Gourt Home::Gourt :: Middle Eastern theatre of World War I
The Middle Eastern theatre of World War I was fought between Allied Powers, mostly of the British and Russian Empires, and Central Powers, mostly of the Ottoman Empire.
Overview
The Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in October–November 1914, due to the secret Ottoman-German Alliance signed on August 2, 1914, threatening Russia's Caucasian territories and Britain's communications with India and the East via the Suez canal. The Ottoman Empire took the original place of Italy, who joined the Allied Powers.
See also: The Anglo-Russian Entente:Agreement concerning Persia 1907; The French, British and Russian joint declaration over the situation in Armenia published on May 24, 1915; and The Sykes-Picot Agreement 15 & 16 May, 1916.
The Ottoman Empire's entry into World War I occurred on October 29, 1914 when ships of the Ottoman navy shelled Odessa.
Caucasus Campaign
- Main article Caucasus Campaign
The campaign was fought in the Caucasus and eastern-Anatolia mainly in the mountains. in December 1914 the turks attacked the Russian town of Sarikamish, the result was the Battle of Sarikamish and a huge defeat for the Turks. the Russians then went on the offence and between 1915 and 1916 managed to occupy most of the Turkish Caucasus. when Russia withdrew from the war in 1917 the Turks managed to retake the Turkish Caucasus and most of the Russian caucasus. the Turks still occupied the Caucasus when the armstrice was signed.
Dardanelles Campaign
- Main articles Dardanelles Campaign
In Turkey the campaign is known as the Çanakkale Savaşlari. In the United Kingdom it is called the Dardanelles Campaign and in Australia, New Zealand and Newfoundland it is known simply as Gallipoli.
A combined British and French operation was mounted in order to eventually capture the Ottoman capital of Constantinople (now Istanbul). The campaign started with a Naval attempt to force the Dardanelles. When this failed the decision was taken by the Allies to seize the European side of the Dardanelles. The land campaign took place on the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli in 1915 during the First World War. The land attempt failed, and an estimated 131,000 soldiers were killed and 262,000 wounded.
Mesopotamian Campaign
- Main article Mesopotamian Campaign
The campaign was fought in Mesopotamia mainly in the Tigris River valley region of what is now Iraq and included battles on the Persian Gulf coast, Basra, numerous struggles around Kut, and Baghdad. Though initially the Ottomans were successful in repelling enemy incursions, after the disastrous Siege of Kut (1915–16), British Empire forces reorganized and captured Baghdad in March 1917.
Sinai and Palestine Campaign
- Main article Sinai and Palestine Campaign
At the start of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, the Ottoman Empire launched two separate attacks (one in 1915, the other in 1916) across the Sinai with the objective of destroying or capturing the Suez Canal. Both attacks were unsuccessful, though not very costly by the standards of the Great War. The British then went on the offensive and attacked east into Palestine. Two failed attempts to capture the Ottoman fort of Gaza resulted in sweeping changes to the British command and the arrival of General Allenby, along with many reinforcements. Late in 1917, Allenby's Egyptian Expeditionary Force smashed the Ottoman defences, captured Gaza and then captured Jerusalem just before Christmas. This victory was widely promoted in the Allied press. In the autumn of 1918, Allenby's army attacked again and utterly defeated the Ottoman army in the Battle of Megiddo. His forces marched into Damascus as the war ended.
Arabia and Southen Arabia Campaigns
Starting in 1915, the British based in Egypt tried to incite the Arabs living near the Red Sea and inland (in modern-day Saudi Arabia) to revolt against the Ottoman Empire. In 1916, a combination of diplomacy and genuine dislike of the new leaders of the Ottoman Empire (the Three Pashas) convinced Sherif Hussein ibn Ali of Mecca to begin a revolt. The leadership of this revolt was given to two of his sons: Faisal and Abdullah though the planning and direction for the war was largely the work of Lawrence of Arabia. The revolt was a success, aided immensely by General Allenby's conquest of Palestine and Syria in 1917 and 1918 (see the Sinai and Palestine Campaign for details).
Command Structures
Ottoman
The Ottoman Empire fielded a large but ineffective army during World War I. Their offensive operations were failures, their best Generals were in fact Germans (e.g. Liman von Sanders, Baron von der Goltz, Falkenhayn and Kress von Kressenstein), with only one effective Turkish Commander, Mustafa Kemal (later Ataturk), and just about all their modern war equipment (war ships, heavy artillery, machine guns, railroads, and air-planes) were built by Germans or Austrians and were maintained by German and Austrian engineers.
When holding defensive fortified positions the Ottoman army was often able to beat back major attacks, and tens of thousands of British and Russian soldiers died making fruitless assaults on Turkish positions. However, the only successful Ottoman military operations were defensive and they suffered many defeats when attacking and defending.
Unlike the army of Austria-Hungary which essentially fell apart in 1918, the Ottoman army was still partially intact and partially effective all the way to the end of the war. While it is true they lost both their armies in Palestine and Mesopotamia in the fall of 1918, there was still a core army based around Istanbul which was combat effective. Also in 1918, the Ottoman army was able to recapture all their lost territory in Armenia (admittedly against very weak opposition). In fact, the Ottoman army even managed to reach Baku just before the war ended (the strategic value of this operation is highly questionable but still, it was a demonstration of some military power).
Despite the occasional successes and sometimes capable leaders, on the whole the Ottoman army was a weak partner to the German army during World War One. The Ottoman Empire almost certainly would have been defeated by the middle of 1915 without German military leadership and aid.
British
Russian
Timeline
Notes
Further reading
- The Middle East during World War One By Professor David R Woodward for the BBC
"Middle Eastern theatre of World War I"