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Although not a widely known historical event now, the escape of the Goeben to Constantinople ultimately precipitated some of the most dramatic events of the 20th century.
General Ludendorff stated in his memoirs that he believed the entry of the Turks into the war allowed the outnumbered Central powers to fight on for two years longer than they would have been able on their own. The war was extended to the Middle East with main fronts of Gallipoli, the Sinai and Palestine, Mesopotamia, and in Caucasus. The course of the war in the Balkans was also influenced by the entry of the Ottoman Empire on the side of the Central Powers. Had the war ended in 1916, that would have meant that some of the bloodiest engagements, such as the Battle of the Somme, would have been avoided. The United States of America might not have been drawn from its policy of isolation to intervene in a foreign war.
In allying with the Central Powers, the Turks also shared their fate in ultimate defeat. This gave the victorious allies the opportunity to carve up the collapsed Ottoman Empire to suit their political whims. Many new nations were created including Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and the idea of a Jewish state in Israel was considered for the first time.
Also, the closure of Russia’s only ice-free trade route through the Dardanelles effectively strangled the Russian economy. Unable to export grain nor import munitions, the Russian army was isolated from her allies and slowly began to collapse. Combined with the German decision to release Vladimir Lenin in 1917, the sealing off of the Black Sea was one of the critical contributors to the “revolutionary situation” in Russia which would explode into the October Revolution.
”— Pursuit of Goeben and Breslau - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
