I need to begin this post by telling you that the title is not really correct, in that to say the Arab-Israeli War “began” on May 15, 1948, is to gloss over the fact that the Arab Israeli War was really the third act of an Israeli war of independence that stretched back to 1944. … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the Arab-Israeli War begins (1948)
Category: history
Today in Middle Eastern history: the Surrender of Kut (1916)
Today is the anniversary of one of the worst military fiascos in British history, the surrender of the 6th division of the Indian Army to the Ottomans at the Iraqi town of Kut. Kut followed right on the heels of the Battle of Ctesiphon in November 1915, and this epilogue turned that indecisive battle into a major strategic … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the Surrender of Kut (1916)
Today in Middle Eastern history: Conrad I of Jerusalem is assassinated (1192)
The leaders of the medieval Islamic spiritual order known as the Assassins were certainly not the first people to come up with the idea of murdering one's political opponents. But the reason why the murder of a political leader is known as an "assassination" today is because these guys were very, very good at it. … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: Conrad I of Jerusalem is assassinated (1192)
Today in Caucasian history: the Battle of Bagrevand (775)
When Arab armies moved out of Arabia in the 630s they brought an end to the Roman-Persian balance of power that had defined western Asia for centuries. It’s likely that nobody, apart from the Romans and the Persians, felt this change more acutely than the Armenians. The Kingdom of Armenia had long been a buffer between … Continue reading Today in Caucasian history: the Battle of Bagrevand (775)
Today in European history: the Greco-Turkish War is declared (1897)
After mainland Greece won its independence from the Ottomans in the 1832 Treaty of Constantinople, the status of the island of Crete became a big issue. Crete, as anybody who knows anything about ancient Greece will tell you, historically lies well within the Greek world. But our friends of the Fourth Crusade sold the island--which … Continue reading Today in European history: the Greco-Turkish War is declared (1897)
Today in Middle Eastern history: Lebanon’s Bus Massacre (1975)
The Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) lasted 15 years and by most estimates killed 150,000-250,000 people. It was a brutal, extended mess of a war, not unlike the one currently going on next door in Syria. And today happens to be the anniversary of the event that started it, the massacre of 27 Palestinians by Christian … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: Lebanon’s Bus Massacre (1975)
Today in European history: the Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople (1204)
The Fourth Crusade is for me, in many ways, the Crusadiest of all the Crusades. Sure, the First Crusade actually achieved its goal, which you can’t really say about any of the others in any serious sense, and other Crusades produced quintessential Crusading heroes like Richard the Lionheart and Saint Louis. But overall the Crusades … Continue reading Today in European history: the Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople (1204)
Today in Middle Eastern history: the Battle of Dayr al-Aqul (876)
The Saffarid Dynasty ruled much of modern Iran and Afghanistan, and part of modern Pakistan, starting in the mid-860s through roughly 901, and then continued to control a small principality in Sistan until the start of the 11th century. They’re not heavily emphasized in Middle Eastern or Iranian history because they were so ephemeral (their … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the Battle of Dayr al-Aqul (876)
Today in Middle Eastern history: the Battle of Fariskur (1250)
Here is the eagerly (?) awaited conclusion to February’s story of the Seventh Crusade’s Battle of Mansurah. When last we left our plucky yet doomed Crusaders, under the command of the very willing but not really able Louis IX of France (d. 1270), they’d suffered a decisive defeat at Mansurah and were sent scrambling back across … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the Battle of Fariskur (1250)
Today in European history: the (third) Siege of Algeciras ends (1344)
Modern Algeciras is the main city on the Bay of Gibraltar and one of the busiest commercial ports in Europe. It's pretty old, too, having been founded by Berber-Arab invaders all the way back in 711. "Algeciras" is a European corruption of the city's original name, al-Jazirah al-Khadra ("the green island"). And, if we're being … Continue reading Today in European history: the (third) Siege of Algeciras ends (1344)
The Foreign Exchanges Companion 