The fall of imperial Russia in the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution should have been good news for Iran’s Qajar dynasty, which had fought three wars with Russia and lost much of its Caucasian territory in the process. But instead of eliminating a serious rival, the events of 1917 upset the delicate balance of … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the 1921 Iranian coup
Tag: history
Today in Mexican history: the shortest presidency ever (1913)
Hey, I've moved! If you enjoy this post you can find more of my writing at Foreign Exchanges, a Substack newsletter covering a variety of topics in history and foreign affairs. Check it out today and become a subscriber! I have to start this post with a caveat, which is that that Mexican history is … Continue reading Today in Mexican history: the shortest presidency ever (1913)
Today in Middle Eastern history: the Sixth Crusade ends (1229)
If it’s fair to say that the Fourth Crusade’s sacking of Constantinople discredited the whole enterprise, and in my opinion it is, the Sixth Crusade wrung the last vestiges of seriousness out of the movement. Ironically, of the numbered Crusades it was one of the more successful—certainly more successful than the disastrous Second, Fifth, Seventh, … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the Sixth Crusade ends (1229)
Today in North African history: the burning of the USS Philadelphia (1804)
Stephen Decatur (d. 1820) is one of the US Navy’s first famous heroes, alongside Revolutionary War captain John Paul Jones, and among the earliest American war heroes in general. Technically we should call him Stephen Decatur Junior, so as not to confuse him with his father, who was also an important early American naval officer. But … Continue reading Today in North African history: the burning of the USS Philadelphia (1804)
Today in North African history: the Battle of Sidi Bouzid begins (1943)
The central Tunisian city of Sidi Bouzid is best known today as the birthplace of the Arab Spring. It was in Sidi Bouzid where a fish seller named Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in December 2010, to protest what he believed was unfair treatment at the hands of Tunisia's corrupt government. The repercussions of … Continue reading Today in North African history: the Battle of Sidi Bouzid begins (1943)
Today in Middle Eastern history: the Mongols sack Baghdad (1258)
The Mongol sack of Baghdad in 1258 brought an end the Abbasid caliphate in most practical senses. It was, obviously, a pivotal moment in world history, and is among the handful of events about which you can genuinely say that the world was one way before it happened and another way after it happened. At … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the Mongols sack Baghdad (1258)
Today in Middle Eastern history: the Battle of al-Mansurah begins (1250)
Before King Louis IX of France (d. 1270) led the weirdly conceived and badly failed Eighth Crusade against Tunis, he earned his Crusader bona fides on the better conceived but still badly failed Seventh Crusade, which is our subject today. As I wrote when we talked about the Eighth Crusade, if medieval BuzzFeed had put together a … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the Battle of al-Mansurah begins (1250)
Today in South Asian history: the Battle of Diu (1509)
The appearance of Portuguese explorers in India in 1498 was, it’s safe to say, a world-altering event. When Vasco da Gama proved that it was possible for European ocean-going vessels to reach India by going around Africa, it meant changes not only for Europe and India, but for the kingdoms in between, whose economies had … Continue reading Today in South Asian history: the Battle of Diu (1509)
Today in Middle Eastern history: the Hama massacre begins (1982)
Like any major conflict, when it broke out in 2011 the civil war in Syria didn’t have one single cause and there was no One Simple Trick to preventing it. Some of its causes built on one another. For example, rising food prices caused in part by a severe Mediterranean heatwave/drought exacerbated Syria’s escalating socioeconomic … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the Hama massacre begins (1982)
Today in Middle Eastern history: Khomeini returns from exile (1979)
One of the ironies of the modern Middle East is that Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini became the most popular person in Iran during a time when he wasn’t living there. After a career spent mostly as a non-political religious scholar (albeit one who was known within academic circles to be skeptical about anything that smacked of … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: Khomeini returns from exile (1979)
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