Ottoman Sunset: The Great War in the Near East

When war in Europe broke out in 1914, the Ottoman Empire, pursuant to secret protocols, agreed to provide shelter to the fleeing German Battleship, Goeben, which was renamed Yavuz. After Britain refused to deliver newly ordered Turkish battleships, the Turko-German fleet bombarded Russian forts, signaling the Ottoman Empire’s entrance into World War One.

Ottoman Sunset 2nd edition, by designer Darin Leviloff, is a stand-alone solitaire States of SiegeTM game on World War One in the Near East from 1914-1918. The player controls the Young Turks (CUP or Committee of Union and Progress) as they try to keep the Ottoman Empire alive amidst the struggles of the Great War.

After many years of being the “Sick man of Europe,” by the late 19th century the Ottoman Empire attempted to reform and modernize itself. Ironically, such attempts convinced restive nationalities such as the Greeks, Romanians, Bulgarians, etc., to assert their independence and/or seek to expand their territory.

This weakness caused other Imperial Powers to seize Ottoman territory, both formally and informally. By the outbreak of World War One, the Ottoman Empire was reduced to a core of territory in Asia Minor, the Levant, the Hejaz, Mesopotamia, and a sliver of European territory. This collapse led the military-political leadership in Turkey to take over under the guise of the Young Turks.

The Ottoman Empire began with lofty strategic goals, but soon faced a hard slog, defending its core empire against far-flung British-led forces, Russian armies, and a Hashemite Arab revolt. Furthermore, ongoing campaigns on other fronts, such as those with Austria against Romania in the East, against Italy on the Isonzo, and of course the draining stalemate of the Western Front had a direct impact on events in this theater. Like Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire needed direct German aid to keep it in the conflict.

Despite victories at Kut and Gallipoli, by October 1918, the Turks had about all they could take and surrendered. Can you lead the Ottomans in the Great War and achieve victory where your historical counterparts failed?