A Peace to End All Peace Book Summary - A Peace to End All Peace Book explained in key points

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A Peace to End All Peace summary

Name: A Peace to End All Peace
Rating: 4.5 (142 reviews)
Author: David Fromkin

David Fromkin

The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and Creation of the Modern Middle East

4.5 (142 ratings)

29 mins

12 key ideas

Audio & text

What is A Peace to End All Peace about?

The Middle East today is a hotbed of violence and war. Whether the civil war in Syria or the intractable Arab-Israeli conflict, peace in the region seems a far-off dream. Yet how did the Middle East become so unstable? In A Peace to End All Peace (1989), you’ll learn that European colonial ambitions during World War I were the catalyst that led to today’s modern crises.

About the Author

David Fromkin is Professor Emeritus in International Relations at Boston University. Before becoming a historian, he worked as a lawyer and political advisor. His many books include Europe’s Last Summer and The King and the Cowboy.

Table of Contents

A Peace to End All Peace
summarized in 12 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 12

At the turn of the twentieth century, the Ottoman Empire had long been in decline.

By the turn of the twentieth century, the progress resulting from the Industrial Revolution had pushed the countries of Western Europe to grow both economically and technologically.

The Ottoman Empire, meanwhile, was called “the sick man of Europe.”

The empire was a caliphate, or an Islamic monarchy, based not on nationality but religion. In other words, while the empire was ethnically diverse, the majority of its population was Muslim.

Religion played a central role in peoples’ daily lives. Even for the empire’s minority Christian and Jewish groups, identity was synonymous with religion.

For people in western Europe, however, the Ottoman Empire seemed like a museum, with its subjects’ daily lives frozen in a past century. Constantinople introduced electric street lights only in 1912, for example – an innovation long common in major European cities.

Compared to European empires such as those of France or Britain, Ottoman political power didn’t extend much beyond the immediate Turkish heartland, covering only a small fraction of the empire.

European visitors wondered at the empire’s organization, observing that the vast majority of non-Turkish provinces were self-governed, despite the presence of Ottoman military troops.

This political arrangement did little to help the Ottomans hold territory. By the early twentieth century, the empire had lost significant areas to encroaching European interests.

In October 1912, Italy claimed the Ottoman Empire’s only remaining African territory, in what is now Libya. By that time, the majority of its southeastern European territories located in the Balkans, in Greece and in Bulgaria had also been lost.

So by the start of World War I, all that was left of the great Ottoman Empire was modern-day Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Iraq, Syria and much of the Arabian peninsula.

In 1913, the Ottoman Empire found itself facing a political crisis with wide-reaching consequences.

With the Ottoman Empire falling apart, a group called the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), also known as the Young Turks, decided it was time for a change in leadership.

The Young Turks had staged a revolution in 1908 with the goal of returning the empire to a parliamentary democracy. Sultan Abdul Hamid had banned the parliament in 1878.

At the start of World War I, the Ottoman Empire aligned itself with Germany and against the British.

As war began to seem inevitable, the Ottomans feared their power was in danger of continued and even escalated aggression from both Italy and Austria-Hungary. The logical response to this threat? Look for a European ally to help protect Ottoman territory. By the time fighting started in 1914, the Ottomans had formed a secret alliance with Germany after failing to make a pact with Britain. Germany promised to protect the Ottomans against foreign encroachment in return for the empire’s neutrality during the war.

The deal didn’t remain secret for long, however.

British Middle-Eastern policy was muddled by misinformation and one man’s lofty ambitions.

In August 1914, Herbert Kitchener became the British Secretary of State for War, an appointment that would greatly affect the country’s Middle East policy.

Kitchener was previously Britain’s colonial administrator in Egypt, which had been under de facto British rule since 1882. As the only cabinet minister with any experience in the Middle East, Kitchener’s opinions on the region were highly regarded.

Changes in Britain led to a new political strategy to harness the influence of the Ottoman Arabs.

