WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.299 Welcome to today's deep dive. Imagine if you 00:00:04.299 --> 00:00:07.240 will being handed the reins to a completely broken 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:10.300 just totally humiliated organization. A true 00:00:10.300 --> 00:00:12.720 worst -case scenario. Right. Your predecessors 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:15.439 have just suffered a catastrophic defeat, morale 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:18.519 is practically nonexistent, and your job is to 00:00:18.519 --> 00:00:21.019 somehow turn this entire massive ship around. 00:00:21.140 --> 00:00:23.500 Which is a monumental task on its own. Exactly. 00:00:23.780 --> 00:00:26.699 But now, imagine you actually pull it off. You 00:00:26.699 --> 00:00:29.539 orchestrate this massive, strategic, against 00:00:29.539 --> 00:00:32.299 -all -odds victory. Only for your bosses to immediately 00:00:32.299 --> 00:00:35.240 start a vicious turf war over the spoils. Yes. 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:38.299 It sounds like a modern corporate boardroom drama, 00:00:38.600 --> 00:00:40.780 but for you, the listener, today we are looking 00:00:40.780 --> 00:00:43.439 at how this exact scenario played out on a global 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:46.100 imperial scale. It really is a remarkable sequence 00:00:46.100 --> 00:00:49.200 of events. Today we're unpacking a highly detailed 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:51.740 historical account drawn from a Wikipedia article 00:00:51.740 --> 00:00:54.719 covering the fall of Baghdad in 1917. And we 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:57.539 are using this to explore the Mesopotamian campaign 00:00:57.539 --> 00:01:00.420 of World War I. Specifically the intense grinding 00:01:00.420 --> 00:01:02.659 conflict between the British Empire and the Ottoman 00:01:02.659 --> 00:01:05.799 Empire. So the mission of this deep dive is to 00:01:05.799 --> 00:01:08.159 explore one of the most fascinating military 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:10.879 redemption arcs in modern history. We is in a 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:14.230 look at how the British Army rebuilt itself from 00:01:14.230 --> 00:01:17.569 absolute rock bottom through sheer logistical 00:01:17.569 --> 00:01:20.170 willpower. We'll break down the brilliant tactical 00:01:20.170 --> 00:01:22.650 bluff they use to shatter a stubborn defensive 00:01:22.650 --> 00:01:25.450 line. And finally, we will examine the incredibly 00:01:25.450 --> 00:01:28.510 messy bureaucratic fallout that inevitably happens 00:01:28.510 --> 00:01:31.310 the moment a military success is actually achieved. 00:01:31.530 --> 00:01:34.489 Right. But to really grasp the magnitude of this 00:01:34.489 --> 00:01:36.829 turnaround. We have to set the stage for you. 00:01:37.129 --> 00:01:39.769 We need to take you back to 1916. A very bad 00:01:39.769 --> 00:01:41.870 year for the British in this theater. A terrible 00:01:41.870 --> 00:01:44.650 year. The British army operating in Ottoman Iraq 00:01:44.650 --> 00:01:47.569 had just endured a staggering, historic blow. 00:01:48.230 --> 00:01:52.030 On April 29, 1916, the British garrison at Kut 00:01:52.030 --> 00:01:54.349 surrendered to the Ottoman forces. And we should 00:01:54.349 --> 00:01:56.829 emphasize this wasn't just a minor strategic 00:01:56.829 --> 00:01:58.810 setback. No, not at all. It wasn't just a bump 00:01:58.810 --> 00:02:00.989 in the road. It was a profound imperial humiliation. 00:02:01.489 --> 00:02:03.489 Entire divisions were marched into captivity. 