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At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the British government realized that it had to keep the Suez Canal open at all costs because it was the primary sea route connecting Britain to its far-flung eastern colonies. The Suez bordered Egypt, a nominal Turkish province, and, when Turkey became involved in the war on Germany's side in 1915, Turkey attacked the canal. As a result the British declared war on Turkey and began an offensive against the Ottoman forces and their German show more advisers. The British, aided by various Arab groups, swept north through Palestine, Jordan, and Syria to Turkey's ultimate defeat in October 1918. In Armageddon, 1918, eminent military historian Cyril Falls discusses the background of the World War I Middle East conflict and relates the final, critical campaign through Palestine, along with its notable personalities, including T. E. Lawrence, Emir Feisal, Kress von Kressenstein, and Edmund Allenby. Falls ends with a pertinent reflection on the subsequent history of the region, from the formation of Iraq in 1920 through the establishment of Israel, showing how the campaign in the Middle East brought into the international spotlight the tangled alliances and imperialistic and nationalistic desires that have left an indelible mark on the region to this day. show lessTags
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4732. Armageddon: 1918, by Cyril Falls (read 25 Jul 2010) This is a good book, but its subject did not interest me particularly. It tells of the fighting by the British against the Turks, aided by Germans, in September and October of 1918 in what is now Israel and Syria. The campaign included the last significant cavalry action. The British did very well, and even though the War was almost over and would be decided in France, no doubt the British felt it important to their empire to win in the campaign there in the Near East. Falls handles the events with a sure touch.
The Palestinian Campaign was one of the last "Colonial" campaigns indulged in by the British Army. One could say it was only loosely described as the defence of the Suez canal, yet it did exhaust the powers of the Ottoman empire in WWI. There were relatively set-piece battles, and the locale was relatively exotic, and thus good for the morale of the Allied public.
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Author Information
35+ Works 464 Members
Series
Common Knowledge
- People/Characters
- General Sir Edmund H. H. Allenby
- Important places
- Middle East
- Important events
- World War I (1914 | 1918); Palestine Campaign (World War I)
Classifications
- Genres
- History, Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Biography & Memoir
- DDC/MDS
- 940.438 — History & geography History of Europe History of Europe Military History Of World War I Land campaigns and battles of 1917-1918
- LCC
- D568.7 .F3 — History of Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania History (General) World War I (1914-1918)
- BISAC
Statistics
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- 26
- Popularity
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- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.50)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 1
