The Diary of Enver Pasha during the Turco-Italian War
TRANSLATED BY ABDULLAH BEY (@sigmaturk on X)
21 September 1912
I will try to describe our last battle to you. The sun was sinking on the horizon. It was the calm before sunset; no leaf stirred. A deep silence reigned over the camp. Here and there, Bedouins had gathered joyfully around the banners of their Zawiyas. The leaders of the tribes and military units gathered in my tent to report that their regiments were ready to march. Some of them, as well as the artillery and machine gun unit, had already set out during the day to take up the assigned positions. The order to move out was given, the last officers and leaders left my tent, and soon the sound of their horses’ hooves faded into the desert.
From the flap of my tent I still saw the militia marching by, the officers and sheikhs on horseback ahead in pairs, followed by the men with new Mauser rifles, Italian spoils or older French models slung over their shoulders, among them white-bearded old men with old flintlock rifles by the side of their grandsons. A sergeant led each group of 10 warriors, each group spaced slightly apart. They were usually accompanied by a woman with a bucket of water on her back and a sack of bread on her shoulder. As usual, they encouraged the men with wild shouts.
After giving all my orders, the sun had long set when I mounted my horse and rode out with the staff to the eastern camp. The sky was full of countless stars, and I was reminded —how absurd!— of the painted sky of a large Berlin variety show in a Wintergarten. As we rode down one of the sloping paths of Wadi Derna, we encountered the last groups of Arabs hurrying eastward behind us. They didn’t recognize me and continued on, then one of them called out, “Hey, its him!” They immediately turned back, kissed my knees and cheered us on before vanishing into the night.
Around midnight, we arrived at the tent of the commander of the eastern section. Here I dictated the details of the attack plan to the assembled officers and delivered a short speech to the sheikhs of the Zawiyas. After I shook hands with my soldiers outside the tent, I concluded with reciting a verse from the Koran. A brief murmur; the sound of hooves receding, and around us, it grew quiet.
After I had telephoned with the leaders of the various divisions assembled for the battle and had found everything in order, we set out to reach our battle position on the right flank where the mountain guns had been placed. It was a night march of about four hours. We heard the sound of the picks and spades of our artillerymen who were setting up their guns and throwing up cover. Not far off, the sheikhs of the tribes who formed my escort had paused; their white burnouses glowed through the darkness of the night.
I looked at the watch; only a few minutes were missing before 5 o’clock. Exactly at 5 o’clock, at the appointed hour, lively infantry and machine gun fire on our right flank signaled the attack; Italian artillery responded a few moments thereafter with great ferocity. Aside from the flash of the guns and artillery, nothing could be seen; only after the fire and the confused sounds of the infantry battle could the course of the fight be followed. I was very pleased that the attack had begun precisely at the ordered time.
My gaze tried to pierce the darkness. Only the sounds of fire gave any sense of how the battle was going. After a quarter of an hour, it became relatively quiet; I concluded from this that our forces had penetrated the enemy positions.
At the first light of dawn, our artillery opened fire on the opposite small Italian fort. To get a better overview of the situation, I went further forward just as the sun rose over the horizon. In the center, everything was going well; the Italian positions had been breached, but on our right flank our forces had been pushed back into the first Italian line, which was already behind them. A cavalry charge fixed the enemy in place, but it didn’t last long. Two companies of the Guard with 2 machine guns halted the enemy counterattack and neutralized the threat on my right.
The left flank also seemed endangered due to the enemy’s overpowering strength; even though it had been shattered, by noon it surged forward in a furious and sharp attack to create some breathing air. It was truly heroic.
From my position, I saw the small white and dark dots of the fighters swirling around each other. While I stood motionless and observed the ebb and flow of the battle, I suddenly received heavy shrapnel fire from an Italian battery that had been shelling our artillery so far. When I turned around, I saw, contrary to my orders, my entire staff gathered behind me. A convenient target for the enemy! But we didn’t want to give him the pleasure of making us give up our position despite the shrapnel that exploded in front of us.
On the right flank the enemy gained the upper hand. Our forces had to fall back at first, but then I brought the enemy’s attacks to a halt immediately through a sudden maneuver in the center, to which the right flank quickly joined. This also parried the attack on our left flank, which took up new positions without the enemy daring to harass it. I had gradually become very tired and must have slept soundly on the ground for what must have been an hour.
