In reading the August newspapers which described the mobilisations in Europe, I was particularly struck with the emphasis which they laid upon the splendid spirit that was overnight changing the civilian1 populations into armies. At that time Turkey had not entered the war, and her political leaders were loudly protesting their intention to maintain a strict neutrality. Despite these pacific statements, the occurrences in Constantinople were almost as warlike as those that were taking place in the European capitals. Though Turkey was at peace, her army was mobilising, merely, as we were told, as a precautionary measure. Yet the daily scenes which I witnessed in Constantinople bore few resemblances to those which were taking place in Europe. The martial2 patriotism3 of men and the sublime4 patience and sacrifice of women may sometimes give war an heroic aspect, but in Turkey the prospect5 was one of general listlessness and misery6. Day by day the miscellaneous Ottoman hordes7 passed through the streets. Arabs, bootless and shoeless, dressed in their most gaily-coloured garments, with long linen8 bags, containing the required five days’ rations9, thrown over their shoulders, shambling in their gait and bewildered in their manner, touched shoulders with equally dispirited Bedouins, evidently suddenly snatched from the desert. A motley aggregation10 of Turks, Circassians, Greeks, Kurds, Armenians, and Jews, showing signs of having been summarily taken from their farms and shops, constantly jostled one another. Most were ragged11, and many looked half-starved; everything about them suggested hopelessness and a cattle-like submission12 to a fate which they knew they could not avoid. There was no joy of approaching battle, no feeling that they were sacrificing themselves for a mighty13 cause; day by day they passed, the unwilling14 children of a tatterdemalion empire that was making one last despairing attempt to gird itself for action.
These wretched marchers little realised what was the power that was dragging them from the four corners of their country. Even we of the diplomatic group had not then clearly grasped the real situation. We learned afterwards that the signal for{40} this mobilisation had not come originally from Enver or Talaat or the Turkish Cabinet, but the General Staff in Berlin and its representatives in Constantinople, Liman von Sanders and Bronsart, were really directing the variegated16 operation. There were unmistakable signs of German activity. As soon as the German armies crossed the Rhine work was begun on a mammoth17 wireless18 station a few miles outside of Constantinople. The materials all came from Germany by way of Rumania, and the mechanics, industriously19 working from daybreak to sunset, were unmistakably Germans. Of course, the neutrality laws would have prohibited the construction of a wireless station for a belligerent20 in a neutral country like Turkey; it was therefore officially announced that a German company was building this heaven-pointing structure for the Turkish Government and on the Sultan’s own property. But this story deceived no one. Wangenheim, the German Ambassador, spoke21 of it freely and constantly as a German enterprise.
“Have you seen our wireless yet?” he would ask me. “Come on, let’s ride up there and look it over.”
He proudly told me that it was the most powerful in the world—powerful enough to catch all messages sent by the Eiffel Tower in Paris! He said that it would put him in constant communication with Berlin. So little did he attempt to conceal22 its German ownership that several times, when ordinary telegraphic communication was suspended, he offered to let me use it to send my telegrams.
This wireless plant was an outward symbol of the close though unacknowledged association which then existed between Turkey and Berlin. It took some time to finish such an extensive station, and in the interim23 Wangenheim was using the apparatus24 on the Corcovado, a German merchant-ship which was lying in the Bosphorus opposite the German Embassy. For practical purposes, Wangenheim had a constant telephone connection with Berlin.
German officers were almost as active as the Turks themselves in this mobilisation. They enjoyed it all immensely; indeed, they gave every sign that they were having the time of their lives. Bronsart, Humann, and Lafferts were constantly at Enver’s elbow, advising and directing the operations. German officers were rushing through the streets every day in huge automobiles25, all requisitioned from the civilian population; they filled all the restaurants and amusement places at night and celebrated27 their joy in the situation by consuming large quantities of champagne—also requisitioned. A particularly spectacular and noisy{41} figure was that of von der Goltz Pasha. He was constantly making a kind of viceregal progress through the streets in a huge and madly-dashing automobile26, on both sides of which flaring28 German eagles were painted. A trumpeter on the front seat would blow loud, defiant29 blasts as the conveyance30 rushed along, and woe31 to anyone, Turk or non-Turk, who happened to get in the way! The Germans made no attempt to conceal their conviction that they owned this town. Just as Wangenheim had established a little Wilhelmstrasse in his Embassy, so had the German military men established a sub-station of the Berlin General Staff. They even brought their wives and families from Germany; I heard Baroness32 Wangenheim remark that she was holding a little court of her own.
The Germans, however, were about the only people who were enjoying this proceeding33. The requisitioning that accompanied the mobilisation really amounted to a wholesale34 looting of the civilian population. The Turks took all the horses, mules35, camels, sheep, cows, and other beasts that they could lay their hands on, Enver telling me that they had gathered in 150,000 animals. They did it most intelligently, making no provision for the continuance of the species; thus they would leave only two cows or two mares in many of the villages. This system of requisitioning, as I shall describe, had the inevitable36 result of destroying the nation’s agriculture, and ultimately led to the starvation of hundreds of thousands of people. But the Turks, like the Germans, thought that the war was destined37 to be a very short one, and that they would quickly recuperate38 from the injuries which their methods of supplying an army were causing their peasant population. The Government showed precisely39 the same shamelessness and lack of intelligence in the way that they requisitioned materials from merchants and shopmen. These proceedings40 amounted to little less than conscious highwaymanship. But practically none of these merchants were Moslems; most of them were Christians41, though there were a few Jews, and the Turkish officials therefore not only provided the needs of their army, and incidentally lined their own pockets, but they found a religious joy in pillaging42 the infidel establishments. They would enter a retail43 shop, take practically all the merchandise on the shelves, and give merely a piece of paper in acknowledgment. As the Government had never paid for the supplies which it had taken in the Italian and Balkan Wars, the merchants hardly expected that they would ever receive anything for these latest requisitions. Afterward15, many who understood officialdom, and were politically influential44, did recover to the extent of{42} 70 per cent.—what became of the remaining 30 per cent. is not a secret to those who have had experience with Turkish bureaucrats45.
