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Basil Zaharoff
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Basil ZaharoffBasil Zaharoff (asýl adý, Osmanlý Devleti nüfus kayýtlarýna göre Vasil Zaharyas, Yunanca transkripsiyonuna göre Basileios Zacharias 'týr; ismi bazý dillerde Basil Zaharof (tek 'f' ile) yazýlýr, 1913'de vatandaþlýðýna geçtiði Fransa 'da Basil Zaharoff (iki 'f' ile), 1918'de þövalyelik ünvaný aldýðý Britanya 'da Sir Basil Zaharoff olarak tanýnýr.), aslen 1849 Muðla doðumlu ve Osmanlý Ýmparatorluðu vatandaþý bir Rum 'dur. 1936 'da Monte Carlo 'da uluslararasý silah ticareti ve finans yoluyla elde ettiði dev bir servetin baþýnda ölmüþtür.

Basil Zaharoff'un ailesi Ýstanbul kökenli olup, 1821 Yunan ayaklanmasý esnasýnda bir süre iltica ettikleri Rusya 'da isimlerinin sonuna -of sonekini almýþlardýr. 1840'larda Osmanlý Ýmparatorluðu'na dönerek geçici olarak Muðla'ya yerleþmiþler ve Basil, Muðla'da doðmuþtur. 1855'de ailesi tekrar Ýstanbul'a dönmüþ ve Tatavla (Kurtuluþ) semtinin dargelirli Rum ahalisi içinde yaþamýþlardýr.

Basil Zaharoff çalýþma hayatýna, Ýstanbul'a gelmiþ Avrupalý turistlere rehberlik yaparak baþlamýþtýr (rehberliðini özellikle Galata kerhaneleri ile baðlantýlý olarak yürüttüðü bilinmektedir). Ardýndan bir süre itfaiyecilik yapmýþtýr (o dönemde itfaiyeciliðin evleri yanan zenginlerin servetini komisyon karþýlýðý kurtarmaya dayalý karlý bir faaliyet þeklini de alabildiði göz önünde bulundurulmalýdýr). Basil Zaharoff bundan sonra döviz acenteliði ve tefecilik yapmýþtýr. Ýstanbul'dan ayrýlmak üzere ellerindeki nakdi kendi para birimlerine çeviren turistlere sahte dövizler kakaladýðý suçlamalarýna maruz kalmýþtýr. 24 yaþýnda gittiði Londra 'ya ayak basar basmaz, Ýstanbul'da iken gerçekleþtirdiði bir ihracat iþi ile ilgili olarak, usulsüz ticari faaliyette bulunma suçlamasý ile hakkýnda açýlmýþ bir dava ile karþýlaþmýþtýr. Cemiyetleri mensuplarýnýn bu tür konulardan dolayý yabancý mahkemeler önüne çýkmasýna karþý tedbir alma geleneði olan Ýstanbul Rumlarý arasýnda toplanan 100 sterlin lik bir kefaletle serbest býrakýlmýþtýr. Dava sonuçlanýncaya kadar mahkeme yetki alaný dahilinde ikamet etme zorunluluðu olmasýna raðmen hemen gemiyle Atina 'ya geçmiþtir. Atina'da gazeteci Etyen Skuludis ile dostluk kurmuþtur. Skuludis'in Ýsveçli bir kaptan arkadaþý silah taciri Thorsten Nordenfeldt 'in Atina'daki acenteliði iþinden ayrýlmak üzere olduðundan, Basil Zaharof, Skuludis'in tavsiyesiyle 14 Ekim 1877'de bu iþi devralarak silah ticaretinde göz kamaþtýrýcý bir kariyere ilk adýmýný atmýþtýr. Bu dönem 93 Harbi 'ne denk geldiðinden, Zaharoff hem bu savaþ esnasýnda, hem de sonrasýnda Osmanlý Devleti, Balkanlar ve Rusya'yý kapsayan çok karlý iþler yapmýþtýr.

