1940: Turkey

Turkey, a republic in the Near East, found herself involved as were many other countries, in the meshes of the great war.

In 1939 Turkey had already concluded an alliance with Great Britain and France, and thus entered the year 1940 not as a neutral but as a non-belligerent. In that respect her attitude resembled that of Italy on the other side. At the same time, Turkey was bound to the Soviet Union by ties of a long-standing friendship. The pact between the Soviet Union and National Socialist Germany rendered the Turkish position difficult. Thus in 1940 Turkey had to play a careful diplomatic game which was conditioned by five factors: (1) her distrust of Italy's wishes for expansion in the Eastern Mediterranean and of Germany's push southeastward; (2) her reliance upon Great Britain to protect Turkey against this danger; (3) her reliance upon the friendship of the Soviet Union and the latter's interest in not allowing the establishment of hostile control over the Dardanelles; (4) Turkey's membership in the Balkan Entente and her general interest in the preservation of peace and of the status quo in the Balkans; and finally, (5) her interest in maintaining peace in Western Asia, where she has pacts of friendship with neighboring Iran and Iraq and where she does not wish to be outflanked by Syria's falling into hostile hands. With these factors in view, Turkey maintained her alliance with Great Britain intact without entering the war actively, but strengthened her internal defenses and her military preparations, thus remaining one of the strongest elements of order in the chaotic conditions which developed in Southeastern Europe as a result of the new order imposed by the Axis powers.

Turkey entered the year 1940 weakened by the heavy damages caused by an earthquake at the end of December 1939, which devastated large parts of Anatolia along the coast of the Black Sea. Turkish watchfulness against any possible Axis plots led to the discovery of subversive plans of German experts employed at the Turkish navy yards as part of a big sabotage plot. As a result, the Turkish Government dismissed a large number of German technicians and expelled some of the National Socialist experts. Authoritative sources said that the Government had uncovered evidence of a network of German agents ready to perpetrate explosions, train wrecks and other havoc throughout the Near East on a signal from Berlin.

On Feb. 12 Turkey concluded a new trade treaty with Great Britain in an effort to increase commerce between the two nations. Britain was to send airplanes, machinery, and cotton and to receive in return raw materials including tobacco and dried fruit. At the same time Turkey put her economic, financial and military structure in shape to cope with a possible extension of the European war to the Near East in the spring. Prime Minister Refik Saydam declared on Feb. 29 that the relations between Turkey and the Soviet Union had remained unchanged.

The entrance of Italy into the war and the subsequent armistice with France changed the Turkish situation. There was fear of an approaching British defeat and of Italy's advance into Syria and the Eastern Mediterranean. It was said that Germany would exercise strong pressure for the formation of a Turkish Cabinet under the pro-Nazi General Ali Ikdam Sabis, who had retired several years before after a dispute with Kemal Ataturk, the leader of Turkey. But the Turkish Government maintained firmly the line of policy which it had followed up to this point. It increased its military preparedness so as to be fully prepared in case of an Axis attack or in case of a Bulgarian advance which was supposed to be imminent with Axis support. Turkey also declared her strong interest in seeing Syria kept free from Axis control.

The enigmatic attitude of the Soviet Union increased the apprehensions of Turkey. Turkey concluded on June 26 an agreement with Iraq for the joint defense of Iraq and the French mandated territory of Syria against any outside attack. Barred by the war activities from the Mediterranean and reluctant to be drawn into the sphere of German economy, Turkey was looking southeastward for new economic connections. In that direction she was helped by the completion of the Baghdad railroad, which connects Scutari on the Bosphorus opposite Istanbul with Baghdad in Iraq, across Anatolia, after the final missing link near Mosul on the Tigris River was completed. Thus it makes Turkey able to use the port of Basra on the Persian Gulf for its commerce. But formidable obstacles remain before this route can really be made useful, while the most natural outlet for Turkish commerce, once the Mediterranean is closed, would be the overland route through the Balkans to Germany.

Germany tried accordingly to improve her trade with Turkey, but the political situation forced Turkey to be wary of the incessant German propaganda and intrigues. During the late summer, Turkey arrested and expelled several German commercial agents under the suspicion that they conducted espionage. Germany also tried to create unfriendly relations between the Soviet Union and Turkey by publishing a White Book alleging that Turkey wished to enter the war in order to attack Russia, a charge that later was recognized as unfounded. Strong pressure was exercised upon Turkey to abandon the alliance with Great Britain.

President Ismet Inonu informed the Turkish National Assembly on November 1 that Turkey would remain loyal to her friendships and that her obligations and ties of collaboration were unshakable. In an important speech he drew the lesson from the fact that Great Britain's resistance against Germany's aggression was unbroken and that Italy had invaded Greece in spite of Greece's efforts to maintain neutrality. He stressed the relations of mutual confidence with the Soviet Union, which have returned to normal friendship after experiencing difficulties caused by outside influences. 'At a time,' he said in conclusion, 'when England carries on a heroic struggle for its existence under difficult conditions, it is my duty to proclaim that the bonds of alliance which unite us to her are solid and unbreakable.' As the result of this speech, which was received with great satisfaction in Great Britain, it was believed that Turkey would not enter the war actively unless first attacked or directly menaced by Bulgaria's participation in the hostilities on the side of the Axis, but that she would on the other hand stand guard over the Straits and the Near Eastern oil fields in the security of which Great Britain is vitally interested. The tone of the Turkish press was outspokenly pro-British and violently anti-Italian. The continuing successes of the Greeks against the Italians during November and December not only pleased the Turks, but seemed to remove the danger of Turkey's immediate involvement. The fact that Bulgaria did not join the Axis officially in November and that she seemed to hold out against German demands for the passage of German troops through Bulgaria, increased Turkish efforts to arrive at an understanding with Bulgaria and to ease the Balkan situation by renewed efforts at a closer cooperation among the Balkan countries. Turkey proceeded quickly with her military preparation, especially after the discovery and smashing of a vast German spy ring in which persons of various nationalities, including Germans and Turks, were involved. The country was put into a state of pre-war preparedness, but the approaching winter which makes military movements in the Balkans almost impossible seemed to point towards a comparative rest until the coming spring. The efforts of the German Ambassador, Franz von Papen, to bring Turkey into the 'new order' proved of no avail. This firm stand taken by Turkey helped definitely to alleviate the situation in the Near East. On Dec. 4, the Turkish and the British governments concluded arrangements to bring about a considerable increase in trade between Turkey and the British Empire. This economic move was destined to counter-balance Germany's economic penetration of the Balkans.