Holy War postcard with a view of Constantinople, Turkey and the Bosphorus and an inset photograph of Sultan Mohammed V. The card is field postmarked January 8, 1916.
Der heilige KriegHoly War
Constantinople, capital of Turkey, also known as Istanbul, which became its sole name in 1930.The 1915 Allied Campaigns in the Dardanelles and Gallipoli were attempts to reach Constantinople and separate Turkey from its allies Germany and Austria-Hungary. With the capital conquered, the Allies would replace the government with one that would support the Entente Allies or remain neutral.The Bosphorus, Dardanelles, and intervening Sea of Marmora connect the Black and Mediterranean Seas and control access to and from Russia's warm water ports. Turkey's entry into the war on the side of the Central Powers severely constrained Russia's access to its British and French allies, its exports of grain and other food, and its imports of weaponry. Constantinople was also symbolically important as the former center of the Eastern Rite Church.In visiting the Caucasus Mountains in December 1914, Tsar Nicholas II was repeatedly told that control of the Straits was vitally important, both politically and commercially, to Russia, and that the country must control the Black Sea and Constantinople.By early 1915, as its allies France and Britain were preparing their offensive, Russia insisted that it receive Constantinople after Turkey's anticipated defeat. On March 8, Paléologue, the French Ambassador to Russia, told Russian Foreign Minister Sazonov that he could rely France settling the question in line with Russia's wishes. On March 12, the Paléologue recorded that Great Britain would also consent provided that Russia agreed that the then neutral zone in Persia would be recognized as in the British sphere of influence. Sazonov immediately agreed.
Constantinople, Turkey is a city in Turkey.
