As an empire under a single government, the Ottoman Empire had been on the decline since the Seventeenth Century. Composed of many different ethnic groups who spoke several languages other than Turkish, the Empire was divided into several different regional factions which did not mix well with each other. The single unifying factor in the Empire was Islam, but fully 25 percent of the Empire's population was not Islamic by the beginning of the Twentieth Century; this was one of the eventual reasons for the numerous rebellions in the empire, especially in the Ottoman-controlled Balkan territories (Fromkin 34-35).

These "New Turks" of the Committee of Union and Progress (C.U.P.) were successful in forcing the Sultan to restore the constitution in 1908 and finally deposing him in 1909 (Price 83-84). Under the C.U.P., a feeling of nationalism awoke within the Turkish people, replacing the concept of Ottomanism. This nationalism insisted upon an essential "Turkishness" of all which remained in the Empire. It started with cultural and social values, but eventually included political values as well (Kinross 585-86). This new government, however, did not solve the problems and wars continued to break out up through 1913.

The results of the Balkan War convinced the leaders of the C.U.P. that Turkey desperately needed an ally from amongst the great European powers. At the same time, they did not wish for Turkey to be dominated by the European powers; they really wanted a program of economic and military modernization which would eventually bring Turkey up to the same level of power as the European powers. Overtures were secretly made to Britain, the first choice amongst most in Turkey for an ally, but the British government expressed no interest (Moorehead 2-3). Similarly, both France and Russia rebuffed Turkish overtures (Fromkin 46-49).

Secondly, Enver thought that an alliance with Germany (and Austria-Hungary) was more desirable than one with the Entente. He did not want the Turks to become the "vassals of Russia," a traditional fear on the part of the Ottomans. He also was convinced that the Triple Alliance was stronger than the Entente and was going to win the upcoming war (Trumpener 19-20). Many in Turkey disagreed with Enver's assessment of the situation. A young colonel named Mustafa Kemal thought that if the Triple Alliance won the war, Germany would make Turkey a German satellite. If, on the other hand, the Triple Alliance lost the war, as Kemal thought it would, Turkey would lose everything (Kinross 606).

By the beginning of the Twentieth Century, the only European territory which remained under Ottoman control was Macedonia, and this area was a mess. Outnumbered by Christian European residents, the Turkish army in charge of keeping order in the region had its hands full, as rebellious factions began raiding each others' towns. This anarchy drove the Christians into neighboring Bulgaria and Serbia, who had left the Ottoman Empire during the previous century. Realizing the plight of their country, several officers in the Turkish army in Macedonia began plotting to overthrow the Sultan and establish a "new" Turkey, governed more effectively by a stronger central government based upon western European ideas of "democracy" (LaFore 155; Price 82).

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2928
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)