00:02:03.750 --> 00:02:06.069 For the British High Command, it was this devastating 00:02:06.069 --> 00:02:09.930 loss of global military prestige, and it demanded 00:02:09.930 --> 00:02:12.969 an immediate and overwhelming response. Okay, 00:02:13.069 --> 00:02:15.810 let's unpack this, because that absolute mess 00:02:15.810 --> 00:02:18.150 is exactly what the newly appointed commander 00:02:18.150 --> 00:02:20.949 inherits. Enter Lieutenant General Sir Frederick 00:02:20.949 --> 00:02:23.990 Stanley Maud. And Maud is brought into this theater 00:02:23.990 --> 00:02:28.050 of war with one very clear overriding objective. 00:02:28.389 --> 00:02:30.590 Restore Britain's military reputation in the 00:02:30.590 --> 00:02:33.409 Middle East. Exactly. But what makes Maud so 00:02:33.409 --> 00:02:36.169 effective is his extreme patience. Yeah, he doesn't 00:02:36.169 --> 00:02:39.210 just rush his men right back into the meat grinder 00:02:39.210 --> 00:02:41.550 to avenge the loss of cut. Right. He essentially 00:02:41.550 --> 00:02:43.750 his pause. He spends the entirety of the rest 00:02:43.750 --> 00:02:47.110 of 1916 completely rebuilding his army from scratch. 00:02:47.169 --> 00:02:49.250 And this rebuilding effort is. fundamentally 00:02:49.250 --> 00:02:52.150 an exercise in massive infrastructure development. 00:02:52.789 --> 00:02:55.150 Because Maud is tasked with moving tens of thousands 00:02:55.150 --> 00:02:57.789 of men along with all their artillery ammunition 00:02:57.789 --> 00:03:01.650 rations across incredibly difficult unforgiving 00:03:01.650 --> 00:03:04.370 desert terrain. Which is a nightmare. A logistical 00:03:04.370 --> 00:03:07.090 nightmare. She recognizes instantly that before 00:03:07.090 --> 00:03:09.030 he can even think about fighting the Ottoman 00:03:09.030 --> 00:03:11.789 forces he has to conquer the environment. He 00:03:11.789 --> 00:03:14.569 has to conquer the logistics. He truly does. 00:03:14.909 --> 00:03:18.319 The scale of his logistical overhaul is Just 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:21.240 staggering. To build out this new force, Maude 00:03:21.240 --> 00:03:24.699 recruits heavily in India. He ships tens of thousands 00:03:24.699 --> 00:03:27.199 of troops all the way across the Arabian Sea 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:29.699 to the port of Basra. But getting them to the 00:03:29.699 --> 00:03:32.099 coast is only half the battle. Right. While these 00:03:32.099 --> 00:03:34.639 new ships are training, Maude has British military 00:03:34.639 --> 00:03:37.819 engineers construct an actual functioning field 00:03:37.819 --> 00:03:40.139 railway. Right in the desert. Right in the desert. 00:03:40.270 --> 00:03:41.990 They build this railway straight up from the 00:03:41.990 --> 00:03:44.189 coast, connecting Basaret to the front lines. 00:03:44.569 --> 00:03:46.909 And because the Tigris River is the main artery 00:03:46.909 --> 00:03:49.849 of the region, he brings in an entire fleet of 00:03:49.849 --> 00:03:52.830 armed riverboats and dedicated river supply ships. 00:03:52.949 --> 00:03:55.949 He basically drops a modern industrialized supply 00:03:55.949 --> 00:03:58.509 chain right into the middle of a desert war zone, 00:03:58.889 --> 00:04:01.330 which perfectly sets up the massive disparity 00:04:01.330 --> 00:04:03.860 when the campaign finally launches. By December 00:04:03.860 --> 00:04:07.580 13th, 1916, Maude has assembled a highly trained, 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:10.419 exceptionally well equipped force. We're talking 00:04:10.419 --> 00:04:13.419 about an army of somewhere between 50 ,000 and 00:04:13.419 --> 00:04:16.839 70 ,000 men. Yeah, it's a hybrid force. You have 00:04:16.839 --> 00:04:20.160 battle hardened British army units mixed seamlessly 00:04:20.160 --> 00:04:23.600 with freshly trained Indian expeditionary forces. 00:04:23.800 --> 00:04:26.259 Operating as the Tigris Corps and the 13th Western 00:04:26.259 --> 00:04:29.579 Division. It's a colossal military machine. And 00:04:29.579 --> 00:04:31.959 the contrast with what the Ottomans have on the 00:04:31.959 --> 00:04:34.839 board is stark. General Khalil Pasha, commanding 00:04:34.839 --> 00:04:37.579 the Ottoman 6th Army, is sitting across the river 00:04:37.579 --> 00:04:41.160 with maybe 25 ,000 troops. So the British have 00:04:41.160 --> 00:04:43.220 effectively outnumbered their opponents nearly 00:04:43.220 --> 00:04:45.860 three to one. And every single one of those British 00:04:45.860 --> 00:04:48.839 and Indian soldiers is backed by that relentless 00:04:48.839 --> 00:04:51.300 railway and riverboat infrastructure. What's 00:04:51.300 --> 00:04:53.550 fascinating here is that For anyone studying 00:04:53.550 --> 00:04:56.170 military history, it becomes incredibly clear 00:04:56.170 --> 00:04:59.370 that victories of this magnitude are rarely won 00:04:59.370 --> 00:05:00.910 in the heat of the moment on the battlefield 00:05:00.910 --> 00:05:03.589 itself. No, they're won six, eight, ten months 00:05:03.589 --> 00:05:06.189 prior. Exactly. They're one of the supply chains, 00:05:06.389 --> 00:05:08.069 the infrastructure planning, and the training 00:05:08.069 --> 00:05:10.470 camps. In the aftermath of the disaster it could, 00:05:10.629 --> 00:05:12.910 the British realized that reckless advances without 00:05:12.910 --> 00:05:17.120 supply lines were suicidal. And Maude's meticulous, 00:05:17.220 --> 00:05:19.899 almost obsessive approach to supply and preparation 00:05:19.899 --> 00:05:23.199 is exactly what earned him his famous nickname 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:26.259 among the troops. Systematic Joe. Systematic 00:05:26.259 --> 00:05:29.339 Joe. It really is the perfect moniker for how 00:05:29.339 --> 00:05:31.680 he commands the theater, because the march toward 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:34.199 Baghdad is the exact opposite of the reckless 00:05:34.199 --> 00:05:36.519 hubris that caused the surrender it cut a year 00:05:36.519 --> 00:05:40.060 prior. General Maude proceeds with extreme methodical 00:05:40.060 --> 00:05:42.800 caution. There are absolutely no setbacks for 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:45.180 the British on this campaign. None. They advance 00:05:45.180 --> 00:05:47.540 steadily along both sides of the Tigris River. 00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:50.740 Creating this relentless step -by -step conquest 00:05:50.740 --> 00:05:54.040 that just grinds the Ottoman defenses into dust. 00:05:54.339 --> 00:05:57.040 The sheer timeline of this advance really highlights 00:05:57.040 --> 00:05:59.060 that systematic nature. They aren't executing 00:05:59.060 --> 00:06:01.860 sweeping cowl recharges. No, they are dismantling 00:06:01.860 --> 00:06:04.699 heavily fortified Ottoman positions piece by 00:06:04.699 --> 00:06:07.959 piece. First, they hit the Qaderi Bend. The Ottomans 00:06:07.959 --> 00:06:10.439 are dug in deep, and it takes the British two 00:06:10.439 --> 00:06:13.000 full weeks of grueling, dedicated siege work. 00:06:13.079 --> 00:06:16.360 From January 6th to January 19th, 1917. Just 00:06:16.360 --> 00:06:19.060 to clear that single bend in the river. And there's 00:06:19.060 --> 00:06:21.680 no rest after that. The moment they clear Kaderi, 00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:24.300 they immediately have to force the Ottoman troops 00:06:24.300 --> 00:06:27.180 out of another heavily fortified defensive line 00:06:27.180 --> 00:06:29.339 along the high river. Which takes another two 00:06:29.339 --> 00:06:31.600 weeks of bitter fighting. Stretching from January 00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:35.759 25th to February 4th. Then, they pivot and hit 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:37.980 another Ottoman stronghold at the Dara Bend, 00:06:38.439 --> 00:06:41.839 which finally collapses on February 16th. It's 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:44.720 