World War I and The Middle East
(Mark Twain Media, Inc., Publishers)
A bullet was fired as Sarajevo, Bosnia, on June 28, 1914, and Austrian Archduke Ferdinand slumped over dead. No one could have imagined that this event would lead to a war of such proportions that it would be name “The Great War” and later “World War I.” For the Middle East, it was the beginning of a new era.
As was true in parts of Africa, the European powers had struggled for influence in the Middle East for many years. A German company received permission to build a railroad in Turkey from the Bosporus to Ankara; the next year, it got control of the Oriental railroad connecting Austria with Constantinople. Germany wanted to extend the railroad to Baghdad, but Prime Minister Bismarck feared that would cause problems with Russia. The German king, the Kaiser, ignored Bismarck’s concerns, and in 1890, he persuaded Turkey to allow a railroad to be built to Baghdad. Russia and England both opposite, Russia because they feared Germany might block their entrance to the Black Sea, and England because it threatened their interests in Persia and India. The British offered protection to the sheik of Kuwait, who promised to make no deals without British approval.
Turkey was often referred to the “Sick Man of Europe,” a reputation it had earned because it was ruled by an incompetent council, held power over its Christian and Arab subjects by brutal force, and stank with corruption. The Young Turks, long critical of their predecessors, were no more able to reform the Ottoman Empire than those they had replaced. The real leaders, Talaat Pasha and War Minister Enver Pasha, were not smart enough to realize the risks they were taking in foreign policy. They were eager to get into Europe’s war on German’s side, thinking that with the Kaiser’s help they could seize land in the Caucasus region from Russia. In August 1914 they signed a secret alliance with Germany and waited until October to announce it. By getting involved, they were going to cross England, Russia, and France.
When World War I began, Turkey was brutally expelling Greeks from their soil, and tension was growing with Greece. The United States sold Greece two old battleships that were better than any ships in the Turkish navy. The Turks had paid the British to build two battleships for them, but they had not been delivered before the war began Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill decided not to send the ships because England needed them; he did not know that Turkey had already signed on the enemy side. Two German cruisers sailed to Turkey, where they flew the Turkish flag, but the captains and crews were Germans. These ships were able to keep the Russians from breaking through the Bosporus to the Mediterranean. Russia asked England for help, and England was eager to get involved.
The British navy was converting to ships powered by oil and needed to keep Middle Eastern oil field in friendly hands. Churchill pushed hard for an invasion to the Gallipoli Peninsula; if successful, they could attack Constantinople. An English army was raised for the attack, and the soldiers were thrilled by the opportunity; “Gallipoli fever” spread through the confident men. The Turks, trained by the Germans, were also eager for a fight. Their leader, General Mustapha Kemal, told them: “I don’t order you to attack; I order you to die.” The invaders suffered 20,000 casualties, and the attack stalled. Public reaction in Great Britain grew so angry that the prime minister fired Churchill. A new attack was planned and carried out, but eventually the British, Australian, and New Zealand troops were withdrawn.
Thomas E Lawrence was more successful. A scholar, he traveled through Syria on foot while studying Crusader architecture. He knew the language, culture, and people. When World War I broke out, he was sent to Egypt, where he began organizing the Arab Bureau. His purpose was to organize Arabs unhappy under Turkish rule. He made friends with Emir (Prince) Feisal, and persuaded him to help drive the Turks for Arab soil. With the support of General Edmund Allenby, his guerilla warfare nearly cut the railroad to Damascus. In a war short on heroes, he was known as “Lawrence of Arabia.” The Arabs had supported the British and expected the British to be on their side after the war. Laurence would later criticize Britain for not protecting the Arab interests better.
After war began between Britain and Turkey in November, 1914, a British-Indian army was sent to Iraq, and it captured the Turkish fort at Fao (Southern tip of Iraq.) The purpose of the expedition was to keep the oil fields from enemy use, keep the Germans from using Basra as a submarine base, and protect India from German attack. In 1917 the British captured Baghdad. When Russia withdrew from the war and pulled their troops out of northeastern Iraq, the British moved northward, gaining Kirkurk in May 1918. As the war was coming to an end, the British were near Mosul, (Northwestern Iraq). After Turkey surrendered, the British took Mosul. Persia (Iran) was barely independent, with Russia willing and able to force its will on its southern neighbor. England and France had agreed in 1907 to divide influence, there with Russia strong in northern Persia. When the Persians tried to take control of their own affairs, the Russian army marched into Tehran. With Germany as a threat, the British ignored terrible crimes committed by Russian troops against Iranians.
When the war ended with German surrender, the fates of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey were going to be decided by the victors. Whatever they decided was going to have a major effect on the Middle East.