Orient's Erwachen — The East Awakens. The sun rises on a red fez, and the army of Turkey streams out, weapons at the ready. A beautiful design by Heinz Keune.
Orient's Erwachen — The East Awakenssigned: Heinz Keune
In 1800 the Ottoman Empire bordered the Austrian in the Balkans, but until 1913, nations new and old wrested territory from the Ottomans. The Kingdom of Greece won a war of independence in 1832. The Ottoman provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia united in 1861 as an autonomous state before becoming the independent kingdom of Romania in 1878 after the Russo-Turkish War. The Treaty of Berlin ending that War established independence for the Kingdom of Serbia, and the Principality of Bulgaria as a Turkish vassal state. In 1885 Bulgaria significantly expanded by annexing Eastern Rumelia. In 1878, Austria-Hungary seized the right to administer the Ottoman provinces of Bosnia-Herzegovina. When the Young Turks seized power in Turkey in 1908, Austria-Hungary incorporated the territory (to Serbia's dismay).The Young Turks restored the Constitution of 1876 and limited the power of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, deposing him after he attempted a counter-coup the next year, and replacing him with his brother Mohammed V. Among the revolutionary leaders were Ismail Enver, later Enver Pasha.The revolution began on July 24, 1908, and initially promised legal and electoral reforms.In 1912, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, and Greece joined forces against Turkey in the First Balkan War, and captured most of what remained of Turkey's European territory. Greece added Macedonia, Crete, and islands in the Aegean Sea. Serbia and Montenegro each nearly doubled their territory. Albania declared independence.In 1913, Italy defeated Turkey in a war for what became Libya in North Africa.Turkey declared neutrality on August 5, 1914, but on October 29, Turkish ships bombarded Odessa. On November 2, Russia declared war on Turkey, as did Great Britain and France on November 5. On November 11, Turkey counter-declared war on Russia, Britain, and France invoking jihad.
Turkey is a country in Ottoman Empire.