an unstoppable grinding machine, systematically 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:47.319 chewing its way up the Tigris. All of that methodical 00:06:47.319 --> 00:06:50.259 grinding eventually leads Maud's army back to 00:06:50.259 --> 00:06:53.120 a highly symbolic location. Right. On February 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:56.620 24th, 1917, the British force the Second Battle 00:06:56.620 --> 00:06:59.250 of Cut. This is the exact site of the catastrophic 00:06:59.250 --> 00:07:01.170 humiliation they suffered the previous year. 00:07:01.329 --> 00:07:03.430 It's a massive moment of redemption for the British 00:07:03.430 --> 00:07:05.870 forces. But what's truly compelling here is the 00:07:05.870 --> 00:07:07.970 tactical contrast between the two battles fought 00:07:07.970 --> 00:07:10.810 over the exact same piece of ground. Yes. The 00:07:10.810 --> 00:07:13.290 local Ottoman commander during this second battle, 00:07:13.569 --> 00:07:16.410 Karabiker Bey, handles the situation very differently 00:07:16.410 --> 00:07:18.680 than the British did a year prior. He certainly 00:07:18.680 --> 00:07:21.540 does. Carabaker Bay makes a remarkably clear 00:07:21.540 --> 00:07:24.560 -eyed tactical decision. When he sees the sheer 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:26.959 scale of the British juggernaut advancing on 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:30.740 his position, he actively ensures that his army 00:07:30.740 --> 00:07:33.279 does not become trapped inside Cut. He looks 00:07:33.279 --> 00:07:36.120 at the disaster of the first battle of Cut. Where 00:07:36.120 --> 00:07:38.399 the British General Townsend stubbornly allowed 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:41.139 his forces to become completely surrounded and 00:07:41.139 --> 00:07:43.959 besieged. And Carabaker Bay refuses to make the 00:07:43.959 --> 00:07:46.879 same mistake. He chooses preservation over pride. 00:07:47.069 --> 00:07:50.149 He abandons the position and ensures his men 00:07:50.149 --> 00:07:53.069 escape the trap to fight another day. It shows 00:07:53.069 --> 00:07:56.430 that Kara Becker Bey wasn't blinded by the symbolic 00:07:56.430 --> 00:07:59.329 value of the territory. Right. He realized that 00:07:59.329 --> 00:08:01.829 keeping his army alive to defend Baghdad tomorrow 00:08:01.829 --> 00:08:04.569 was infinitely more important than holding a 00:08:04.569 --> 00:08:06.980 plot of land today. But even with the Ottoman 00:08:06.980 --> 00:08:09.759 forces successfully escaping Cut, the British 00:08:09.759 --> 00:08:12.220 machine just keeps rolling forward. The final 00:08:12.220 --> 00:08:14.360 march on Baghdad officially resumes on March 00:08:14.360 --> 00:08:17.759 5, 1917. Three days later, on March 8, Maud's 00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:20.060 corps reaches the Diyala River. This is right 00:08:20.060 --> 00:08:22.040 on the outskirts of the city, about 35 miles 00:08:22.040 --> 00:08:24.319 south of Baghdad. And this confluence, where 00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:26.899 the Diyala meets the Tigris, is a natural choke 00:08:26.899 --> 00:08:29.779 point. It's exactly where Ottoman general Khalil 00:08:29.779 --> 00:08:33.399 Pasha decides to make his final, definitive defensive 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:36.460 stand. It is an incredibly strong defensive position, 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:39.100 utilizing the natural barrier of the rivers. 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:42.100 And initially, the strategy works. On March 9, 00:08:42.259 --> 00:08:44.820 the Ottoman troops successfully resist and repel 00:08:44.820 --> 00:08:47.159 the initial British assault across the river. 