Feb. 25 Handout

U.S. and the Middle East

World War I

25 February 2008

I. 18^th and 19^th Century Contacts

1. Strategic Uncertainties (foundations of US foreign policy; the Barbary Wars and their effects; Greece, Turkey, and the origins of Monroe Doctrine)

2. Commercial and Cultural Contacts (US approach to the world—commercial treaties, missionaries, Northeastern-centered)

3. The international Transformation of the Middle East (U.S. withdrawal; path to World War I and Ottoman decline, Balkan Wars)

II. World War I

1. Middle East and the Grand Strategy of War (historiographical interpretations of war; alliance system and conflict; mindsets of Great Powers; “use-it-or-lose-it” concept; diplomatic incompetence; Great Power interest in Middle East: Britain and run-up to Fashoda, importance of Egypt, division of North Africa; Kaiser and Berlin-to-Baghdad railroad, envisioning protectorate?; role of the Balkans in World War I—Serbia/Montenegro front, Greek entrance and role of British, Romanian collapse, continuing power vacuum)

2. The Turks and World War I (development of Turkish-German rapprochement; Turkish decision for war and domestic politics; Turkish war aims; Russia, the Czar, and appeals to Armeniaàpath to Sarikamiş; Churchill, Britain, and the Middle East: strategic questions—maintain integrity of OE?, role of the Hejaz; fateful decisions: Gallipoli, significance of Lord Kirchener, backing Emir Hussein; Young Turks and Armenian genocide)

3. The United States and the Armenian Genocide (international reaction: Turkish fears, German recalcitrance; Allied declaration of “crimes against humanity”; Wilson concerns—international law, fate of American missionaries and religious colleges, role of Lansing; significance of Robert Morgenthau response—“a campaign of race extermination is in progress”; New York Times and American press; collapse of relationship)

4. Wilson, the Middle East, and the War (fate of Turkey: Ottoman Empire in 14 Points; road to Balfour Declaration: Sykes-Picot and British-French diplomacy; significance of Lloyd George: Suez and British strategic desires, expansion from Iraq as war aim to Iraq and Palestine; nationalism and general Allied policy; US response to Balfour Declaration—weakness of movement, importance of Brandeis, Wilson and self-determination)

5. The League and the Middle East (Wilsonian rhetoric—ideals and reality: Egypt, Armenia, naïveté of Inquiry; origins of the mandate system; L-G initially tries to play off US against French, Greeks, Italians; idea of Armenian mandate, Senate and peace progressives)