The Green Crescent Under the Red Star: Enver Pasha in Soviet Russia, 1919-1922.

• Author: Deringil, Selim

Enver Pasha is possibly the most enigmatic and romantic figure the Muslim world has produced in the 20th century. Enver was the leader of the Young Turk triumvirate, consisting of himself, Cemal, and Talat, which took Turkey into the Great War in 1914. He is still a controversial figure in the Turkey of today, where Kemalist official historiography has often depicted him in an unfavorable light. Therefore the work of Professor Yamauchi, which consists of the publication of the correspondence of the Young Turk leaders in exile, is a great service to the scholarly community. The letters are kept in the archives of the Turkish Historical Society (Turk Tarih Kurumu) in Ankara, and have never been published. Yamauchi gives an accurate transcription of the texts prefaced by a five-part "Historical Background," putting them into context as well as combining many sources on the exile days of the Young Turks. In this section we see Turkish, British, French, and Japanese archival documentation in the same text, a rare feat indeed.

In ch. 1, "The Fascination of the Red Star," Yamauchi traces the escape of the Committee of Union and Progress (C.U.P.) leaders in the critical days, when the Ottoman Empire collapsed and the Kemalist movement was not yet born. This period, which in effect represents a vacuum in Turkish politics, is the beginning of the "Enver Pasha Legend" which caused the exiled Turkish leader to appear somewhat larger than life in the oppressed Muslim world. There are major themes in this chapter, however, that deserve more than the passing mention they get, Talat's contacts with the Hashimite leader Faisal (p. 15) being a prime example.

"The Baku Congress - Apogee or Eclipse?" the title of ch. 2, is the story of Enver's problematic relationship with the Soviet bosses. The innate contradiction between Pan-Islam and Soviet-style atheist internationalism was constantly pushed into the background as both the Soviets and the Turkish exiles realized that they needed one another against the common enemy - Britain. This chapter also contains very interesting material on the German attempt to use Enver as a go-between with the Russians. It is also significant that Enver was in close touch at this time with his rival, Mustafa Kemal, whose delegation was in Moscow at the time, involved in the process that would ultimately lead to the Turco-Soviet Friendship Treaty of March, 1921. It is indeed very interesting that Enver, Cemal and Talat should all...