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Markgraf Janós von Pallavicini

Austrian Ambassador to Constantinople at the outbreak of war, summer 1914.  He worked hard to convince Turkey to enter hostilities earlier than the 31 October 1914 date that Enver Pasha finally chose.  He was a long-serving diplomat, remaining in Constantinople throughout the war and weathering the intrigues of the Committee, the Turkish army, and the various bitter princes and pashas who vied for a piece of the crumbling Ottoman pie while it was to be had. Furthermore, Pallavicini maintained close contact with the terrible intrigues in Eastern Anatolia, where Armenian rebellion led the pashas to deport and murder untold numbers of non-Moslems. For example, here is an oft-cited section of a letter of Pallavicini's, concerning the Pontic Greeks of Amissos, originally 19 December 1916: “The situation for the displaced is desperate. Death awaits them all. I spoke to the Grand Vizier and told him that it would be sad if the persecution of the Greek element took the same scope and dimension as the Armenian persecution. The Grand Vizier promised that he would influence Talaat Bey and Enver Pasha.” But, since nobody had either nerve nor power to influence Talaat or Enver, persecutions continued well to the end of the war. GWS, 6/01 [rev. 10/04]