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The ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict is one of the most tragic and destructive in the history of the modern Middle East. And although the current round of fighting began in 2023, the roots of the struggle go back to another war more than a century ago. When the First World War began in 1914, the territory of today's Israel and Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire. But in 1917 the British Empire began a campaign that would change history: there would be bitter fighting in Gaza, wild cavalry charges, even talk of a modern crusade. And it would lay the foundations for a century of violence.
By 1917, the First World War had been raging for three years with no end in sight. In Britain, many politicians, including Prime Minister David Lloyd George, were disillusioned with the heavy losses and small gains on the Western Front. So British leaders divided into two camps: the so-called Westerners wanted to put more troops into France to face the main enemy, Germany. The Easterners, including Lloyd George, wanted an offensive against the weaker Ottoman Empire. Ottoman troops were thinly spread across the Middle East, and the region was strategically important to Britain because of the Suez Canal, communications with India, and oil reserves. Westerners called it a "sideshow".
The Easterners won out, and the "side show" in the Middle East would play second fiddle no more. London set its sights on two regions: Palestine and Mesopotamia. In 1915 and 1916, the Ottomans had threatened the Suez Canal, but the British-led forces, including many Indian troops, had stopped them. Now it was Britain's turn to attack across the barren and waterless Sinai desert. In late 1916, British commander General Archibald Murray oversaw the construction of a railway line and water pipeline by the Egyptian Labour Corps, while the Egyptian Camel Transport Corps moved up ammunition and supplies.
Britain also organized the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) with British, Australian, New Zealand, West Indian, and Indian troops along with the Desert Column cavalry and Imperial Camel Corps. Ottoman forces in the area were under German general Friedrich Kress von Kressenstein and the Governor of Ottoman Syria, Cemal Pasha. They also built several rail extensions with German help, to improve their defensive position on the Gaza-Beersheba Line, which protected Syria and the Levant. An Austro-Hungarian battery also joined the line. To reach the Gaza-Beersheba Line, the British would first have to recapture the town of Rafah,
on the prewar line of control between the Ottoman Empire and British-controlled Egypt. On January 9, 1917, British-led mounted and armored car units rushed the Ottoman trenches, dismounted, and successfully attacked. This British victory set the stage for an Allied move into Palestine. As the British prepared, both sides waged war in and from the air. The Germans and Ottomans had the upper hand, and even bombed the British water pipeline. They also tracked British troop movements, which meant that once the British began their attack on Gaza on March 18, the outnumbered
Ottomans knew what to expect. Murray tried for a quick coup de main attack by sending mounted units to cut off the city from the north - and Anzac and British cavalry even penetrated beyond city limits. But the main ground assault ran into trouble - there was thick fog, the artillery had trouble coordinating with the infantry, and there was confusion in the British chain of command. Entrenched Ottoman defenders also brought down effective fire on the British infantry crossing open ground, even when some attacks succeeded: "Our great concern was a certain cactus hedge,
from which machine guns might wipe us all out as soon as we got level with it. […] Worn out and heavily laden (besides their packs the men carried extra rations, a second water bottle and extra bandoliers of ammunition) the prospect of having to rush the entrenched and steep slopes was not a pleasant one, but with bayonets fixed and revolvers cocked, off we went with a cheer. The Turks vacated their trenches and ran. The top of the hill was reached and we rounded up many Turks." (Hart 568) Commanders on both sides felt they might
be losing the battle, but Murray blinked first. Fearing Ottoman reinforcements might arrive and trap the exposed cavalry, he ordered a retreat - much to the frustration of the Anzacs, who probably correctly thought they were about to take the city. The Ottomans had won a defensive victory, inflicting 4000 casualties while suffering just 1300. Murray though, sent an optimistic but inaccurate report to London exaggerating Ottoman losses. This was exactly what Lloyd George wanted to hear, so he encouraged a follow-up attack. After the 1st Battle of Gaza, the Ottomans brought in reinforcements,
