The First World War and the making of the Modern Middle East
Topic summary:
The period just before, during and following the First World War witnessed momentous events that gave rise to the Middle East as we know it today. This lecture will review military and diplomatic maneuverings surrounding the Great War, and will follow developments that resulted in the collapse of the centuries-old Ottoman Empire, the dashing of hopes and the enflaming of passions of millions in the region, and the drawing of borders, both literally and figuratively, that continue to shape politics in the region till the present day.
Timeline
| 28 July 1914 | Outbreak of WWI in Europe |
| 02 November 1914 | Ottoman Empire declares war |
| 06 November 1914 | British and Indian troops lands in Fao, Mesopotamia |
| 17 December 1914 | Egypt is placed under the protection of Britain |
| 22 Dec 1914 -17 Jan 15 | Ottoman defeat to Russians in the Caucasus |
| Jan 1915- Feb 1915 | Cemal Pasha is repulsed in his attack on the Suez Canal |
| Feb 1915-Jan 1916 | Gallipoli Campaign |
| 29 April 1916 | Capitulation of British Army in Kut, Mesopotamia |
| 16 December 1915 | Mark Sykes meets the War Cabinet in London and suggests drawing a line “from the e in Acre to the second k in Kirkuk” |
| Aug 1915-March 1916 | Husayn-McMahon correspondence |
| 08 May 1916 | Sykes-Picot agreement signed |
| 10 June 1916 | Launch of the Great Arab Revolt |
| 06 July 1917 | T.E. Lawrence and Prince Faysal capture Aqaba |
| 02 November 1917 | Balfour Declaration |
| 11 December 1917 | British troops enter Jerusalem |
| 11 November 1918 | Armistice |
| 01 December 1918 | British troops enter Damascus |
| 03 December 1918 | Faysal enters Damascus |
| 18 January 1919 | Paris Peace Conference officially starts (it lasted till 21 Jan 1920) |
| March-July 1919 | 1919 Revolution in Egypt |
| 28 June 1919 | Treaty of Versailles incorporating the Covenant of the League of Nations |
| 08 March 1920 | Syrian National Congress declares an independent Syrian Kingdom with Faysal as King |
| 20 April 1920 | San Remo Conference |
| April 1920 | Jerusalem riots against the British Mandate over Palestine |
| 10 June-20 July 1920 | King-Crane Commission |
| June 1920 | Great Iraqi Revolt against British occupation of Iraq |
| 10 August 1920 | Treaty of Sèvres |
| 24 July 1920 | French troops enter Damascus; Faysal goes into exile |
| 12-30 March 1921 | Cairo Conference |
| 01 April 1921 | Abdullah declared Emir of Transjordan |
| August 1921 | Faysal declared King of Iraq |
| 22 February 1922 | Britain grants Egypt independence |
| 22 September 1922 | Turkish troops under Mustafa Kemal enter Izmir |
| I Nov 1922 | Turkish Grand National Assembly abolishes Ottoman sultanate |
| 29 October 1923 | Declaration of the new Turkish republic |
| 24 July 1923 | Treaty of Lausanne |
| 03 March 1924 | Turkish Grand National Assembly abolishes the caliphate |
Recommended readings:
James Barr,A Line in the Sand: Britain, France and the Struggle that Shaped the Middle East
David Fromkin, A Peace to End All Peace, 20th Anniversary Edition: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East
Eugene Rogan, The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East, 1914-1920
Maps:
What the Middle East looked like in 1914
Ottoman Turks commit genocide against the Armenians 1915
Sykes-Picot and the breakup of the Ottoman empire 1916
Britain conquers Palestine 1917
Lawrence of Arabia and Britain’s betrayal of Arab allies 1918
The map of the Middle East: 1914 compared to 1922
Videos / Films / Radio:
BBC Radio program on World War One and Redrawing the Middle East (50 mins.)
Gallipoli (Paramount, 1981, Peter Weir, 110 mins.)
Lawrence of Arabia (Columbia Pictures, 1962, David Lean, 222 mins.)
The full talk can be seen here: