Our map illustrates the battlefield sectors of the 1914-1918 Western Front. The line of battlefields ran through a wide variety of landscapes from its northern end in the dunes of the West Flanders Belgian coast to the frontier crossing at the village of Pfetterhouse on the Swiss-German (Alsace) border. The Franco-German border east of Belfort and St. Dié is shown on this map as it was in 1914 when war broke out.
Click on a shaded area for the location of the battle sector and a brief comment. Some of the battle sectors are expanded with detailed information pages about the battles fought there, listings of cemeteries, memorials, museums, battle sites, events and visitors’ information.

 Liège (Province of Liège, Wallonia, Belgium)
The Battle and Siege of Liège was the first battle action on the Western Front from 4 August 1914. The city was captured by the Imperial German Army on 16 August 1914.
 Namur (Province of Namur, Wallonia, Belgium)

The Balkans Campaign, or Balkan Theatre of World War I was fought between the Central Powers, represented by Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany and the Ottoman Empire on one side and the Allies, represented by France, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, and the United Kingdom (and later Romania and Greece, who sided with the Allied Powers) on the other side.

Overview[edit]
The prime cause of World War I was the hostility between Serbia and Austria-Hungary. Consequently, some of the earliest fighting took place between Serbia and Austria-Hungary. Serbia held out against Austria-Hungary for more than a year before it was conquered in late 1915.
Dalmatia was a strategic region during World War I that both Italy and Serbia intended to seize from Austria-Hungary. Italy entered the war in 1915 upon agreeing to the Treaty of London that guaranteed Italy a substantial portion of Dalmatia.

The Romanian campaign was part of the Balkan theatre of World War I, with Romania and Russia allied against the armies of the Central Powers. Fighting took place from August 1916 to December 1917 across most of present-day Romania, including Transylvania, which was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time, as well as southern Dobruja, which is currently part of Bulgaria.

The history of the Turkish nation, molded and developed together with political and military order as of its foundations, dates back to five thousand years. This history deeply rooted in Central Asia spread all over the continents owing to the tribal migrations. Turkish nation made her début into the world history with the foundations of the Hun, Göktürk, Uighur states in the east, and with the foundation of the first Oghuz Turkish State, the Seljuk State, in 1040, in the west.

Turkey is located in the Center of the Caucasus, Middle East and the Balkans which are the most unstable regions in the World. Therefore the defense policy is designed to preserve and protect the national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and vital interests of the country. The Turkish Armed Forces missions and responsibilities are clearly stated in the Constitution and determined by laws as to react against new security problems and crises in the new century, to be ready to face the uncertainties, and to ensure the security of Turkey against internal and external risks.

The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; Turkish: Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri, TSK) are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. They consist of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. The Gendarmerie and the Coast Guard, both of which have law enforcement and military functions, operate as components of the internal security forces in peacetime, and are subordinate to the Ministry of Interior. In wartime, they are subordinate to the Army and Navy. The President of Turkey is the military's overall head.

The Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers and fought with Germany during World war I. As a result it was one of the great European empires that were destroyed by the War. Modern Turkey emerged after the War. Turkey remained neutral in World War II. Although often given little attention in World War II histories, this was of major importance in the outcome of the War. Germany's most significant weakness was oil. Turkey would have provided a significant threat to the Soviet Caucasian oil fields and would have provided an important ally to the Germans in their 1942 southern offensive. Turkey almost certainly could have seized the oil fields in Iraq that supplied the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean and the 8th Army in Egypt. Hitler was very interesting in drawing Turkey into the War. And as a World War I ally, there were links. The Germans also had a great deal to offer the Turks, especially the Pan-Turkic nationalists. The Wehrmacht entered the northern Caucausus (July 1942).

Turkey did not want the territories it lost in WW1. There were not many Turks left in the territories Turkey lost due to numerous population exchanges. Their priority was to hang on to those lands that were won after a bloody struggle in the independence war. Ataturk, our founding father has a quote that best underlines Turkey’s priorities after the foundation of the republic - “peace at home, peace in the World”.

Territorial gains that might have occured at the end of the war would not justify risking invasion and devastation and throwing lives away for a fight that did not threaten our existance. (Unlike the British or the Soviets or the Germans after the tide had turned.)

