The Last Ottoman Generation and the Making of the Modern Middle East

A study of the period of armed conflict following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East.

Michael Provence (Author)

9780521747516, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 18 August 2017

314 pages, 15 b/w illus. 4 maps
22.5 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.51 kg

'… a stimulating semi-revisionist history focusing on continuities rather than ruptures … The book excavates remarkable details from the years of flux after the collapse of the Ottoman state.' The Hurriyet Daily News

The modern Middle East emerged out of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, when Britain and France partitioned the Ottoman Arab lands into several new colonial states. The following period was a charged and transformative time of unrest. Insurgent leaders, trained in Ottoman military tactics and with everything to lose from the fall of the Empire, challenged the mandatory powers in a number of armed revolts. This is a study of this crucial period in Middle Eastern history, tracing the period through popular political movements and the experience of colonial rule. In doing so, Provence emphasises the continuity between the late Ottoman and Colonial era, explaining how national identities emerged, and how the seeds were sown for many of the conflicts which have defined the Middle East in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. This is a valuable read for students of Middle Eastern history and politics.

1. Introduction
2. Ottoman modernity in the long nineteenth century: training state servants and making citizens
3. The theory and practice of colonialism in the post-Ottoman Middle East
4. Losing the war and fighting the settlement: the post-Ottoman Middle East takes shape, 1918–22
5. League of Nations hopes and disappointments: the return of armed struggle in the post-Ottoman era, 1923–7
6. Colonial constitutions and treaties: post-Ottoman militarism, 1927–36
7. The final days of the last Ottoman generation, 1936–8
8. Epilogue and conclusion.

Subject Areas: Politics & government [JP], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], Middle Eastern history [HBJF1]