How did the Western world get so involved in the Middle East? Why was the Ottoman Empire – now known as the Middle East – involved in World War I when it was a European affair?
Anyone interested in learning and understanding the timeline of events that led us to the conflict in the modern Middle East should watch this film, created by Marty Callahan. “Blood and Oil” details the motivations for the birth of Middle Eastern nations and their insatiable appetite for oil.
During World War I, the British invaded Istanbul with the aim of quickly defending the city, but it ended in a series of eight-month battles with heavy casualties. When British troops landed on the coast of the Gallipoli Peninsula at Anzac Cove in 1915, Turkish defenders prevented them from taking the high ground, leaving their troops vulnerable and stranded on the beach. During the initial landing, the British ship SS River Clyde ran aground and came under heavy Turkish fire from the shore. Many soldiers who left the ship were shot immediately without reaching the beach. The blood of those who died 50 yards from shore stained the sea.
Thus began the intertwined destinies of the Middle East and the West that would last for decades. To this day, the story of foreign occupation and misery adds horrific chapters. Watch this film to learn the controversial truth behind the US military occupation of the Middle East. “Peace operations” and “war on terror” may be a cover for Western concerns about oil supply disruptions. Without such a steady supply of oil, Western economies would suffer enormously, leading to gas and fuel rationing.
The defeat of the Ottoman Empire in 1918 and events at the end of World War I left the Middle East in a dangerously disaffected and divided country. As author David Fromkin puts it; in fact, the treaty imposed on the Muslim world was “the peace that ends all peace”.