Nitekim, Basil Zaharoff yaratýcýlýðýný Nordenfeldt I denizaltý sýnýn satýþýnda göstermiþtir. Amerikalý papaz George W. Garrett tarafýndan bir hobi olarak tasarlanan ve ABD Deniz Kuvvetleri nin 'istikrarsýz ve tehlikeli manevra yaptýðý' gerekçesiyle reddettiði ve büyük güçlerin teknolojisinin geliþmesini beklemeyi tercih ettiði bu ilk denizaltý modellerinden, prestij arayýþý içinde olan Yunan Deniz Kuvvetleri ne bir adet satmýþtýr. Daha sonra Osmanlý Devleti yetkililerini bu yeni Yunan denizaltýsýnýn arzettiði tehdit konusunda ikna ederek, Osmanlý Bahriyesi ne iki adet satmýþtýr. Hemen ardýndan, Rus yetkililerini bu yeni Türk denizaltýsýnýn arzettiði tehdit konusunda ikna ederek, Rus Deniz Kuvvetleri ne iki adet daha satmýþtýr. Bu denizaltýlar hiçbir savaþta rol oynamamýþ, Osmanlý donanmasýnýn bir torpil atma tatbikatý esnasýnda biri dengesini kaybederek pruvadan batmýþtýr.

Basil Zaharoff, bir sonraki aþamada, Maxim otomatik makinalý tüfekleri iþinde, Nordenfeldt'in acenteliðinden ortaklýðýna yükselmiþtir. Öncelikle Amerikalý bir mühendis ve boksör olan Hiram Maxim 'in makinalý tüfek modelini tanýtmak için yaptýðý Avrupa turunun baþarýsýzlýkla sonuçlanmasýný saðlamýþtýr. Bu çerçevede, Ýtalya 'da La Spezia 'da yapýlacak ilk gösteriden önce makinalý tüfeðin operatörlerine þehrin batakhanelerini gezdirmiþ ve onlarý hiçbir tüfeði kullanamayacak hale getirmiþ, Viyana 'da makinalý tüfek Avusturya piyadesinin standart kartuþlarýna uyumlu hale getirilmeye çalýþýlýrken mekanizmayý sabote ettirmiþ, Viyana'da makinalý tüfeðin mükemmel çalýþtýðý müteakip denemede de Avusturya yetkililerini bu silahýn kitlesel üretime elveriþli olmadýðý konusunda ikna etmiþtir. Maxim böylece, Nordenfeldt ve Zaharof ile ortaklýða gitmek zorunda kalmýþ, Zaharoff'un satýþlardan yüksek komisyon alacaðýnda anlaþýlmýþtýr.

Giderek zenginleþen Zaharoff'un adý, bir sonraki aþamada, Japon Amiral Fuji 'nin donanmasýnýn silah alýmý karþýlýðýnda aldýðý rüþvet skandalý ile gündeme gelmiþtir. Belgelenebilen ve Amiral'in harakiri yapmasýyla sonuçlanan bu skandalýn ötesinde baþka rüþvet faaliyetlerinin de yattýðý iddia edilmiþtir. 1890'da Nordenfeldt-Zaharof ortaklýðý sona ermiþ, Zaharoff, Hiram Maxim ile ayrý bir ortaklýk kurmuþtur. Maxim'in þirketinin hisselerini peyderpey satýnaralarak eþit þirket sahibine eþit güçte hissedar haline gelmiþtir. 1897'de Maxim þirketinin büyümesi, dönemin silah sektörü devlerinden Vickers 'ýn bu þirketi satýnalmak için teklifte bulunmasýna yol açmýþtýr. Satýþtan edindiði karýn yanýsýra, Vickers bünyesinde de gücü hýzla artan Zaharof 1911'de Vickers yönetim kuruluna girmiþtir.

Bu dönem bütün devletlerin silahlanma yarýþýna girdiði I. Dünya Savaþý arifesine denk gelmekteydi. Britanya ve Almanya donanmalarýný güçlendirme yarýþý ve Rusya'nýn 1905 Rus-Japon Savaþý ertesinden donanmasýný yeniden kurma ihtiyacý özellikle aciliyet arzetmekteydi. Rusya içinde 'yerli malý donanma'yý savunan güçlü bir lobi olduðundan, Zaharof, Vickers þirketine baðlý kuruluþ olarak Tsaritsin þehrinde dev bir silah üretim kompleksinin inþa edilmesini saðladý. Vickers bu arada rakip Almanya'da örtülü üretime devam etmekte, Vickers'in Almanya'daki tesisleri mütemadiyen haberler sýzdýrarak Almanya'nýn silahlanmasýnýn Fransa açýsýndan oluþturduðu tehdidi Fransýz basýnýnda iþlemekte, Fransýz basýný kaynaklý haberler Alman parlamentosu Reichstag 'da bu kez Almanya'nýn daha fazla silahlanma çabasý ve harcamasý için yapýlan oylamalara dayanak teþkil etmekteydi.

