Description

Donanma Cemiyeti or Navy Society, was founded in Istanbul in 1909 by a merchant Yağcızade Şefik Bey and was closed in 1919. It main goal was to raise money for the Ottoman Navy before and during the Balkan Wars and WWI. The society, with a large basis in Trabzon on the coast of the Black Sea, was publishing its own magazine and even shot a movie in 1919 as a fundraiser. The funds gathered by the Navy Society helped purchasing two battleships from Germany, Barbaros Hayreddin (or SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm) and Turgut Reis (or SMS Weißenburg) respectively, which later fought in the Balkan Wars.

In 1912, the Navy Society ordered two battleships in England, which were in 1914 at the beginning of WWI, although already paid, seized by the British government. This caused a furious anger towards the British in the Ottoman Empire and contributed to the decision of the Ottomans to join the Central Powers.

This ephemeral poster, printed by the Navy Society, calls the Ottoman Muslims to join as a group against the Allied Powers, especially against the new enemy no. 1, the British, as well as the French and Russians. The writers harboured special dislike of the Cossacks, who were inhabiting the neighbouring lands and sided with Russians.