The issues of diplomacy, ideology, geopolitics, which led to the entry of the Ottoman Empire into the First World War on the side of the Austro-German bloc, are considered. The author shows the struggle of the European powers in solving the Eastern question, that is, the possible division of the Ottoman inheritance. For Russia, first of all, it was important to gain access to free access to the Mediterranean Sea through the Ottoman-owned Black Sea Straits. Great Britain paid more attention to the Muslim issue, since it had a large Islamic population in India. The contradictions between Russia and Great Britain, the impossibility of developing a common diplomatic and military policy towards the Ottoman Empire led to the fact that Germany managed to impose its military and financial assistance on the weakening Sultan regime in Turkey, and subsequently attract the Ottoman Empire to the war against Russia and Great Britain.