The Ottoman Empire experience during the World War 1
The First World War theatre in the middle east pitted the Ottoman Empire (present day Turkey) which was supported by Germany and some Arab tribes against the British with its allies including the French, Jews, Assyrians, Russians, Arabs and others fighting over oil and other minerals as well as shipping and trading routes. The Ottoman Turks were Muslims and their discriminatory activities and persecution of Ottoman Armenians (who were Christians) was one major ethical issue in the war which has haunted Turkey up-to present day.
The war demanded a lot of soldiers from the Ottoman side since it was facing a British enemy who had support troops from many countries. This meant that the empire had to conscript not only all young, capable men into the war but also men who were their families’ sole breadwinners (Zürcher 56). This meant many women were left on their own to fend for their families. They had to perform back breaking jobs in order to sustain their families. Many families whose men had gone to war were unable to feed their families and many people died of hunger as government food rations were very little and far between. In a Muslim country where the man was considered as the main provider of basic family needs, taking away nearly all men in family units left gaping holes in families which the women could not adequately fill. By the time the war ended, many soldiers came back home to find many of their family members had been wiped out by ravages of hunger and disease. Many children were rendered orphans and the state had to take them into orphanages after the war. It took many years after the war ended for basic family units to be re-established again (Akın 5).
The other ethical issue during the war was the expulsion of ethnic Armenians (who formed part of the Ottoman empire). Even though Turkey denies it up-to date, many Armenians (some estimates put the number in hundreds of thousands) were killed in cold-blood during the expulsion. The sole reason for the expulsion, according to the Ottoman authorities, was because the Armenians were Christians and so their allegiance to the Ottoman cause could not be trusted. As the campaign to drive them away and wipe them from the Ottoman territory intensified, thousands were killed, their homes and properties burned down (Akın 76). Women and children were not spared of the genocide as they were raped and some were locked inside their homes and then the houses were lit on fire. Those who managed to escape were forced to march on foot over a vast distance into a dessert area in Syria. They did this with limited or no food, water and other supplies. Many died of hunger, exhaustion and harsh weather conditions as they travelled. Many families and bloodlines were completely wiped out during this period and some children left behind after their parents and relatives were killed had to be taken into orphanages and others were adopted and converted into Muslims by the Ottomans (Akın 81).
Work cited
Akın, Yiğit. “”War, Women, and the State: the politics of sacrifice in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.”.” Journal of Women’s History 26.3 (2016): 12-35.
Zürcher, E. Between Death and Desertion: The Experience of the Ottoman Soldier in World War 1. Vol. 1. London: Peeters, 2015. 2 vols.