Enver Pasha - Ottoman Hero Or Turkish Traitor?

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• published: 06 Jan 2014
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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 1908 Young Turk Revolution, and is seen as one of the principal orchestrators of the Armenian Genocide and the Assyrian Genocide. 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 increasingly elevated titles as he rose through the ranks, including Enver Efendi (انور افندي‎), Enver Bey (انور بك‎), and finally Enver Pasha, "Pasha" being the epithet Ottoman military officers gained after they were promoted to the rank of Mirliva. After the 1913 Ottoman coup d'état, Enver Pasha became the Minister of War of the Ottoman Empire, forming one-third of the military triumvirate known as the "Three Pashas" (along with Talaat Pasha and Djemal Pasha) that held de facto rule over the Empire from 1913 until the end of the War in 1918. As war minister and de facto Commander-in-Chief (despite only being the de jure Deputy Commander-in-Chief, as the Sultan formally held the title), Enver Pasha was considered to be the most powerful figure of the government of the Ottoman Empire—"the number one man in Istanbul", as many referred to him. At home he was hailed as "the hero of the revolution", Germans were speaking of Turkey as "Enverland", and the British referred to him as "the one whose power was absolute and ambitions were grandiose". Enver's father, Ahmet, was either a bridge-keeper in Monastir or a small town public prosecutor in the Balkans and his mother an Albanian peasant. He studied for different degrees in military schools in the empire and ultimately graduated from the Harp Akademisi with distinction 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 in the 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 countercoup. 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. In 1911, Italy launched an invasion of the Ottoman vilayet of Tripolitania (Trablus-i Garb, modern Libya), starting the Italo-Turkish War. Enver decided to join the defense of the province and left Berlin for Libya. There, he assumed the overall command, but in the end Italy took control of Libya and Enver Bey had to return to Istanbul. In 1912, thanks to his active role in the war, he was made Lieutenant Colonel in 1912. However, the defeat cost the CUP in popularity, and it fell from government, to be replaced by the Liberal Union party. In October 1912, the First Balkan War broke out, where the Ottoman armies suffered severe defeats at the hands of the Balkan League. These military reversals weakened the government, and gave Enver his chance to grab for power. In a coup in January 1913, the Young Turks took power, with Enver as Minister of War, and left the peace negotiations then under way in London. The renewed hostilities only worsened the Empire's situation, however, as the two major remaining strongholds of Adrianople (Edirne) and Yannina fell to the Bulgarians and the Greeks, respectively, forcing the Ottomans to concede defeat at the Treaty of London. In June 1913, however, the Second Balkan War broke out between the Balkan Allies. Enver Bey took advantage of the situation and led an army into Eastern Thrace, recovering Adrianople from the Bulgarians, who had concentrated their forces against the Serbs and Greeks. After this success, Enver Bey became a Pasha, and recognised by some Turks as the "conquerer of Edirne". After these political and military achievements, he helped orchestrate a coup d'état, with which he introduced a military triumvirate that came to be called the "Three Pashas" (Enver Pasha, Talaat Pasha, and Djemal Pasha). In 1914, he was again Minister of War in the cabinet of Said Halim Pasha, and married HIH Princess Emine Naciye Sultan (1898--1957), the daughter of Prince Süleyman, thus entering the royal family as a damat ("bridesgroom" to the ruling House of Osman). His power grew steadily while Europe marched towards total war.