Christmas and Diplomacy in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War

Chris Gratien, Georgetown University

These documents accompany Episode 85 of the Ottoman History Podcast about Christmas in the Ottoman Empire during World War I


MP3 File

World War I disrupted every aspect of daily life for the countless millions of those affected by the war worldwide. In this article, I will focus on a few key incidents involving European and American prisoners of war and military personnel in Anatolia during Christmas seasons of the war years. I hope this short study of Christmas in the Ottoman Empire during World War I will not gloss over the many tragedies of this tumultuous era; in fact, I think a culturally important holiday like Christmas can serve as an unusual window onto some of the larger issues tied to the impact of war in the Ottoman Empire.

BOA, HR-SYS 2254/31, no. 2

Christmas really began to take on the meaning it has today during the nineteenth century, and by the outset of World War I, Christmas had become a major holiday associated with family, gift giving, and celebration that had special meaning in the lives of working class people. This symbolic meaning was immediately expressed during the first year of fighting in the war. The apparent effort by European conscripts to subvert central orders, put down their weapons, and even fraternize with soldiers of the opposing side on the feast day, a phenomenon referred to as the Christmas truce of 1914, illustrated both the desperation brought by the war as well as the resolve of many to maintain that semblance of normal life on the battlefield.

This feeling must have been shared by Allied soldiers and especially prisoners of war who found themselves in the Ottoman Empire, captive at the many internment camps of Anatolia. Given the importance of Christmas as a time to connect with loved ones and given the apparent willingness of soldiers to disobey orders in order to observe the holiday, it is not surprising that Western governments sought to ensure their soldiers a modicum of dignity on this symbolic day in order to maintain some semblance of morale. Thus, a relatively merry Christmas for Christian prisoners of war meant engaging in negotiations with a then-enemy government, i.e. the Ottoman Empire.

We can find a number of correspondences related to the Christmas holiday during World War I in the Ottoman archives. By and large, they point to the efforts of Western states to provide for their captured soldiers and the willingness of the Ottoman state to oblige. After all, there were also many Muslim prisoners of war in Allied camps, and they too deserved fair treatment. This theme is expressed in a letter from 1916, in which the American Embassy in France sent diplomatic correspondence to Istanbul asking that prisoners of war be allowed to write long letters to their families and friends for the holiday (in fact, the word used is parents, reminding us how young these soldiers truly were). The letter contained promises of reciprocity for Ottoman prisoners with the upcoming Muslim holiday in January. With the Ottoman authorities having allowed the Allied prisoners to write freely to their families, the American Embassy sent instructions that the Allies should reciprocate in kind. It was a diplomatic success that also showed mutual understanding of each other’s cultures on the part of the Ottomans and Allies in recognizing the importance of the respective religious holidays.

BOA, HR-SYS 2228/13, No. 1

Given the limited information both sides had about each other, these negotiations were indeed a means of discovery in the field of culture and customs. For example, in a document referring to the intentions of an Austrian priest to lead a group of women to distribute gifts, including chocolate, cigarettes and Christmas trees, to prisoners the Samatya neighborhood of Istanbul, we find what looks to be nothing short of cultural discovery on the part of the Ottomans. The document, which is apparently based on other correspondence in French, provides no Ottoman interpretation of the term “Christmas tree,” rather it is left as a latinized word "arbre de Noel" in the middle of an Ottoman Turkish sentence describing the plan. 

HR-SYS 2223/27, No. 1; 2223/20, No. 3; 2223/20, No. 2

A similar case can be found in a letter from the American Embassy in 1916 describing a program to quote “send to the prisoners of war interned in Asia Minor a considerable quantity of Christmas puddings, cakes and other articles for Christmas.” Not only did the Ottoman interpreter have trouble rendering the word ‘pudding’ into Turkish but also the accompanying letter in French left the term “Christmas pudding” in the original English, set off from the rest of the letter by quotes. These culturally specific gifts were to be transmitted via Ottoman go-betweens and in fact the Red Crescent served as an intermediary in distributing the Christmas goodies to the prisoners.

BOA, HR-SYS 2429/66

Considering the novelty of the cultural concepts of Christmas tree or Christmas pudding in an Ottoman context, it should not be too surprising to find letters explaining the importance of Christmas and asking for leniency from the Ottoman government as an important gesture of kindness and civility during the trying times of the war. These nice instances of diplomacy and cordiality that reflect an ultimate affirmation of the humanity of the enemy by both sides during the war, but Christmas was more than just pudding and treats. The politicization of Christmas as a day of symbolic importance can be observed in this letter, which evokes the plea of the Papacy on behalf of Italian Catholics and asks that Italian prisoners of war be allowed to temporarily return to their families on this most important family holiday. It would have been quite a heartwarming gesture indeed to show such compassion towards enemy prisoners, but it seems strange that during history’s most entrenched global conflict that the papacy would appeal to the Ottomans and call for this great gesture as a way of improving the image of the Ottoman government among other world powers. In fact, Ottoman authorities may have viewed this public call to allow prisoners to return home as an unfair ultimatum issued before the international community as a way of putting pressure on the Ottomans and putting the government in an uncomfortable situation using the universal emotional importance of Christmas as an instrument.

Even as European powers recognized the importance of the holiday for their soldiers, Christmas became a holiday of strategic importance during the war. The warnings of the commanders of European armies and the lingering brutality of the fighting ultimately prevented the Christmas truce of 1914 from recurring on the same scale in subsequent years, though there were smaller repeats there as well according to recent research. Similarly, we know from important works of literature such as All Quiet on the Western Front that war made many soldiers unhappy, frustrated, and mad to the point where they no longer recognized the humanity of others or even themselves. Within this context, Christmas could even become a flash-point for hostilities. 

During the Allied occupation of Anatolia following the war, tensions between soldiers stationed there and the local populations ran high. Stories of the abuses inflicted upon the occupied population have become part of Turkish nationalist canon on these years. The abuses were not necessary sanctioned by the occupying governments, but despite attempts to curtail them, unpleasant incidents such as the following did occur.

BOA, HR-İM 13/127, No. 2; 13/127, No. 4; 13/127, No. 4b

In the run up to Christmas in 1922, British authorities in Çanakkale were warned to prevent tensions from erupting in this embattled region between the occupying forces and population. However, just two days before the holiday, inebriated British soldiers took the streets and began verbally abusing and assaulting the people of the town of Çanakkale. Despite this incident, there was apparently no way to prevent an outburst of violence the following day which resulted in the killing of a Turkish gendarme named Nuri and the wounding of three civilians by British personnel. An undoubtedly incensed national government wrote to the British High Commissioner demanding indemnity for Nuri’s family and heirs. 

This Christmas incident, which became one of the many scars left by the war and the occupation, is perhaps more an expression of the senselessness of the war than anything directly related to the holiday itself. But like the other cases discussed above, it reminds us of how all-out war infiltrated every aspect of daily life. A Turkish soldier, shot dead by British soldiers on Christmas even in the town of Çanakkale, whose market and nearby battlefields have rose to such symbolic importance in modern Turkey somehow connect the human experiences of World War I in a very peculiar way.

trees

occupation