Jihad : The Ottomans and the Allies 1914–1922 (Paperback)

The Ottoman Empire was at the point of dissolution by November 1914 when it declared a Holy War against the Allied Powers and threw in its lot with Germany. This decision set in chain a series of cataclysmic events, which culminated in the demise of an ancient regime and the emergence of a modern, secular republic. The first jihad in the Arab world since the Crusades was to continue long after the Armistice of 1918, as the defeated empire faced a triumphalist Greece seeking to re-establish hegemony over Anatolia. This story is a warning from history, including as it does ethnic cleansing, pogroms, regime change and political hubris. It is a story of steely determination and dogged bravery in the face of brazen territorial expansionism. It is also the history of the first modern jihad.