I was watching The Great War on YouTube the other day, specifically the episode about the disastrous Turkish offensive in the Caucasus and the Battle of Sarikamish. The episode mentioned that Enver Pasha, the commanding general in the field at the time, was almost captured by a Russian patrol as the Turks retreated from the town.
First, some background. Enver Pasha was the Ottoman Empire's Minister of War at the time of World War I, and he is commonly attributed for his role in bringing the Empire into the conflict. Specifically, his offer of free access to Turkish waters by German ships and shutting out British, French and Russian ships, and a raid on Sevastopol executed by German cruisers hoisting the Ottoman flag, all on his orders, were what brought the Empire into the conflict on the Central Powers's side. He was the commanding general in the Turkish offensive into the Caucasus, where he hoped to capture the fortress at Kars from the Russians, with Erzurum as a staging point, but was routed at Sarikamish in a battle lasting from December 22, 1914 and January 17, 1915, with factors for the Turkish loss ranging from a lack of supplies reaching the front, cold winter weather, minimal logistical capabilities, terrain, and troop exhaustion from marching and fighting in temperatures as low at -20ºC with a dire shortage of winter equipment like uniforms. So Pasha was defeated and came close to being captured, but made it out, and while he would retain his posting as Minister of War, he would never lead in the field again. When he returned to Constantinople, however, he blamed the Armenians for his loss, and this set the stage for the Armenian Genocide.
So now that that's out of the way, what if Enver Pasha was successfully captured and taken prisoner by that Russian patrol? What would be the response in Russia and the other Entente nations, and what about in Turkey and her allies? How would the Russians treat the man who had ordered an unwarranted and undeclared act of war on Russian home soil? And how would this all shape the outcome of the War?
First, some background. Enver Pasha was the Ottoman Empire's Minister of War at the time of World War I, and he is commonly attributed for his role in bringing the Empire into the conflict. Specifically, his offer of free access to Turkish waters by German ships and shutting out British, French and Russian ships, and a raid on Sevastopol executed by German cruisers hoisting the Ottoman flag, all on his orders, were what brought the Empire into the conflict on the Central Powers's side. He was the commanding general in the Turkish offensive into the Caucasus, where he hoped to capture the fortress at Kars from the Russians, with Erzurum as a staging point, but was routed at Sarikamish in a battle lasting from December 22, 1914 and January 17, 1915, with factors for the Turkish loss ranging from a lack of supplies reaching the front, cold winter weather, minimal logistical capabilities, terrain, and troop exhaustion from marching and fighting in temperatures as low at -20ºC with a dire shortage of winter equipment like uniforms. So Pasha was defeated and came close to being captured, but made it out, and while he would retain his posting as Minister of War, he would never lead in the field again. When he returned to Constantinople, however, he blamed the Armenians for his loss, and this set the stage for the Armenian Genocide.
So now that that's out of the way, what if Enver Pasha was successfully captured and taken prisoner by that Russian patrol? What would be the response in Russia and the other Entente nations, and what about in Turkey and her allies? How would the Russians treat the man who had ordered an unwarranted and undeclared act of war on Russian home soil? And how would this all shape the outcome of the War?