Muslim Attack on Australian Picnic Train: 1915 at Broken Hill

Gun Watch ^ | 7 July, 2019 | Dean Weingarten

[schurmann]

“...If you go to the link in the article, it details nearly everything you wrote.” [marktwain, post 20]

Interesting.

I missed the links on initial run-thru. Thanks for unscrambling my oversight.

Were you referring to the New Zealand government history link, or the history.com link?

I am suspecting the conclusions of researchers don’t agree on some of the points here.

The NZ link says Enver Pasha ordered Souchon into the Black Sea to attack Russian facilities & vessels; one of my principal sources claims Souchon decided to do it himself, and was allowed to press the attack with tacit connivance by Enver Pasha. The Ottoman government was riven by internal strife, with many factions competing and pursuing disparate goals.

I’d been drawing much of the interpretation from Robert K Massie’s _Castles of Steel_, pages 47-51 of the Random House hardbound First Edition (2003). Haven’t gone into primary sources.

Though I’ve never seen it anywhere in print, I get the impression that the Allies did not truly grasp the extent to which German interests had penetrated the Ottoman government and influenced the Turks to lean toward Germany.

[marktwain]

The History.com link.

As you note, there are different interpretations of the events.

I find it interesting that the Ottomans were so divided and subject to factions.

Do you know what the structure was for them having a “Prime Minister”? Did they have elections?

[schurmann]

“...Do you know what the structure was for them having a “Prime Minister”? Did they have elections?” [marktwain, post 22]

Regret to report my knowledge of Ottoman governmental structure & processes is pretty thin. Outward indications are that performance was very spotty: indifference, inertia, indecision. At other junctures: masterful indirection, technical competence, stone-like patience, savagery, relentless oppression.

A history much longer than what we Americans are used to dealing with. Clues visible on the surface didn’t always match what was going on away from public view.