The Ottoman Empire's Last General: Fakhri Pasha's Defense of Medina

The Ottoman Empire's Last Battle: Gallipoli's Forgotten Aftermath

While the Gallipoli campaign of 1915 is often remembered as a costly Allied failure, its aftermath reshaped the Ottoman Empire in ways that are rarely discussed. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how the Ottoman victory at Çanakkale (Gallipoli) became a double-edged sword: it boosted morale and cemented Mustafa Kemal's reputation, but also lulled the empire into strategic overconfidence. They trace the overlooked consequences: the diversion of resources away from critical fronts, the strain on medical infrastructure (already underfunded after the Balkan Wars), and the rise of a new military elite that would later challenge the sultan's authority. The episode also revisits the early use of aircraft for reconnaissance by both sides, the role of German military advisors like Otto Liman von Sanders, and the devastating cholera outbreak that followed the campaign. Through the eyes of a fictional Ottoman artillery officer, listeners gain a ground-level view of the siege warfare that defined the peninsula. This is a story not just of a battle, but of how an empire's greatest victory planted the seeds of its own dissolution. #Gallipoli #Çanakkale #OttomanEmpire #MustafaKemal #LimanVonSanders #WorldWarI #Dardanelles #SiegeWarfare #MilitaryHistory #Cholera #AerialReconnaissance #GermanMilitaryMission #BalkanWars #FexingoHistory #History #MiddleEast #WWI #SublimePorte Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

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]