Turkey Book Talk Mustafa Aksakal on World War I and the end of the Ottoman Empire
Mar 17, 2026
Mustafa Aksakal, Georgetown history professor and author of The War That Made the Middle East, guides listeners through World War I’s role in ending the Ottoman Empire. He discusses how the war reshaped identities and politics. Topics include wartime mobilization, famine and social collapse, Great Power rivalry, the Sarıkamış disaster, and debates over responsibility for mass atrocities.
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War Turned The State Against Its People
- The war mobilized state and society against each other as Unionists allied with Germany while opponents sought Entente backing.
- This dual mobilization intensified domestic polarization and made the state confront perceived internal disloyalty.
External Pressure Made The Empire Precarious
- Ottoman precariousness in the 19th century was driven mainly by external great-power pressures, not internal terminal decline.
- Aksakal stresses military vulnerability to Europeans didn't equal internal societal collapse.
Jihad Declaration Had Primarily Domestic Aims
- The Ottoman declaration of jihad had domestic aims to mobilize soldiers and bridge ethnic divides rather than being a German-crafted global jihad.
- The state even circulated pamphlets urging Muslims, Christians, and Jews to defend the homeland together.
