CHAPTER IV

The tide of war--Enver's offensive for the "liberation of the Caucasus"--The Dardanelles Campaign; the fate of Constantinople twice hangs in the balance--Nervous tension in international Pera--Bulgaria's attitude--Turkish rancour against her former enemy--German illusions of a separate peace with Russia--King Ferdinand's time-serving--Lack of munitions in the Dardanelles--A mysterious death: a political murder?--The evacuation of Gallipoli--The Turkish version of victory--Constantinople unreleased--Kut-el-Amara--Propaganda for the "Holy War"--A prisoner of repute--Loyalty of Anglo-Indian officers--Turkish communiqués and their worth--The fall of Erzerum--Official lies--The treatment of prisoners--Political speculation with prisoners of war--Treatment of enemy subjects--Stagnation and lassitude in the summer of 1916--The Greeks in Turkey--Dread of Greek massacres--Rumania's entry--Terrible disappointment--The three phases of the war for Turkey 75