The 12th Century to 1945

Taught by: [Imperator]



Sections in order

1. The Ottoman Empire
2. World War I
3. Between World War I and II
4. World War II




The Ottoman Empire

After the Mongol invasion of the Middle East in the 13th century, the Seljuk Turks rewarded their Muslim allies, the Osman Turks with territory in the northwestern corner of Asia Minor for their help in fighting the invaders. As the Seljuks weakened, the Osmans strengthened expanded their lands. During the 1300’s, Ottoman power grew to encompass portions of the Balkans and western Asia Minor. In 1389 the Serbs were defeated and the Turks conquered Bulgaria.

In 1453, Mehmet II led the Ottoman Empire against the Byzantine Empire, which by this time had shrunk down to just the city of Constantinople and some surrounding lands. On May 19, 1453, the walls were breached after nearly two months of desperate fighting. The Ottomans sacked the city for three days and renamed it “Istanbul”.

From 1514 to 1517 Selim I expanded Ottoman territory to include Mesopotamia, Egypt, and coastal Arabia. Then under Süleyman I, the entire North African coast to the modern day border of Algeria and Morocco was taken. He then proceeded to expand attacks into Europe and defeated the Hungarians in 1526. But in 1529, Ottoman forces were finally stopped at Vienna. In 1683, the Muslims made another attempt to take Vienna and were again repulsed. This marked the end of Ottoman expansion into Europe and Hungary was lost to the Europeans soon thereafter.

As the centuries went on, the Ottoman Empire declined and lost territory, especially around the Black Sea to Russia. In 1854, another conflict with Russia spiraled into the Crimean War. Although the Ottoman Empire was victorious due to help from Great Britain and France, the war displayed the decay occurring inside of it. The Sultans, who ruled the empire, became less concerned with governing the state than expanding their personal wealth. This corruption would ultimately bring the Ottoman Empire to its knees in World War I.




World War I

In 1914, Europe was divided into two camps; the Allies—Britain, France, and Russia—and the Central Powers—Austria-Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire had become known as the “sick man of Europe” due to its military weakness and their armies rapidly succumbed to British attacks. In 1917, the Arabs revolted against Ottoman rule and the allies seized Baghdad that same year. Only in the battles of Gallipoli and the Dardanelles did the Ottomans experience any real success after crushing British landings in the straights between the Mediterranean and Black Seas in 1915. Meanwhile, fighting between the Ottomans and Russia in the Caucus region led to an Armenian uprising in 1915. In response, the Turks launched attacks on the people, beginning a massive genocide. Ottoman forces murdered at least 1,400,000 Armenians by the time the war ended.




Between World War I and II

At the end of the war, the Central Powers were defeated and the Ottoman Empire lost all its territory in the Middle East except for Asia Minor and a small piece of Europe in the area surrounding the city of Istanbul. Britain and France set up mandates in the captured lands and formed the nations of Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, and Syria as opposed to one large nation in order to divide up oil in the region. In 1923, the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed and the Ottoman Empire ended. Kemal Atatürk became the president of the new republic and pushed reforms through to modernize the nation and reduce the influence of Islam in government and every day life. In 1938 he died and despite some opposition to his policies, most were kept in place.

In 1921, Reza Khan led a military coup that took control of Persia and made himself Shah (King) in 1925. Like Atatürk, Khan introduced reforms but did not weaken Islam’s influence. Due to the discovery of oil in 1908, foreigners took advantage of the nation to earn large profits while little money went to the Iranian people. This issue would eventually lead to conflict with Britain and the Soviet Union in World War II. In 1935, Persia was renamed “Iran”.




World War II

In 1939, World War II erupted. As the European Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Vichy France advanced, the Middle East and its oil became threatened. The British seized Lebanon and Syria from the Vichy French in 1942 to prevent any potential Axis forces from using it as a base. Then, Iran, which been drawing closer to Nazi Germany to free itself from foreign investors and influence in its oil production, was invaded by Britain and the Soviet Union in 1942. The allies would occupy Iran for the rest of the war to insure they would continue receiving oil supplies from the Persian Gulf nation.




Back to History of the Middle East or History or the Elftown Academy