The Last Ottoman POWs: British Captivity and the End of Empire

How the Armistice of Mudros Dismantled an Empire

On October 30, 1918, the Ottoman Empire signed the Armistice of Mudros aboard the British battleship HMS Agamemnon. This episode unpacks the terms that carved up the empire: the surrender of all garrisons in Hejaz, Yemen, Syria, and Mesopotamia; the occupation of the Straits; the right to occupy any strategic point in the 'Six Vilayets' (Eastern Anatolia). We follow the treaty's architect, British Admiral Somerset Gough-Calthorpe, and the Ottoman signatory, Rauf Orbay. Why did the Sublime Porte accept such harsh terms? What was the secret clause about the Caucasus? And how did the armistice's vague language allow the Allies to later occupy Istanbul and Izmir? A story of diplomatic collapse and the seeds of the Turkish War of Independence. #MudrosArmistice #RaufOrbay #GoughCalthorpe #HMSAgamemnon #OttomanEmpire #WorldWarI #MiddleEastHistory #SixVilayets #Caucasus #Dardanelles #SublimePorte #TurkishWarOfIndependence #MustafaKemal #Lausanne #Sevres #AlliedOccupation #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Ottoman Empire's Last Newspaper: How the Press Died in 1922

In the final years of the Ottoman Empire, the press became a battlefield. Newspapers like İkdam, Tanin, and Vakit were shut down, editors exiled or executed, and printing presses smashed. This episode follows the story of the last Ottoman newspaper, the brief-lived 'Son Telgraf', which tried to report on the 1922 Chanak Crisis before being shuttered by the Ankara government. Lucas and Luna explore how the empire's vibrant, chaotic press culture — born in the 1860s, choked by war and censorship — gave way to a single, state-controlled narrative in the early Republic. They trace the journey of journalist Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu from Istanbul's independent dailies to the new regime's propaganda arm, and ask whether the death of the Ottoman press was a casualty of war or a deliberate political choice. Along the way, they touch on the 1908 Young Turk press boom, the 1913 censorship crackdown, and the last printed edition of 'İkdam' on September 11, 1922 — the day the empire's free press effectively ended. #OttomanEmpire #OttomanPress #SonTelgraf #İkdam #YakupKadriKaraosmanoğlu #ChanakCrisis #Tanin #Vakit #PressCensorship #YoungTurks #1922 #Istanbul #Ankara #TurkishHistory #FexingoHistory #History #JournalismHistory #MiddleEastHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Ottoman Empire's Last Prophet: How Mecca Revolt Ended Ottoman Legitimacy

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore a pivotal but often overlooked turning point in the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire: the Hashemite revolt in the Hijaz and the Ottoman loss of the caliphate's spiritual heart. They focus on the enigmatic figure of Fahreddin Pasha (Ömer Fahreddin Türkkan), the Ottoman commander who defended Medina for over two years after the Armistice of Mudros. Lucas explains how the revolt, backed by the British and led by Sharif Hussein of Mecca, not only severed the empire's connection to the holy cities but also undermined the sultan-caliph's religious authority. The conversation touches on the symbolic weight of the 'Emanet-i Mukaddese' (the Sacred Trusts), the role of the Hijaz Railway, and Fahreddin's eventual surrender in 1919. This episode sheds light on a localized conflict that had global implications for the post-war Middle East and the future of the caliphate. #FahreddinPasha #Medina #MeccaRevolt #Hijaz #SharifHussein #Emanet-iMukaddese #OttomanCaliphate #HijazRailway #MudrosArmistice #Kuva-yiMilliye #FexingoHistory #History #MiddleEast #WorldWarI #LastSultan #SiegeOfMedina #SacredTrusts #OttomanEmpire Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Last Caliph: How Turkey Abolished the Ottoman Caliphate in 1924

In March 1924, the Turkish Grand National Assembly voted to abolish the caliphate, ending a 1,300-year-old institution. This episode explores the final months of Caliph Abdülmecid Efendi, the political maneuvering in Ankara, and the global reactions from Muslims in India, Egypt, and the Arab world. We discuss the Khilafat Movement in British India, the arguments of Mustafa Kemal and İsmet İnönü, and the quiet exile of the last caliph aboard the Orient Express. Plus: the forgotten figure of Abdülmecid's daughter, Dürrüşehvar Sultan, and her marriage to the heir of the Nizam of Hyderabad. #OttomanEmpire #Caliphate #AbdulmecidEfendi #MustafaKemalAtaturk #KhilafatMovement #Turkey #1924 #Ankara #GrandNationalAssembly #Islam #IndianMuslims #Hyderabad #DurrushehvarSultan #OrientExpress #Lausanne #History #FexingoHistory #MiddleEast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Ottoman Empire's Last Orphanage: How Children Survived the Collapse

After the armistice of Mudros in 1918, the Ottoman Empire was not only defeated but dismantled. Among the millions displaced and destitute were tens of thousands of orphaned children, survivors of war, famine, and disease. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the little-known story of the Darüleytam, or Orphanages of the Ottoman Empire, which by 1918 housed over 80,000 children across Anatolia and the Arab provinces. Through the efforts of figures like the reformer Ahmet Cemal Paşa and the educator Selim Sırrı Tarcan, these orphanages became experimental grounds for new ideas about education, nationalism, and hygiene. But after the empire's collapse, funding dried up, foreign powers intervened, and many children were left to fend for themselves. The conversation touches on the role of the Hilal-i Ahmer (Red Crescent), the legacy of the Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa in child welfare, and how the Turkish Republic eventually absorbed these institutions. A forgotten chapter of care and chaos at the empire's end. #OttomanEmpire #Orphanages #Darüleytam #Hilal-iAhmer #AhmetCemalPaşa #SelimSırrıTarcan #WWI #Mudros #Teşkilat-ıMahsusa #ChildWelfare #TurkishRepublic #Anatolia #History #FexingoHistory #OttomanHistory #Philanthropy #Education #PostWar Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]