Osman Reborn; The Survival of Ottoman Democracy [An Ottoman TL set in the 1900s]
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Chapter 46: Diplomatic and Political Moves
Chapter 46: Diplomatic and Political Moves
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“Imperial Conferences, or as they were known before 1907; Colonial Conferences, are periodic gatherings of the governmental leaders of the autonomous regions and countries of the British Empire. All of the Conferences have been held in London, the seat of the Empire, and the British Crown/Monarchy, which is what unites the Dominions of the Empire together. Since 1907, the governments of all the dominions and UK agreed that all of the meetings would need to take place on grounds of governmental service rather than simple meetings between diplomats during royal occasions. In accordance with this memorandum, Imperial Conferences took place in 1911, 1915, and 1918, and all of these largely took place to deal with the repercussions of the Great War, both economically and diplomatically. The next imperial conference was slated to take place between 12 July and 5 August in London, the United Kingdom, and there were four major topics that were pervading all of the participating countries.
The Anglo-Japanese Alliance was to expire on the 13th of July, 1921, and the issue of its renewal was called into one of the agendas of the conference. Growing tensions with Russia after the Great War was called the Second Agenda of the Conference, whilst the question of an alliance with the Ottoman Empire became the third agenda. The question of the autonomy of the Dominion’s legislatures from the Westminster Parliament also became a part of the agenda, thereby becoming the last main agenda during the Imperial Conference.
the 1921 Imperial Conference.
The 1921 Imperial Conference became the first Imperial Conference in which India was represented as a ‘Non-Dominion But Self-Governing Colony’, represented by the Secretary of State for India, Viscount Peel, and Khengarji III in his capacity as Maharao of Cutch, and finally V.S. Srinivasa Sastri as the Member of the Council of State of India. The members of the 1921 Imperial Conference were:-
The first major agenda, as listed above, was the question of the renewal of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. At the beginning of the Great War, Sir Edward Grey, hoping to keep Japan satisfied with enough gains, but not enough to challenge British supremacy of the Pacific Ocean, engaged in several diplomatic meetings with the Japanese Empire. In late 1915, the Japanese Empire, and the British Empire signed a secret agreement wherein the northern Mariana Islands and several smaller German islands in the region were ceded to Japan, alongside 8 million pounds being granted to Japan as compensation for Australian and New Zealander claims to the other islands that Japan had their eyes on. Throughout the war, the Japanese proved to be a faithful ally, and the Imperial Japanese Navy patrolled the Indian and Pacific Oceans, escorting over 600,000 ANZAC forces and 1,000,000 Indian troops to British Africa and into the Mediterranean. In early 1916, with the political situation in Great Britain changing, the Japanese further increased their participation in the war by starting to send squadrons into the Mediterranean which escorted key French and British convoys in the region, saving several thousand convoys from being sunk by Italian and Austrian submarines operating in the region. Japan emerged from the war economically dominant in the eastern Hemisphere, and no eastern power could call themselves the dominant economic powerhouse other than Japan. Japan’s industrial production outstripped all others in the hemisphere. As economic nationalism rose in the Japanese Empire, other powers began to rumble with discontent. The Island Empire of the Pacific was after the Great War, one of the Greatest Powers of the World. China, who was trying to create its own powerful indigenous companies growled in annoyance as Japanese goods dominated their market, the Russians became increasingly worried with their naval weakness in the Far East, and the American government was becoming worried about the increasing prominence of Japanese goods in the Western Coast of the USA. The USA was also not unaware of the Japanese involvement in the American-Filipino War and that had also led to cold relations between Tokyo and Washington.
Australian Prime Minister William Hughes
At the Peace Conference of the Great War in Versailles, Australian Prime Minister William Hughes led the opposition to Japan’s request of recognition of racial equality, fearing it would be a veiled demand for a revision of Australia’s infamous racial immigration legislation. France and Britain were more open to the demands, and whilst small pro-equality points were included in the treaty, for fear of autonomy and revolt in the vast French and British colonial empires, a full declaration of equality for all racial groups had not been integrated into the treaty, much to Japanese anger and Australian relief.
With the fall of Imperial Germany, and the rise of Imperial China, the British Empire no longer needed Japan in maintaining the integrity of her empire, and the threats to its stability were becoming more internal than external after the Great War. After the Great War, there was only one country left that could combat the British Empire on equal terms; the United States of America, (Russia had become too economically dependent on the UK during the Great War to become an efficient threat), but war between the UK and the USA was unthinkable for both Washington and London, and something that would take the most absurd of events to take place in order to produce a war between the two Anglophone countries. Therefore neither Japan nor Britain needed the protection of an alliance for defensive purposes. The Anglo-Japanese Treaty no longer served vital British interest, and yet the agreement began to threaten amicable relations between the United States and the United Kingdom, but also between the relations between the mother country of Britain and the children country of the Dominion of Canada; which was in accord with the American attitude to Japan.
Australia, New Zealand and Canada were all directly concerned with the renewal of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, and the tendency in Australasia of viewing the treaty as a protection against Japanese aggression and expansion in the South Pacific was widespread. Also, on the other hand, neither Australia nor New Zealand were anxious to contribute heavily into the alliance, fearing a possible Japanese advance, both militarily and diplomatically. Japanese proposals for racial equality had also antagonized Australia, into making large imperative expenditures for the military and naval defense of the ‘White Australia’ program. Despite this, Prime Minister Hughes of Australia was willing to support the renewal of the alliance, on the condition that modifications were made which avoided awkward questions about race, and ethnicity whilst also trying to maintain American friendliness to the Australian economy.
