Middle East And World War I
In the beginning of World War I, the Ottoman Empire was neutral. However, by the time November came, the Empire was no longer neutral and joined the fray. This led to the fall of the Ottoman Empire and had a profound effect on the Middle East. |
The Middle East was already a tensed place due to continuous occupation by the foreign empires, and when the Ottoman Empire broke its neutrality in November 1914, the Islamic empire began waging a military jihad on France, Russia and Britain after the Sultan asked for it. The move came as a surprise to other nations as the Empire had recently experienced losses in Libya and the Balkans. However, some elements in the government were extremely impressed by the industrial and military strength of the Germans and wanted to make use of this chance to reclaim its lost territories and also expand the Ottoman Empire.
This caused the British to send their force to Basra. The Anglo-Indian army did not know much about the Ottoman army that comprised of 600,000 troops. However, the fact that they were siding with Germany made them a force to reckon with. So, to pre-empt the Ottoman troops, Anglo-Indian force were sent to Basra. The troops were primarily sent to protect the oil pipeline, which was extremely important for the British navy and to establish a British presence in the Persian Gulf region.
In response, the Central Powers launched a surprise attack on the Suez Canal in the early part of February 1915. The aim of the attack was to breach the English defenses and start an Islamic revolt in Egypt. However, this failed to occur and the Central Powers were defeated and also sustained heavy losses.
The British navy then attacked Istanbul in an attempt to take out the Ottoman Empire from the war. However, when the navy did not succeed in Dardanelles, the British Expeditionary Force landed in Gallipoli. However, the Force lost thousands of soldiers and had to beat a retreat. As the Battle of Gallipoli finished, Anglo-Indian army was surrounded in a town, which was 100 miles from Baghdad. This prompted the army to surrender.
However, the British did not take this sitting down. The British reassembled a force of 150,000 soldiers in Mesopotamia under the command of General Sir Stanley F. Maude. The soldiers were given the most modern and latest weapons to fight with, and the city of Basra was changed into a modern port city. The British force in Mesopotamia managed to route out the Ottoman Empire from the Sinai Desert and also captured Baghdad. They then attacked Gaza, which was under the control of the Ottoman Empire, but failed in their attempt.
In addition, the German submarines were launched in submarine warfare and this resulted in many Allied ships being sunk. As a result supply to the Middle East to British soldiers suffered. Now, the prospect of fighting the Central Powers in the Middle East as well as Europe loomed over the British.
At this time soldiers from Australia and New Zealand also became part of the British army, and the British army managed to fight off the Ottoman army at Gaza and capture it on 11th December 1917. As a stalemate was continuing in Europe, the British government began concentrating on the Middle East. However, the government was forced to recall majority of soldiers to France leaving behind just the infantry in Egypt which comprised of soldiers from India, Burma and West Indies. Then, by 19th September 1918, the British army fought the Battle of Megiddo and it managed to rout the Ottoman army completely. Thereafter, the British moved to Damascus, which fell on 1st October, and thereafter to Aleppo, which fell on 26th October. And, 5 days later, the Ottoman Empire called for armistice.
The First World War fought in the Middle East allowed the British to occupy Iraq, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. The British had complete dominion in the region.
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