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Middle East in WWI Pt 12 Jerusalem Falls Jerusalem Falls. Allenby pursues the retreating enemy, splitting the two Turkish armies -- the Eighth retreats up the coast and the Seventh falls back to Jerusalem. Turning toward Jerusalem, Allenby's troops advance and drive the enemy northward. On December 8th, civil authorities surrender the Holy City to the British. Three days later, General Allenby walks into Jerusalem as the city's 34th conqueror; Prime Minister Lloyd George and the British public have their "Christmas present" two weeks early.

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Middle East in WWI Pt 13 Arab Revolt On June 5, 1916, Sherif Hussein proclaims Arab independence from the sultan in Istanbul; five days later, the Turkish garrison at Mecca surrenders. The Cairo Bureau assigns Major T.E. Lawrence to coordinate military operations with the Arab rebels. Yet much confusion exists as to the revolt's actual strength; British intelligence relies on a single Arab source whose information is suspect. Promoted to colonel, "Lawrence of Arabia" and Prince Feisal lead the Arab Revolt in earnest by the start of 1918. His guerrillas attack the Hejaz Railway, running some 600 miles from Medina to Amman. Lawrence's actions pin down 25,000 Ottoman troops in blockhouses and outposts along the train line. By September, Lawrence and his guerrillas move north to operate on Allenby's right flank. Arab strength never totals more than 6,000 men, but they are bolstered by British armored cars and light machine guns; British gold helps to keep them fighting.

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Middle East in WWI Pt 14 Palestine FrontReinforced during the summer of 1918, General Allenby plans a decisive drive against Istanbul. Utmost secrecy is maintained. British air power clears the sky of enemy observers. Dummy camps and horse lines help to obscure Allenby's intentions. The military balance is tipped heavily in favor of the British: 70,000 men and 540 guns against 8,000 Ottoman troops and 130 guns. At the Battle of Megiddo (September 19-21, 1918), the British drive the Ottoman Seventh and Eighth armies back in disorder toward the Jordan River.

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Middle East in WWI Pt 15 Oil in Baku By 1918, the oil fields of Baku become the objective for British, Turkish, and even Bolshevik forces. In January, General L.C. Dunsterville leads his troops ("Dunsterforce") from Baghdad to the Caspian Sea and into Baku by August. Meanwhile, the Turks finally drive Armenian rebels from Eastern Anatolia (March-April) while German troops land from the Black Sea and capture the city of Tiflis in the Caucasus (June12th). The Turks win the race to Baku and vigorously attack the British, who evacuate the city on September 14th. Two months later, a British naval flotilla on the Caspian Sea drives the Turks out of Baku.

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Middle East in WWI Pt 17 Mustafa Kemal Mustafa Kemal. Leaving Istanbul under the ruse of disarming Ottoman forces in the Anatolian interior, Colonel Mustafa Kemal lands at the Black Sea port of Samsun on May 19, 1919. He rallies patriotic Turks in a nationalist front and solidifies his efforts at two separate conferences, one at Sivas and the other at Erzurum. Kemal works ceaselessly in building a new army and government to preserve the Turkish nation.

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Middle East in WWI Pt 18 Spoils of War Spoils of War. Since the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916, France and Great Britain have planned to carve up the Ottoman Empire between them. On August 20, 1919, the Treaty of Sevres strips the Ottoman Empire of all its holdings outside Anatolia, except for a small piece of European land. France and Great Britain claim huge areas of Ottoman territory as "spheres of influence" in the Middle East, and guarantee British control of oil supplies in Iraq. On paper, the Armenians are promised an independent republic. Kemal's nationalists reject the treaty as they prepare to fight British, Armenian, French, and Greek invaders.

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Middle East in WWI Pt 19 Turkey Fights Back Turkey Fights Back. Turkish forces under General Kazim Karibakir go on the offensive against Armenia in October 1919. They capture the city of Kars on October 21st and steadily push the Armenians back toward Yerevan in the Caucasus. Establishing a new nationalist government at Ankara in April 1920, Mustafa Kemal and his generals pursue their offensive against Armenian forces in eastern Turkey. On December 3, 1920, the Kemalist government signs a peace treaty with Armenia and hostilities are officially ended

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Middle East in WWI Pt 20 Greco Turkish War Greco-Turkish War. The Allies, exhausted from four years of total war, readily accept Greece's offer to suppress the Turkish nationalist movement. On May 15, 1919, a Greek Army lands on the western coast of Turkey, with an Italian force also landing farther south. By July, Greek forces have captured a large portion of western Turkey, encountering little opposition. Having disposed of the Armenian threat in the east, Turkish forces turn toward the Greek army in the west. In August 1922, the Turks launch a counter-offensive and drive the Greeks back toward Izmir (Smyrna) on the southwest coast of Turkey. On September 11th, the Turks recapture Izmir, and Kemal advances toward British forces at Istanbul.

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Middle East in WWI Pt 21 New Nations - New Nations. The British negotiate a truce with the Turkish nationalists and withdraw from Istanbul. Superseding the Sevres accord, the Treaty of Lausanne (July 24, 1923) ends hostilities between the Allies and the Turkish nationalists. Territory is restored to Turkey and the Allies evacuate Istanbul on August 23rd. Mustafa Kemal, hero of Gallipoli, becomes the first president of the new Turkish Republic on October 29th. Other nations are created by Great Britain and France, intended to secure their influence in the oil-rich region: Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.

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Middle East in WWI Pt 22 Hollow Victor Hollow Victory. The creation of artificial states by the Western Powers gives rise to a Middle East characterized by military conflict and political instability. Beginning in 1920 with a Muslim revolt in Iraq against British rule, the region is plagued by wars, revolts, coups, and interventions up to the present day. The need for oil to fuel Western economies, and the need for pro-Western governments in the Middle East, has been a constant political reality since the end of World War I