while British extended their railhead closer to the front. Ottoman and German aerial observation again allowed them to track British preparations, so when the next British attack came on April 17, they were ready. Murray planned a flanking maneuver, but because of a lack of water sources, the British attacked mostly head-on into Ottoman defences. British warships and artillery again supported the infantry and cavalry, as did several tanks. But the British struggled to advance in the harsh desert conditions, there were too few tanks and heavy guns, and the Ottoman positions were stronger than in March. Ottoman gunners made
short work of the slow-moving tanks: "[…] Turkish artillery knocked out one of the tanks from a great distance and it stopped. Our artillery fire forced the others to turn back, and only one got into the Turkish position. Turkish artillery took care of that one in our first trench line." (Kress von Kressenstein 30) Heavy and accurate Ottoman fire stopped the British-led forces in their tracks, inflicting 6500 casualties while taking just 2000. Lieutenant Broomfield's Scottish unit suffered badly: "We were now under direct fire from a number
of machine guns, rifles, minenwerfers, and a battery of artillery. Nearly every man had been killed or wounded, and, in spite of the additional danger of being rushed by the Turks, we were thankful as darkness fell when a few men crawled down a ditch to us and helped to hold the left of the hillside." (Grainger 47) [Second Lieutenant Broomfield] On April 19 Murray called off the 2nd Battle of Gaza - a Central Powers victory that earned Kress von Kressenstein Germany's highest military honor, the Pour le Merite. So the Central Powers had stopped the British in Palestine, but the situation in Mesopotamia took a very different turn.
The Ottomans had inflicted a damaging defeat on the British at Kut in 1916, but now the British had rebuilt their forces and replaced the leadership. 50,000 British and Indian troops of the Army of the Tigris advanced in December 1916, meeting the Ottomans at Kut again in February - but this time, the British were victorious. This opened the way to Baghdad, and the Ottomans withdrew. The British entered the city on March 11, 1917, restoring their prestige after Kut and damaging Ottoman morale. The fall of Baghdad marked an opportunity for the
British to continue their policy of re-shaping the future Middle East. In 1916, they and the French had secretly agreed to divide the region under the Sykes-Picot agreement. But they also made a deal with the influential Hashemite family from Arabia: the Hashemites would lead Arab tribes in revolt against the Turks in exchange for ruling a future Arab kingdom with British support. That these two deals were incompatible was a problem London expected to deal with after the war. Just days after taking Baghdad, the British issued a proclamation to win over Arab support: "Many noble Arabs have perished in the cause of Arab freedom,
at the hands of those alien rulers, the Turks, who oppressed them. […] these noble Arabs shall not have suffered in vain." (Provence 65) Hashemite rebels soon won a high-profile victory that would bring them into the Palestine campaign. British officer T.E. Lawrence spent early 1917 crisscrossing the Syrian desert to recruit Bedouin tribes to the rebellion, and in July Howeitat tribesmen ambushed a small Ottoman force and seized the port town of Aqaba. Lawrence and two Arab guides then walked 250km to Port Suez to inform the British, raising
morale after the Gaza failures and bringing a big increase in gold subsidies for the Hashemites. As Lawrence made his trek to Egypt, the Ottomans were also making changes. Cemal Pasha, governor of Syria, reached out to the Hashemites, but they couldn't reach a deal. The Army Command then created the Yildirim, or Lightning Bolt Army Group, funded, equipped, and organized by the Germans. The troops even received stormtrooper training with the intention to retake Baghdad. Former German overall commander Erich von Falkenhayn took command but at a meeting with Ottoman commanders decided that the Palestine front was more important than Baghdad,
