Turkish-British relations in world war II: Strategies and priorities (1939-1945)

The years between 1939 and 1945 are the witness to the Second World War that was an extremely destructive experience where the world countries were subject to disintegration as the Allied and the Axis Powers. Against the rising German and Italian Fascism, the Western democracies of the Great Britain and the USA sealed an alliance with the communist Soviet Union.On the other hand, Turkey had experienced the trauma of the First World War, took on the burden of the Ottoman Empire already collapsed and made the Independence War against the invasion of the homeland by international forces. At one and the same time a Republican nation state was founded on the principles that are in line with those of the Western democracies. The Republic of Turkey was tired, not holding adequate military and economic resources and definitely decisive in not to become a party of the war, unless the territorial integrity is under threat, as she encountered the threat by the Second World War. The Turkish politics was based on the decisiveness to survive by maintaining the national territorial integrity.The USA is far from other countries and is isolated and protected against all kinds of devastation. She has enormous economic and military striking power. The Soviet Union posed a threat on Turkey from eastern and western side while Germany and Italy did so from the western and southern side. Therefore, the atmosphere of uncertainty that prevailed between Turkey and Britain betokened a course that exhibited instability in three phases in the course of the Second World War.While accepting the Western Democracy as her role model after the Turkish War of Independence, Turkey had established a close alliance relationship with Britain during the period between 1939 and 1941, then in 1941 and 1942 she first concluded non-aggression pact with the Third Reich (Nazi Germany) and got gradually closer to the fascist Germany induced by vitalization of Germany-supported nationalist and anti-Soviet movements. During that period the English politicians adopted an updated `appeasement? policy based on the principles to raise long-lasting negotiations. In third phase, comprising the period between 1943 and 1945, Turkey re-approached England in line with increasing achievements by England and the Allied Forces. At the end of War in 1945, Turkey declared war against Germany, following the insistent attitude maintained by England, in order not to be excluded from the post-war negotiations.