The Middle East

• In October 1914 The Ottoman Empire allied with Germany and Austria-Hungary
• British and French divisions were diverted to the Middle East in the hope of limiting Turkish interference with oil supplies from Mesopotamia (modern Iraq)
• In November 1914 The Ottoman Empire called for a military jihad against the Triple Entente which posed a severe threat to the British Empire’s possessions in the Middle East – even India
• British colonial soldiers, including Anglo-Indian troops, fought Turkish soldiers under German command