The first phase of warfare in which Australian military forces were occupied was in beating off a Turkish attack upon the Suez Canal in February 1915. Turkey entered the war as an ally of the Germanic powers in the previous October, against the wishes of the Sultan and the Grand Vizier, whose hands were forced by a military party led by Enver Bey, who was manipulated by German officers. The objects of the Turkish move against the Suez Canal were, first, to deprive Great Britain of one of her most important maritime routes, and secondly to stimulate a Moslem rising in Egypt.