of the Committee of Union and Progress and selected former officials were court-martialled with/including the charges of subversion...
and were sentenced to death. Talaat and Djemal were assassinated by Operation Nemesis
Operation Nemesis
Operation Nemesis is the Armenian Revolutionary Federation's code-name for a covert operation in early 1920s to assassinate the Turkish planners of the Armenian Genocide. Those involved with the planning and execution of the operation were survivors of the massacres...
and Enver was killed by a Red Army soldier in Russian Central Asia during the Basmachi Revolt
Basmachi Revolt
The Basmachi movement or Basmachi Revolt was an uprising against Russian Imperial and Soviet rule by the Muslim, largely Turkic peoples of Central Asia....
Journalist Hrant Dink
Hrant Dink
Hrant Dink or Հրանտ Դինք ) was a Turkish citizen of Armenian descent editor, journalist and columnist....
claimed that the Parliament granted the bereft families of the Party's sentenced members, most of whom were later assassinated abroad by Armenian nationalists, a stipend using assets left over from Armenians.