The Year 1916

• Ottoman Empire
  • The British landing at Gallipoli fails, but British will also fight the Turks in other parts of their Empire. in 1916 the British Fleet send an infantry forces at Basra on the Persian Gulf.
  • The Brits need oil supplies for their navy so they advance on Baghdad, but are surrounded and captured (a force of 10,000k). Later, in 1918 another force with take Baghdad.
  • In 1915 the Ottomans try to take the Suez Canal and they actually reach the canal before the British drive them away.
  • In 1917, the British General Allen by invades Palestine and take Jerusalem after they defeat the Ottomans at the Battle of Megiddo (Battle of Armageddon in the Bible).
  • The British Foreing Minister, David Balfour, announces the intention of British Government to eventually turn Palestine into a homeland for European Jews. This was called the Balfour Declaration.
  • Jewish nationalists, called Zionists, have been lobbying for a homeland state since 1900. The George Washington of the Jewish Nationalist movement is a Viennese journalist who covered the Dreyfus affair and was alerted to widespread Anti-Semitism. Theodore Herzl thinks the Jews should have thier own homeland as well.
  • There is a divide within Judaism over language: Yiddish or Hebrew, and religion: Reformed or Orthodox.
• Russia
  • British and French fear Russia may drop out of the war and then Germany, not facing a two fronted war, can concentrate all their forces on Western Front. The Allies have tried to keep Russia in the war through the Gallipoli Campaign.
  • 1916 Salonika there is a landing in Greece to try to establish a two-way supply line to Russia, which fails again.
  • In 1916, the British and French will bribe Russia through with the Sykes-Picot Agreement.
  • The Arabs within the Ottoman Empire have used WW1 as an opportunity to gain independence from the Turks.
  • Arabs, in a large part are assisting the British in hopes of gaining post-war independence. The British officer heading the Arab movement is TE Lawrence (of Arabia) who is close friends with King Hussein of Trans Jordan. Hussein/Lawrence advocate a Pan-Arabian State based out of Damascus.
  • They are opposed by another prominent Arab family (who oppose the Turks), who have guarded the Holy Shrines called the Saud family. The British are more concerned with Russia staying in the War than Arab Independence, which leads to the Sykes-Picot agreement.
  • Skyes-Picot Agreement
    • Russia gains control Constantinople and the Turkish Straits if you stay in the war and the allies win. They would also gain a large sphere of influence in Eastern Turkey.
    • France would gain a large Sphere of Influence in Eastern Turkey. France would get control of SE Turkey and Lebanon with a sphere of influence in Syria.
    • Britain gets control of Mesopotamia (Iraq today) with a sphere of influence on the entire Arabian Peninsula (Jordan/Kuwait/Persian Gulf).
    • The Holy lands of Islam are Independence States. Palestine is an international zone.
• Japan
  • an ally of GBR, join the war with the Allies. Japan will attack the Germans in China and seize the German possessions on the Shantung Peninsula.
  • The Japanese will also take control of German stuff in Oceania. They also gain the Carolines, Marianas, and the Bismarck archipelago, which are all north of the equator. Countries south of the equator include Australia, New Zealand, and eventually the US Samoa.
  • Japan also takes advantage of Europeans preoccupation with WW1 to expand their influence in China. China is in the midst of a Civil War after 1911 Xinahi Revolution which finally deposed the Manchu Emperors. In 1916 Japan will extort economic and territorial concessions through the 21 Demands.
• The 1916 Naval War
  • the only battle of WWI was the Battle of Jutland. The British have been blocking Germany via the North Sea and Skagerak.
  • Germany is beginning to suffer from a lack of resources, due to the blockade. Admiral Tirpitz decides to test Risk Theory to break the blockade.
  • In may 1916 at the Battle of Jutland the Home Fleet engages the High Seas Fleet 3 to 1. The Germans win Jutland, but only inflict double the losses, which means they are only worsening their odds. They loose the War of attrition.