Special Circumstances

A Peace To End All Peace: the Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East by David Fromkin

The Middle East became what it is today both because the European powers undertook to re-shape it and because Britain and France failed to ensure that the dynasties, the states, and the political system that they established would premanently endure. During and after the First World War, Britain and her Allies destroyed the old order in the region irrevocably; they smashed Turkish rule of the Arabic-speaking Middle East beyond repair (Which is not to deny that the Turks also played a role in the destruction of their empire, and that, in any event, there were forces within the Middle East making for change). To take its place, they created countries, nominated rulers, delineated frontiers, and introduced a state system of the sort that exists everywhere else; but they did not quell all significant opposition to those decisions.

As a result the events of 1914-22, while bringing an end Europe's Middle Eastern Question, gave birth to a Middle Eastern Question in the Middle East itself. The settlement of 1922 (as it is called here, even though some of the arrangements were arrived at earlier or a bit later) resolved, as far as Europeans were concerned, the question of what -- as well as who -- should replace the Ottoman Empire; yet even today there are powerful local forces within the Middle East that remain unreconciled to these arrangements -- and may well overthrow them.

The fall of the Ottoman Empire is a large event in history that is largely ignored in favor of the more recent history of the so-called Middle East (a term whose invention is discussed in this book), when, in fact, it provides the most insight about the politics of the region today. In particular, this book provides an invaluable perspective of the events in terms of the Great Game between Britain, Russia and France. As is usual in Great Game politics, allies morph into enemies and back again within the timespan of a scant decade from 1914-1922. See "Tournament of Shadows" for a comprehensive look at Great Game politics between Britain and Russia in the Central Asian sphere.

Apart from the Great Game perspective, Fromkin makes Winston Churchill the main central character of the book, illustrating the events through a view of his chequered career at the time. Through most of the book, Fromkin maintains a strong narrative making many jostling events of the time fairly coherent and easy to grasp. The later part of the book flounders in this respect but this complaint applied only for a chapter or two.

For those seeking historical causes of the conflict between Israel and its neighbours, for those who wonder how Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq and Syria became the political entities they are now, this book is an excellent guide. In many cases, as can be seen in this book, the long shadow of colonial thinking is still cast on the events of the 21st century.

This book manages to provide a historical perspective without much philosophical pandering and not much `clash of the civilization' style of argumentation and the fact that this approach is rare among books about the region is another reason to recommend it. It does impugn politicians from short sighted colonial powers of the 19th and early 20th centuries for much of the mess, but this much seems uncontroversial.

%T A Peace To End All Peace
%T :the Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East
%A David Fromkin
%I An Owl Book: Henry Holt and Company
%P 635
%D 1989
%G ISBN: 0805068848
%K history

Review written: 2002/12/07