Austro-Ottoman Relations and the Origins of World War One, 1912-14: A Reinterpretation

Abstract

This article investigates the origins of World War I through the correspondence of Ottoman diplomats between 1912 and 1914, namely from the formation of the Balkan League in early 1912 until the Ottoman-German alliance in August 1914. However, the emphasis is on how Ottoman officialdom interpreted ‘the Albanian issue’ in conjunction with the Austro-Ottoman rapprochement on the eve of the Great War. This close relationship between the Austrians and Ottomans influenced Ottoman decision-making on declaring war on the Balkan allies in October 1912. More significantly, however, on the eve of the Great War, despite the reluctance of German officials, it was again the influence exercised on Germany via the Austrian Embassy in İstanbul that finalised the Ottoman-German alliance on 2 August 1914. With new sources and reasoning, this article hopes to contribute to current debates on the origins of the Great War