That Winston Churchill tried to entice Turkey into the war is common knowledge. His secret motivation for doing so is much less well known.
Maybe the Turks were just bad at picking the winning side. The Allies reorganized as an ally with Britain and France following their victory over the Central Powers in October 1939 during World War I. Four days after the fall of Paris, Turkish President Ismet Inönü feared his country might be on the wrong side again. To rectify the situation, he signed the German-Turkish Treaty of Friendship, setting the terms for Turkey’s indefinite neutrality.
The major powers taunted each other for five years, but Inönü skillfully turned down invitations to fight from both sides. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill took a particularly aggressive interest in luring Turkey to the Allied camp. After the war, Churchill invented a number of reasons why he needed Turkey’s help, but secret War Cabinet documents provide a different explanation for his intense diplomatic and commercial efforts toward the Turks. Churchill made an effort to hide the fact that he would need Turkey’s help, either directly or indirectly, in order to carry out his intended invasion of the Balkans.
Turkey, wedged between the opposing forces of World War II, performed a delicate balancing act. The country negotiated a complicated web of political and economic alliances while remaining neutral in the face of conflict, helping Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution and conducting business with German companies at the same time.
A Nation Caught in the Crosshairs
As the flames of World War II engulfed Europe, Turkey found itself in a precarious position. Bound to Great Britain and France by a 1939 military alliance, the nation shifted to a policy of non-belligerency in June 1940 after the fall of France With the German occupation of the Balkans and the signing of a German-Turkish Treaty of Friendship in June 1941, Turkey adopted a stance of “active neutrality”
This neutrality was born out of necessity. The threat of Luftwaffe bombers loomed large, capable of leveling Turkish cities overnight. Yet, Turkey harbored an even greater fear: a victorious Soviet Union eyeing its strategic ports and waterways. This animosity stemmed from a long history of conflict, with 17 wars fought between Turkey and Russia since 1568, the majority resulting in Russian victories.
Economic Ties and Strategic Importance
Germany held significant economic sway in Turkey. German banks, insurance companies, and firms engaged in various sectors thrived in the Turkish landscape. These German interests included giants like I.G. Farben, Krupp, and Bayer, highlighting the depth of economic entanglement.
In 1941, a crucial trade agreement was struck between Germany and Turkey. This pact involved the exchange of Turkish raw materials, particularly chromite ore, for German war materials, iron and steel products, and other manufactured goods This agreement drew Turkey further into the Axis orbit, with the nation supplying nearly 100% of Germany’s chromite requirements by 1943. According to Albert Speer, Hitler’s Armaments Minister, the German war machine would have ground to a halt without this vital resource.
A Balancing Act: Allies, Axis, and Jewish Refugees
Throughout the war, Turkey sought to maintain a delicate balance juggling the needs and expectations of both the Allies and the Axis. While engaging in substantial trade with Germany Turkey maintained friendly relations with the Allies, who provided the nation with modern military equipment. The Allies sought to minimize the impact of Turkey’s exports to Germany by preemptively purchasing products, particularly chromite, at inflated prices. This shrewd maneuvering allowed Turkey to conduct a robust commerce with both sides, boosting its gold reserves from 27 tons to 216 tons by the end of 1945.
Beyond its economic maneuvering, Turkey played a significant role in the rescue of Jewish victims of Nazism. An estimated 100,000 Jewish refugees passed through Turkey during the war. The Turkish government actively participated in rescue missions, dispatching trucks and ships to neighboring Balkan nations. Istanbul became a central hub for Jewish representatives, facilitating the escape of victims from Central and Southeastern Europe and their onward journey to Palestine.
Shifting Tides: From Neutrality to War Declaration
Turkey refused calls to enter the war as 1943 morphed into 1944 despite continuing to receive military support from the Allies. However, the tide began to turn as Allied pressure intensified. Threats of economic sanctions, similar to those placed on other neutral countries, supported persuasive strategies and purchases that were made with reservations.
In response, Turkey halted chromite exports to Germany in late April 1944 and suspended all commercial and diplomatic relations with the nation in August 1944. Finally, in late February 1945, Turkey declared war on Germany. However, this declaration did not translate into active combat participation alongside the Allies.
Neutrality’s Impact: Advantages and Missed Opportunities
Turkey’s neutrality during the war presented both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, it hindered Germany’s ability to enter the Middle East and impeded the establishment of an Arab coalition. It also prevented the Allies from establishing a Second Front in the Balkans and prohibited goods from entering the Straits for delivery to Russia.
However, this neutrality also came at a cost. The Allies were unable to establish a foothold in the Balkans, limiting their strategic options. Furthermore, Turkey’s lucrative trade with Germany raised ethical concerns, particularly regarding the acquisition of gold looted from occupied Europe.
Post-War Tensions and the Restitution Question
Following the war, Allied efforts to gain Turkish support for the Safehaven program, aimed at locating and securing German external assets, proved futile. However, negotiations commenced regarding the restitution of looted monetary gold and the application of liquidated German external assets to European reconstruction.
Estimates placed the total value of German external assets in Turkey at over $51 million in 1945, potentially reaching $71 million by 1946. While Turkey expressed willingness to discuss these assets, they insisted on prioritizing the settlement of Turkish war claims against Germany before sharing the remainder with the Allies.
