Key Facts
- Duration
- 4 years (1914–1918)
- Campaign start
- British Fao Landing, 1914
- Baghdad captured
- March 1917
- Ended by
- Armistice of Mudros, 1918
- Siege of Kut
- Described as worst Allied defeat in WWI
Strategic Narrative Overview
British forces advanced up the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, defeating Ottoman counterattacks including the Battle of Shaiba. The advance faltered at Kut in December 1915, where a besieged British force surrendered in 1916 in what was called the worst Allied defeat of the war. After reorganisation, British forces resumed the offensive, capturing Baghdad in March 1917 and continuing to push Ottoman forces back until the Armistice of Mudros ended hostilities in 1918.
01 / The Origins
Britain entered Mesopotamia in 1914 primarily to protect the Anglo-Persian Oil Company's oil fields in Khuzestan and the strategically vital Shatt al-Arab waterway. As the Ottoman Empire aligned with the Central Powers in World War I, British India forces landed at Al-Faw to secure Basra and prevent Ottoman control over these assets, with the campaign later expanding toward Baghdad to divert Ottoman resources from other fronts.
03 / The Outcome
The Armistice of Mudros in October 1918 concluded fighting, leading to Ottoman cession of Iraq and further partition of the Ottoman Empire. Britain established a mandate over Mesopotamia, but an Iraqi revolt in 1920 driven by discontent with British rule prompted the Cairo Conference of 1921, which installed Faisal as king of a Hashemite kingdom under British influence, laying the foundation for the modern state of Iraq.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
1 belligerent
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.