The World War I Battle of Aqaba took place on this date in 1917.
Tag: ottoman empire
Today in European history: the Battle of Kosovo (1389)
Today is the anniversary of the 1389 Battle of Kosovo. It’s necessary to specify the year because there have been so many “battles of Kosovo” over the centuries. But this one, in contrast with 1369’s Battle of Kosovo or 1448’s Battle of Kosovo or 1831’s Battle of…well, you get the idea, is the one most … Continue reading Today in European history: the Battle of Kosovo (1389)
Today in Caucasian history: the Battles of Karakilisa, Sardarabad, and Abaran (1918)
It goes without saying that the 1917 Russian Revolution had a considerable impact on the course of World War I. It eliminated the Russian threat on the eastern front, for example, which is the part everybody learns about in history class. But it's biggest impact may actually have been on the Caucasian front. This is … Continue reading Today in Caucasian history: the Battles of Karakilisa, Sardarabad, and Abaran (1918)
Today in Middle Eastern history: the Turkish War of Independence begins (1919)
There’s a kind of symmetry in the fact that the Turkish War of Independence began around three years to the date after Britain and France signed the Sykes-Picot agreement on how to divide up the Arab world. Sykes-Picot, for better or worse, has become the symbol for all of the plans the Allies had for … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the Turkish War of Independence begins (1919)
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 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 European history: the Skirmish at Bendery (1713)
The “Skirmish at Bendery” (known in Swedish as the Kalabaliken i Bender, from the Turkish word kalabalık or “crowd”) is a relatively silly affair, but it shows that, even in 1713 when they were supposedly in “decline,” the Ottomans were still capable of the occasional muscle flexing in Europe. It’s the climax of a chapter in the 1700-1721 … Continue reading Today in European history: the Skirmish at Bendery (1713)
Today in European history: the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699)
You know that old joke about how the “Holy Roman Empire” was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire? You could write a similar joke for the 1683-1699 Great Turkish War. It wasn’t “great” (this is admittedly subjective, but it definitely wasn't so great if you were in the Ottoman army). It wasn’t “Turkish” (the … Continue reading Today in European history: the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699)
Today in Caucasian history: the Battle of Sarikamish ends (1915)
The Battle of Sarikamish was one of the more overwhelming Russian victories of World War I. It was so overwhelming, in fact, that it put the Russians on the offensive in the Caucasus for good—or, well, until Russia quit the war following its 1917 revolution. Which is why its legacy is hard to judge. Whatever … Continue reading Today in Caucasian history: the Battle of Sarikamish ends (1915)
Today in European history: the Battle of Vaslui (1475)
The principality of Moldavia emerged under a Vlach warlord named Dragoș in the middle of the 14th century as a frontier state between Hungary and the Mongolian Golden Horde Khanate. It survived until the middle of the 19th century, when it was merged with Wallachia and thereby became one of the three (along with Transylvania) … Continue reading Today in European history: the Battle of Vaslui (1475)
The Foreign Exchanges Companion 