Thus, for most of the population, requisitioning simply meant financial ruin. That the process was merely pillaging is shown by many of the materials which the army took, ostensibly for the use of the soldiers. Thus the officers seized all the mohair they could find; on occasion they even carried off women’s silk stockings, corsets, and babies’ slippers46, and I heard one case in which they reinforced the Turkish commissary with caviar and other delicacies47. They demanded blankets from one merchant who was a dealer48 in women’s underwear; because he had no such stock, they seized what he had, and he afterward saw his appropriated goods reposing49 in rival establishments. The Turks did the same thing in many other cases. The prevailing50 system was to take movable property wherever available and convert it into cash; where the money ultimately went I do not know, but that many private fortunes were made I have little doubt. I told Enver that this ruthless method of mobilising and requisitioning was destroying his country. Misery and starvation soon began to afflict51 the land. Out of 4,000,000 adult male population more than 1,500,000 were ultimately enlisted52, and so about a million families were left without breadwinners, all of them in a condition of extreme destitution53. The Turkish Government paid its soldiers 25 cents a month, and gave the families a separation allowance of $1.20 a month. As a result, thousands were dying from lack of food and many more were enfeebled by malnutrition54. I believe that the Empire has lost a quarter of its Turkish population since the war started. I asked Enver why he permitted his people to be destroyed in this way. But sufferings like these did not distress55 him. He was much impressed by his success in raising a large army with practically no money—something, he boasted, which no other nation had ever done before. In order to accomplish this, Enver had issued orders which stigmatised the evasion56 of military service as desertion, and therefore punishable with the death penalty. He also adopted a scheme by which any Ottoman could obtain exemption57 by the payment of about $190. Still, Enver regarded his accomplishment58 as a notable one. It was really his first taste of unlimited59 power, and he enjoyed the experience greatly.
That the Germans directed this mobilisation is not a matter of opinion but of proof. I need only instance that the Germans were requisitioning materials in their own name for their own use. I have a photographic copy of such a requisition made by{43} Humann, the German naval60 attaché, for a shipload of oil-cake. This document is dated September 29, 1914. “The lot by the steamship61 Derindje which you mentioned in your letter of the 26th,” this paper reads, “has been requisitioned by me for the German Government.” This clearly shows that, a month before Turkey had entered the war, Germany was really exercising the powers of sovereignty at Constantinople.
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1
civilian
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| adj.平民的，民用的，民众的 | |
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martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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patriotism
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| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
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sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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hordes
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| n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 )；部落 | |
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linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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rations
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| 定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量 | |
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aggregation
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| n.聚合，组合；凝聚 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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12
submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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13
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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14
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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15
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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16
variegated
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| adj.斑驳的，杂色的 | |
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17
mammoth
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| n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的 | |
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18
wireless
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| adj.无线的；n.无线电 | |
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industriously
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20
belligerent
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| adj.好战的，挑起战争的；n.交战国，交战者 | |
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21
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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22
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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interim
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| adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间 | |
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24
apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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25
automobiles
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| n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 ) | |
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automobile
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| n.汽车，机动车 | |
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27
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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28
flaring
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| a.火焰摇曳的，过份艳丽的 | |
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29
defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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conveyance
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| n.(不动产等的)转让，让与；转让证书；传送；运送；表达；（正）运输工具 | |
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31
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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32
baroness
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| n.男爵夫人，女男爵 | |
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33
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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wholesale
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| n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售 | |
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mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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37
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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38
recuperate
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| v.恢复 | |
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39
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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40
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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41
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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42
pillaging
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| v.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的现在分词 ) | |
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43
retail
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| v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格 | |
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44
influential
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| adj.有影响的，有权势的 | |
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45
bureaucrats
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| n.官僚( bureaucrat的名词复数 )；官僚主义；官僚主义者；官僚语言 | |
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46
slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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47
delicacies
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| n.棘手( delicacy的名词复数 )；精致；精美的食物；周到 | |
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48
dealer
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| n.商人，贩子 | |
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49
reposing
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的现在分词 ) | |
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50
prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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51
afflict
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| vt.使身体或精神受痛苦，折磨 | |
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52
enlisted
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| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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53
destitution
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| n.穷困，缺乏，贫穷 | |
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54
malnutrition
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| n.营养不良 | |
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55
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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56
evasion
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| n.逃避，偷漏(税) | |
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57
exemption
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| n.豁免，免税额，免除 | |
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58
accomplishment
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| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
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59
unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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60
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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steamship
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| n.汽船，轮船 | |
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