A Shift in Priorities: Containment and the Abandonment of Restitution Efforts
In 1946, a major change in relations overshadowed the Allied pursuit of agreements with Turkey regarding gold and assets, which caused the pursuit to stall. The United States saw Turkey as a key component of the newly emerging Western containment strategy due to the impending Soviet threat to the Dardanelles and the border between the Soviet Union and Turkey.
The Truman Doctrine, announced in March 1947, extended aid not only to Greece but also to Turkey, solidifying this strategic partnership. This shift in priorities effectively doomed negotiations with Turkey over gold and assets. In July 1947, Turkey offered to return over $4.3 million in gold but remained unwilling to meet further Allied demands for information.
By 1951, the Allies agreed to relinquish their claims to German assets in Turkey in exchange for the resolution of the gold issue. A May 1952 note to the Turkish Foreign Minister confirmed the settlement of the gold issue for $1 million, relinquishing Allied claims to German assets and allowing Turkey to retain the proceeds from their liquidation.
Ultimately, Turkey did not return any monetary gold, and no proceeds from liquidated German external assets ever reached the Allies. This outcome marked the culmination of a complex and often contentious relationship between Turkey and the Allies during and after World War II.
Turkey’s journey through World War II was a testament to its ability to navigate a complex and perilous landscape. Caught between warring factions, the nation maintained a precarious neutrality, balancing economic ties with Germany against the need to appease the Allies. While this neutrality presented both advantages and disadvantages, it ultimately allowed Turkey to preserve its sovereignty and emerge from the war relatively unscathed.
The nation’s role in facilitating the escape of Jewish refugees stands as a testament to its humanitarian efforts, while its post-war stance against Soviet expansionism solidified its position as a key player in the Cold War era. Turkey’s experience during World War II serves as a reminder of the intricate interplay between politics, economics, and human compassion in the face of global conflict.
Churchill’s Overtures to Turkey
In January 1943, Churchill and U. S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt met at Casablanca and outlined the future of Allied grand strategy. Despite conflicts between American and British staff members during the week, the British “Mediterranean strategy” emerged victorious. The British plan called for Turkey to be drawn further deeply into the war, as well as for an invasion of Italy. Churchill suggested that the best way to accomplish this would be to have a face-to-face meeting with the Turkish leadership on Turkish soil.
That meeting took place at Adana, Turkey, over the last two days of January 1943. On the first day of the conference, Turkish Chief of Staff Marshal Fevzi Cakmak provided a brief summary of the equipment his troops would require to be ready for combat. The enormous quantities of equipment included 2,300 tanks, 2,600 guns, and 120,000 tons of aviation fuel. Cakmak also requested trucks, other motor transport, and locomotives complete with coal. As the shocked British delegation took notes, Marshal Cakmak blasted the British for not granting his long-standing request for 500 fighter planes.
In his meeting with President Inönü, Churchill agreed to increase Allied supplies to Turkey. In return, Inönü promised nothing more than to reconsider Turkish neutrality. When Churchill inquired about the possibility of Allied air bases in Turkey, Inönü again made no assurances. As long as Axis forces were positioned in Bulgaria, they could threaten Istanbul, the economic center of Turkey. Until this threat was removed or more military assistance was received, the Turks would remain neutral. Remarkably, two days following the Adana Conference, Churchill wrote to President Roosevelt declaring that his visit to Turkey had been a “great success.” “Unbeknownst to his American allies, Churchill had a very good and very covert reason to invest so much diplomatic and financial energy in bringing Turkey into the war.”
A Military Unprepared For War
Ismet Inönü did not initially seem to be the most cunning or shrewd leader of World War II. Those who have met the Turkish president characterize him as a small, wiry man with a soft voice. For a man his size, he had large shoes to fill. The great Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the first president of the young Turkish Republic, died ten months before the start of World War II. Following his demise, Ismet Inönü, Atatürk’s foremost lieutenant, assumed leadership of the nascent republic amid a global period of turmoil.
Inönü was a sensible choice for president, despite the fact that no one could have foreseen the severity of the impending conflict. Speaking French, German, and English, he had spent 17 years in the Turkish military, rising from the rank of lieutenant to general. As a successful commander, he was elevated to War Ministry adviser and then prime minister in 1923. It was June 11, 1940, when Ismet Inönü finally found himself president. His information suggested that Turkey’s armed forces were unprepared for a significant conflict, which was most likely the primary factor in Turkey’s decision to declare its neutrality. As soon as Hitler attacked the Soviet Union, Inönü consistently maintained that Germany would never win the war. It was more for pragmatic purposes that he steadfastly kept Turkey a neutral party.
Shortly after Turkey proclaimed its neutrality, both the Axis and Allied forces made overtures to persuade the Turkish people to join them. From the beginning, Winston Churchill spearheaded the Allied effort to buy Turkey’s loyalty. As early as the fall of 1941, U. S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull gave assurances to British Ambassador Lord Halifax that the British would be allowed to lead the negotiations with Ankara. The Allies immediately began shipping war materials to Turkey, but Churchill strictly controlled the flow to ensure that there would only be enough for defensive requirements. If the German military’s fortunes appeared to be declining, Churchill felt that the best way to convince the Turks to join the Allied camp would be to provide them more aid.
Why was Turkey Neutral in WW2?
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