and the Yildirim should be sent there instead. He and War Minister Enver Pasha wanted an offensive, but Kress von Kressenstein and nearly all the Ottoman generals opposed it, including Mustafa Kemal. Falkenhayn considered Kress von Kressenstein too sympathetic to the Ottomans, and even called him vertürkt - Turkified. Kemal was so frustrated that in September he sent a scathing report to Enver, with whom he had a rocky relationship. Kemal criticized the government's inaction in the face of the famine in the Levant, and made a bold prediction:
"Because of the weakness of the government, the country is in a state of anarchy. No one's rights can be protected. This causes the people to turn away from the government. Bribery and profiteering are rampant. If the war continues, the decaying state building will suddenly collapse one day." (Kemal) Kemal went on to highlight the poor state of the army, and what he saw as Germany's disregard for Ottoman interests: "Such a way of dealing with the Germans is against the interests of our country. We are not so weak that we cannot decide for ourselves in this life-and-death war. If,
for reasons unknown to me, it is necessary for the interests of our country that Falkenhayn should remain in command […] the actual administration and rearward services should be left to a son of the country [a Muslim Turk]." (Kemal) Kemal, who was in command of the Seventh Army on the Sinai Front, threatened to resign if there were an offensive or if he had to continue serving under Falkenhayn. Enver replied that the Russian revolution and expected Italian revolution would soon turn the tide. So the British had taken Baghdad, the Arabs Aqaba, and the Germans and Ottomans were arguing over strategy. Palestine was still Ottoman, but the British were preparing for another round.
In the first two Gaza battles, the British had failed despite superior numbers and firepower. So the High Command relieved General Murray and replaced him with the experienced General Edmund Allenby in June 1917. He reorganized the Egyptian Expeditionary Force and Desert Mounted Corps, and raised morale. Despite French resistance, fresh British forces arrived from Salonika, along with new Bristol Fighters to take back air superiority. Allenby's new resources were part of a shift in Allied focus. The idea of capturing the Holy Land in the service of the Allied cause of - as they saw it -- protecting civilization, had gained strength. Privately, British leaders hoped capturing Jerusalem would
improve morale on the home front after a series of disasters in Russia, France, and Italy. Lloyd George even asked Allenby for the capture of Jerusalem as a Christmas present. The 3rd Battle of Gaza began on October 27, 1917 - before the Central Powers had finished reorganizing their Yildirim Army. British heavy guns and warships pounded Ottoman positions around Gaza to trick the Ottomans into thinking the main attack would come there. The real target though, was the town of Beersheba, where most of the local water wells were located. Kress von Kressenstein
had failed to reinforce the position before British, Indian, Australian, and New Zealand cavalry attacked it. The Australian Light Horse took the position in a charge that proved cavalry's value in the Middle East, as Australian officer Murray Bourchier observed: "Owing to the volume of fire brought to bear from the enemy's position by Machine Guns and rifles, a dismounted attack would have resulted in a much greater number of casualties. It was noticed also that the morale of the enemy was greatly shaken through our troops galloping over his positions
thereby causing his riflemen and machine gunners to lose all control of fire discipline. When the troops came within short range of the trenches the enemy seemed to direct almost all his fire at the horses." (Bou 175) The Australians then took the fight into the enemy trenches and chased out the remaining Ottomans with light resistance. Beersheba went on to become a significant battle in Australian memory of the war. With the water sources secure, the British now turned to Gaza, and launched their main attack there November 6 after several feints. British-led forces pushed the Ottomans back, though the fighting was intense: "A whole heap of men and horses went down 20 or 30
yards from the muzzles of the [Turkish] guns. The squadron broke into a few scattered horsemen at the guns and then seemed to melt away completely. For a time I, at any rate, had the impression that I was the only man left alive. I was amazed to discover we were the victors." (Hart 574) Kress von Kressenstein ordered a retreat, and Falkenhayn dismissed him. Ottoman forces escaped encirclement, but the British continued their advance, taking Jaffa without a fight on November 16. Arab rebel units were supposed to attack the railway line near Yarmuk, but failed.