Towards evening we galloped to the right flank, pursued by a hail of Italian shrapnel. Here the men had entrenched themselves about 100 meters in front of the Italian positions, after having been forced to abandon the initially captured Italian trenches. Their position was unfavorable, as they were not only being shelled from the flank by an Italian armored cruiser, but also threatened by Italian troops that had disembarked. The terrain on this flank was bushy, which helped our movement. I realized that the attack, which was to be repeated in the evening from this flank, would now promise little success. Additionally, the commander of the western section, V., telephoned that the main enemy force, approximately a brigade strong, was gathering in front of our right flank. I therefore felt compelled to break off the battle and ordered a retreat at dusk, taking all the dead and wounded with us. It was a bloody day; a new page in the history of this war had been written.
The outposts maintained contact with the enemy, who, with their 24 battalions, 4 field guns and 6 mountain guns, dared not pursue our flanks and still have not shown themselves. If only their forces were at our disposal! One day, when you learn the truth, you will be astonished.
Our artillery did not abandon its duty and held its ground against artillery ten times stronger, silencing four of the enemy batteries. Our losses amounted to 185 wounded and 98 martyrs, one of them an officer. But unfortunately this battle had no influence on the outcome of the war.
23 September 1912
On top of all my other annoyances, the Egyptian commissariat is now causing me severe frustration. Now that I’m expecting money, I’m told that 15,000 Turkish pounds of my funds have been spent this month. I am furious! What terrible fools! What good is an apology now? To make up for the shortfall, I’ve had to print treasury notes again. Fortunately, my credit with the Arabs is unshakable. Sometimes I really don’t know whether I am a banker or a commander. But here, as everywhere, it’s always the same: one must be a ‘jack of all trades!’
In order to increase the value of my paper currency again, I’ve taken a new measure. Did you know, my dear, the government treasury here practically also functions as a commercial bank. Anyone who wants to send money to Egypt or elsewhere deposits the sum in the treasury of the command post where they are staying. This notifies the government treasury, and the commissariat or the War Ministry are telegraphically instructed to pay the amount on our behalf. The treasury charges a fee of 5 percent for these efforts. So I thought, why not order that those who deposit their money in my ‘paper’ need not pay this 5 percent, while those who bring gold as payment will still have to pay the small tax. The result will hopefully be that my paper currency is preferred in commercial transactions.
In my next letter, I’ll send you some of these notes. Did you know that the value of my old notes has risen tremendously? They’re paying a full lira for a note originally worth just one kuruş1, especially the Egyptians.
Today the Chief of Staff from Jaghbub informed me that Sidi Ahmed Sherif, the Grand Sheikh of the Senussi, fully agrees with my view. Should the Turkish government cede this part of the country, he will continue the war alongside me.
You ask whether I would side with the Turks or the Arabs. For me and Sayyid Ahmed, there is no nationality in Islam. It is enough to take a look at what’s happening around the Islamic world. As you can see, I want to defend ourselves by whatever means necessary and in this struggle, I forget everything else.
***
I often have to think back to my life in Europe, and again tonight I do. Perhaps my life here would be easier if I had not known the comforts and charms of your culture. But it is from you that I’ve learned how to constantly draw on inner strength I don’t really possess, to comfort and encourage myself. The Bedouins, of course, who know no needs and are content with so little, once ‘civilized,’ will certainly lose all their good qualities, be spoiled and become fundamentally corrupted. The values and principles they live by today would no longer satisfy them. They will be unhappy because there is too great a gap between desire and reality; they’d be miserable, but this unhappiness would become a necessity for them in life. They will contract the disease called civilization, but will refuse to take any medicine for this disease. Your [European] civilization is a poison, but a poison that awakens: and once awakened, one no longer wants to sleep, one cannot sleep again. One feels that they would have to die if they were to close their eyes again. The great difference between us and the Europeans is that they, with all their knowledge, take life lightly, while we — once this knowledge is granted to us — make life even more difficult than it truly is, especially when we change our long-held principles.
For the time being however, my Arabs are still content. They make music, the flute is being played and the tambourine is being struck; the singing becomes livelier, people are dancing.
