The Middle Eastern Front

The Ottoman Empire's entry into WWI turned the Middle East into a massive battlefield. The consequences reshaped the entire region — borders drawn by European diplomats after the war still cause conflict today.

The Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 secretly divided Ottoman territories between Britain and France, ignoring ethnic, religious, and tribal boundaries. Modern Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan emerged from these arbitrary lines drawn on a map.

An estimated 5 million Ottoman subjects died during the war from combat, famine, disease, and the Armenian genocide of 1915.