A child soldier guarding the Dardanelles, points to a sinking folded paper boat. He stands on the northern, European side; a Turkish flag flies on the southern, Asian side. He wears a Turkish fez and what may be a German naval blouse. German officers, sailors, and artillery crews supplemented the Turkish defenders of the Dardanelles. On March 18, 1915, the Turks sank or badly damaged some of the French and British warships trying to break through to Constantinople, leading the Allies to end their attempt to force the Dardanelles.

Dardanellenwacht



Kriwub



Dardanelles Watch



Reverse:

Verlag Novitas, G.m.B.H., Berlin SW 68

Logo; No. 256



Message postmarked August 21, 1916

Other views: Larger, Back

Sunday, March 14, 1915

"In early March, Bedri [Prefect of Police at Constantinople] and Djambolat, who was Director of Public Safety, came to see me. At that time the exodus from the capital had begun; Turkish women and children were being moved to the interior; all the banks had been compelled to send their gold into Asia Minor; the archives of the Sublime Porte had already been carried to Eski-Shehr; and practically all the ambassadors and their suites, as well as most of the government officials, had made their preparations to leave. . . .

At the station stood the trains which were to take the Sultan and the Government and the ambassadors to Asia Minor. They had steam up, ready to move at a moment's notice. We were all awaiting the triumphant arrival of the Allied fleet.

Chapter XVII

When the situation had reached this exciting stage, Enver asked me to visit the Dardanelles. . . ."

Quotation Context

Excerpt from the memoir of Henry Morgenthau, American Ambassador to Turkey from 1913 to 1916. As the Allied naval attempt to force the Dardanelles continued, many in the government and Constantinople expected the Anglo-French fleet to succeed. Turkish War Minister Enver was one of the few who did not, and he invited Ambassador Morgenthau to join him on a visit to the Dardanelles where he would explain his conviction. The morning of March 15, Morgenthau, Enver, the Turkish Minister of Justice, and others sailed across the Sea of Marmora to Gallipoli. 'The sublime porte' is a reference to the gate leading to the government buildings in Constantinople and a metonym for the Turkish government.

Source

Ambassador Morgenthau's Story by Henry Morgenthau, pp. 199 through 202, copyright © 1918, by Doubleday, Page & Company, publisher: Doubleday, Page & Company, publication date: 1918

Tags

1915-03-14, 1915, March, The Allied naval campaign in the Dardanelles, Dardanelles