Today I received the first news from Derna. The losses of the Italians are greater than I had expected. They have more than 800 dead and seriously wounded. The Italians took in our 22 wounded who had fallen on their side of the front. Since they largely belong to the Hasa tribe, the mountain population of Cyrenaica, the Italians sent a diplomatic envoy to this tribe with the message that the wounded would be set free if the Hasas stopped fighting and returned to their herds. Guess how the Hasas responded:
“You have come to devastate and occupy our land, our homeland. We obey the commands of God and the Sultan. We are united in fighting you; the prisoners you have taken from us were already considered dead by us. We have wept for them. That is now over. Whether you grant them their freedom or not, we will fight you until the last man in our tribe, capable of wielding a weapon, is dead. However, we advise you to treat our prisoners well and not forget your own who are in our hands.”
Dear friend, I am proud to command such men and to be allowed to fight alongside them. We will form a living wall before the Italians until not a single one of us remains. In this way, every tiny piece of land will be sold to the enemy at a very high price.
Enclosed, I am sending you new banknotes. Their value exceeds that of gold. In two days, 10,000 Turkish pounds worth of my banknotes were bought without any commission fees. Turkey has probably not yet issued such internal bonds before. It seems to me that I am beginning to compete with Mr. Helfferich2 or Mr. Carl Fürstenberg3!
26 September 1912.
(Letter to Naciye Sultan)
My Sultan, my master.
While the weather had cooled, it has now warmed up again. Today is quite hot. Especially the dust-laden wind is really bothersome. As you may have read in the newspapers, we launched an attack against the Italians a week ago. But it did not conclude as I had hoped. With this we captured a number of weapons and so forth from them, along with one prisoner. That there’s only one prisoner is unusual right! The Arabs, for the sake of having a specimen and obtaining information, leave only one alive. As is customary, the mourning for the martyrs has ended. Everyone has returned to their amusements. Especially considering that for the past five weeks no money had arrived, this too was complicating matters.
At last I found an easy way. As you will see from the enclosed sample, I had 20,000 Ottoman lira in paper currency printed. These are accepted like gold coins. The merchants take them and to encourage them further I waive the commission fee when they send money to Egypt via our channels, but only if they bring this paper currency. In this way the merchants are happy because they profit, and the Bedouins are happy because they receive money.
My soul! Insha’Allah you are well over there. Insha’Allah you enjoyed the bayram. We were busy with battle during bayram. Enclosed, I am sending you a few photographs taken on the occasion. In this way you will gain a new impression of here.
I present my respects to His Excellency Şerafeddin Efendi and His Excellency Abdülhalim Efendi, and I kiss your eyes, my diamond.
Your Enver.
27 September 1912
I’ve just sent off the little schoolboys who come for their regular Friday shooting practice. You should see how well they’re doing, how they take on the air of real fighters with their small rifles. The young students here receive not only physical education but also some military training. I am so satisfied with our educational efforts here that, I don’t know if I’ve written this before, I have selected 23 Arab children, sons of sheikhs, to be sent to the gymnasium in Konstantiniyye at the government’s expense. In addition 30 children are to attend our military schools. I hope to create a generation that will continue the work I have begun here in my spirit. They will become the Erbfeinde (hereditary enemies) of the Italians. I’ve arranged everything well in this regard, so that even if I die or am forced to leave the country, everything will still go according to my plans. If I die, my mind will not linger here.
1 A subunit of the Ottoman lira, 100 kuruş equals 1 lira.
2 Karl Helfferich (1872-1924), German economist.
3 Carl Fürstenberg (1850-1933), German banker.
Ismail Enver was born in Istanbul to a middle class family of Gagauz descent. He graduated second place from the Imperial Military Academy, and was then sent to the Balkans where he had to fight off Bulgarian, Greek, Macedonian etc. socialist & revolutionary committees. His combat experience and coming face to face with death everyday affected his psyche and developed his nationalist feelings just as it did to the other graduates and officers there.
In the Balkans he became a member of the CUP and in 1908 he initiated the Young Turk Revolution on his own which would see the reinstatement of the Constitution, he would become known as the Hero of Freedom. He was then part of a military attaché to Germany where he became acquainted with Europe and the Prussian art of war.
In 1911 he departed to Libya as a volunteer to fight the Italians. As successful as the resistance was, upon the outbreak of the Balkan Wars he had to return home to fight there instead. After the Balkan Wars, disillusioned with the Ottoman government, he led a coup d’etat and brought the CUP into power and reformed the army shortly before the start of WW1. After the Ottoman defeat, he continued the fight in the Caucasus with the Army of Islam but he ended up in Crimea instead due to storms. He then joined the Basmachi Revolt and became its head due to his prestige in the Islamic world, but after initial successes he was martyred in the mountains of Tajikistan.