Massey of New Zealand adopted a more pro-Japanese stance, but even he was not willing to accept a treaty with Japan without modifications, citing the ‘old fear of Yellow Immigration’. The press of Canada on the other hand came out against the renewal of the treaty, with the popular newspaper Montreal Star calling the alliance a ‘destruction of Canadian Immigration Policy’. Similarly the Canadian delegation were starting to fear the growing Japanese economic dominance of their Pacific Coast and were starting to become as anti-Japanese as the Australians. Prime Minister Hughes of Australia suggested that a new conference be held at another date to include both Japanese and American delegations as well, but he warned that it would also be unwise, considering the rising tensions between Japan and America over the Second American-Filipino War. On the eighth day of the conference, both Australian and New Zealander Prime minister delivered their memorandum on the issue of the renewal, declaring,
…….New Zealand and Australia, while appreciating Japan’s assistance in the Great War, have resolved to remain White Men’s Countries. They had prepared plans for a big scheme, firstly only imperial and lastly only European immigration into their countries. The scheme will presently be launched and will emphatically object to a renewal of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty which is unjustified, considering Russia stands as an ally, and Germany as a menace has been removed, and America is ready to make common cause in the event of a Japanese Peril. The question must be properly thrashed out….[2]
When Canadian Prime Minister Meighen stated his belief to firmly oppose any sort of renewal of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty as well, the British and South Africans, who were willing and in favor of renewing the treaty were forced to acquiesce, and the Anglo-Japanese Treaty was not renewed by London. This led to a flurry of emotions, and Anglo-Japanese relations were broken for the rest of the two decades. [1]
Despite British economic dominance in Russia following the Great War, tensions with Russia had been growing. Ever since 1707, the British had followed a policy of not allowing any single power gaining absolute power in the European Continent, and now with the destruction of Imperial Germany, only the Empire of Danubia and the French Republic stood as possible counters to Russia, and France was allied to Russia, whilst Danubia alone would be able to put up a good fight, but wouldn’t be able to win against any Russian onslaught. Where Russia had lost their influence in the Far East and Pacific, they had increased their influence in Europe, which was threatening Imperial interests. As a result, the Imperial Conference of 1921, debated the idea of a new Anglo-Ottoman Alliance aimed against Russian interests in Southern Europe. Ottoman advance in the military and economic sectors had meant that an alliance with the Ottomans seemed like a good idea for all members involved, however some hesitation continued in the members of the Imperial Conference. In particular, there were fears that a repeat of 1828 – 1876, wherein the Ottomans had managed to reform and bounce back from being the Sick man of Europe to again rapidly failing in front of Russia would be repeated. As such, by the end of the Imperial Conference, the powers of the British Empire agreed to extend a treaty of mutual assistance (but not alliance) with the Ottoman Empire, regarding the territorial sovereignty of the British and Ottoman Empires.
Finally, the last agenda was the question of legislative independence of the Dominions from the jurisdiction of the Westminster Parliament. The United Kingdom itself was a supporter of such an idea, but needed to tie in the British Empire’s dominions under her rule in different manners as well. As a result, the Salisbury Declaration was issued during the 1921 Imperial Conference of the British Empire in London by the Marques of Salisbury, the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom. It declared the UK and the Dominions to be:
…..autonomous communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate to one another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by a common allegiance to the Crown, a common foreign and defense policy, and freely associated members of the British Commonwealth of Nations…….[3]
An Empire wide commission consisting of New Zealanders, Australians, British, Canadians and South Africans, called the Commonwealth Inter-relation Committee (CIC) was created by the conference to flesh out the full details of this new relationship between the center of the empire, the UK, and the Dominions, for a time period of 7 years.
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“The anti-democratic ideals of Tsar Nicholas II and the pro-Democratic positions of Russian Prime Minister Sergey Muromtsev made it sure that a complex situation arose in Russian politics. In particular, the Russian Prime Minister was painfully aware of the fact that British and French goods dominated the Russian market, and that economically, the country was dependent on these two countries to keep their economy in line. The Russian Prime Minister was well aware that some Russian industries, such as Coal, Oil, Gold, Copper, Cast Iron, Iron and Steel, and Egg were extremely powerful and lucrative, however all other facets of the Russian industry were extremely weak and underdeveloped. The Russian Empire was still predominantly agrarian and the GDP per Capita was excruciatingly low, with only Portugal having a lower GDP per Capita than Russia in Europe, and the Ottomans matching a steady balance with the Russians on per capita terms. Muromtsev was well aware of this fact, and he wished to increase the service sector of the economy and make it more beneficial to the Russian people as a whole. Similarly, the creation of the Realm of Poland, which was sort of like a Dominion for the Russian Empire, was something that had made several nationalities in the Russian Empire demand something similar as well. Muromstev knew that something like that was an impossibility, however he was amenable to several more reforms which would ensure that minority rights were assured. In particular Muromstev heard the plight of Finnish nationalists and stopped the second phase of the Russification program in Finland, with support of the Finnish Senate.
Nicholas II, meanwhile was watching all of these reforms with an increased eye that was beginning to dislike all of the reforms that were being propagated by the Russian government. His ears turned to the nobility of the empire, all of whom were angered by the new reforms, which would empower the people, and make the traditional nobility in Russian disenfranchised of much of their power and influence over the common populace. On one occasion, visited by his British cousins and relatives, Nicholas II tried to broach the topic of creating the nobility of Russia in the same manner as Britain, or Danubia, which ensured that power and wealth remained with the nobles, whilst the people were enfranchised as well. This idea was horrible in the minds of the nobility as they rationalized that unlike Great Britain and Danubia, the Russian Empire had a massive leftist movement, which would certainly take advantage of such a system. As such the proposal was shot down by the Russian nobility and landowner class.
Prominent nobles, and autocrats in the Russian nobility, like the Archdukes of Belozoro and the families of Kazan began to whisper in the ears of the Tsar, and Tsar Nicholas II was starting to become paranoid about rumors flying around that he was going to be replaced by Tsarevich Alexei, who was more amenable to be the hands off monarch that Muromstev so desired.
Tsarevich Alexei of Russia in 1925
Princess Eudoxia of Bulgaria
Alexei, at the age of 17, was a capable young prince, capable, and held a deep compassion and kindness, however he was also known to be firm in his dealings and his debates with the nobility of Russia. As such, the perfect man for a semi-liberal Tsar of Russia. However, Alexei’s Hemophilia meant that he was also extremely vulnerable, and even the smallest of wounds posed the threat of fatality to the young prince. And it was almost assured that he wouldn’t live past 50. As a result, Tsar Nicholas II first started to try and distract his young son from politics wherein he couldn’t get involved. Nicholas II, knowing that his son would come of age the next year, began to lobby the nobility of his empire, and outside, to try and find a potential spouse for Alexei. Alexei was a hemophiliac, however men couldn’t pass the disease on, so despite some apprehension, there were many volunteers to become the next Russian Empress. Among several prominent candidates were Princess Ileana of Romania, Princess Eudoxia of Bulgaria, Princess Elena Georgievna, Countess Stefan Tyszkiewicz, etc, it was finally decided that Princess Eudoxia of Bulgaia would be the wife of Alexei. Alexei, decided to go to Bulgaria, to meet his future wife, and to court her and to know her better. Eudoxia herself was eager to meet her new intended, and formally extended an invitation to the Russian Tsarevich. Nicholas II, in his growing paranoia, was all the willing to have his son leave the country for a small period of time, and with suitable security, Alexei left for Bulgaria. With his pesky son, who was always badgering for more reformist ideals out of the way, Nicholas II turned his attention to Muromstev. On the allegation of embezzlement, Nicholas II had Muromstev ousted from the position of Prime Minister of Russia on the 18th of August, 1921, and had him replaced with Peter Berngardovich Struve, who was a member of the ruling Constitutional Democratic Party.