3. Ataturk was not close to axis views:

Turkish War of Independence
The Turkish revolutionaries rejected the Treaty of Sèvres (1920), which had left the Ottoman government in control of substantially less of Anatolia than modern Turkey controls. Following the victory of Atatürk's forces in the War of Independence, the Treaty of Sèvres was substituted with the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), which granted international recognition to the government of Ankara, rather than the Ottoman government in Istanbul.

World War II[edit]

Murad IV (Ottoman Turkish: مراد رابع‎, Murād-ı Rābiʿ; July 26/27, 1612 – February 8, 1640) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empirefrom 1623 to 1640, known both for restoring the authority of the state and for the brutality of his methods. Murad IV was born in Istanbul, the son of Sultan Ahmed I (r. 1603–17) and the ethnic Greek Kösem Sultan.[1] Brought to power by a palace conspiracy in 1623, he succeeded his uncle Mustafa I (r. 1617–18, 1622–23). He was only 11 when he took the throne. His reign is most notable for the Ottoman–Safavid War (1623–39), of which the outcome would permanently part the Caucasus between the two Imperial powers for around two centuries, while it also roughly laid the foundation for the current Turkey - Iran - Iraq borders.

Biography[edit]

Imagine yourself as a young sultan in charge of an empire spanning parts of three continents—Asia, Europe, and Africa—your ancestors brought together through conquests. You are 13 years old and are enthroned in the capital city, Istanbul. You are confronted with the legacy of great rulers before you such as Suleiman the Magnificent and Mehmet the Conqueror. And yet, you are neither a renowned warrior nor an able administrator. How do you leave your mark on the fabric of the city that your forbears coveted and conquered? You commission one of the finest mosques in the heart of the imperial city.

Ahmed I (Ottoman Turkish: احمد اول‎ Aḥmed-i evvel; Turkish: I. Ahmed; April 18, 1590 – November 22, 1617) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1603 until his death in 1617. Ahmed's reign is noteworthy for marking the end of the Ottoman tradition of royal fratricide; henceforth Ottoman rulers would no longer execute their brothers upon accession to the throne.[1] He is also well known for his construction of the Blue Mosque, one of the most famous mosques in Turkey.

Reign[edit]

Ahmed was the son of Mehmed III and Handan Sultan, a Greek slave. When he ascended the throne, his aunts Ayşe Sultan, Fatma Sultan, Mihrimah Sultan, Fahriye Sultan, Mihriban Sultan, and Rukiye Sultan as well as his powerful grandmother Safiye Sultan were still alive. He had two siblings, Mustafa I and a daughter of Mehmed III which was married to Kara Davud Pasha.

The mission of Redhouse Publications is to promote the distribution of books published in Turkey, about Turkey and its culture. We at Redhouse Publications aim, in a small way, to continue the work of “removing the barriers to mutual comprehension” that motivated the work of Sir James Redhouse. Redhouse spent a lifetime writing dictionaries that helped remove the barriers to communication between the Turkish and English speaking worlds. By making books about Turkey available to a wider audience, we hope to promote mutual understanding and dialog between the Turkish and English speaking communities.

• Following the change to the Latin alphabet, the Redhouse dictionaries had to be reproduced in the new alphabet. The 1950 Revised Redhouse Dictionary, English-Turkish was the first to be printed and this was followed by the New Redhouse Turkish-English
• • Following the change to the Latin alphabet, the Redhouse dictionaries had to be reproduced in the new alphabet. The 1950 Revised Redhouse Dictionary, English-Turkish was the first to be printed and this was followed by the New Redhouse Turkish-English Dictionary in 1968 -- with 1,325 pages and definitions for 105,000 words and expressions
• • In the 1960s the publishing program began to diversify into such areas as family life, nature and ecology, travel and Turkish culture... in line with its long-held goals of providing education and understandingNiki Gamm
• Istanbul - Turkish Daily News

Sir James William Redhouse KCMG (30 December 1811- 4 January 1892) authored the original and authoritative Ottoman - English dictionary. He was commissioned by theAmerican Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions for his dictionary. His work was later used as the basis for many Turkish - English dictionaries.
Biography[edit]

Redhouse was born near London, the eldest son of James Redhouse and his wife Elizabeth Saunders. He was orphaned and educated at Christ's Hospital from 1819 to 1826. In 1826 he toured the Mediterranean, Smyrna and Constantinople. He was offered a post by the Turkish government as a draftsman, and as a result learnt Turkish. In 1830 he visited Russia and returned to England in 1834 to publish a Turkish-English dictionary.