Based on Kitchener’s misguided advice and inaccurate maps, the British attack at Gallipoli – a peninsula at the entrance to the Sea of Marmara and leading to Constantinople – was a total failure.

This wartime disaster led to the installation of a new prime minister, David Lloyd George. Once in office, he decided a fresh war strategy was needed.

With an agreement in place, the scene was now set for the Arab Revolt.

T. E. Lawrence, more popularly known as Lawrence of Arabia, was a British Army officer who acted as a liaison with Hussein’s Arab forces. Much of what we know about the revolt to create an Arab state is thanks to his writings at the time.

The plan got off to a shaky start, as Hussein’s call to arms, directed at Arabic-speaking Ottoman troops, was met with silence. In short, Arab Ottoman staff officer al-Faruqi’s promise to the British that hundreds of thousands of troops would rise up spontaneously was a lie.

British and French officials began negotiations to claim territory in a post-war Middle East.

As soon as the British signed a pact with Hussein, Mark Sykes, the man who suggested the agreement in the first place, turned around and started separate negotiations with French diplomat François Picot.

Picot came from a family of French colonialists. In 1915, he articulated his ideas and personal views on France’s future in the Middle East to the French government. In meeting with Sykes, Picot was able to explain France’s colonial ambitions in Palestine and Syria.

Britain’s support for Zionism had dire consequences in the Middle East following the war.

At the end of 1917, with British troops occupying most of Palestine, France realized that the British had no intention to share the territory.

Britain’s support of Zionism, however, was largely the result of Lloyd George becoming prime minister.

The end of the war saw promises broken and Western powers grabbing territory in the Middle East.

In the last year of the war, the British and their Arab allies advanced into Ottoman territory, and it became clear that the empire’s days were numbered.

Although Sykes still clung to the delusion that the British could keep their promises to everyone, the reality of a post-war Middle East soon revealed itself. Hussein, the puppet caliph and key player in the British conquest of Palestine, was the first to be betrayed.

Britain and France faced local resistance as the new rulers of the Middle East.

With Allied forces thinly stretched throughout the region, local resistance became common. Meanwhile, on the Arabian Peninsula, the power struggle between two of Britain’s puppet leaders, Hussein and Ibn Saud, raged on.

During the war, the British had also provided Ibn Saud with funds to prop up his rule. After the war, in 1919, Saud began to encroach on territory ruled by Hussein. In a surprise attack in May, Ibn Saud decimated Hussein’s British-supported army.

Britain’s and France’s mandates in the Levant presented the countries with many troubles.

Directly after British troops withdrew from Syria, Faisal managed to secure from French leaders the promise of a more informal occupation. This arrangement would essentially grant Syria its independence, with the French acting in an advisory role.

Yet in 1920, when a new French prime minister was installed in Paris, trouble began again.

The dismantlement of the Ottoman Empire created deep issues that have yet to be solved.

By the end of 1922, the borders of the Middle East as we know them today had been drawn. Just as in the Americas and in Africa, the Middle East was divided into European-style states.

The real question was, would these countries last?

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Best quote from A Peace to End All Peace

By the early twentieth century, Britain had attained enormous global power with an empire covering 25 percent of the planet.

—David Fromkin

Who should read A Peace to End All Peace

Anyone interested in understanding the Middle East
Political junkies
Students of history or international relations

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A Peace to End All Peace summary

What is A Peace to End All Peace about?

About the Author

A Peace to End All Peace
summarized in 12 key ideas

At the turn of the twentieth century, the Ottoman Empire had long been in decline.

In 1913, the Ottoman Empire found itself facing a political crisis with wide-reaching consequences.

At the start of World War I, the Ottoman Empire aligned itself with Germany and against the British.

British Middle-Eastern policy was muddled by misinformation and one man’s lofty ambitions.

Changes in Britain led to a new political strategy to harness the influence of the Ottoman Arabs.