Struve was an ardent pro-monarchical advocate within the Constitutional Democratic Party, and though he was a liberal, much like Muromstev, his liberal ideas were more in line with the ideas of Tsar Nicholas II himself, and as a result, he found himself, with imperial aid, rising the ranks of Russian politics extremely fast. Struve wasn’t a bad prime minister. He continued a moderate industrialization policy which reinforced the natural resource extraction industry of the Russian Empire, which allowed for greater credit and greater revenue to flow into the Russian Empire, and while he didn’t overturn Russian nationalistic policies, he did give some figurative olive branch policies to minorities, and increased studies in Belarusian, Ukrainian and Finnish, however he remained ruthless to his opponents, and several political purges were undertaken under his reign as Prime Minister.
Peter Berngardovich Struve, Russia's new Prime Minister
However Nicholas II using his constitutional rights to remove Muromstev without a political crisis in government sparked extreme resentment, and made republicanism a more appealing factor to many in the Russian government. In particular, Alexander Kerensky, who had risen to become the leader of the Trudoviks in 1920, was known to have been involved in several anti-monarchist groups in the Russian political sphere, began to push for more reforms which would transform Russia into a figurehead monarchy at best and a republic at worst. In this ideal, Kerensky found aid from Lev Kamenev, the leader of the Left Coalition in the Russian State Duma, who was also known for having republican leanings. Kamenev was known to be an enigma as a leftist communist politician, and he had at times spouted ideas of a ‘communist monarchy in Russia’ [4] which was frankly, an idea atrocious to both socialists and monarchists in Russia. He called for an absolute constitutional and figurehead monarchy and at times wasn’t shy of calling for a republic either. A governmental pact formed between the Left Coalition and the Trudoviks on the 7th of September, 1921 made it clear that that two political factions would become allied with one another in their goal for a figurehead/full constitutional monarchy in Russia without the interference of Tsar Nicholas II to stop reforms.
The old Russian Imperial Eagle was the symbol of Russian Guildism.
Similarly, other political developments were taking place as well. Influenced by Serbian radicalism and German Guildism, Pavel Rafalovich Bermondt-Avalov, a prominent ultra-Russian nationalist, and the leader of the Don Cossacks within the Imperial Russian Army formed the Russian Guildist Council, which followed guildist principles of ultra-nationalism. In contrast to German and Serbian Guildism, the Russian version of guildism was extremely anti-Semitic, calling upon conservative and traditional Judaism, and encouraged Russification throughout the state. Their manifesto, Diya Nashikh Russkikh Narodov (Для наших русских народов) (For Our Russian Peoples) was also extremely popular in many segments of Russian society.
As such, Russian politics was starting to become quickly polarized, and the people were quickly choosing political sides, which was bound to make problems in the future. The foundations for the Russian Civil War were being laid down……” Russian Civil War: 1930 – 1936; a History © St. Petersburg Imperial Publishing, 1999.
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“1921 had no great elections inside of the Ottoman Empire, however two key important elections were slated to take place within the Empire in 1921, which would prove to be a precursor to the 1922 Ottoman General Election and the 1922 Senatorial Elections. The Governorship Elections were slated to be held in 1921 in the Vilayet of Salonika, and after much appropriation and negotiations, the first non-partisan election was going to take place within the Principality of Samos.
The Governor of Salonika was Ali Ferid Pasha, who was a member of the ruling CUP party. He wasn’t a particularly bad Governor, however his policies of deferring to the central government, sometimes made it feel to the Vilayet that the autonomy of the region was not being respected by its governor. Much of the economic upliftments of the region also came at the hands of the central government and not the governor, who liked to keep a hands off attitude to the region, which soured opinions against him. To compete against his re-election as Governor, was former Senator Reshid Akif Pasha. Reshid Pasha was a Greco-Albanian politician within the Ottoman Empire, and as such, he was more appealing to the majority Greek population of the Vilayet as well. He had been governor of Sivas from 1901 to 1908, and he had once been the minister of the interior, and from 1910 – 1921, he had been the senator for Ioannina before resigning early in the year to go after his intention of being governor. No one could thus say that Reshid Akif Pasha was not experienced.
In particular, the greatest issues and concerns during the elections that were taking place in the Vilayet, was the issue of coastal vs inland problems. The Vilayet of Selanik was increasingly being focused only on the coastal regions, and the populace of the inland portions of the vilayet agitated for more inclusion of inland Selanik in developmental plans and economic upliftments. The development of the campaign for the elections, was also quite fractious, as other regional parties in the Vilayet like the Poale Zion, Ottoman Socialist, Ottoman Liberal, Ottoman Social Democrat, Greek Nationalist parties managed to clog up campaign speeches, and campaign regions as well. In particular, several early campaign moves were drowned out in particular by the Greek Nationalist Party led by Kyriakos Kyritsis, who was determined to boycott the elections, and call it into question, whilst also frustrating electoral campaigns of everyone else involved. Reshid Pasha enlisted the aid of economist Mehmed Cavit Bey to form an economic policy that could see him elected as governor. Mehmed Cavit outlined a new economic policy, which cut into the partial austerity measures of Ali Ferid, and created more service economic opportunities for both the coastal and inland members of the vilayet. This manifesto also expanded on railway and hospital policies, and was published by Reshid Pasha during the campaign. Mehmed Cavit Pasha was also an influential politician in his own right, and his influence in the region allowed Reshid Pasha to gain more votes as well.
However during the campaign, there were isolated incidents of politically motivated violence as well, largely consisting of the Greek and Bulgarian nationalists of the region, who were involved in political attacks at the parties that they opposed. Nonetheless, while this was upsetting, they were only small and few and far between, and the election went on. Most crucially, Reshid Pasha also managed to gain the endorsement of Emmanuel Carasso, the Deputy of the Ottoman Parliament for Salonika. Carasso, a prominent Sephardic Jews in Ottoman Governmental Service, managed to give the challenger to the current governor a great deal of Jewish votes as well.
During the elections that took place in early July, Reshid Akif Pasha managed to win 316,292 votes against his rival, who won 284,421 votes, and managed to take the mantle as Governor of the Salonica Vilayet. As a member of the Liberal Union, Reshid Pasha managing to break Salonika’s pro-CUP attitude was going to be a prelude to the 1922 Ottoman General Elections.
