July 1 8, 19 1 8 Land & Water 
The Turkish Conspiracy — x 
1 1 
M 
Sacking the Foreign Schools 
Narrated by Mr. Morgenthau, late U.S. Ambassador to Turkey 
R. MORGENTHA U continues his account of German domination in Turkey, and relates how, 
under the pretext of closing foreign schools, a policy of spoliation was inaugurated. 
BY this time my relations with Talaat had become 
so friendly that I could talk to him almost as I 
could talk to my own son. . 
"Now, Talaat," I said, "you have got to have 
some one to advise you in your relations with 
foreigners. You must make up your mind whether you want 
me or tlie German staff. 'Don't you think you will make a 
mistake if you place yourself entirely in the hands of the 
Germans ? The time will come when you will need me 
against the Germans." 
"What do you mean by that?" he asked, watching for 
my answer with intense curiosity. 
" The Germans are sure to ask you to do many things you 
don't want to do. If you can tell them that the American 
Ambassador objects, my support may prove useful to you. 
Besides, you know we all expect peace in a few months. 
You know that the Gerhians really care nothing for Turkey ; 
and certainly you have no claims on the Allies for assistance. 
There is only one nation in the world that you can look to 
as a disinterested friend, and that is the United States." 
This fact was so apparent that I hardly needed to argue 
it in any great detail. However, I Jnad another argument 
that struck still nearer home. 
" If 3'ou let the Germans win this point to-day," I said, 
"you are practically in their power. You are now the head 
of affairs, but you are still a civilian. Are you going to let 
the military, represented by Enver and the German staff, 
overrule your orders ? Apparently that is what has 
happened to-day. If you submit to it, you will find that 
they will be running things from now on. The Germans 
will put this country under martial law ; then where will you 
civilians be ? " 
" I am willing to help you," he replied. 
Three Christians for every Turk 
He turned round to his table and began working his tele- 
graph instrument. I shall never forget the picture ; this 
huge Turk, sitting there in his grey pyjamas and his red fez, 
working industriously his own telegraph key, his young wife 
gazing at him through a little window and the late afternoon 
sun streaming into the room. Evidently the ruler of Turkey 
was having his troubles and, as the argument went on over 
the telegraph, Talaat would bang his key with increasing 
irritation. He told me that the pompous major at the station 
insisted on having Enver's written orders— since orders over 
the wire might easily be counterfeited. It took Talaat some 
time to locate Enver, and then the dispute apparently started 
all over again. A piece of news which Talaat received at 
that moment over the wii'e almost ruined my case. After a 
prolonged thumping of his instrument, in the course of which 
Talaat 's face lost its geniality and became almost savage, he 
turned to me and said : 
"The English bombarded the Dardanelles this morning 
and killed two Turks ! " 
And then he added : 
"We intend to kill three Christians for every Moslem 
killed!" 
For a moment I thought that everything was lost. Talaat's 
face reflected only one emotion — hatred of the English. As 
a matter of fact, the English had committed a great error 
in bombarding the Straits so soon, before their nationals 
had left the country, as I now discovered. I had to go over 
much of the ground again, but finally I succeeded in pacify- 
ing Talaat. I saw that he was vacillating between his desire 
to punish the English and his desire to assert his own authority 
over that of Enver and the Germans. Fortunately the latter 
motive gained the ascendancy. At all hazard, he was deter- 
mined to show that he was boss. 
We remained there more than two hours, my involuntary 
host pausing now and then in his telegraphing to entertain 
me with the latest political gossip. Djavid, the Minister of 
Finance, he said, had resigned, but had promised to work 
for them at home. The Grand Vizier, despite his threats, 
had been persuaded to retain his office. Foreigners in the 
interior would not be molested unless Beirut, Alexandretta 
or some unfortified port were bombarded ; in that case they 
would visit punishment on the French and English. Talaat's 
conversation showed that he had no particular liking for the 
Germans. They were overbearing and insolent, he said, 
constantly interfering in military matters and treating the 
Turks with disdain. 
Finally the train was arranged. Talaat had shown several 
moods in this interview ; he had been. by turns sulky, good 
natured, savage, and complaisant. There is one phase of 
the Turkish character which Westerners do not comprehend 
arid that is its keen sense of humour. Talaat himself greatly 
loved a joke and a funny story. Now that he had re-estab- 
lished friendly relations and redeemed his promise, Talaat 
became jocular once mcfre. 
"Your people can go now," he said with a laugh. "It's 
time to buy your candies, Mr. Ambassador!" 
This latter, of course, was a reference to the little gifts I 
had made to the women and children the night before. We 
immediately returned to the station, where we found the 
disconsolate passengers sitting around waiting for a favourable 
word. When I told them that the train would leave in a 
few minutes, their thanks and gratitude were overwhelming. 
Talaat's statement that the German Chief of Staff, 
Bronssart, had really held up this train, was a valuable piece 
of information. I decided to look into the matter further, 
and, with this idea in my mind, I called ne.\t day on Wangen- 
heim. The Turkish authorities, I said, had solemnly 
promised that they would treat their enemies decently ; and 
certainly I could not tolerate any interference in the matter 
from the German Chief of Staff. Wangenheim had repeatedly 
told me that the Germans were looking to. President Wilson 
as the peacemaker ; I therefore used the same argument 
with him that I had urged on Talaat. Proceedings of this 
sort would not help his countrj' wlien the day of the final 
settlement came ! Here, I said, we have a strange situation ; 
a so-called barbarous country, like Turkey, attempting to 
iftake civilised warfare and treat their Christian enemies with 
decency and kindnes.s, and, on the other hand, a supposedly 
cultured and Christian nation, like Germany, which is trying 
to dissuade them from this resolve. " What sort of an impres- 
sion do you think that will make on the American people ? " 
I asked Wangenheim. He expressed a willingness to help 
and suggested, as my consideration for such help, that I 
should try to .persuade the United States to insist on free 
commerce with Germany, so that his country could receive 
plentiful cargoes of copper, wheat, and cotton. This was a 
subject to which, as I shall relate, Wangenheim constantly 
returned. 
Despite Wangenheim's promise I had practically no sup- 
port from the German Embassy in my attempt to protect 
the foreign residents from Turkish ill-treatment. I realised 
that, owing to my religion, there might be a feeling in certain 
quarters that I was not exerting all my energies on behalf 
of these Christian peoples and religious organisations^ — hos- 
pitals, schools, monasteries, and convents — and I naturally 
thought that it would strengthen my influence with the Turks 
if I could have the support of my most powerful Christian 
colleagues. I had a long discussion on this matter with 
Pallavicini, himself a Catholic and the representative of the 
greatest Catholic power. Pallavicini frankly told me that 
Wangenheim would do nothing that wou'd annoy the Turks. 
There was then a constant fear that the English and French 
fleets would force the Dardanelles, Capture Constantinople, 
and hand it over to Russia, and only the Turkish forces, said 
Pallavicini, could prevent such a calamity. The Germans, 
therefore, believed that they were dependent on the good 
graces of the Turkish Government, and would do nothing to 
antagonise them. lividently Pallavicini wished me to 
believe that Wangenheim and he really desired to lielj). 
Yet I knew all the time that Turkey, if the Germans had not 