Ottoman troops made a stand in the Judean Hills on the route to Jerusalem, but they were badly outnumbered and outgunned. SEGUE So the British had finally pushed the Ottomans out of Gaza, and were approaching the Holy City. Back in London, the government made a decision that would further complicate plans for the post-war Middle East, and dramatically impact history for more than a century. The Zionist movement had existed since the 19th century and promoted the idea of a Jewish state. Zionist thinkers like Theodor Herzl considered several possible locations, but most settled on Palestine, which was the ancient homeland of the Jews and still home
to a Jewish minority. Even before the war, Zionist Jews had been moving to Palestine, which created tensions with the Arab majority: "[We are] a nation threatened with disappearance by the Zionist tide in this Palestinian land… a nation which is threatened in its very being with expulsion from its homeland." (Khalidi 26/27) Khalidi, Rashid. "The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: a History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017" In 1917, the Allies were still struggling to win the war, and Russia dropped out after the Revolution. At the same time, some in the British government, like Lloyd George and Arthur Balfour were sympathetic to the Zionist idea,
an idea lobbied for by prominent British Zionists like Chaim Weizmann. London hoped that by supporting Zionism, the Jewish diaspora around the world might rally to the British cause. Some British politicians like Lord Curzon and Edwin Montagu (who was Jewish but anti-Zionist) opposed the idea, but in November 1917, Balfour sent a telegram to the Zionist Federation of Great Britain: "His Majesty's Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights
of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country." (Mahler 77) This was a dramatic commitment, but a vague one, since it was not clear whether "national home" meant "state" and what the situation of the non-Jewish majority would be in practice. Britain had now agreed to divide the Middle East with France, to create an independent Arab kingdom, and to support a Jewish homeland in Palestine - three incompatible arrangements. What captured the headlines though, was Britain's march on Jerusalem. The hills around Jerusalem were well suited to the defence, and heavy rains had turned the narrow,
winding roads to mud. Allenby did not want the fighting to reach the Holy City itself, so declared a 10km no combat zone around it. In fierce fighting from November 21, the British entered their own declared non-combat zone, but could not take the villages north of the city to cut off the Ottomans. By December 8 though, they forced the Ottomans to withdraw, but again were not able to encircle them. The Ottomans left Jerusalem undefended, and the British carefully choreographed their entrance. When Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm had
visited before the war, he had a section of the city's ancient walls demolished so he could enter on horseback, but Allenby was more cautious. He entered the city on foot through the Jaffa Gate on December 11. Muslim troops from British India were assigned to guard the Mosque of Omar, to avoid offending local Muslims, most of whom reacted with caution towards the British presence. Many of the city's Christian and Jewish residents, as at Baghdad, hoped that the arrival of the British would improve their fortunes. Some newspapers in Allied countries,
like the New York Herald, ran headlines with references to the past and future: "Jerusalem is Rescued by British After 673 Years of Moslem Rule […] Great Rejoicing in the Christian World. Jews Everywhere in Particular See the Restoration of Palestine as Part of Allies' Programme." (NYH 11.12.1917) London asked British newspapers not to refer to the crusades to avoid offending the empire's hundred million Muslim subjects, though some still did call it "the last crusade." Even in staunchly secular France, priests sang a Te Deum at Notre Dame Cathedral. For the Ottomans, the loss of Jerusalem was a heavy blow to morale. Another of Islam's holiest cities had been lost, following Mecca and Baghdad,
and Medina was still under siege by Arab rebels. Officer Falih Rifki Atay was posted to Jerusalem in 1916, full of imperial pride: "I am on top of the Mount of Olives. I can see the Dead Sea and Mount Gerizim. Beyond is the entire western coastline of the Red Sea, Hijaz, and Yemen. When I turn my head, the dome of the Church of Resurrection catches my eye. This is Palestine. Over there, there is Lebanon and Syria. On one side, there's the Suez Canal, and on the other, there are cities and deserts, all the way to the Persian Gulf. And our flag flies above
