August 1914 found the Ottoman Empire in disarray. In the 25 years prior to the war, it had lost 40% of its territory. It had been ruled, more or less, by a triumvirate of Young Turks since 1908 and was besieged on the west by the Balkan powers that they had once ruled. They feared that their co-religionists in the south were hoping for Arab independence. In the east, the Catholic Armenians wanted their own homeland, and just past them were the Russians, who wanted Constantinople. They needed an ally and a lot of help. They allied with Germany and joined the war in November. "Many in the German high command believed that the Ottomans' greatest contribution would come less from the Turkish army than from the internal uprisings Ottoman military action might provoke among Muslims under French colonial rule in North Africa, under the British in Egypt and India, and under the Russians in the Caucasus and Central Asia." Believed incapable of defending thousands of miles of borders, they were attacked on all fronts. The Russians prevailed in the Caucasus. The British captured Basra and stopped an Ottoman advance on the Suez Canal. The British and French tried to capture Constantinople by running the Bosporus in late April, 1915. They lost four capital ships, a third of the eastern Mediterranean fleet. Next, they tried a land advance through the Gallipoli peninsula and successfully landed 50,000 men. However, the Turks vigorously defended their homeland and Kitchner was required to substantially reinforce the effort. In the end, the Turks' defense was too much. Each side had half-a-million casualties. The victory strengthened the Central Powers because Bulgaria joined them, thus creating a rail connections between Central Europe and Constantinople. German equipment and material flowed to the Ottomans.
Meanwhile tragedy unfolded in the east. The Armenians were in the proverbial middle. Their homeland was equally divided between the two Empires, but their loyalty was with the Russians. They were considered disloyal fifth-columnists by the Ottoman government. Although there is no smoking gun, the author states "Ottoman documents and contemporary memoirs suggest the top three Young Turk officials made key decisions initiating the annihilation of the Armenian community of Turkey between February and March 1915." Deportations led to rumored revolt led to the arrest in Istanbul of the Armenian elite led to actual revolt led to violent suppression and ultimately genocide. There is no consensus on the total killed, the numbers ranging from 750,000 to 1.5 million.
The British efforts in Mesopotamia were conducted under the auspices of the Indian government and initially met with failure. After a disastrous defeat at Kut, just south of Baghdad, the Indian Army captured the famed city. To the west, British efforts were focused on supporting and encouraging an Arab revolt. They had to promise Arab independence after the war in order to achieve their revolt against the Ottomans. Unknown to the Arabs, the promise excluded the British protectorate over the Persian Gulf provinces and French ambitions in the Levant. "So began the fateful link between the Hashemite revolt in Arabia and the British campaign in Palestine that, between them, would ultimately spell the downfall of the Ottoman Empire." By the end of 1917, Jerusalem fell and, once again, the British promise was further diluted. The Balfour Declaration stated there would be a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The last year of the war started well for the Ottomans. Russia withdrew from the war and, returned three former provinces to them. Allenby had to transfer 60,000 men to France, resulting in repeated failures to advance east from Jerusalem. Instead, the British and Arabs headed north and crushed the Turks on their way to Damascus. By the end of October, the Empire signed an armistice agreement with the UK.
"Caught between the conflicting demands of the victorious powers and Turkish nationalists, the Ottomans ultimately fell more as a result of the terms of the peace than of the magnitude of their defeat." The Young Turk leaders fled to Berlin while a military tribunal sentenced 18 of them to death for the Armenian genocide. Armenians tracked down and assassinated ten of the eighteen. The Allies stripped the Empire of its Arab provinces and reduced the Turkish homeland significantly. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the general who had won at Gallipoli, rejected the treaty, deposed the Sultan and pushed the Allies out of the country. He renegotiated the treaty, thus creating the modern state with himself as president. "The Ottoman front, with its Asian battlefield and global soldiers, turned Europe's Great War into the First World War. And in the Middle East more than any part of the world, the legacies of the Great War continue to be felt down to the present day."
Meanwhile tragedy unfolded in the east. The Armenians were in the proverbial middle. Their homeland was equally divided between the two Empires, but their loyalty was with the Russians. They were considered disloyal fifth-columnists by the Ottoman government. Although there is no smoking gun, the author states "Ottoman documents and contemporary memoirs suggest the top three Young Turk officials made key decisions initiating the annihilation of the Armenian community of Turkey between February and March 1915." Deportations led to rumored revolt led to the arrest in Istanbul of the Armenian elite led to actual revolt led to violent suppression and ultimately genocide. There is no consensus on the total killed, the numbers ranging from 750,000 to 1.5 million.
The British efforts in Mesopotamia were conducted under the auspices of the Indian government and initially met with failure. After a disastrous defeat at Kut, just south of Baghdad, the Indian Army captured the famed city. To the west, British efforts were focused on supporting and encouraging an Arab revolt. They had to promise Arab independence after the war in order to achieve their revolt against the Ottomans. Unknown to the Arabs, the promise excluded the British protectorate over the Persian Gulf provinces and French ambitions in the Levant. "So began the fateful link between the Hashemite revolt in Arabia and the British campaign in Palestine that, between them, would ultimately spell the downfall of the Ottoman Empire." By the end of 1917, Jerusalem fell and, once again, the British promise was further diluted. The Balfour Declaration stated there would be a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The last year of the war started well for the Ottomans. Russia withdrew from the war and, returned three former provinces to them. Allenby had to transfer 60,000 men to France, resulting in repeated failures to advance east from Jerusalem. Instead, the British and Arabs headed north and crushed the Turks on their way to Damascus. By the end of October, the Empire signed an armistice agreement with the UK.
"Caught between the conflicting demands of the victorious powers and Turkish nationalists, the Ottomans ultimately fell more as a result of the terms of the peace than of the magnitude of their defeat." The Young Turk leaders fled to Berlin while a military tribunal sentenced 18 of them to death for the Armenian genocide. Armenians tracked down and assassinated ten of the eighteen. The Allies stripped the Empire of its Arab provinces and reduced the Turkish homeland significantly. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the general who had won at Gallipoli, rejected the treaty, deposed the Sultan and pushed the Allies out of the country. He renegotiated the treaty, thus creating the modern state with himself as president. "The Ottoman front, with its Asian battlefield and global soldiers, turned Europe's Great War into the First World War. And in the Middle East more than any part of the world, the legacies of the Great War continue to be felt down to the present day."
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