Bu arada Zaharoff finans sektörüne de girdi. Aðýr sanayi ile geleneksel baðlantýlarý bulunan Union Parisienne bankasýný ve Excelsior gazetesini satýnalarak, silah sanayiinin hem finansman hem de kamuoyu açýsýndan desteklenmesini daha iyi kontrol eder duruma geldi. Artýk ünvanlara da ihtiyacý vardý. Fransýz denizcileri için bir huzurevi kurarak Fransýz Baþbakaný (sonradan Cumhurbaþkaný) Poincare 'nin imzasýyla 31 Temmuz 1914'de (Jean Jaures 'in suikaste kurban gittiði gün) yüksek Legion d'Honneur niþaný ný, Paris Üniversitesî 'nde bir aerodinamik kürsüsünü, savaþýn sonuna doðru da, Lloyd George ve Aristide Briand ile kurduðu dostluklar yoluyla, Britanya tarafýndan baron ünvaný verilerek isminde 'Sir' takýsýný kullanma hakkýný elde etmiþtir.

I. Dünya Savaþý'nda Basil Zaharoff muazzam karlar gerçekleþtirdi. Bu arada siyasi faaliyetler de yürütmüþ, Yunanistan 'ýn Britanya-Fransa-Rusya-Ýtalya yanýnda savaþa girmesi için çaba göstermiþtir. Yunan Kralý Konstantin 'in Hohenzollern hanedanýna mensup olmasý ve bizzat Kaiser Wilhelm II 'nin eniþtesi olmasý bunu imkansýz kýlacak gibi görünse de, Basil Zaharof Yunanistan'da bir haber ajansý satýnalarak Almanya aleyhinde haberlerin yayýlmasý için elinden geleni yapmýþ, ve nitekim birkaç ay içinde Kral Konstantin tahttan indirilerek yerine Venizelos geçmiþtir. The Times gazetesi savaþýn sonunda Basil Zaharoff'un Britanya'nýn çýkarlarý için savaþ boyunca 50 milyon sterlin harcamýþ bulunduðunu övgüyle yazmýþ, ancak Basil Zaharof'un silah satýþlarýndan elde ettiði kara atýfta bulunmamýþtýr.

Zaharoff I. Dünya Savaþý'nýn hemen ertesinde dikkatini Türkiye üzerinde toplamýþtýr. Savaþtan çok zayýflayarak çýkmýþ Türkiye topraklarý üzerinde Yunanistan'ýn kazanç elde etmesi gerektiðine Venizelos'u ikna edenlerden biri olmuþtur. 1920 Yunanistan seçimlerinde Kral Konstantin taraftarlarýnýn Venizelos'u alaþaðý etmesi üzerine, bu kez de Kral nezdinde savaþ çabasýnýn sürdürülmesi gerektiði konusunda lobi yapmýþtýr. Ancak Mustafa Kemal Atatürk komutasýnda dirilen Türk ordusu Yunan ordusunu hezimete uðratýnca bu planlar suya düþmüþtür.

Yunanistan'ýn Küçük Asya Felaketi 'nden sonra Londra ve Paris'teki itibarý biraz azalan Basil Zaharoff dikkatini bu sefer büyük gelecek vadettiðine inandýðý petrol iþine çevirmiþtir. Günümüzün BP (British Petroleum) petrol devinin temellerini atmýþtýr. Monte Carlo casinosunu satýn alarak, Monaco 'yu mesken edinmiþ ve bu arada Fransa Baþbakaný Clemenceau ile dostluðunu kullanarak Monaco'nun özerk yapýsýný saðlama almýþtýr.

