[centre][u][b]The Ottoman Empire[/b][/u] [img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Flag_of_the_Ottoman_Empire.svg/220px-Flag_of_the_Ottoman_Empire.svg.png[/img][/centre] [b]History:[/b] The Ottomans entered the Great War on the 29th of October, 1914, with a surprise attack on Russian Crimea. They entered on the side of the Central Powers but saw action largely in the Caucasus and within their own borders. However, with the exit of the Russian Empire in 1916, the Ottomans gained dominance in the Black Sea and largely concentrated their armies to crushing revolts and holding the Eastern Front. Backed by the British, the Arabs in the Ottomans Levant territories began a huge revolt. Despite the Ottoman's best attempts at crushing the ever present Arab insurgency, it only became larger and more powerful. The Ottoman's possessions were abandoned in all but name by 1920 as the army fell back to Anatolia to defend the homeland. As the war dragged on and the Ottomans became increasingly dependent on the Central Power's help in crushing nationalist insurgencies in their Arab provinces. When a white peace was declared and Europe began the long road of reconstruction, unrest continued in the Ottoman provinces but once again, the Sick Man of Europe was left isolated. The Central Powers, all facing their own internal issues, could no longer subsidise the dying Islamic empire and by 1929, Ottoman forces had largely fallen back to Anatolia. The abandonment of provinces held for centuries left many Turks bitter and unrest began in the urban centres of Turkey. The declaration of a Turkish Republic in Constantinople by disillusioned army officers caused the Sultan, Mehmed VI, to flee the capital. As the revolution began to lose steam in late 1932, a large force of Ottomans loyal to the Sultan crushed it and it's leaders, including a man we would today call Ataturk. The population at large disliked Mehmed VI's government for his perceived abandonment of the Empire and the military declared a Interregnum period of 5 years, during which a new constitution and Sultan were to be chosen. The Military Junta largely concentrated on a reconstruction of the Empire's remnants and it came to a surprise in 1937 when a relatively unknown member of the House of Osman was crowned as Osman IV. Under the Third Constitution, the Sultan was delegated as a figurehead to the so-called Second Empire and wide-sweeping liberal reforms swept over Turkey. Basing the Second Empire on the United Kingdom as a symbol of stability, Islamic law was abandoned completely in favour of a secular Empire, although the Sultan was still recognised as the Caliph of Islam. The remaining minorities in the Empire were all enfranchised and the head of the military even issued an apology to the families of Pontic Greeks and Armenians who's families had been effected by "brutal military conditions during a time of extreme political stress". Liberal reforms, as promising as they seemed, did not last long. While a majority of the empires subjects were placated with notions of freedom of speech and religion, in practice very little changed. The Gizli, a secret police established in the 30's by the military junta, remain at large and people have been known to disappear or discouraged from expressing certain opinions in the name of national security. Romantic notions of re-conquering the lost territories are ever-present in the Ottoman Empire and since the early 50's, the Ottomans have begun sowing the seeds of pro-Turkish revolt in Cyprus, Tataria and parts of the Caucasus. In the early 40's, the Ottoman government began a programme of settling Turkish-speaking peoples into Ottoman Kurdistan (an autonomous region in South-Eastern Anatolia) in order to encourage economic development there. This created tensions among the Kurds who saw it as a form of assimilation. Large tracts of traditionally Kurdish land were bought cheaply from local tribes and given to loyal Ottoman citizens, usually richer men from a military background. An political party, known as the Kurdish National Movement, and its paramilitary wing, the Kurdish National Force, have grown quickly in recent years due to the Ottoman's heavy handed response in dealing with dissent. Despite being an illegal organisation, the KNF has become bolder and attracted many young, educated Kurds. The Ottoman intelligence organisations have become increasingly concerned by the radicalism expressed by these organisations. It is now 1960 and in his yearly address to the public, Osman IV announced that the days of a dying Empire were over. The 1960's were to be "the Ottoman decade", a quote that worried many in the lost territories and beyond. 30 years of peace have allowed the state to grow and consolidate. Some are already bidding farewell to the liberal decades and are preparing for a decade of upheaval and change. The Sick Man of Europe, while battered black and blue, has once again began a march in the name of Islam. [b]Other:[/b] The Ottoman Empire consists of just the European side of Constantinople and Anatolia, including the autonomous region of Kurdistan and excluding the parts of Greater Armenia found in today's Turkey. (look at 0th post) [hider=Characters] [b]Gub'ament[/b] Osman IV, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and claimant to the Caliphate. Selim Kazantzoglou Pasha, the Grand Vizier and Great War veteran. Mehmed Adiloglo Pasha, Director of the Derin Gizli, an internal intelligence agency in the Ottoman Empire. [b]Security/Army[/b] Operative Cem, a DG agent with a love of cigarettes and hair gel. Muhammad, the fabulous, Arab head of the Reformed Janissary Security Corps that act as the Sultans bodyguards. Dervish, an Ottoman officer who served with present Grand Vizier Selim in the Great War. Agent Emir, a Foreign Intelligence agent involved with Melik Demir and the Cypriots. Agent Yusuf, Emir's partner. [b]Ambassadors[/b] Fuad Pasha, Ambassador to the Ethiopians. Erdem Mehmedoglo Pasha, Plenipotentiary Ambassador from the Ottoman Foreign Ministry to the Berlin Conference/Concert of Europe/Whatever we're calling it. [b]Civilians[/b] Melik Demir - A Turkish-Cypriot businessman with investments in real estate and agriculture across Cyprus, Turkish nationalist. [/hider] [hider=Post Catalogue] [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4527922]The One where the Ottomans strike a deal with Melik[/url] [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4535320]Foreign Intelligence negotiate with Melik, explosion in Turkish Kurdistan[/url] [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4542579]Selim meets with the Sultan, flashback to the Great War, letter sent to European Monarchies[/url] [/hider]