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During the Greek Revolution of 1821-29, the Island of Samos had rebelled against the government of the Ottoman Empire in favor of the Greek Revolution, however their proximity to the heart of the Ottoman Empire meant that the rebellion in the island was stamped out fast. Nonetheless, as a compromise, the Principality of Samos was created by the Ottomans, which allowed Samos to exist as a semi-autonomous entity within the Empire. In 1914, the Ottomans abolished the system of handpicking the Prince of Samos, and allowed non-partisan elections for the position take place. However, ever since that time, Grigorios Vegleris, the Prince of Samos after 1915, began to become involved in creating a fully functioning partisan democracy within the Samian lands of the Ottoman Empire.
For six years he had persevered and had supported the Ottoman Empire throughout the Balkan War to prove his loyalty to the Ottoman State, and his policies of expanding Greek studies in the island was also moderately paced, to gain the support of the Ottoman Empire. On the 3rd of February, 1921, the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies convened to discuss the draft that he forwarded, which called for a full partisan democracy within the Principality of Samos, and its devolved Assembly. The act was heated, and debated a lot. The Committee of Union and Progress was not eager to grant the draft, and Riza himself was not pleased with the act, however cross-party support from the Liberal Union and the Ottoman Socialist Party made sure that the act passed in the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies with a margin of 153 – 135. As such, the first partisan elections in Samos were going to be held in September of 1921.
In particular, the support of Meletius IV of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople aided the act to pass. However Meletius IV’s involvement raised eyebrows. He was known to be a supporter of Prime Minister Venizelos of Greece, and there were questions of Greek involvement in the process. Nonetheless, his aid in passing the act through was extremely instrumental nonetheless.
As the government of both Samos and the Ottoman Empire began to prepare for the first partisan elections, two parties came to the forefront. The Liberal Samian Party had been a political group founded by Grigorious Velgeris, and the party was based on the ideology of pro-ottomanism, pro-autonomy, and pro-centrism. It was widely supportive of a welfare state within the Principality of Samos, and gained a lot of support from the ethnic Turks, Jews and Armenians living in the island, as it rejected enosis with the Kingdom of Greece, instead stating that it would support the Ottoman Government as long as it supported the Constitution of 1908, which guaranteed the rights of the island.
The opposition party to the Liberal Samian Party was the Enosis Party led by Themistoklis Sofoulis. Sofoulis was an archaeological student and professor who had been involved in archaeological excavations in Samos before he was elected as a deputy for the islands in 1900. During the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, Sofoulis left Samos due to fear of arrest, and fled to Greece, where he remained a pro-unification agitator. In 1913, his arrest issue was revoked by Ali Kemal on the grounds that he only use political and peaceful means as a means for unification, which Kemal was amenable to. Sofoulis returned, and formed the pro-Unification Enosis Party in Samos, which advocated for unification with the Kingdom of Greece. Economically, the Enosis Party was a Left Nationalist party, and was a supporter of increased funding to the Samian Municipalities and increasing education primarily in Greek above all else, which attracted Greek votes, but alienated the Turkish and Jewish votes.
Samians going to listen to a Campaign speech in 1921
The main issue during the campaign in the election was the question of unification with Greece. Many moderates pointed out that the Ottoman Empire, by sheer weight of population, would have a larger economy than Greece, and by its capability as a Great Power would be able to protect them from foreign threats that Greece might not be able to. The Liberal Samian Party (LSP) also attacked the Greek centric view of the Enosis Party, pointing at the noticeable Turkish and Jewish population of the island, who would be alienated by the greek-centric policies that the Enosis Party promised. The Enosis Party focused on the Greek population of the island, and instead promised that a unification with Greece in a democratic manner would allow ‘an amicable but complete divorce with the Ottoman Empire’. As such the slogan ‘Amicable Divorce’ or Filikó diazýgio in Greek became the catchphrase of the Enosis Party’s campaign.
Finally when the time came to go to polls, the Liberal Samian Party managed to gain a total plurality of the votes, winning 41.4% or 6,607 votes and gaining 22 seats in the 53 seats Samian Assembly. The Enosis Party gained 4,996 votes (31.3%) and gained 16 seats in the Assembly. Independents took up 14 seats (most independents were largely neutral to the idea of unification with Greece and voted mostly on economic and social issues) whilst 1 speaker was appointed by the Ottoman Government. Due to no party or political group gaining majority, Vegleris formed a minority government within the legislature with his Liberal Samian Party and some pro-LSP independents at the helm. As such, in the contingent elections, he was re-elected as the Prince of Samos, whilst his preferred candidate, Alexandros Stavridis [5], was elected to be President of the Samian Assembly, which allowed him to consolidate his power over the Assembly as well.
The first partisan election of the Principality of Samos was something to behold truly, and would set the tone for the Enosis vs Anti-Enosis politics that would dominate the island until the end of the Second Great War. It would also prove that centrism as an ideology was growing in the Ottoman Empire, and set the tone for the 1922 Ottoman General Election.” Ottoman Political History: A Definitive Record; Book 6 (1920 – 1930) © University of Constantinople, 2018.
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[1] – Information and some quotes from More Light on the Abrogation of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance by Merze Tate and Fidele Foy
[2] – Real Memorandum otl as well. Also sad reality is that Australia and NZ were very racist even for their time.
[3] – Based on Balfour Declaration of 1926.
[4] – true story. He submitted an idea to Lenin in 1902 calling for a communist monarchy in Russia.
[5] – Has some relation to the famous singer /actor Nikos Stavridis, from what I read. Uncle? Is pointed out according to records.
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“Imperial Conferences, or as they were known before 1907; Colonial Conferences, are periodic gatherings of the governmental leaders of the autonomous regions and countries of the British Empire. All of the Conferences have been held in London, the seat of the Empire, and the British Crown/Monarchy, which is what unites the Dominions of the Empire together. Since 1907, the governments of all the dominions and UK agreed that all of the meetings would need to take place on grounds of governmental service rather than simple meetings between diplomats during royal occasions. In accordance with this memorandum, Imperial Conferences took place in 1911, 1915, and 1918, and all of these largely took place to deal with the repercussions of the Great War, both economically and diplomatically. The next imperial conference was slated to take place between 12 July and 5 August in London, the United Kingdom, and there were four major topics that were pervading all of the participating countries.
The Anglo-Japanese Alliance was to expire on the 13th of July, 1921, and the issue of its renewal was called into one of the agendas of the conference. Growing tensions with Russia after the Great War was called the Second Agenda of the Conference, whilst the question of an alliance with the Ottoman Empire became the third agenda. The question of the autonomy of the Dominion’s legislatures from the Westminster Parliament also became a part of the agenda, thereby becoming the last main agenda during the Imperial Conference.
the 1921 Imperial Conference.
