What was the biggest mistake the Ottoman Empire made in WWI?
The biggest mistake that the Ottoman Empire made in WWI is not to join or join with the Germans. It was inevitable that Turkey would join the Great War because everybody in the Sublime Port knew perfectly well that it would be impossible to survive after the war if they stayed neutral. It was also impossible not to join on the German side because first Britain and later the Russians refused to make a pact with Turkey because after all the Brits were after the oil rich areas and the Russians were ready to give their right arm for Istanbul. Besides even the Germans were reluctant to accept Turkey as an ally up until the day they were stopped at the Western Front. Anyways, Turkey entered the war and because the leaders of the time were not well versed in global affairs and considered the German military superior to everything else, they yielded the command of the Turkish military to German officers. Those officers certainly made their best efforts to win but the German high strategi...