

L’Orient dans la guerre (1914-1918)
Théâtre d’opérations quelque peu oublié dans un centenaire très centré sur l’Europe, la région qui s’étend de l’Afrique du Nord au Caucase et aux confins de l’Asie centrale en passant par ce que l’on appelait alors «le Levant» a été bouleversée par la première guerre mondiale. Offensives meurtrières, fronts très étendus et couvrant des immensités désertiques, glaciales ou torrides, catastrophes naturelles et humanitaires, violences extrêmes participent d’hostilités qui ne sont pas encore marquées par le caractère industriel des combats en Europe.
En 2014, Orient XXI a choisi de revenir sur les différentes facettes de la première guerre mondiale, de Marrakech à Erevan, d’Istanbul à Khartoum, de Tripoli à La Mecque.Des historiens issus de zones géographiques différentes et d’horizons historiographiques multiples relatent les événements diplomatiques, politiques, militaires, économiques, et sociétaux. Leurs contributions permettent de comprendre les bouleversements actuels, à l’heure de la remise en cause des frontières issues de la première guerre mondiale et des soulèvements des peuples arabes.
-
British Policy in Mesopotamia (April 1916-March 1917) Kristian Coates Ulrichsen · November 2019 British and Indian troops occupied Basra in November 1914 in order to safeguard the oil interests of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (later British Petroleum) at nearby Abadan and to protect the strategic flank of the vital land and sea routes to India. Expecting neither a prolonged engagement nor (…) -
The Sykes-Picot Agreements Kawthar Guediri · November 2016 Exactly a hundred years ago, in 1916, expecting the imminent collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and in order to expand their spheres of influence in the Middle East, the United Kingdom and France concluded a secret agreement with the assent of Tsarist Russia. This accord known as the Sykes-Picot (…) -
The McMahon-Hussein Correspondence Kawthar Guediri · October 2016 Because it marches with our immediate aims, the break up of the Islamic ’block’ and the defeat and disruption of the Ottoman Empire, and because the states [Sharif Hussein] would set up to succeed the Turks would be (. . .) harmless to ourselves (. . .), The Arabs are even less stable than the (…) -
The Expulsion of the Jews from Tel Aviv-Jaffa to the Lower Galilee, 1917-1918 Gur Alroey · September 2016 Before the advance of the British troops in Palestine, the Ottoman military governor, Jamal Pasha, ordered in March 1917 the evacuation of residents of Tel Aviv and Jaffa. The Jewish population were scattered mainly in Galilee, where hundreds of deportees died of disease and hunger. All (…) -
German Asymmetric Warfare in World War I Alexander Will · August 2016 Germany’s unorthodox World-War-I-operations in the Near and Middle East do not suit as proof for aggressive imperialism. These operations were rather signs of both weakness and the ability to adapt to a strategic situation of weakness which the Central Powers faced in the oriental theater of (…) -
A Consul for all Seasons: the Spanish Diplomatic Mission in Jerusalem during World War I Roberto Mazza · June 2016 Antonio de la Cierva y Lewita, Count of Ballobar, was a Spanish consul in Jerusalem from 1913 to 1919. In charge of protecting Spanish institutions and possessions, he became involved with other religious orders, then was gradually brought to manage British and French interests in Palestine; (…) -
Algerians and the First World War Gilbert Meynier · May 2016 Throughout the First World War, Algeria has provided the French colonial power not only substantial material support, but especially thousands of “indigenous” soldiers. Zouaves and “tirailleurs”, praised for their bravery, yet never had access to full citizenship. Conscious of having helped (…) -
Germany’s Failed Pan-Islamic Propaganda Campaign of 1914-1918 Tilman Luedke · September 2015 The strategic and economic situation of Germany at the outbreak of war was, in fact, rather bleak. Mainly for fault of its own, the country would have to face a two-front war. Its allies – Austria-Hungary and Italy — were not exactly instilling much confidence. It thus came as no surprise that (…) -
British Anxiety about Jihad in the Middle East Donald M. McKale · June 2015 Historiography on World War I in the Middle East has emphasized overwhelmingly Britain’s role in encouraging the Arab revolt in 1916 against Turkey and in establishing the Allies’ controversial peace settlements. T.E. Lawrence, the principal British figure in the Arab revolt, asserted in the (…) -
The Armenian Question and the Turkish-German Alliance (1913-1914) Thomas Schmutz · March 2015 This article examines the German role concerning the reform question in Eastern Anatolia in 1913 and 1914, in particular to resolve the Armenian issue. It sheds new light on the degree of involvement of Germany in the Ottoman Empire before the war.
One hundred years after the beginning of the (…)