00:08:47.340 --> 00:08:49.179 Here's where it gets really interesting. Maude 00:08:49.179 --> 00:08:52.500 has just taken a hit. His initial assault is 00:08:52.500 --> 00:08:55.460 repulsed. But remember, this is systematic, Joe. 00:08:55.879 --> 00:08:58.539 He doesn't panic, and he doesn't throw wave after 00:08:58.539 --> 00:09:01.259 wave of men into a meat grinder. Instead, he 00:09:01.259 --> 00:09:03.840 executes a brilliant, high -stakes tactical game 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:06.419 of misdirection. Maude takes the majority of 00:09:06.419 --> 00:09:08.700 his massive army and physically shifts them north. 00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:10.879 He engineers this movement to make the Ottomans 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:13.039 believe he is attempting a massive outflanking 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:16.059 maneuver. bypassing the Diyala defenses entirely 00:09:16.059 --> 00:09:18.279 to strike directly at Baghdad from a different 00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:20.019 angle. And this is the critical moment where 00:09:20.019 --> 00:09:22.980 we have to analyze Khalil Pasha's response because 00:09:22.980 --> 00:09:26.059 it turns to be a fatal campaign ending mistake. 00:09:26.360 --> 00:09:29.100 Seeing this massive dust cloud and the movement 00:09:29.100 --> 00:09:31.879 of the British forces to the north, Khalil Pasha 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:35.039 panics about being outflanked. He mirrors the 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:37.809 maneuver. He shifts his own army out of their 00:09:37.809 --> 00:09:40.990 incredibly strong, entrenched defensive positions 00:09:40.990 --> 00:09:43.269 to match the British movement on the other side 00:09:43.269 --> 00:09:45.830 of the river. But in his rush to reposition, 00:09:46.070 --> 00:09:49.149 he leaves just a single regiment behind to hold 00:09:49.149 --> 00:09:52.610 the original crucial Diala River defenses. He 00:09:52.610 --> 00:09:54.649 leaves one single regiment to hold the door. 00:09:54.929 --> 00:09:57.690 And Maude immediately pounces. On March 10th, 00:09:57.789 --> 00:10:00.509 the British launch a sudden, overwhelming assault 00:10:00.509 --> 00:10:03.570 right back at the original crossing point and 00:10:03.570 --> 00:10:06.750 absolutely obliterate that isolated Ottoman regiment. 00:10:06.990 --> 00:10:09.429 The psychological impact of this sudden breakthrough 00:10:09.429 --> 00:10:11.960 shatters the Ottoman command. The realization 00:10:11.960 --> 00:10:14.259 that he had been tricked and the sudden defeat 00:10:14.259 --> 00:10:17.240 of that regiment completely unnerves Khalil Pasha. 00:10:17.480 --> 00:10:19.860 He instantly realizes his defensive line is breached 00:10:19.860 --> 00:10:22.240 and his entire army's position is compromised. 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:24.799 In a state of sheer panic, he abandons the defense 00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:27.580 and orders his entire army to retreat north to 00:10:27.580 --> 00:10:30.019 Baghdad. The situation spirals out of control 00:10:30.019 --> 00:10:32.500 with terrifying speed. The Ottoman authorities 00:10:32.500 --> 00:10:35.539 call for a total evacuation of Baghdad at 8 p 00:10:35.539 --> 00:10:38.320 .m. that very night, March 10. But orchestrating 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:41.799 an organized retreat of an entire army and a 00:10:41.799 --> 00:10:44.659 provincial government in the dark is nearly impossible. 00:10:44.759 --> 00:10:47.659 Things are moving way too fast. The British are 00:10:47.659 --> 00:10:50.039 right on their heels, applying relentless pressure. 