Description

8°. 24 pp. in Ottoman script, reverse collation, original wrappers with lettering, stapled (wrappers with small folds and loss of paper in the corners, old paper label on the spine, p. 23 stained with printing ink, otherwise in a good condition).

This unusual pro-German pamphlet, written by a Russian revolutionary and Marxist Alexander Parvus was published in 1914, probably in the weeks or days before the Ottoman Empire entered the war allied with Germany, following an uncertain period of decisions. Parvus, who self-exiled himself from Russia to Istanbul, before moving to Berlin trying to convince Germany to side with the Bolsheviks, was a great friend of the controversial ambassador Hans, Baron von Wangenheim (1859 – 1915).
 
Alexander Parvus – A Revolutionary, Marxist, Young Turks Supporter and Arms Dealer Alexander Lvovich Parvus was born to a Jewish family as Israel Lazarevich Gelfand (1867 – 1924) in the part of the Russian Empire, today belonging to Belarus. He encountered the Marxist and revolutionary ideas very early, during his study in Basel in 1880s. In the following years he met and befriended Lenin and Rosa Luxemburg and joined the Social Democrat Party of Germany. Following his participation in the revolution of 1905, Parvus was sent to prison, together with Leon Trotsky and Leo Deutsch. 

After being released from the prison Alexander Parvus moved to Berlin, where he participated on the production of a play by Maxim Gorky, sponsoring the Russian Social Democratic Party. A huge dispute broke out between Gorky and Parvus, after latter failed to pay out the profit of the production. After the dispute was resolved by Rosa Luxemburg, Parvus decided to self-exile himself to the safe distance of Istanbul for a couple of years. 

Istanbul offered new opportunities to Alexander Parvus, who in the city earned large amounts of money trading with arms during the Balkan Wars.  

In 1912, Parvus, a supporter of the Young Turks, became an editor of the nationalistic magazine Türk Yurdu. 

In Istanbul Alexandr Parvus befriended the German ambassador Hans, Baron von Wangenheim (1859 – October 26, 1915), a controversial political figure. In 1915, Parvus left for Berlin, supported by von Wangenheim, with a plan that Germany backs the Bolsheviks against the Russian Empire. The following involvement in Parvus and Germany in backing up Lenin and supporting the October Revolution are much discussed by the historians. 

Worldcat lists three institutional copies (International Institute of Social History (IISG), Boğaziçi University Library, Library of Congress).

References: OCLC 963797946 & 83312945.