May 9 , 1 9 i 8 
Land & Water 
The Turkish Conspiracy 
The Narrative of Mr. Henry Morgenthau, American Ambassador in Turkey, 
1913-1915 
In this opening chapter of the diplomatic activities at the Sublime Porte before the outbreak of war, 
the scene is set for one of the most thrilling tragedies in the history of the uorld — a tragedy which 
has involved the annihilation of the Armenian people, carried uar anew to earth's most ancient 
battlefi.elds, and brought the sacred city of Jerusalem for a second time under the banner of the Cross. 
In these pages are described vividly the actors, uho took the leading part, by one icho moved freelv 
among them, and had unrivalled opportunities of studying them under most varied circumstances. 
This diplomatic record surpasses in vital interest anything of the kind hitherto published. 
I AM beginning to write these reminiscences of my 
ambassadorsliip at a moment when Gennan'y's schemes 
in the Turkish Empire and the East have achieved an 
apparent success. The Central Powers have dis- 
integrated Russia, have transformed the Baltic and 
the Black Seas into German lakes, and have obtained a new 
route to the East by way of the Caucasus. Germany now 
dominates Serbia, Bulgaria, and Turkey, and regards her 
aspirations for a new Teutonic Empire, extending from the 
North Sea to the Persian Gulf, as practically realised. The 
world now knows, though it did not clearly understand this 
fact three years ago, that Germany precipitated the war to 
destroy Serbia, seize control of the Balkan nations, transform 
Turkey into a vassal state, and thus obtain a huge Oriental 
empire that would form the basis for unlimited world 
dominion. Do these German aggressions in the East mean 
that this extensive programme has succeeded ? 
As I look upon the new map, which shows Germany's 
recent miUtary and diplomatic triumphs, my experiences in 
Constantinople take on a new meaning. I now see the events 
of these twenty-six months as part of a connected, definite 
story. The several individuals that moved upon the scene 
now appear as players in a carefully staged, superbly managed 
drama. I see clearly enough now that Germany had made 
all her plans for world dominion and that the country to which 
I had been accredited as American Ambassador was the 
foundation of the Kaiser's whole political and military 
structure. Had Germany not acquired control of Con- 
stantinople in the early days of the war, hostihties would 
probably have ended a few months after the battle of the 
Marne. It was certainly an amazing fate that landed me, 
a quiet and diplomaticcdly inexperienced business man of 
New York, in this great 
headquarters of intrigue, 
at the very moment when 
the plans of the Kaiser, 
carefully pursued for a 
quarter of a century, were 
about to achieve their 
final success. 
For the work of sub- 
jugating Turkey and trans- 
forming its army and its 
territory into instruments 
of fiermany, the Emperor 
had sent to Constantinople 
an Ambassador who was 
ideally fitted for the task. 
The mere fact that Wij- 
helm had personally se- 
lected Baron von Wangen- 
heim for this post shows 
that he had accurately 
gauged the human quali- 
ties needed for this great 
diplomatic enterprise. 
Wangenheim had for years 
been the Kaiser's personal 
intimate and confidant ; 
he had occasionally spent 
his vacations witii his 
imperial master at Corfu, 
and here, we may be sure, 
the two congenial spirits 
passed many days dis- 
cussing German plans in 
the East. At the time I 
first met him, Wangen- 
heim was fifty-five years 
old ; he had given a 
quarter of a century to 
the dmlomatic service, had 
Henry Morgenthau 
been charge at Constantinople, and Minister to Greece and 
Mexico — his sojourn in the latter country having given him 
a great knowledge of the United States. He had a complete 
- technical equipment of a diplomat ; he spoke German, Eng- 
lish, and French with equal facility, he knew the East thor- 
oughly', and had the widest acquaintance with public men. 
Physically, he was one of the most striking persons I have 
ever known. When I was a boy in Germany, the Fatherland 
was usually symbolised as a beautiful and powerful woman — 
a kind of dazzling Valkyrie ; when I think of modem Ger- 
many, however, the massive, burly figure of Wangenheim 
naturally presents itself to my mind. He stood six feet 
two inches high ; his huge, solid frame, his Gibraltar-like 
shoulders, erect and impregnable, his bold, defiant head, his 
piercing eyes, the whole physical structure constantly pul- 
sating with life and activity — there stands, I say, not the 
Germany which I had known, but the Germany whose 
limitless ambitions had transformed the world into a place 
of horror. And Wangcnheim's every act and every word 
typified this new and dreadful portent among the nations. 
Pan-Germany filled all his waking hours and directed his 
every action. The deification of his Emperor was the only 
religious instinct which impelled him. That aristocratic and 
autocratic organisation of German society which represents 
the Prussian system was, in Wangenheim's eyes, something 
to be venerated and worshipped ; with this as the ground 
work, Germany was inevitably destined, he believed, to rule 
the world. The great land-owning Junker represented the 
perfection of mankind ; " I would despise myself," his 
closest associate once told me, and this represented Wangen- 
heim's attitude as well, "if I had been born in a city." 
Wangenheim divided mankind into two classes, the govern- 
ing and the governed ; 
and he ridiculed the idea 
that the upper could ever 
be recruited from the 
lower. I recall with what 
unction and enthusiasn> 
he used to describe the 
Emperor's caste organiza- 
tion of German estates ;; 
how he had made them 
non-transferable, and had 
even arranged it so that 
the possessors, or the pro- 
spective possessors, could 
not marry without the 
imperial consent. " In this- 
way," Wangenheim would' 
say, " we keep our govern- 
ing classes pure, unmixed 
of blood." Like .all of his 
social order, Wangenheim 
worshipped the Prussian 
military system ; his 
splendid bearing showed 
that he had himself served 
in the army, and, in true 
German fashion, he re- 
garded practically every 
situation in life from a. 
military standpoint. 1 had 
one curious illustration of 
this when I asked Wan- 
genheim one day why the 
Kaiser did not visit the- 
United States. " He would 
like to immensely," he 
replied, "but it would be 
too dangerous. War might 
break out when he was 
cominL' home and thf»- 