1924'de 75 yaþýnda hayatýnýn aþký, 30 yýl önce karþýlaþtýðý ve kocasýnýn ölümünü beklediði, Maria del Pilar ile evlenmiþ, ancak Maria del Pilar nikahlarýndan 18 ay sonra ölmüþtür. Hayatýný anýlarýný yazarak tamamlamýþ, bir uþaðýn çaldýðý ve polisin geri getirdiði sýrlarla dolu bu anýlarý sonra da ateþe atmýþtýr. Son yýllarýný yalnýzlýk içinde geçirmiþtir.

Basil Zaharoff Tenten 'in bir macerasýnda Basil Bazarof adýyla karikatürize edilerek, hiçbir vicdani tereddüdü olmayan 'ölüm taciri'ni sembolize edecek þekilde rol almýþtýr.

Retrieved from "http://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_Zaharoff"

Raerly are the articels about hes life...
alot of serach machines give ..different variation of hes original routes..
We know he was born in Mougla ...from greek parents...friend of the Greek magnate and later Prime minister of greece Mr. Skouloudis...
hes stand in history is a mistery...

this is some general history...

Early life
Basil was from a Greek family in Constantinople. The name Zaharoff was adopted when the family was in exile in Russia as a result of the anti-Greek Easter pogroms of 1821. The family returned to Turkey in the 1840s and lived in the Anatolian town of Muðla. By 1855 the family was back in Constantinople where they lived in the poor quarter of Tatavla where Basil was a street kid.

Little Basil’s first job was as a guide for the tourists to the Galata, or prostitution district of Constantinople, helping his clients to find the forbidden pleasures that went beyond the bounds of normal prostitution. He was then to become a fireman. The 19th century firemen of Constantinople were not at all effective at extinguishing fires, but were quite effective at rescuing the treasures of the rich for a healthy commission. Many also engaged in protection rackets and outright robbery.

Basil then took on the job of a money changer. In this career there is an unverified accusation that he would pass counterfeit currency to tourists who would not notice until they were safely on a boat steaming away from Constantinople.

[edit]
Legal difficulties
Zaharoff appeared in London in the midst of a controversy that had him in court over irregular commercial actions involving the export of certain goods from Constantinople to London. The Constantinople Greeks in London preferred that matters involving members of their community were not settled by English courts. He was released on the payment of £100 on condition that he pay restitution to the claimant, and remain within the jurisdiction of the court. He immediately went to Athens.

Once in Athens the 24-year-old Zaharoff was befriended by a political journalist Etienne Skouloudis. The eloquent Zaharoff succeeded in convincing Skouloudis of the rightness of his case in the London legal conflict. By a stroke of good fortune, another friend of Skouloudis, a Swedish captain, was leaving his job as representative of arms manufacturer Thorsten Nordenfelt’s company for a more important posting. Skouloudis meanwhile had risen in politics and was able to recommend Zaharoff to fill the vacancy. Zaharoff was hired on October 14, 1877, beginning a spectacular career. The prevailing political and military circumstances involving the Balkan states, Turkey and Russia provided an excellent opportunity for the young salesman. Each state was ready to spend to cope with the perceived aggressive intentions of its neighbours, even after the Berlin Agreement of 1878.

[edit]
Arms dealing
One of the most notable sales by Zaharoff was that of the Nordenfelt I, a steam-driven submarine based on a design by Anglican Reverend George W. Garrett, and which U. S. Navy intelligence characterized as capable of "dangerous and eccentric movements." Thorsten Nordenfelt had already successfully demonstrated his vessel at an international gathering of the military elite, and the major powers would have none of it, but smaller nations interested by the prestige were a different matter.

It was thus that with a promise of liberal payment terms, Zaharoff sold the first model to the Greeks. He then convinced the Turks that the Greek submarine posed a threat and sold them two. After that he persuaded the Russians that there was now a new significant threat on the Black Sea, and they bought two. None of these submarines ever saw battle. In a trial by the Turkish Navy, one of theirs attempted to fire a torpedo, and became so unbalanced that it sank stern first.

[edit]
Maxim’s machine gun
The next person to enter Zaharoff’s story was the American boxer and engineer Hiram Maxim. Maxim’s automatic machine gun was a significant improvement over the hand-cranked models then in use. Maxim’s gun was certainly better than anything that Nordenfelt had on the shelf at the time. Zaharoff is believed to have had a hand in the events surrounding Maxim’s attempts to demonstrate his discovery between 1886 and 1888. In the first Maxim’s and Nordenfelt’s machine guns were to be demonstrated at La Spezia, Italy before a distinguished audience that included the Duke of Genoa. Maxim’s representatives did not show up; an unknown person had provided them a guided tour of La Spezia’s nocturnal establishments leaving them in no condition to go anywhere.

