The Fall of the Ottomans

Rogan, Eugene. The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East. 2015. 512p. ISBN 9780465023073.

When the world ignited into the flames of war following the death of Archduke Ferdinand in July of 1914, a complex web of alliances ensnared participants on both sides. A powerful Germany came to the aid of its ally Austria-Hungary, and they were joined by the Ottoman Empire, which covered vast areas of the Middle East. Long considered the Sick Man of Europe, the Ottoman Empire had been around for almost 500 years, and had lost much of its vigor. Internal strifes and wars in the Balkans had drained resources, soldiers, and the will to fight. 

At first, the Ottomans saw the possibility of rapid gains against the French and British colonial empires to their south and west, and, noticing Russia's weakness, also as a way to regain a footing in the Caucasus. With the financial and technical assistance of the Germans, the Ottoman troops launched several assaults against Allied positions, securing far ranging victories in Gallipoli against an amphibian assault, in Mesopotamia (now Irak), and in Palestine. These gains were short lived, however, as men and material poured in the region from the British Commonwealth, the Ottomans found themselves on the defensive. Even Russia, which was being bled by the Germans and where revolution threatened, managed to send armies that pushed the Ottomans out of the Caucasus and made inroads into imperial territories.

By 1918, only the central parts of the Ottoman Empire were free of occupation. The Turks, the largest ethnicity of the empire, committed genocide against their Armenian neighbors. The British seized Baghdad in the east, and Jerusalem and Damascus in the East. As the Germans and Austrians collapsed, the Ottomans dissolved into several independent nations. Turkey became its own state. Several others emerged from the ashes but were immediately colonized by European powers. Artificial frontiers were drawn, and agreements made with native allies were ignored, leading to resentment and frustration that continues to affect the world today. The modern Middle East owes its existence in part to the death of the Ottoman Empire and the consequences of the First World War.