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When Britain, France and Russia secretly planned to carve up the Ottoman Empire in 1915, France made a claim on Ottoman Syria and acquired it as a mandate during the Paris Peace Conference. Brutality, colonial mendacity and a refusal to acknowledge the demands of Druze leaders and Syrian nationalists led to an explosion of anti colonial violence in 1925, along with an equally brutal response from the French occupiers. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical con
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In 1956 the British Government, led by Anthony Eden, embarked on a disastrous military adventure with France and Israel that divided the country, split both political parties and was conducted despite the misgivings of the navy and air force. The agreement to attack Egypt was decided by the three main powers at a villa at Sevres weeks before the invasion. Britain wished to removed an irritant in the form of Colonel Nasser, the nationalist leader of Egypt who had nationalised the Suez Canal, the
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Despite impressive victories against the allied powers during the First World War, by 1918 the Ottoman Empire was exhausted by fighting and the advantage was shifting towards Britain in the Middle East. General Edmund Allenby skilfully encircled Ottoman armies in late 1918, seizing Damascus and Beirut.Explaining History is funded through advertising and donations. For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=763386 Explain
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In July 1914 as the final desperate negotiations to avoid war failed, the Ottoman Empire engaged in secret diplomacy with both Germany and Russia to gain as much from the forthcoming conflict as possible. However it was the arrival of a German dreadnought in Constantinople that tied Turkey to the Central Powers.For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=763386 Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century thro
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In 1911 Italy launched an opportunist war against the Ottoman Empire for control of Libya. Despite the huge costs and the unexpected guerrilla war that Italian troops found themselves fighting against Arab and Ottoman forces, Italy gained control of the Ottoman provinces. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclu
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The British mandate in Palestine and Jewish mass immigration placed immense economic pressure on the indigenous Arab peoples. Land ownership became a flashpoint for violent unrest and by 1936 the Arabs rose in revolt against the British. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreo
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In the space of a year the Ottoman Empire was convulsed by two revolutions and a violent civil war between secular modernisers and Islamic traditionalists. The struggle resulted in the overthrow of the political schemer Abdul Hamid II Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.c
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Exhausted by the Second World War, Britain was desperate to hold on to influence in the Middle East and yet policy makers were anxious to withdraw from Palestine as quickly as possible. At the same time, Britain was engaged in another hurried departure from India. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Con
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In 1916 a British officer, Thomas Edward Lawrence and an Arab prince, Feisal of Mecca led a guerrilla army of Bedouin against the Ottoman Empire in Arabia. In the 1920s Lawrence became an international celebrity due to his wartime exploits and he has remained a mythologised figure for much of the 20th Century. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe a
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Between 1918 and 1939 France’s overseas colonial empire, like Britain’s, grew with the acquisition of Ottoman territories as mandates. France’s empire was ruled using different ideas and institutions to Britain but both systems struggled to hold together during economically and politically turbulent decades. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and