Chapter 291: Trauma, Nostalgia, or Apathy?
Constantinople had been reclaimed by Christendom, and as Bruno promised, every non-Christian citizen within the city was granted safe passage east of the Bosphorus into Muslim lands. But even some of those regions were not safe to settle as the Hellenic Army, by its own might began marching into Ionia, Cyprus, and the Dodecanese islands.
Stopping just west of Lydia, lands once colonized by the Greeks during classical antiquity were once more in their hands for the first time since the fall of the Byzantine Empire. A civilization which technically claimed their origin from the Eastern Roman Empire. In practicality was more of a Greek state by its end.
Though that debate could be left to the historians. More importantly, as Bruno had said, the reclamation of Constantinople had been the nail in the coffin of the Ottoman Empire.
No matter what resistance the scattered remnants of the Turkish Army could muster, Anatolia fell as quickly as Ionia, and by the fall of 1915, there was no land safe for the Officers who still bore the banner of their fallen Empire.
Talaat Pasha was nowhere to be found, with rumors of him committing suicide after shamelessly fleeing from the city of Constantinople before its fate had truly been decided circulating across the Mediterranean.
As for the last Sultan, Mehmed VI, he and his family were captured by Russian Soldiers trying to flee into Qajar Iran, which was neutral at this point in time, and one of the few nations in this world currently not under the colonization of one of the great European powers.
Considering the current Domain of Iran was under the rule of a Turkic Dynasty, such loose historical ties could reasonably be used in a time of crisis for the Sultan to gain a haven until an army could be raised to restore his rule.
Or so was the thought process of the Royal Guard. But whether the intelligence of Central Powers was several steps ahead of the Sultan’s protectors, or the man simply had been cursed by the heavens. He and his convoy fell into Russian Hands long before they were able to cross beyond the boundaries of Anatolia and into the lands of Persia.
Because of this, the third peace treaty would be signed since the outbreak of the war. First was Serbia, second was Bulgaria, and finally was the Ottoman Empire. But these were discussions that involved more than just the disputes between the Greeks and the Turks.
As Bruno had promised, the Leaders of the Arab Revolt would be present at these peace talks to pick apart the lands east of the Bosphorus as they saw fit. And no doubt the Greeks would butt heads with several of these men as they fought to maintain their hold over historical ties to Ionia, Cyprus, and the Dodecanese.