Editing Mehmed V (section)

=== War ===
[[File:Turkey in Europe and the Balkans, 1910.jpg|thumb|left|Map of the Ottoman territories in Europe in 1910, prior to the [[Balkan Wars]] (1912–1913)]]Under his rule, the Ottoman Empire lost all its remaining territory in North Africa ([[Tripolitania]], [[Cyrenaica]] and [[Fezzan]]) and the [[Dodecanese]] to [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] in the [[Italo-Turkish War]] and nearly all its European territories (except for a small strip of land west of Constantinople<!--Use instead of "Istanbul"-->) in the [[First Balkan War]]. The Ottomans made some small gains in the following [[Second Balkan War]], recapturing the peninsula comprising [[East Thrace]] up to [[Edirne]], but this was only partial consolation for the Turks: the bulk of Ottoman territories that they had fought to keep had been lost forever.<ref>[https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/ottoman-empire/three-wars The Ottoman Empire: Three Wars in Three Years, 1911–13. ''New Zealand History''. Retrieved 28 January 2020]</ref>

The sudden loss of these enormous swaths of land, which had been Ottoman territory for centuries and were ceded to the Empire's opponents within a span of only two years, was traumatic to the Turks. The CUP organized the [[1913 Ottoman coup d'état|1913 coup d'état]], where a party of ~50 Unionists led by [[Enver Pasha|Enver]] and [[Talaat Pasha|Talât]] raided the [[Sublime Porte]], and Enver famously demanded Kâmil resign at gunpoint. Upon the Sultan hearing of the news he said "Peki o halde... Hayırlı olsun" ("Well in that case... good luck [to them]").{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=52}}

[[Muhacir|Muslims in the lost lands]] were expelled from their homes and emigrated behind the new Ottoman border surrounding Constantinople. The resulting refugee crisis overwhelmed municipal authorities. It also spelt the end of the [[Ottomanism]] movement, which for several decades had advocated equal rights to all citizens of the Empire regardless of ethnicity or religion, in order to foster a communal sense of belonging and allegiance to the Ottoman state. With the loss of the Empire's ethnic minorities in [[Rumelia]] and North Africa, the movement's ''raison d'être'' also evaporated, and the country's politics soon began to take on a more exclusionary character, centered around [[Turkish nationalism]]. The more extreme elements of a right-wing faction, primarily in the upper echelons of the CUP-dominated government, would go on to commit [[Armenian Genocide|genocide against the Armenians]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bloxham |first1=Donald |last2=Göçek |first2=Fatma Müge |title=The Historiography of Genocide |date=2008 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |isbn=978-0-230-29778-4 |pages=344–372 |language=en |chapter=The Armenian Genocide}}</ref>

After the assassination of [[Mahmud Shevket Pasha|Mahmud Şevket Pasha]], it was discovered a member of the royal family was involved in the plot. [[Şehzade Ahmed Kemaleddin|Şehzade Kemaleddin]]'s daughter [[Münire Sultan (daughter of Şehzade Kemaleddin)|Münire Sultan]] married Grand Vizier [[Hayreddin Pasha|Tunuslu Hayreddin Pasha]]'s son: Salih Pasha. Sultan Reşad had no qualms with signing the death sentence of one of his brothers’ ''[[damat]]''s. Salih Pasha was tried and sentenced to death, and when Sultan Reşad signed the sentence, he was hanged. [[Djemal Pasha|Cemal Pasha]] is said to have threatened the sultan, saying, “If you do not sign this, we will dethrone you too." An incident that took place before the execution in Bayezid Square became legendary: Salih Pasha was brought to the gallows, showed his trouser leg to one of his executioners and said, “Please, straighten this trouser leg, it looks crooked.” After the executioner complied with his request, he kicked the chair under the ''damat'', and he was hanged. Münire Sultan cursed her uncle Sultan Reşad, who had authorized her husband’s execution, saying “God willing, his beard will be stained with blood!”, the grey-haired sovereign defended himself along the lines of “What could I do? Enver put his gun to my head, I signed it” and tried to compensate for his cognitive dissonance by snapping the pen which he signed the decision.{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=52}}

Despite his preference that the country stayed out of further conflict, Sultan Reşad's most significant political act was to [[Declaration of jihad by the Ottoman Empire|formally declare jihad]] against the [[Triple Entente|Entente Powers]] on 14 November 1914, following the Ottoman government's decision to join the [[First World War]] on the side of the [[Central Powers]].<ref>Lawrence Sondhaus, ''World War One: The Global Revolution'', (Cambridge University Press, 2011), 91.</ref> He was actually said to look with disfavour on the pro-German policy of [[Enver Pasha]],<ref>{{Cite EB1922|wstitle=Mahommed V.}}</ref> but could do little to prevent war due to the sultanate's diminished influence. This was the last genuine proclamation of jihad in history by a [[Caliph]], as the [[Ottoman Caliphate|Caliphate]] was [[Abolition of the Caliphate|abolished]] in 1924. As a direct result of the declaration of war, the British annexed [[British Cyprus|Cyprus]], while the [[Khedivate of Egypt]] proclaimed its independence and was turned into [[Sultanate of Egypt|a British protectorate]]; these provinces had at least been under nominal Ottoman rule. The proclamation had no noticeable effect on the war, despite the fact that many Muslims lived in Ottoman territories. Some Arabs eventually [[Middle Eastern theatre of World War I|joined the British forces]] against the Ottoman Empire with the [[Arab Revolt]] in 1916.

Reşad hosted [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Kaiser Wilhelm II]], his [[World War I]] ally, in Constantinople<!--Use instead of Istanbul--> on 15 October 1917. He was made ''[[Generalfeldmarschall]]'' of the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] on 27 January 1916, and of the [[German Empire]] on 1 February 1916.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}} He was also made a ''[[Generalfeldmarschall|Feldmarschall]]'' of [[Austria-Hungary]] on 19 May 1918.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}