Editing Mehmed VI (section)

== Crown prince ==
As [[Wali al-Ahd|crown prince]] he represented [[Mehmed V]] at the funeral of the Austro-Hungarian emperor [[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Franz Joseph I]] in 1916. CUP leader [[Talaat Pasha|Talât]] was concerned by [[Wali al-Ahd|Veliahd]] Vahdeddin's surprisingly popular conduct in the funeral.{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=65}} 

When he was invited by Kaiser [[Wilhelm II]] of [[German Empire|Germany]] to make a state visit in 1917, he was accompanied by his [[aide-de-camp]], [[Mustafa Kemal Pasha|Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Atatürk)]]. They first met on 13 December 1917. Kemal Pasha was on leave after resigning from [[Yildirim Army Group|Yıldarım Army Group]] command due to his conflict with [[Erich von Falkenhayn]] and received the invitation to accompany the crown prince from [[Enver Pasha]]. [[Naci Eldeniz|Colonel Naci]] invited Mustafa Kemal to meet the crown prince at his palace. Kemal was immediately unimpressed by what can only be described by Vahdeddin's awkwardly egotistical and arrogant behavior towards his guests, such as closing his eyes the entire time, and when they departed from the train station the next day, Kemal had to remind him to wave to the army detachment. On the train, he was invited to another audience with Vahdeddin; this time he apologized for his behavior to Kemal  the day before and expressed gratitude for his role in the [[Gallipoli campaign]] and the two had a long and fruitful conversation, making him cautiously optimistic of the veliahd. On the way back from Berlin, Kemal advised Vahdeddin to request a field command and that he could be his chief of staff if he wants to boost his popularity. The crown prince demurred at this request, giving the excuse that the government would refuse. Biographer [[Murat Bardakçı]] provides probable skepticism of these stories told in [[Falih Rıfkı Atay]]'s accounts, who was Kemal's secretary, as Kemal would have breached several layers of protocol addressing an imperial crown prince this way. Nevertheless, this story generally corroberates other accounts of Vahdeddin's mannerisms.{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=68–73}} On the other hand, writing of this first encounter Vahdeddin described Mustafa Kemal as loyal and having a bright mind, who was fiercely anti-German and critical of Enver Pasha.{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=74}} Six years later, Mustafa Kemal would declare a republic after deposing his sovereign in 1922.