Mehmet VI (Ottoman Turkish: محمد سادس Meḥmed-i sâdis, وحيد الدين Vahidettin. Turkish: Mehmed Vahideddin or Mehmet Vahdettin) (14 January 1861 – 16 May 1926) was the 36th and last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, reigning from 1918 to 1922. The brother of Mehmed V, he succeeded to the throne as the eldest male member of the House of Osman after the 1916 suicide of Abdülaziz's son Yusuf Izzettin Efendi, the heir to the throne. He was girded with the Sword of Osman on 4 June 1918, as the thirty-sixth padishah. His father was Sultan Abdülmecid I and mother was Gülüstü (1831 – May 1861), a Circassian. Mehmed was removed from the throne when the Ottoman sultanate was abolished in 1922.

Mehmet VI ruled as His Imperial Majesty, The Grand Sultan Mehmed VI Vahid ed-din, Emperor of the Ottomans, Commander of the Faithful and Successor of the Prophet of the Universe.^{[citation needed]}

He was born in the Dolmabahçe Palace or the Beşiktaş Palace, Beşiktaş, both in Constantinople. On his ninth birthday he was ceremonially circumcised in the special Circumcision Room (Sünnet Odasi) of Topkapı Palace.

Enver Pasha (Ottoman Turkish: انور پاشا‎, Turkish: Enver Paşa) or Ismail Enver Pasha (اسماعیل انور پاشا‎, İsmail Enver Paşa‎, born Ismail Enver) (November 22, 1881 – August 4, 1922) was an Ottoman military officer and a leader of the Young Turk revolution. He was the main leader of the Ottoman Empire in both Balkan Wars and World War I. Pasha is a title that changed with his military ranks; through his career he was known by increasing titles, including Enver Efendi (انور افندي‎), Enver Bey (انور بك‎), and finally Enver Pasha, which is a higher title than Mirliva.

According to Mark Mazower, Enver Bey's father was a Turkish bridge-keeper and his mother an Albanian peasant. He studied for different degrees in military schools in the empire and finally he graduated from the Harp Akademisi in 1903. He became a Major in 1906. He was sent to the Third Army, which was stationed in Salonica. During his service in the city, he became a member of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP).

In 1908, the Young Turk Revolution broke out in Salonica, and the young Enver quickly became one of its military leaders. The successful revolt brought the CUP to power, ushering the so-called "Second Constitutional Era" of the Ottoman Empire. During the course of the next year, a reactionary conspiracy to organize a countercoup culminated in the "31 March Incident", which was put down. Enver Bey took an active role in the suppression of the uprising in the government. Afterwards, he was sent to Berlin as a military attaché, where he grew to admire the German military culture, and strengthened the military ties between Germany and the Ottoman Empire, inviting German officers to reform the Ottoman Army.

Mehmed V Reshad (Ottoman Turkish: محمد خامس Meḥmed-i ẖâmis, Turkish: Mehmed V Reşad or Reşat Mehmet) (2/3 November 1844 – 3/4 July 1918) was the 35th Ottoman Sultan. He was the son of Sultan Abdülmecid I.^{[citation needed]} He was succeeded by his half-brother Mehmed VI.

He was born at Topkapı Palace, Constantinople. Like many other potential heirs to the throne, he was confined for 30 years in the Harems of the palace. For nine of those years he was in solitary confinement. During this time he studied poetry of the old Persian style and was an acclaimed poet. On his ninth birthday he was ceremoniously circumcised in the special Circumcision Room (Sünnet Odasi) of Topkapı Palace.

His reign began on 27 April 1909 but he was largely a figurehead with no real political power, as the Ottoman state affairs were largely run by the Three Pashas since the Young Turk Revolution in 1908. Mehmed V's only significant political act was to formally declare Jihad against the Entente Powers (Allies of World War I) on 11 November 1914, following the Ottoman government's decision to join the First World War on the side of the Central Powers.