German invasion of Turkey (World of Sultans)

The German invasion of Turkey took place between 1941 and 1944.

Like all other races, Adolf Hitler saw the Ottomans and the Turks as an inferior race, and a threat to his conquest of Europe. Hitler often mocked Sultan Abdülmecid behind his back.

Stategically, Hitler wanted to conquer Turkey, and use it to launch an invasion of the Russian Empire's southern regions, namely the Grand Duchy of Georgia and Grand Duchy of Armenia.

During a conversation with Joseph Goebbels, Hitler said, "Abdülmecid and the Turks simply have not learned their lesson. Even the Russians put them in their place. If the Russians could do it, we should have absolutely no problem."

After quickly conquering Greece, Hitler moved his forces to onto Ottoman-held Romanian territory, overrunning the defenses. After Greece and Romania were under complete Axis control, Hitler launched his invasion of Ottoman Turkey via those two countries. The Germans and Axis were initially successful in fighting the Ottomans, taking more than 673,453 Ottoman troops prisoner. However, one of the cities that the Germans were unable to conquer was Istanbul, where Ottoman resistance was stiff and stubborn.

Despite failing to conquer Istanbul, the Germans and Axis were in close proximity of the border with Syria and Palestine, but never actually got to the two countries.

Because of the Wehrmacht's inability to conquer Istanbul, Hitler pulled most of his reserves and divisions, into an effort to conquer Istanbul. However by that time, the Russian Empire and the Soviet states had begun to end Hitler's conquest of Europe and in late 1943, Imperial Russian Forces had crossed the border into Turkey and knocked out the Germans out of Turkey.