00:10:50.259 --> 00:10:53.879 The very next day, March 11, 1917, the British 00:10:53.879 --> 00:10:57.159 capture Baghdad without a single fight inside 00:10:57.159 --> 00:11:00.139 the city. The collapse of the Ottoman defense 00:11:00.139 --> 00:11:02.799 is so sudden and the confusion so widespread 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:06.179 that some 9 ,000 Ottoman troops simply get caught 00:11:06.179 --> 00:11:08.679 in the chaos and become prisoners of the British. 00:11:09.220 --> 00:11:12.500 9 ,000 troops. It is a staggering monumental 00:11:12.500 --> 00:11:14.879 collapse of a regional power center. And there's 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:17.139 a fascinating historical footnote. regarding 00:11:17.139 --> 00:11:19.720 this final push into the city. Right. The British 00:11:19.720 --> 00:11:21.740 command was actually deeply worried that the 00:11:21.740 --> 00:11:24.200 Ottoman government might employ a desperate scorched 00:11:24.200 --> 00:11:26.879 earth defense by blowing the levees and flooding 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:29.460 the Tigris Plain to halt the British advance. 00:11:29.659 --> 00:11:31.759 But as it turned out, this fear was entirely 00:11:31.759 --> 00:11:34.120 unfounded. The Ottoman troops were retreating 00:11:34.120 --> 00:11:36.899 in such total disarray that they lacked the organization 00:11:36.899 --> 00:11:39.799 to even attempt flooding the area. So just like 00:11:39.799 --> 00:11:42.539 that. Baghdad has fallen. The military victory 00:11:42.539 --> 00:11:45.299 is absolute. The humiliation of Qud has been 00:11:45.299 --> 00:11:47.539 completely rectified. But now comes the part 00:11:47.539 --> 00:11:49.940 where the military engineers have to step aside 00:11:49.940 --> 00:11:52.399 and the politicians take over. General Maude 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:55.340 issues his famous proclamation of Baghdad a week 00:11:55.340 --> 00:11:58.149 later. It was highly publicized, even printed 00:11:58.149 --> 00:12:01.190 in Harper's magazine back in the States. He uses 00:12:01.190 --> 00:12:05.509 this incredibly specific, carefully crafted PR 00:12:05.509 --> 00:12:08.350 spin stating, our armies do not come into your 00:12:08.350 --> 00:12:11.049 cities and lands as conquerors or enemies, but 00:12:11.049 --> 00:12:13.750 as liberators. This race is an important question 00:12:13.750 --> 00:12:16.440 for you to consider. What actually happens the 00:12:16.440 --> 00:12:19.320 day after a massive imperial victory like this? 00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:21.779 Because the British didn't just capture a single 00:12:21.779 --> 00:12:24.100 city. No, they captured the Baghdad Villiette, 00:12:24.179 --> 00:12:26.080 which is essentially the entire administrative 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:28.139 province surrounding the city. And remember, 00:12:28.200 --> 00:12:30.200 they had already captured and held the Basra 00:12:30.200 --> 00:12:32.460 Villiette near the coast since the very start 00:12:32.460 --> 00:12:35.840 of the war in 1914. So now the British Empire 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:38.980 controls a massive, contiguous, incredibly vital 00:12:38.980 --> 00:12:41.429 territory in the Middle East. While this is fantastic 00:12:41.429 --> 00:12:43.769 news for the military, it immediately ignites 00:12:43.769 --> 00:12:46.789 a bitter high stakes bureaucratic turf war between 00:12:46.789 --> 00:12:49.149 the British government back in London and the 00:12:49.149 --> 00:12:51.269 British colonial government situated in India. 