The 1921 Imperial Conference became the first Imperial Conference in which India was represented as a ‘Non-Dominion But Self-Governing Colony’, represented by the Secretary of State for India, Viscount Peel, and Khengarji III in his capacity as Maharao of Cutch, and finally V.S. Srinivasa Sastri as the Member of the Council of State of India. The members of the 1921 Imperial Conference were:-
King-Emperor: George V of the United Kingdom
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom: Austen Chamberlain
Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom: Lord Curzon
Secretary of State for the Colonies: The Duke of Devonshire
Prime Minister of Australia: William Hughes
Prime Minister of Canada: Arthur Meighen
Minister of Naval Service of Canada: Charles Ballantyne
Secretary of State of India: the Viscount Peel
Maharao of Cutch: Khengarji III
Representative of the Council of State of India: V.S. Srinivasa Sastri
Prime Minister of New Zealand: William Massey
Prime Minister of South Africa: Jan Smuts
The first major agenda, as listed above, was the question of the renewal of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. At the beginning of the Great War, Sir Edward Grey, hoping to keep Japan satisfied with enough gains, but not enough to challenge British supremacy of the Pacific Ocean, engaged in several diplomatic meetings with the Japanese Empire. In late 1915, the Japanese Empire, and the British Empire signed a secret agreement wherein the northern Mariana Islands and several smaller German islands in the region were ceded to Japan, alongside 8 million pounds being granted to Japan as compensation for Australian and New Zealander claims to the other islands that Japan had their eyes on. Throughout the war, the Japanese proved to be a faithful ally, and the Imperial Japanese Navy patrolled the Indian and Pacific Oceans, escorting over 600,000 ANZAC forces and 1,000,000 Indian troops to British Africa and into the Mediterranean. In early 1916, with the political situation in Great Britain changing, the Japanese further increased their participation in the war by starting to send squadrons into the Mediterranean which escorted key French and British convoys in the region, saving several thousand convoys from being sunk by Italian and Austrian submarines operating in the region. Japan emerged from the war economically dominant in the eastern Hemisphere, and no eastern power could call themselves the dominant economic powerhouse other than Japan. Japan’s industrial production outstripped all others in the hemisphere. As economic nationalism rose in the Japanese Empire, other powers began to rumble with discontent. The Island Empire of the Pacific was after the Great War, one of the Greatest Powers of the World. China, who was trying to create its own powerful indigenous companies growled in annoyance as Japanese goods dominated their market, the Russians became increasingly worried with their naval weakness in the Far East, and the American government was becoming worried about the increasing prominence of Japanese goods in the Western Coast of the USA. The USA was also not unaware of the Japanese involvement in the American-Filipino War and that had also led to cold relations between Tokyo and Washington.
Australian Prime Minister William Hughes
At the Peace Conference of the Great War in Versailles, Australian Prime Minister William Hughes led the opposition to Japan’s request of recognition of racial equality, fearing it would be a veiled demand for a revision of Australia’s infamous racial immigration legislation. France and Britain were more open to the demands, and whilst small pro-equality points were included in the treaty, for fear of autonomy and revolt in the vast French and British colonial empires, a full declaration of equality for all racial groups had not been integrated into the treaty, much to Japanese anger and Australian relief.
With the fall of Imperial Germany, and the rise of Imperial China, the British Empire no longer needed Japan in maintaining the integrity of her empire, and the threats to its stability were becoming more internal than external after the Great War. After the Great War, there was only one country left that could combat the British Empire on equal terms; the United States of America, (Russia had become too economically dependent on the UK during the Great War to become an efficient threat), but war between the UK and the USA was unthinkable for both Washington and London, and something that would take the most absurd of events to take place in order to produce a war between the two Anglophone countries. Therefore neither Japan nor Britain needed the protection of an alliance for defensive purposes. The Anglo-Japanese Treaty no longer served vital British interest, and yet the agreement began to threaten amicable relations between the United States and the United Kingdom, but also between the relations between the mother country of Britain and the children country of the Dominion of Canada; which was in accord with the American attitude to Japan.
Australia, New Zealand and Canada were all directly concerned with the renewal of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, and the tendency in Australasia of viewing the treaty as a protection against Japanese aggression and expansion in the South Pacific was widespread. Also, on the other hand, neither Australia nor New Zealand were anxious to contribute heavily into the alliance, fearing a possible Japanese advance, both militarily and diplomatically. Japanese proposals for racial equality had also antagonized Australia, into making large imperative expenditures for the military and naval defense of the ‘White Australia’ program. Despite this, Prime Minister Hughes of Australia was willing to support the renewal of the alliance, on the condition that modifications were made which avoided awkward questions about race, and ethnicity whilst also trying to maintain American friendliness to the Australian economy.
Massey of New Zealand adopted a more pro-Japanese stance, but even he was not willing to accept a treaty with Japan without modifications, citing the ‘old fear of Yellow Immigration’. The press of Canada on the other hand came out against the renewal of the treaty, with the popular newspaper Montreal Star calling the alliance a ‘destruction of Canadian Immigration Policy’. Similarly the Canadian delegation were starting to fear the growing Japanese economic dominance of their Pacific Coast and were starting to become as anti-Japanese as the Australians. Prime Minister Hughes of Australia suggested that a new conference be held at another date to include both Japanese and American delegations as well, but he warned that it would also be unwise, considering the rising tensions between Japan and America over the Second American-Filipino War. On the eighth day of the conference, both Australian and New Zealander Prime minister delivered their memorandum on the issue of the renewal, declaring,
…….New Zealand and Australia, while appreciating Japan’s assistance in the Great War, have resolved to remain White Men’s Countries. They had prepared plans for a big scheme, firstly only imperial and lastly only European immigration into their countries. The scheme will presently be launched and will emphatically object to a renewal of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty which is unjustified, considering Russia stands as an ally, and Germany as a menace has been removed, and America is ready to make common cause in the event of a Japanese Peril. The question must be properly thrashed out….[2]
When Canadian Prime Minister Meighen stated his belief to firmly oppose any sort of renewal of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty as well, the British and South Africans, who were willing and in favor of renewing the treaty were forced to acquiesce, and the Anglo-Japanese Treaty was not renewed by London. This led to a flurry of emotions, and Anglo-Japanese relations were broken for the rest of the two decades. [1]
Despite British economic dominance in Russia following the Great War, tensions with Russia had been growing. Ever since 1707, the British had followed a policy of not allowing any single power gaining absolute power in the European Continent, and now with the destruction of Imperial Germany, only the Empire of Danubia and the French Republic stood as possible counters to Russia, and France was allied to Russia, whilst Danubia alone would be able to put up a good fight, but wouldn’t be able to win against any Russian onslaught. Where Russia had lost their influence in the Far East and Pacific, they had increased their influence in Europe, which was threatening Imperial interests. As a result, the Imperial Conference of 1921, debated the idea of a new Anglo-Ottoman Alliance aimed against Russian interests in Southern Europe. Ottoman advance in the military and economic sectors had meant that an alliance with the Ottomans seemed like a good idea for all members involved, however some hesitation continued in the members of the Imperial Conference. In particular, there were fears that a repeat of 1828 – 1876, wherein the Ottomans had managed to reform and bounce back from being the Sick man of Europe to again rapidly failing in front of Russia would be repeated. As such, by the end of the Imperial Conference, the powers of the British Empire agreed to extend a treaty of mutual assistance (but not alliance) with the Ottoman Empire, regarding the territorial sovereignty of the British and Ottoman Empires.
