The Ottoman Empire's Last Spy: Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa in the Great War

The Ottoman Surrender of Medina: 1919 Holdout

While the Ottoman Empire's surrender in 1918 is well-known, the garrison at Medina refused to obey the armistice for over two months. This episode explores the extraordinary story of Fahreddin Pasha, the Ottoman commander who defended the holy city against Arab and British forces until January 1919. We discuss his defiance of the Sultan's orders, the smuggling of sacred relics to Istanbul, and the fate of the 10,000-man garrison after their eventual surrender. The siege of Medina was the last Ottoman battle of World War I, a forgotten footnote that reveals the empire's fractured loyalties and the rise of Arab nationalism. #FahreddinPasha #MedinaSiege #HijazRailway #OttomanEmpire #WorldWarI #ArabRevolt #Hejaz #SherifHussein #MudrosArmistice #SacredRelics #TurkishHistory #MiddleEast #SiegeWarfare #LastHoldout #FexingoHistory #History #WarHistory #OttomanMilitary Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Ottoman Empire's Last Spy: Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa in the Great War

In this episode, Lucas and Luna dive into the shadowy world of the Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa, the Ottoman special intelligence and sabotage unit that fought a secret war across the Middle East, Caucasus, and Europe during World War I. From arming Libyan tribes against the British to infiltrating the Arab Revolt and running espionage networks in Persia and Afghanistan, the Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa was the empire's last desperate attempt to outmaneuver its enemies. Lucas unpacks the organization's founding by Enver Pasha, its key figures like Eşref Kuşçubaşı and Süleyman Askerî, and its controversial legacy—including its role in the Armenian Genocide. The episode also explores how the Teşkilat evolved into the post-war National Intelligence Organization (MAH) under Mustafa Kemal. A gripping look at the spies, saboteurs, and secret operations that defined the empire's final years. #Teşkilat-ıMahsusa #OttomanIntelligence #EnverPasha #EşrefKuşçubaşı #SüleymanAskerî #WorldWarI #MiddleEast #Espionage #SecretWar #Libya #ArabRevolt #Persia #Afghanistan #MAH #OttomanEmpire #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Ottoman Empire's Last Oil Gambit in Mesopotamia

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how oil—specifically the Mesopotamian oilfields around Mosul and Kirkuk—shaped the final years of the Ottoman Empire and the postwar settlement. They trace the German-British rivalry over the Baghdad Railway, the British seizure of Basra and the subsequent drive north, the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement's carve-up of oil-rich lands, and how the Ottoman Sixth Army under Colonel Nurettin fought a rearguard action against the British Indian Army's advance up the Tigris. The conversation examines the 1918 Armistice of Mudros, the occupation of Mosul by British forces after the ceasefire, and the ultimately failed attempt by the Ankara government to reclaim the province through diplomacy at Lausanne. Lucas discusses the role of the Turkish Petroleum Company, the later redrawing of borders under the League of Nations, and how the desperate Ottoman search for domestic oil—sabotaged by war and lack of infrastructure—symbolized the empire's broader inability to modernize in time. Specific figures include Colonel Nurettin, General Marshall, and Faisal I. #OttomanEmpire #WWI #Oil #Mesopotamia #Mosul #Kirkuk #BaghdadRailway #SykesPicot #TurkishPetroleum #BritishEmpire #MudrosArmistice #LausanneTreaty #Nurettin #FaisalI #History #FexingoHistory #MiddleEast #EnergyHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Ottoman Empire's Last Epidemic: Typhus, Plague and the Collapse of 1918

In the final year of World War I, the Ottoman Empire faced an invisible enemy deadlier than the Allied armies: typhus, relapsing fever, and a devastating influenza pandemic. This episode follows the desperate struggle of Dr. Tevfik Salim and the Hilal-i Ahmer (Ottoman Red Crescent) as they tried to contain outbreaks among starving soldiers and refugees. We explore how the Berlin-Baghdad Railway became a vector for disease, how quarantine stations at Haydarpaşa and Konya were overwhelmed, and how the epidemics fatally weakened the Ottoman war effort. The conversation also touches on the controversial decision to evacuate wounded soldiers from the Caucasus front straight into Istanbul's crowded hospitals, triggering a city-wide outbreak. Finally, we uncover the story of the last Ottoman chief physician, Süleyman Numan Pasha, whose reports on the scale of the catastrophe were suppressed by the Sublime Porte. A little-known chapter in the empire's final collapse, told through the voices of those who tried to save it. #OttomanEmpire #WorldWarI #Typhus #Hilal-iAhmer #RedCrescent #TevfikSalim #SüleymanNumanPasha #Haydarpaşa #Konya #BerlinBaghdadRailway #Influenza1918 #CaucasusFront #Epidemic #Quarantine #Osmanlı #HistoryOfMedicine #FexingoHistory #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

How the Ottoman Army Starved: The Great War Food Crisis

By 1916, the Ottoman Empire was losing the war not on the battlefield but in its own fields. The Allied naval blockade cut off the Black Sea grain routes, while the British blockade in the Mediterranean and the diversion of railway capacity to the military created a perfect storm. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how chronic food shortages, hoarding by merchants, and a collapsing supply chain led to famine in Greater Syria and Lebanon, where an estimated 200,000 civilians died. They discuss the role of Djemal Pasha's harsh requisitioning policies, the impact of the locust plague in 1915, and how the empire's reliance on a single railroad—the Berlin-Baghdad line—became a fatal bottleneck. The conversation also touches on the little-known story of the Hilal-i Ahmer's soup kitchens and the failed effort to import grain from India via Baghdad. This episode ties the home front and the front line together, showing how starvation shattered civilian morale and accelerated the empire's collapse. #OttomanEmpire #WWI #Famine #GreaterSyria #Lebanon #DjemalPasha #Hilal-iAhmer #Blockade #BerlinBaghdadRailway #LocustPlague #FoodCrisis #HomeFront #MiddleEast #1916 #History #FexingoHistory #WarAndSociety #OttomanCollapse Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]