them all! I am a son of this Great Empire!" (Atay) In December 1917 though, his tone had changed: "Inside the headquarters the news, 'Jerusalem has fallen!' spread like a death announcement. We started gathering up our tears for Beirut, Damascus, Aleppo. It was farewell to the Empire, and to all its hopes and dreams…" (Atay) The 1917 Palestine campaign ended with a British victory, but their success in this so-called "sideshow" has caused much debate. Britain eventually committed 1.2 million troops to the Middle Eastern theatre to fight against one of
the weakest members of the Central Powers. Some historians have argued the Ottomans were on the defensive before the campaign began, and couldn't threaten the Suez Canal, and that victory in Palestine and Mesopotamia failed to knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war. Meanwhile, the British Army in Europe struggled to gain ground, and ended the year lacking reinforcements - which it might have had if the Westerners had gotten their way. It also caused tensions between the Allies, as the French and Italians wanted a role in the symbolically important Holy Land,
but Allenby shut them out. Defenders of the campaign argued that it helped protect Britain's interests in the region and in India, and provided much-needed victories at a difficult time. What's certain is that the British conquest of Ottoman Palestine had a dramatic impact on the future of the Middle East. In December 1917, Lloyd George predicted that it would feature prominently in future histories: "The British Empire owes a great deal to sideshows. I have no doubt at all that, when the history of 1917 comes to be written, and comes to be read ages hence, these events in Mesopotamia and Palestine will hold a much more
conspicuous place in the minds and the memories of people than many an event which looms much larger for the moment in our sight." (Hart 559) The Prime Minister could not have known how right he was. After the war, London received a Mandate from the League of Nations to oversee Palestine, and it incorporated the Balfour Declaration, allowing Jewish settlement and setting the stage for the founding of modern Israel and a conflict that is still raging today. And that's not the only way the year 1917 echoed through the 20th century. At the end of the year the Bolsheviks took power in Russia and years later emerged victorious
after the Russian Civil War with a young Josef Stalin at the helm. The newly founded Soviet Union would play a crucial role in the coming decades. By 1945 it stood at the gates of Berlin in the next World War and was working on their first nuclear weapon. If you want to learn more about the Battle of Berlin, you should check out our 4 ½ hour 18-part documentary series 16 Days in Berlin. Covering the entire battle day-by-day with detailed maps, animations, expert interviews and more, 16 Days in Berlin is the most detailed documentary about this battle ever produced. With our uncompromising portrayal using authentic combat footage,
we couldn't upload it to YouTube because of their advertising guidelines. So, where can you watch 16 Days in Berlin? If you want to learn more about the Soviet Nuclear program from the origins in the Second World War to the first Soviet nuclear bomb, the Chernobyl disaster and beyond, check out our 5-part documentary series Red Atoms. And where can you watch Red Atoms? And where can you watch 16 Days in Berlin and Red Atoms? On Nebula, a streaming service we're building together with other creators, where we don't have to worry about advertising guidelines or the almighty algorithm. Nebula is available in 4K resolution in your browser, on your smartphone, Smart TV or streaming box like Apple TV or Roku.
If you go to nebula.tv/thegreatwar you can watch 16 Days in Berlin, our other original documentaries Rhineland 45 and Red Atoms as well as a host of other smart creators - and all that for just $36 for an entire year. And that's not all, on Nebula you can also watch all our regular videos ad-free and earlier than on YouTube. Right now, you can also get the Nebula Lifetime Membership. Pay once and get access to everything Nebula has to offer for as long as you and Nebula exist. The Lifetime membership allows us to invest in more original content and improve the platform for everyone. One third of your Lifetime membership will also support us at Real Time History directly.
We want to thank Leander Lerch and Murat Dogan for their help with this episode. If you want to learn more about how the Middle East was shaped by the First World War, check out our previous episode. As usual you can find all the sources in the video description below. If you are watching this video on Patreon or Nebula, thank you so much for the support, we couldn't do it without you. I am Jesse von Jessenstein and this is a production of Real Time History, the only history channel that owes a great deal to sideshows.