Finally, the last agenda was the question of legislative independence of the Dominions from the jurisdiction of the Westminster Parliament. The United Kingdom itself was a supporter of such an idea, but needed to tie in the British Empire’s dominions under her rule in different manners as well. As a result, the Salisbury Declaration was issued during the 1921 Imperial Conference of the British Empire in London by the Marques of Salisbury, the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom. It declared the UK and the Dominions to be:
…..autonomous communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate to one another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by a common allegiance to the Crown, a common foreign and defense policy, and freely associated members of the British Commonwealth of Nations…….[3]
An Empire wide commission consisting of New Zealanders, Australians, British, Canadians and South Africans, called the Commonwealth Inter-relation Committee (CIC) was created by the conference to flesh out the full details of this new relationship between the center of the empire, the UK, and the Dominions, for a time period of 7 years.
James Gascoyne-Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury
The Man who issued the Salisbury Declaration
Thus with the main agendas completed, the Imperial Conference of 1921 went on towards other smaller matters such as trade, tariffs and the navy……..” A History of Imperial Conferences: 1887 – present. © Penguin Publishing, c. 2020
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“The anti-democratic ideals of Tsar Nicholas II and the pro-Democratic positions of Russian Prime Minister Sergey Muromtsev made it sure that a complex situation arose in Russian politics. In particular, the Russian Prime Minister was painfully aware of the fact that British and French goods dominated the Russian market, and that economically, the country was dependent on these two countries to keep their economy in line. The Russian Prime Minister was well aware that some Russian industries, such as Coal, Oil, Gold, Copper, Cast Iron, Iron and Steel, and Egg were extremely powerful and lucrative, however all other facets of the Russian industry were extremely weak and underdeveloped. The Russian Empire was still predominantly agrarian and the GDP per Capita was excruciatingly low, with only Portugal having a lower GDP per Capita than Russia in Europe, and the Ottomans matching a steady balance with the Russians on per capita terms. Muromtsev was well aware of this fact, and he wished to increase the service sector of the economy and make it more beneficial to the Russian people as a whole. Similarly, the creation of the Realm of Poland, which was sort of like a Dominion for the Russian Empire, was something that had made several nationalities in the Russian Empire demand something similar as well. Muromstev knew that something like that was an impossibility, however he was amenable to several more reforms which would ensure that minority rights were assured. In particular Muromstev heard the plight of Finnish nationalists and stopped the second phase of the Russification program in Finland, with support of the Finnish Senate.
Nicholas II, meanwhile was watching all of these reforms with an increased eye that was beginning to dislike all of the reforms that were being propagated by the Russian government. His ears turned to the nobility of the empire, all of whom were angered by the new reforms, which would empower the people, and make the traditional nobility in Russian disenfranchised of much of their power and influence over the common populace. On one occasion, visited by his British cousins and relatives, Nicholas II tried to broach the topic of creating the nobility of Russia in the same manner as Britain, or Danubia, which ensured that power and wealth remained with the nobles, whilst the people were enfranchised as well. This idea was horrible in the minds of the nobility as they rationalized that unlike Great Britain and Danubia, the Russian Empire had a massive leftist movement, which would certainly take advantage of such a system. As such the proposal was shot down by the Russian nobility and landowner class.
Prominent nobles, and autocrats in the Russian nobility, like the Archdukes of Belozoro and the families of Kazan began to whisper in the ears of the Tsar, and Tsar Nicholas II was starting to become paranoid about rumors flying around that he was going to be replaced by Tsarevich Alexei, who was more amenable to be the hands off monarch that Muromstev so desired.
Tsarevich Alexei of Russia in 1925
Alexei, at the age of 17, was a capable young prince, capable, and held a deep compassion and kindness, however he was also known to be firm in his dealings and his debates with the nobility of Russia. As such, the perfect man for a semi-liberal Tsar of Russia. However, Alexei’s Hemophilia meant that he was also extremely vulnerable, and even the smallest of wounds posed the threat of fatality to the young prince. And it was almost assured that he wouldn’t live past 50. As a result, Tsar Nicholas II first started to try and distract his young son from politics wherein he couldn’t get involved. Nicholas II, knowing that his son would come of age the next year, began to lobby the nobility of his empire, and outside, to try and find a potential spouse for Alexei. Alexei was a hemophiliac, however men couldn’t pass the disease on, so despite some apprehension, there were many volunteers to become the next Russian Empress. Among several prominent candidates were Princess Ileana of Romania, Princess Eudoxia of Bulgaria, Princess Elena Georgievna, Countess Stefan Tyszkiewicz, etc, it was finally decided that Princess Eudoxia of Bulgaia would be the wife of Alexei. Alexei, decided to go to Bulgaria, to meet his future wife, and to court her and to know her better. Eudoxia herself was eager to meet her new intended, and formally extended an invitation to the Russian Tsarevich. Nicholas II, in his growing paranoia, was all the willing to have his son leave the country for a small period of time, and with suitable security, Alexei left for Bulgaria. With his pesky son, who was always badgering for more reformist ideals out of the way, Nicholas II turned his attention to Muromstev. On the allegation of embezzlement, Nicholas II had Muromstev ousted from the position of Prime Minister of Russia on the 18th of August, 1921, and had him replaced with Peter Berngardovich Struve, who was a member of the ruling Constitutional Democratic Party.
Struve was an ardent pro-monarchical advocate within the Constitutional Democratic Party, and though he was a liberal, much like Muromstev, his liberal ideas were more in line with the ideas of Tsar Nicholas II himself, and as a result, he found himself, with imperial aid, rising the ranks of Russian politics extremely fast. Struve wasn’t a bad prime minister. He continued a moderate industrialization policy which reinforced the natural resource extraction industry of the Russian Empire, which allowed for greater credit and greater revenue to flow into the Russian Empire, and while he didn’t overturn Russian nationalistic policies, he did give some figurative olive branch policies to minorities, and increased studies in Belarusian, Ukrainian and Finnish, however he remained ruthless to his opponents, and several political purges were undertaken under his reign as Prime Minister.
