"The Fall of the Ottomans" by Eugene Rogan

Above: I recently (November 2015) completed reading this book, "The Fall of the Ottomans," by Eugene Rogan. Knoph 2015.

Bishop's book review. 28 November 2015.

The echoes of the disposition of these Ottoman territories in 1918 reverberate today, almost 100 years later.

I read the book to continue my study of WWI following two battlefield trips this year. Gallipoli in June and Western Front in September.

In May of 1964, Mwah (sic) and four college friends from American University in Cairo, John, (Minnesota) Peter, (Pennsylvania) Laurie and David (both Connecticut) [we were all 18 or 19 years old] flew from Cairo, Egypt to Beirut, Lebanon where we began a mostly overland six week tour of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Turkey (Istanbul and Thrace), and Bulgaria all countries once part of the Ottoman Empire which controlled the region visited (excepting Iran) from 1300 AD to 1918 AD.

Except... that.. at the time I didn't think of these lands in the context of the Ottoman Empire. These were countries of the Middle East. I was living in Cairo. I had some adventuresome friends and indulgent parents. We would go visit these countries... even if our (well, mine) advanced teenager knowledge included little understanding of the history of the region.

In hindsight, I had a lot to learn. As I age, I am continually amazed, notwithstanding a life time of travel, how much I didn't know about the world I was visiting. Paradoxically, as I learn more, I realize that the time to effectively use newly gained knowledge is shortening. The learning process itself, however, continues to stimulate.

Later in life, I visited other areas of Ottoman control. The lower Caucasus, Eastern Anatolia, "Greek" Islands, and Gallipoli. So, my travel resume of Ottoman lands was solid. I had enough in-depth knowledge of the WWI Gallipoli campaign to spur curiosity to dig deeper... but, in the main, I remained ignorant of the broader context of Ottoman history.

I, therefore, had to back into studying the Ottomans later in life. The well reviewed new book, "The Fall of the Ottomans," by Eugene Rogan, published in 2015, was a great start to advance this new knowledge quest. This "backing in to understand" process seems to have been a theme in my life. That is... go someplace far away... don't do a lot of research... have curiosity stimulated during the visit... ffill in a lot of the historical blanks on return from the visit.

While the Ottoman Empire, a WWI ally with the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary), was a loser in WWI, Ottoman triumph over Commonwealth and French forces at Gallipoli laid the groundwork... honing future leaders - Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk)... for a modern Turkish state to emerge out of the ashes of Ottoman defeat in WWI in 1918.

Notwithstanding Ottoman success in forcing a retreat by Entente forces in Gallipoli, the Ottomans lost in WWI. Following the war, remaining Ottoman possessions, but for most of Anatolia and a small piece of European Thrace, were divvied up amongst the allied war victors... mainly England and France. These "spoils" possessions included modern day Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, West Bank, and Gaza. The Ottomans had also controlled the Hijaz, much of what is now Saudi Arabia, but that area, post WWI, was left in Arab/Bedouin hands, "supported" by a strong alliance with Britain.

The echos of the disposition of these Ottoman territories in 1918 reverberate today, almost 100 years later. "Reverberate" may be the wrong word. In fact the echos have intensified into a metaphorical harmonic convergence - kind of like non-metaphorical, harmonic convergence, collapse, in 1940, of the Tacoma narrows bridge (Galloping Gertie) - to become an existential threat to those same Entente victors (if not the whole civilized world), who, in WWI, allocated the Ottoman spoils of war in the first place.

During WWI Ottomans fought elsewhere other than Gallipoli. But, not always as successfully. Shortly after entering WWI, fall 1915, young Turk Enver Pasha, led Ottoman troops in a failed attack against the Russians in the Caucasus. Rogan details the hardships faced by the Ottoman's in that attack... such as, lack of warm clothing during the onset of winter and lack of food for troops due to poor military planning. Young Turk Cemal Pasha mounted unsuccessful attacks, in 1915, against British fortifications on the Suez Canal. Outstripping of supply lines was the principal reason for Ottoman failure at the Suez canal. On the other hand, through the end of 1916 the Ottomans fought hard, and effectively, using troops transferred from Gallipoli to the Mesopotamian front, to keep British troops form sailing up the Tigris River to capture Baghdad. Here we learn about the siege of Kut, where after finally running out of food, Commonwealth troops, under General Townshend, were forced to surrender to the Ottomans.

The Ottomans had hoped to rally Arab Muslims to their side with the cry of Caliphate. But, the Arabs, led by Bedouin King Huseyn, and backed by British guns and gold, revolted from Turkish rule. Huseyn and his people were instrumental in helping allied forces take Gaza and Palestine in 1917 and Damascus in 1918. British Colonel T. E. Lawrence, "Lawrence of Arabia" was a central figure in this campaign, which he called "a side show of a side show.." Enter also, British General Edmund Allenby, who, built his reputation using deception ( a la Patten's building army in Britain prior to D Day) to successfully take from Ottoman control, Palestine and Syria in 1917

During the little studied Middle Eastern front of WWI occurred some amazing military actions. For example, the largest cavalry charge in the history of the British military occurred, not on the Western Front, but, in Gaza, in 1917, when 800 Commonwealth cavalry charged Ottoman positions. The Gaza charge was even larger than the famed Charge of the Light Brigade, during the Crimean War. And Aqaba, where T.E. Lawrence, Sharif Ali, son of King Huseyn, and Howitat tribe bedouin leader, Auda ibu Tayi, took Aqaba from the Ottomans, not from the heavily fortified sea direction, but from the "thought to be impossible" landward side where no big guns were pointing.

By the turn of the century (1900), the Ottoman Empire was already in an advanced state of decline. It was referred to as the "sick man of Europe." The industrial revolution and the advancement of technology that had caught hold in England, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and even, to an extent, Russia did not catch hold in the foot dragging Ottoman empire. Also, technological and industrial advancement in Europe brought international trade, but, also international competition to expand colonial reach. Early in the 20th century, the Ottomans found their far flung holdings being poached from all directions by prosperous empires eager to expand their colonial holdings. The Italians claimed Libya in 1909. Austria Hungary annexed Ottoman province of Bosnia in 1908. The Ottomans fought two territorial wars in 1912 and 1913 where they lost most of their European holdings. By the start of WWI, in August 1914, the Ottomans had their backs against the wall.

Rogan's book, published this year, ties the all of the above events together in a comprehensive, organized, readable narrative.

A full chapter is given to the Armenian genocide. As the Ottomans chose sides to fight with the Central Powers, they saw what they believed was a tilt towards Entente (read Christian) powers on the part of their minority Armenian population. The genocide of 100 years ago, where up to 1.4 million Armenians were killed, still rankles today where Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic relations.

Allied treachery against their Arab allies is treated by an excellent description of the Sykes Picot agreement... and the Balfour declarations, wherein before war's end the soon to be available spoils of the middle east Ottoman possessions would be up for grabs to be shared by the Brits, the French and a new Jewish state of Israel... all the while with the Brits assuring the Arabs that post war these lands would revert to them. Duplicitous allied behavior towards the Arabs post WWI was not a good base from which to build trust over the long term. There is reason for Arabs to be wary of western intervention and western promises.

The Western Front seems to get all the attention when WWI is discussed today. Certainly that is where the greatest human carnage took place, Yet, WWI in the Middle East may have had longer lasting effects and implications. The conflicts we see today in the Middle East cannot be separated from decisions on the Mesopotamian and Palestine fronts made 100 years ago.

Rogan's book provides the student of history with a great way to lean about an important, but little appreciated, part of World War I... and to reflect on the impact of events in the Middle East 100 years ago on today's events.