Round 2 took place in Vienna. Here the contestants had been asked to modify their weapons so that they could use the standard size of cartridge used by the Austrian infantry. After shooting a few hundred rounds Maxim’s apparatus became erratic then stopped altogether. When Maxim took the weapon apart to see what had happened, he discovered that it had been sabotaged, but it was too late to recover. The third trial was also in Vienna, and here the gun worked perfectly. But an unknown person went through the gathering of senior officers convincing them that the workmanship required to produce such a marvellous weapon could only be done by hand, one at a time, and that without the means for mass production Maxim could never produce the machine gun in sufficient quantities to satisfy the needs of a modern army. Nordenfelt and Zaharoff had won. Maxim, who knew he had a good product successfully sought a merger with Nordenfelt, with Zaharoff as the principal salesman with a fat rate of commission.

Although, very little could be documented, Zaharoff was viewed as a master of bribery and corruption, but the few incidents that did become public, such as the large bribes received by Japanese Admiral Fuji, suggested that a lot more was going on behind the scenes. In 1890 the Maxim-Nordenfelt association broke up and Zaharoff chose to go with Maxim. With his commissions Zaharoff bought shares in Maxim’s company until he was able to tell Maxim that he was no longer an employee but an equal shareholder.

By 1897 the Maxim company had become important enough that it received a buyout offer from Vickers, one of the then giants of the armaments industry. This involved substantial settlements in both cash and shares for Maxim and Zaharoff. From then until 1911 while Maxim’s business enthusiasm waned, Zaharoff’s enthusiasm and portfolio of Vickers shares grew. With Maxim’s retirement, Zaharoff joined the Vickers board of directors.

The first decade of the twentieth century was a time for many European armies to rebuild and modernize. Germany and England both saw an especial need for improved naval units. Vickers and Zaharoff were there, willing and able to accommodate both sides. After its disastrous defeat by Japan in 1905, Russia too had a need to rebuild its navy, but the nation was beset by a wave of chauvinism that required a domestic industry for the rebuilding. Zaharoff’s response was to build a huge Russian arms production complex at Tsaritsin as a subsidiary of Vickers. The opening of Russian tsarist archives after World War I led to some insights into the tactics of the arms industry. One 1907 letter in particular was written from the Paul von Gontard factory (a secretly controlled Vickers company in Germany) to a Vickers associate in Paris recommending that press releases go out to the French press with suggestions that the French improve their military to meet the threats of military build-up in Germany. These French newspaper articles were read into the record of the Reichstag, and were followed by a vote to increase military spending. All this worked to the advantage of Zaharoff.

[edit]
World War I
In the years immediately preceding World War I Zaharoff’s fortunes grew in other areas to support his arms business. By purchasing the Union Parisienne Bank (which was traditionally associated with heavy industry) he was better able to control financing arrangements. By gaining control of the daily newspaper Excelsior he could be assured of editorials favorable to the arms industry. All he needed now were honours. Setting up a retirement home for French sailors leads him to membership in the Legion of Honour, a chair in aerodynamics at the University of Paris makes him an officer, and on July 31, 1914, the same day that Jean Jaurès was assassinated, Raymond Poincaré signed a decree making him a commander of the Legion of Honour. In March 1914 Vickers would announce the coming of a new era of prosperity.

Vickers of England alone would, during the course of the war, produce 4 ships of the line, 3 cruisers, 53 submarines, 3 auxiliary vessels, 62 light vessels, 2,328 cannon, 8,000,000 tonnes of steel ordnance, 90,000 mines, 22,000 torpedoes, 5,500 airplanes and 100,000 machine guns. By 1915 Zaharoff had close ties with both Lloyd George and Aristide Briand. It is reported that on the occasion of one visit with Briand Zaharoff quietly left an envelope on Aristide Briand’s desk; the envelope contained a million francs for the war widows.