Peter Berngardovich Struve, Russia's new Prime Minister
However Nicholas II using his constitutional rights to remove Muromstev without a political crisis in government sparked extreme resentment, and made republicanism a more appealing factor to many in the Russian government. In particular, Alexander Kerensky, who had risen to become the leader of the Trudoviks in 1920, was known to have been involved in several anti-monarchist groups in the Russian political sphere, began to push for more reforms which would transform Russia into a figurehead monarchy at best and a republic at worst. In this ideal, Kerensky found aid from Lev Kamenev, the leader of the Left Coalition in the Russian State Duma, who was also known for having republican leanings. Kamenev was known to be an enigma as a leftist communist politician, and he had at times spouted ideas of a ‘communist monarchy in Russia’ [4] which was frankly, an idea atrocious to both socialists and monarchists in Russia. He called for an absolute constitutional and figurehead monarchy and at times wasn’t shy of calling for a republic either. A governmental pact formed between the Left Coalition and the Trudoviks on the 7th of September, 1921 made it clear that that two political factions would become allied with one another in their goal for a figurehead/full constitutional monarchy in Russia without the interference of Tsar Nicholas II to stop reforms.
The old Russian Imperial Eagle was the symbol of Russian Guildism.
Similarly, other political developments were taking place as well. Influenced by Serbian radicalism and German Guildism, Pavel Rafalovich Bermondt-Avalov, a prominent ultra-Russian nationalist, and the leader of the Don Cossacks within the Imperial Russian Army formed the Russian Guildist Council, which followed guildist principles of ultra-nationalism. In contrast to German and Serbian Guildism, the Russian version of guildism was extremely anti-Semitic, calling upon conservative and traditional Judaism, and encouraged Russification throughout the state. Their manifesto, Diya Nashikh Russkikh Narodov (Для наших русских народов) (For Our Russian Peoples) was also extremely popular in many segments of Russian society.
As such, Russian politics was starting to become quickly polarized, and the people were quickly choosing political sides, which was bound to make problems in the future. The foundations for the Russian Civil War were being laid down……” Russian Civil War: 1930 – 1936; a History © St. Petersburg Imperial Publishing, 1999.
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“1921 had no great elections inside of the Ottoman Empire, however two key important elections were slated to take place within the Empire in 1921, which would prove to be a precursor to the 1922 Ottoman General Election and the 1922 Senatorial Elections. The Governorship Elections were slated to be held in 1921 in the Vilayet of Salonika, and after much appropriation and negotiations, the first non-partisan election was going to take place within the Principality of Samos.
The Governor of Salonika was Ali Ferid Pasha, who was a member of the ruling CUP party. He wasn’t a particularly bad Governor, however his policies of deferring to the central government, sometimes made it feel to the Vilayet that the autonomy of the region was not being respected by its governor. Much of the economic upliftments of the region also came at the hands of the central government and not the governor, who liked to keep a hands off attitude to the region, which soured opinions against him. To compete against his re-election as Governor, was former Senator Reshid Akif Pasha. Reshid Pasha was a Greco-Albanian politician within the Ottoman Empire, and as such, he was more appealing to the majority Greek population of the Vilayet as well. He had been governor of Sivas from 1901 to 1908, and he had once been the minister of the interior, and from 1910 – 1921, he had been the senator for Ioannina before resigning early in the year to go after his intention of being governor. No one could thus say that Reshid Akif Pasha was not experienced.
In particular, the greatest issues and concerns during the elections that were taking place in the Vilayet, was the issue of coastal vs inland problems. The Vilayet of Selanik was increasingly being focused only on the coastal regions, and the populace of the inland portions of the vilayet agitated for more inclusion of inland Selanik in developmental plans and economic upliftments. The development of the campaign for the elections, was also quite fractious, as other regional parties in the Vilayet like the Poale Zion, Ottoman Socialist, Ottoman Liberal, Ottoman Social Democrat, Greek Nationalist parties managed to clog up campaign speeches, and campaign regions as well. In particular, several early campaign moves were drowned out in particular by the Greek Nationalist Party led by Kyriakos Kyritsis, who was determined to boycott the elections, and call it into question, whilst also frustrating electoral campaigns of everyone else involved. Reshid Pasha enlisted the aid of economist Mehmed Cavit Bey to form an economic policy that could see him elected as governor. Mehmed Cavit outlined a new economic policy, which cut into the partial austerity measures of Ali Ferid, and created more service economic opportunities for both the coastal and inland members of the vilayet. This manifesto also expanded on railway and hospital policies, and was published by Reshid Pasha during the campaign. Mehmed Cavit Pasha was also an influential politician in his own right, and his influence in the region allowed Reshid Pasha to gain more votes as well.
However during the campaign, there were isolated incidents of politically motivated violence as well, largely consisting of the Greek and Bulgarian nationalists of the region, who were involved in political attacks at the parties that they opposed. Nonetheless, while this was upsetting, they were only small and few and far between, and the election went on. Most crucially, Reshid Pasha also managed to gain the endorsement of Emmanuel Carasso, the Deputy of the Ottoman Parliament for Salonika. Carasso, a prominent Sephardic Jews in Ottoman Governmental Service, managed to give the challenger to the current governor a great deal of Jewish votes as well.
During the elections that took place in early July, Reshid Akif Pasha managed to win 316,292 votes against his rival, who won 284,421 votes, and managed to take the mantle as Governor of the Salonica Vilayet. As a member of the Liberal Union, Reshid Pasha managing to break Salonika’s pro-CUP attitude was going to be a prelude to the 1922 Ottoman General Elections.
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During the Greek Revolution of 1821-29, the Island of Samos had rebelled against the government of the Ottoman Empire in favor of the Greek Revolution, however their proximity to the heart of the Ottoman Empire meant that the rebellion in the island was stamped out fast. Nonetheless, as a compromise, the Principality of Samos was created by the Ottomans, which allowed Samos to exist as a semi-autonomous entity within the Empire. In 1914, the Ottomans abolished the system of handpicking the Prince of Samos, and allowed non-partisan elections for the position take place. However, ever since that time, Grigorios Vegleris, the Prince of Samos after 1915, began to become involved in creating a fully functioning partisan democracy within the Samian lands of the Ottoman Empire.
For six years he had persevered and had supported the Ottoman Empire throughout the Balkan War to prove his loyalty to the Ottoman State, and his policies of expanding Greek studies in the island was also moderately paced, to gain the support of the Ottoman Empire. On the 3rd of February, 1921, the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies convened to discuss the draft that he forwarded, which called for a full partisan democracy within the Principality of Samos, and its devolved Assembly. The act was heated, and debated a lot. The Committee of Union and Progress was not eager to grant the draft, and Riza himself was not pleased with the act, however cross-party support from the Liberal Union and the Ottoman Socialist Party made sure that the act passed in the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies with a margin of 153 – 135. As such, the first partisan elections in Samos were going to be held in September of 1921.