With an agreement in place, the scene was now set for the Arab Revolt.

British and French officials began negotiations to claim territory in a post-war Middle East.

Britain’s support for Zionism had dire consequences in the Middle East following the war.

The end of the war saw promises broken and Western powers grabbing territory in the Middle East.

Britain and France faced local resistance as the new rulers of the Middle East.

Britain’s and France’s mandates in the Levant presented the countries with many troubles.

The dismantlement of the Ottoman Empire created deep issues that have yet to be solved.

Key ideas in A Peace to End All Peace

At the turn of the twentieth century, the Ottoman Empire had long been in decline.

In 1913, the Ottoman Empire found itself facing a political crisis with wide-reaching consequences.

At the start of World War I, the Ottoman Empire aligned itself with Germany and against the British.

British Middle-Eastern policy was muddled by misinformation and one man’s lofty ambitions.

Changes in Britain led to a new political strategy to harness the influence of the Ottoman Arabs.

With an agreement in place, the scene was now set for the Arab Revolt.

British and French officials began negotiations to claim territory in a post-war Middle East.

Britain’s support for Zionism had dire consequences in the Middle East following the war.

The end of the war saw promises broken and Western powers grabbing territory in the Middle East.

Britain and France faced local resistance as the new rulers of the Middle East.

Britain’s and France’s mandates in the Levant presented the countries with many troubles.

The dismantlement of the Ottoman Empire created deep issues that have yet to be solved.

Best quote from A Peace to End All Peace

Who should read A Peace to End All Peace

Categories with A Peace to End All Peace

Books like A Peace to End All Peace

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A Peace to End All Peace summary

What is A Peace to End All Peace about?

About the Author

A Peace to End All Peace summarized in 12 key ideas

At the turn of the twentieth century, the Ottoman Empire had long been in decline.

In 1913, the Ottoman Empire found itself facing a political crisis with wide-reaching consequences.

At the start of World War I, the Ottoman Empire aligned itself with Germany and against the British.

British Middle-Eastern policy was muddled by misinformation and one man’s lofty ambitions.

Changes in Britain led to a new political strategy to harness the influence of the Ottoman Arabs.

With an agreement in place, the scene was now set for the Arab Revolt.

British and French officials began negotiations to claim territory in a post-war Middle East.

Britain’s support for Zionism had dire consequences in the Middle East following the war.

The end of the war saw promises broken and Western powers grabbing territory in the Middle East.

Britain and France faced local resistance as the new rulers of the Middle East.

Britain’s and France’s mandates in the Levant presented the countries with many troubles.

The dismantlement of the Ottoman Empire created deep issues that have yet to be solved.

Key ideas in A Peace to End All Peace

At the turn of the twentieth century, the Ottoman Empire had long been in decline.

In 1913, the Ottoman Empire found itself facing a political crisis with wide-reaching consequences.

At the start of World War I, the Ottoman Empire aligned itself with Germany and against the British.

British Middle-Eastern policy was muddled by misinformation and one man’s lofty ambitions.

Changes in Britain led to a new political strategy to harness the influence of the Ottoman Arabs.

With an agreement in place, the scene was now set for the Arab Revolt.

British and French officials began negotiations to claim territory in a post-war Middle East.

Britain’s support for Zionism had dire consequences in the Middle East following the war.

The end of the war saw promises broken and Western powers grabbing territory in the Middle East.

Britain and France faced local resistance as the new rulers of the Middle East.

Britain’s and France’s mandates in the Levant presented the countries with many troubles.

The dismantlement of the Ottoman Empire created deep issues that have yet to be solved.

Best quote from A Peace to End All Peace

Who should read A Peace to End All Peace

Categories with A Peace to End All Peace

Books like A Peace to End All Peace

Discover the Blinkist catalogue

Popular titles

Most popular categories

Trending Collections

A Peace to End All Peace
summarized in 12 key ideas