The First World War in the Middle East

by Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

Overview

The First World War in the Middle East is an accessibly written military and social history of the clash of world empires in the Dardanelles, Egypt and Palestine, Mesopotamia, Persia and the Caucasus. Coates Ulrichsen demonstrates how wartime exigencies shaped the parameters of the modern Middle East, and describes and assesses the major campaigns against the Ottoman Empire and Germany involving British and imperial troops from the French and Russian Empires, as well as their Arab and Armenian allies.

Also documented are the enormous logistical demands placed on host societies by the Great Powers' conduct of industrialised warfare in hostile terrain. The resulting deepening of imperial penetration, and the extension of state controls across a heterogeneous sprawl of territories, generated a powerful backlash both during and immediately after the war, which played a pivotal role in shaping national identities as the Ottoman Empire was dismembered.

This is a multidimensional account of the many seemingly discrete yet interlinked campaigns that resulted in one to one and a half million casualties. It details not just their military outcome but relates them to intelligence-gathering, industrial organisation, authoritarianism and the political economy of empires at war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781849042741
Publisher:	Hurst
Publication date:	06/25/2014
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen holds a PhD in military and imperial history from the University of Cambridge. He is the co-director of the Kuwait Research Programme at the LSE and the author of Insecure Gulf: The End of Certainty and the Transition to the Post-Oil Era, published by Hurst.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements vii

Abbreviatons ix

Maps x

Introduction 1

Part I Prelude

1 The Political Economy of the Empires in 1914 11

2 Military Campaigning in the Middle East 31

Part II Military Operations

3 The Caucasus Campaigns 53

4 Gallipoli and Salonika 75

5 Egypt and Palestine 97

6 Mesopotamia 119

Part III Politics and Diplomacy

7 The Struggle for Political Control in the Middle East 149

8 The Post-War Settlements, 1919-1923 173

Conclusion 203

Notes 207

Bibliography 237

Index 249

Editorial Reviews

03/24/2014
In this concise yet deeply researched book, Ulrichsen (Insecure Gulf) seeks to correct widely held Western misperceptions about WWI and its role in staging the collapse of the Islamic Caliphate and the resultant shaping of arbitrary Middle Eastern borders. Writing primarily for an academic audience, Ulrichsen details the lasting effects of the war, from North Africa through Mesopotamia, and explores how Muslim communities around the world reacted to the war. He notes that the British, for example, feared that Indian Muslim soldiers sent to Egypt would defect to the Ottomans, but that their fear “proved unfounded, owing to the substantive ethnic and linguistic differences that prevented... serious communication or collaboration.” Foreshadowing more recent misadventures, Ulrichsen writes that, late in the war, “the War Cabinet in London belatedly grasped the value of gaining control of as a potential source of oil supplies for the British Empire.” Long sections of drily catalogued historical minutiae will deter nonspecialists, but Ulrichsen’s central thesis, which states that ad hoc and ill-considered decisions made by distracted foreign powers crystallized into immutable realities that continue to constrain life in the region a century later, is relevant for anyone with an interest in the Middle East. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"Lively and compelling...gives a particularly thorough account of the diplomatic relations between the powers, and also of the ways in which policy was formulated within and between Britain, France and Russia, and by the Ottoman government." — International Affairs

"This is a timely and important book. In an age when the post-war imperial political system across the region is being eroded by warfare and turmoil, it is indeed edifying to reflect on the causes and consequences of the First World War in the Middle East. The significance of this book lies in the fact that it is not merely a military history, but also excellently weaves together the differing European and Middle Eastern perspectives on the war, situating it in its proper geo-political context by examining not just the war itself, but also what preceded it, and, above all, what the war brought about in terms of socio-economic, cultural, and political transformations."—Johan Franzén, Senior Lecturer in Middle Eastern History, University of East Anglia, and author of Red Star Over Iraq: Iraqi Communism Before Saddam

"In this meticulously researched, engaging book, Kristian Coates Ulrichsen explores the devastating consequences of the Great War for the Middle East and the battles fought there on behalf of the European belligerents, as well as the lasting imprints of the War on the region's political geography. This is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of the Middle East and the study of the formation of modern state-system in the region." — Mehran Kamrava, author of The Modern Middle East: A Political History since the First World War

"In this concise yet deeply researched book, Ulrichsen seeks to correct widely held Western misperceptions about WWI and its role in staging the collapse of the Islamic Caliphate and the resultant shaping of arbitrary Middle Eastern borders. ... Relevant for anyone with an interest in the Middle East." — Publishers Weekly

"This book was a wealth of knowledge, deftly balancing military campaigns and social and political consequences ... a very interesting read." — history-buffs.com

'...fascinating and insightful ... the most comprehensive single-volume history of the war in the Middle East available today. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen's The First World War in the Middle East presents readers with a single-volume, multidisciplinary history of the war across the entire region, and it does so brilliantly, filling an otherwise glaring gap in the subject's literature." — Middle East Policy

"The book is academically robust, detailed and well sourced. It is written in an accessible style and the index and chapter headings enable the reader who does not have the time to read from cover to cover to identify areas of specific interest." — The Arab Banker

"A comprehensive and thoughtful overview of the region's major battles and their consequences grounded in the social realities of the time." — Elizabeth F Thompson, H -Diplo

"...impressive ... Concise but comprehensive, this book deftly synthesizes accounts of the various military campaigns [in the Middle East] with broader analysis of its massive social, geopolitical and economic consequences." — William Armstrong, Hurriyet Daily News

"'This is a splendid book we have long been waiting for: the first comprehensive account of the fierce fighting all over the Middle East during Wold War One. As good on the logistical nightmares facing military planners in a region with few proper road and rail communications as it is on the set-piece battles at Gallipoli, Gaza and up and down the Tigris in Iraq."—Roger Owen, A.J. Meyer Professor of Middle East History, and author of The Rise and Fall of Arab Presidents for Life

"Kristian Coates Ulrichsen presents a multidimensional perspective of the First World War in the Middle East."-H-Net

From the Publisher

04/15/2014
Most studies of World War I focus on Europe, but Ulrichsen's (history, London Sch. of Economics) detailed and concise chronicle reminds readers of the broad impact of the war in the Middle East, deftly balancing military campaigns and social and political consequences. The author presents a precise exposition of the interests and engagement of the five imperial powers in the region and describes the costly military campaigns from the Caucasus to North East Africa and Palestine to Mesopotamia. In addition to heavy losses in men and resources for the warring powers, the local populations suffered immensely from battles, famine, disease, and destruction of property. This thorough study begins with historic background and concludes with an analysis of the postwar settlements as incipient national movements struggled with revived French and British colonial ambitions and the newly formed states in the region strained to create viable governments and economies. VERDICT Ulrichsen draws on a wide range of archival and monographic sources to present a comprehensive summary of this major theater of World War I and suggests how the war continues to influence developments in the region.—Elizabeth Hayford, formerly with Associated Coll. of the Midwest, Evanston, IL

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