A historical analysis of the Unionists' roles in the Independence War in relation to Enver Pasha (1918-1921)

Enver Pasha has been one of the most disputed personalities of recent Turkish history. The stance and decisions by the Pasha, who severely marked the last decade of the Ottoman State, cause serious debates even today. The conflict between his supporters and opponents is the biggest obstacle to the objective evaluation of Enver Pasha. The main purposes of this thesis are to examine whether Enver Pasha and the Unionists worked for the second phase of the war (an independence war) after it was understood that the First World War was lost, and if so, what was the nature of the framework of these preparations, their effects on these processes and activities during this war. In the thesis, which was planned as a case study, historiography has been adopted as the research method. Both primary and secondary sources have been utilized, especially the personal letters of Enver Pasha and the memoirs of the leading actors of the time. In the first part of the study, the efforts of Enver Pasha and the Unionists towards the second phase of the war and their unsuccessful results were discussed. In the second part, the attitudes of Enver Pasha, who was out of the Anatolian Movement, were examined, before his departure to Turkistan at the end of 1921. The analysis suggested that Enver Pasha and the Unionists made some important planning for the second phase however these were not concluded as the Pasha could not reach to the Caucasus.