One of Zaharoff’s tasks during the war was to ensure that Greece became involved in the war on the Allied side. That would help to reinforce the eastern front. On the surface this seemed impossible since King Constantine was himself a Hohenzollern and brother-in-law to the Kaiser. Setting up a press agency in Greece to spread news favorable to the allies led within a few months to Constantine’s being deposed in favour of Prime Minister Venizelos.

With the war’s end, The Times estimated that Zaharoff had sacrificed £50 million for the Allied cause, ignoring that this was but a fraction of his commissions. He was made a baronet, and could now be called Sir Basil Zaharoff.

[edit]
Post-war dealings
In the years that follow Zaharoff involved himself in the affairs of the lesser powers, which the Big Four that were remaking Europe would have happily ignored. In particular, he set out to ensure that Greece and Venizelos received a proper share of the spoils from a badly weakened Turkey. Zaharoff convinces Venizelos to attack, and militarily the Greeks were quickly successful until France and Italy intervened in 1920, and imposed a treaty that refused to allow Greece to retain most of its conquests. In the elections that followed, Constantine’s loyalists managed to force Venizelos to flee, but Zaharoff stayed around and persuaded the same king that he had to attack Turkey again, but with Ataturk now in charge of Turkey this venture was bound to fail. Zaharoff’s war adventures were not well received by the press in Paris and London.

At the same time that he was carrying on his war, Zaharoff was also involved in two more significant financial ventures. in October 1920 he became involved in the incorporation of a company that was a predecessor to oil giant, British Petroleum. He saw that there was a great future in the oil business.

His association with Louis II of Monaco led to his purchase of the debt-ridden Société des Bains de Mer which ran Monte Carlo’s famed casino, and the principal source of revenue for the country. He succeeded in making the casino profitable again. At the same time Zaharoff had prevailed upon Clemenceau to ensure that the Treaty of Versailles included protection of Monaco’s rights as established in 1641. Louis had noted their gradual erosion in the nearly three centuries since.

[edit]
Personal life
In September 1924, the 75-year-old Zaharoff was married for the first time to the love of his life. He had met Maria del Pilar some three decades earlier on the Orient Express between Zürich and Paris when she was having difficulties with her newly-wed but unbalanced husband, the Duke of Marchena. Zaharoff was smitten from the beginning, but was prepared to wait. Despite the fact that the Duke soon was confined to an institute for the insane, the Catholic Maria would hear nothing of divorce. They had to await the Duke’s death. Eighteen months after the marriage Maria succumbed to an infection.

With that Zaharoff began a liquidation of his business assets, and undertook to compose his memoirs. When the memoirs were completed, they were stolen by a valet who had perhaps hoped to make his fortune by revealing embarrassing secrets about the greats of Europe. The police found the memoirs and return them to Zaharoff. On payment of a cheque to the policemen, Zaharoff re-acquired the manuscript, which he then consigned to the fireplace. The remainder of his days were passed in friendless solitude.

[edit]
Cultural references
In the Tintin album The Broken Ear, Zaharoff is parodied as the weapon trader Basil Bazarov, who sells to both parties of a single conflict that he helps provoke.

Zaharoff was portrayed by Leo McKern (of Rumpole of the Bailey fame) in the 1983 ITV television series Reilly, Ace of Spies.

He is also portrayed in The Lanny Budd series by Upton Sinclair.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_Zaharoff"

Iam asking my self how can we oversee such important Persons...of our (both) history....

sources reffer that he alone managed to make the War of 1920...
reading hes biography iam astonished...

Classical Greek i would say... :north:

Lord i can say that there is a common arrogance in both our nations and in all the balkans towards our common Ottoman heritage. While today we try to ethnisize the accomplishments of these men, in 1500s and 1600s and even in 1700s and early 1800s ethnicity didnt mean much. Ottoman history is an accomplishment of Turks, Greeks,Serbs,Bosnians,Albanians, Circassians. It is really a history which we should try to understand better.

It is written that Prime minister and close friend of Zaharoff...Mr.Skouloudis
Loved the idea of an new created unification...of both countrys
He wanted as well Zaharoff...to create a common economical market around the Aegean.
both of them loved the Anatolian flair...
It would be interesting to know more about hes life (Zaharoffs) ...
I willl search for hes biography...


Regards