In particular, the support of Meletius IV of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople aided the act to pass. However Meletius IV’s involvement raised eyebrows. He was known to be a supporter of Prime Minister Venizelos of Greece, and there were questions of Greek involvement in the process. Nonetheless, his aid in passing the act through was extremely instrumental nonetheless.
As the government of both Samos and the Ottoman Empire began to prepare for the first partisan elections, two parties came to the forefront. The Liberal Samian Party had been a political group founded by Grigorious Velgeris, and the party was based on the ideology of pro-ottomanism, pro-autonomy, and pro-centrism. It was widely supportive of a welfare state within the Principality of Samos, and gained a lot of support from the ethnic Turks, Jews and Armenians living in the island, as it rejected enosis with the Kingdom of Greece, instead stating that it would support the Ottoman Government as long as it supported the Constitution of 1908, which guaranteed the rights of the island.
The opposition party to the Liberal Samian Party was the Enosis Party led by Themistoklis Sofoulis. Sofoulis was an archaeological student and professor who had been involved in archaeological excavations in Samos before he was elected as a deputy for the islands in 1900. During the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, Sofoulis left Samos due to fear of arrest, and fled to Greece, where he remained a pro-unification agitator. In 1913, his arrest issue was revoked by Ali Kemal on the grounds that he only use political and peaceful means as a means for unification, which Kemal was amenable to. Sofoulis returned, and formed the pro-Unification Enosis Party in Samos, which advocated for unification with the Kingdom of Greece. Economically, the Enosis Party was a Left Nationalist party, and was a supporter of increased funding to the Samian Municipalities and increasing education primarily in Greek above all else, which attracted Greek votes, but alienated the Turkish and Jewish votes.
Samians going to listen to a Campaign speech in 1921
The main issue during the campaign in the election was the question of unification with Greece. Many moderates pointed out that the Ottoman Empire, by sheer weight of population, would have a larger economy than Greece, and by its capability as a Great Power would be able to protect them from foreign threats that Greece might not be able to. The Liberal Samian Party (LSP) also attacked the Greek centric view of the Enosis Party, pointing at the noticeable Turkish and Jewish population of the island, who would be alienated by the greek-centric policies that the Enosis Party promised. The Enosis Party focused on the Greek population of the island, and instead promised that a unification with Greece in a democratic manner would allow ‘an amicable but complete divorce with the Ottoman Empire’. As such the slogan ‘Amicable Divorce’ or Filikó diazýgio in Greek became the catchphrase of the Enosis Party’s campaign.
Finally when the time came to go to polls, the Liberal Samian Party managed to gain a total plurality of the votes, winning 41.4% or 6,607 votes and gaining 22 seats in the 53 seats Samian Assembly. The Enosis Party gained 4,996 votes (31.3%) and gained 16 seats in the Assembly. Independents took up 14 seats (most independents were largely neutral to the idea of unification with Greece and voted mostly on economic and social issues) whilst 1 speaker was appointed by the Ottoman Government. Due to no party or political group gaining majority, Vegleris formed a minority government within the legislature with his Liberal Samian Party and some pro-LSP independents at the helm. As such, in the contingent elections, he was re-elected as the Prince of Samos, whilst his preferred candidate, Alexandros Stavridis [5], was elected to be President of the Samian Assembly, which allowed him to consolidate his power over the Assembly as well.
The first partisan election of the Principality of Samos was something to behold truly, and would set the tone for the Enosis vs Anti-Enosis politics that would dominate the island until the end of the Second Great War. It would also prove that centrism as an ideology was growing in the Ottoman Empire, and set the tone for the 1922 Ottoman General Election.” Ottoman Political History: A Definitive Record; Book 6 (1920 – 1930) © University of Constantinople, 2018.
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[1] – Information and some quotes from More Light on the Abrogation of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance by Merze Tate and Fidele Foy
[2] – Real Memorandum otl as well. Also sad reality is that Australia and NZ were very racist even for their time.
[3] – Based on Balfour Declaration of 1926.
[4] – true story. He submitted an idea to Lenin in 1902 calling for a communist monarchy in Russia.
[5] – Has some relation to the famous singer /actor Nikos Stavridis, from what I read. Uncle? Is pointed out according to records.
a 6 year civil war? So Poland im guessing breaks away. But can any other places reasonably succeed?
1. Not surprised Russia ending up in a civil war, they are too big full of different ethnicities and religion.
2. I hate how the other countries not accepting the racial equality with Japan (like Australia) that's what ruins relationships with other countries.
3. I'm wondering what's going on with Scandinavia, like what's there opinion with Russia...
That's all I got to say so good luck with this and irl and take your time.
2. I hate how the other countries not accepting the racial equality with Japan (like Australia) that's what ruins relationships with other countries.
3. I'm wondering what's going on with Scandinavia, like what's there opinion with Russia...
That's all I got to say so good luck with this and irl and take your time.
so is the ottomans! Its mainly due to their mismanagement more than anything else
Indeed it does, sadly enough such mentality was common during that time
A future update will contain the Three Scandinavian Brothers, don't worry
not necessarily. There is an imperial publishing in st. Petersburg otl as well, and Russian ain't a monarchy in otl either.
Yah I don’t think the Ottomans can stand another loss to Greece, it was politically wise at the time in 1912 and 1915 but those cases were also due to greater issues and buying time. It also recognized certain political factors such as the great powers in all but name handing Crete over to Greece anyways, and the loss of a few islands that didn’t matter in the long run.
But as we saw with Cyprus it’s not popular anymore, the nations not in a death spiral and people have pride. I imagine the idea of an “amicable divorce” being met with derision and mocking scorn like; “if the Greeks of Samos want a divorce than they have to move out” or other such phrases.
No I imagine the Ottomans are done ceding territory at this point they really should be looking to clean up the borders on the Arab Peninsula. Make it a land of Turks or British protectorates only cause it’s clear the Bedouin’s are just agitating.
But as we saw with Cyprus it’s not popular anymore, the nations not in a death spiral and people have pride. I imagine the idea of an “amicable divorce” being met with derision and mocking scorn like; “if the Greeks of Samos want a divorce than they have to move out” or other such phrases.
No I imagine the Ottomans are done ceding territory at this point they really should be looking to clean up the borders on the Arab Peninsula. Make it a land of Turks or British protectorates only cause it’s clear the Bedouin’s are just agitating.