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Ottoman World War I POWs and “Enemy Aliens” in British Hands: Incarceration, Citizenship Status, and Wartime Diplomacy
Abstract
During World War I roughly 150,000 Ottoman troops and expatriates were captured and incarcerated as Prisoners of War (POWs) and "Enemy Aliens" in England, Russia, France, and Italy under what were often varied and difficult conditions. During the war the combatant nations met in Bern, Switzerland in 1916 to standardize the treatment and conditions of POWs and Enemy Aliens. Notwithstanding this conference and agreement it did not prevent combatant countries from accusing each other of poor treatment of their incarcerated soldiers and civilians. Once the war was over in 1918 many Ottoman POWs and Enemy Aliens were not immediately released even though the Armistice of Mudros required it. In fact, most were not released until years after the war ended primarily because of the uncertainty of their citizenship status once the Ottoman Empire was dismantled. This presentation investigates the conditions of incarceration of Ottoman POWs and “Enemy Aliens” held by British forces and the negotiations between the Ottoman state and its wartime enemies regarding these captives. Of most interest are the conditions, complaints, negotiations, reprisals, and diplomatic maneuverings and discourse used by each state regarding their own POWs and citizens. Also of interest to this presentation is the fate of Ottoman POWs and expatriates after the war ended. Now that the empire was gone, what was their citizenship status and who spoke for and claimed them? It also investigates what these individuals found once they immigrated to their "new" countries in the wake of the devastation caused by the war and its aftermath.
Discipline
History
Geographic Area
Ottoman Empire
Sub Area
19th-21st Centuries