The Ottoman Empire and World War I

Class Description

Have you ever wondered what caused World War I? Why the Ottoman Empire was involved? What were the Ottoman goals for the war? What did the Armenian and Assyrian Genocides entail? Or how did the Republic of Turkey and the contemporary borders of the Middle East come into being?

This course will answer all these questions by starting in 1871 following the unification of Germany and the start of the new international order that led directly to WWI. After briefly discussing this shift, the class will move on to the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 and the Italian-Ottoman and Balkan Wars that began a few years later. The latter initiated a period of approximately ten years of constant warfare within the Ottoman Empire, including WWI, that is essential to understanding the Ottoman experience and decision making.

Finally, because the War did not end in 1918 for the Ottomans, the class will examine the allied occupation of the empire, the Turkish War of Independence, the Turkish-Greek population exchange, and the establishment of British and French Mandates in the Arab provinces. This is critical to understand the Middle East, as it was the Mandate System that created the nation states of the region today.

All virtual classes are recorded and made available to participants registered in the class. These recordings are password-protected and available for up to two weeks after the class ends.

Kyle Clark has a PhD in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University where he studied Ottoman history. Kyle is passionate about teaching Ottoman history and sharing his love of Turkey, especially Istanbul, one of the most beautiful and greatest cities on earth. 

What to Expect

Format: Virtual 

Class Capacity: 30 

Class Style: Mix of lecture and discussion; participation encouraged 

Materials List

Required

Instructor-Distributed Materials, including excerpts from the following books

• Mustafa Aksakal, The Ottoman Road to War in 1914: The Ottoman Empire and the First World War. Cambridge University Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780521880602
• Edward J. Erickson, Ordered to Die: A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War. Greenwood Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780313315169
• Renee Hirschon, Crossing the Aegean: An Appraisal of the 1923 Compulsory Population Exchange between Greece and Turkey. Berghahn Books, 2003. ISBN: 9781571815620
• Joachim Remak, The Origins of World War I 1871-1914. Harcourt Brace, 1995. ISBN: 9780155014381
• Michael Reynolds, Shattering Empires: The Clash and Collapse of the Ottoman and Russian Empires 1908-1918. Cambridge University Press, 2011. ISBN: 9780521149167
• Ronald Grigor Suny, “They Can Live in the Desert but Nowhere Else”: A History of the Armenian Genocide. Princeton University Press, 2015. ISBN: 9780691147307
• Ronald Grigor Suny, Fatma Muge Gocek, Norman M. Naimark, A Question of Genocide: Armenians and Turks at the End of the Ottoman Empire. Oxford University Press, 2011. ISBN: 9780195393743
• M.E. Yapp, The Making of the Modern Near East 1792-1923. Routledge, 1987. ISBN: 9780582493803
• Erik J. Zurcher, Turkey: A Modern History. I.B. Tauris, 2003. ISBN: 9781784531874

First Assignment

• Remak, The Origins of World War I, Ch. 1: “The Age of Bismarck: European Diplomacy of 1871-1890,” pp. 3-22; Ch. 2: “Triple Alliance and Triple Entente: European Diplomacy 1890-1914,” 23-59.

• Aksakal, The Ottoman Road to War in 1914, “Introduction,” pp. 1-18.

A Brief Syllabus

1. The Origins of World War I, 1871-1914
2. The Ottoman Decision to Enter the War
3. The Ottoman Empire at War in Anatolia and Europe
4. The Armenian and Assyrian Genocides
5. The Arab Provinces in World War I
6. Turkish Independence, Population Exchanges, and European Mandates

Cost and Registration

6 Sessions, $245 ($220.50 for Newberry members, seniors, and students). Learn about becoming a member.

We offer our classes at three different price options: Regular ($245), Community Supported ($225), and Sponsor ($265). Following the models of other institutions, we want to ensure that our classes are accessible to a wider audience while continuing to support our instructors. You may choose the price that best fits your situation when registering through Learning Stream.

To register multiple people for this class, please go through the course calendar in Learning Stream, our registration platform. When you select the course and register, you’ll be prompted to add another registrant.

Having trouble signing up? Take a look at our step-by-step guide to registration by clicking here.

The views and opinions expressed in this class and/or by the instructor are not necessarily representative of the Newberry. We aim to ensure that in our classes, participants can have respectful disagreement to foster critical thinking. This is a space to challenge and expand our own worldviews to work towards better understanding and appreciating humanity.

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