00:12:51.610 --> 00:12:54.129 So what does this all mean? It means you have 00:12:54.129 --> 00:12:57.889 two massive arms of the exact same empire fighting 00:12:57.889 --> 00:13:00.289 each other for control. General Maud is sitting 00:13:00.289 --> 00:13:03.570 there in Baghdad as the de facto military governor 00:13:03.570 --> 00:13:06.529 of Mesopotamia. But the politicians are scrambling 00:13:06.529 --> 00:13:09.870 to solidify their power. Sir Percy Cox, who is 00:13:09.870 --> 00:13:12.490 the Tigris Corps political officer, tries to 00:13:12.490 --> 00:13:17.500 step in right away. stating that the newly conquered 00:13:17.500 --> 00:13:20.340 province is now under a joint British Indian 00:13:20.340 --> 00:13:22.779 administration. But London aggressively shuts 00:13:22.779 --> 00:13:25.980 that down. They order Cox not to issue his proclamation 00:13:25.980 --> 00:13:28.639 under any circumstances. Instead, the government 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:31.460 in London comes out with its own directive, explicitly 00:13:31.460 --> 00:13:33.980 asking local Arab leaders to aid the British 00:13:33.980 --> 00:13:37.059 administration directly. They deliberately bypass 00:13:37.059 --> 00:13:39.679 the Indian colonial government's desires entirely. 00:13:39.879 --> 00:13:42.440 And you can imagine the outrage that sparks in 00:13:42.440 --> 00:13:44.600 India. Oh, the British colonial government in 00:13:44.600 --> 00:13:47.960 India feels incredibly slighted by London's maneuvering. 00:13:48.259 --> 00:13:51.200 In their eyes, they have been the true prime 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:54.000 movers behind the entire Mesopotamia campaign 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:56.740 from day one. Remember the logistics we talked 00:13:56.740 --> 00:13:58.919 about earlier? The vast majority of Maud's troops 00:13:58.919 --> 00:14:02.000 were Indian. The supplies came from India. The 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:04.159 railways were built with Indian resources? The 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:06.440 Indian government firmly believes they bought 00:14:06.440 --> 00:14:09.259 this new territory with Indian blood and Indian 00:14:09.259 --> 00:14:11.820 rupees. And therefore, it should be placed under 00:14:11.820 --> 00:14:16.019 their direct exclusive control as a sub -imperial 00:14:16.019 --> 00:14:19.070 expansion. This internal power struggle becomes 00:14:19.070 --> 00:14:21.990 so toxic and intense that they literally have 00:14:21.990 --> 00:14:24.769 to create an entirely new bureaucratic body in 00:14:24.769 --> 00:14:27.929 London just to solve it. They form the Mesopotamian 00:14:27.929 --> 00:14:29.909 Administration Committee, placing it under the 00:14:29.909 --> 00:14:32.210 leadership of Lord Curzon. This committee is 00:14:32.210 --> 00:14:34.450 tasked with answering one explosive question. 00:14:34.529 --> 00:14:36.809 Who actually gets to govern the Basra and Baghdad 00:14:36.809 --> 00:14:39.009 provinces? It's an empire fighting itself over 00:14:39.009 --> 00:14:41.549 the spoils, and how does Lord Curzon's committee 00:14:41.549 --> 00:14:44.549 eventually rule? The committee ultimately decides 00:14:44.549 --> 00:14:47.480 on a split compromise. They rule that there will 00:14:47.480 --> 00:14:49.799 be a strictly British administration for the 00:14:49.799 --> 00:14:52.860 Basra province, not an Anglo -Indian one. And 00:14:52.860 --> 00:14:55.440 they dictate that an Arab authority should be 00:14:55.440 --> 00:14:57.980 established for the Baghdad province. Now, this 00:14:57.980 --> 00:15:00.259 is initially pitched as a temporary government 00:15:00.259 --> 00:15:03.299 setup. But it sets a profound precedent. If we 00:15:03.299 --> 00:15:05.820 connect this to the bigger picture, you can see 00:15:05.820 --> 00:15:09.200 how this exact committee decision evolves directly 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:11.779 into the British mandate for Mesopotamia. And 00:15:11.779 --> 00:15:14.340 ultimately the creation of mandatory Iraq. A 00:15:14.340 --> 00:15:17.639 perfectly executed, systematic military operation 00:15:17.639 --> 00:15:20.740 immediately gives way to a chaotic administrative 00:15:20.740 --> 00:15:23.960 reality. The stroke of a pen in a London committee 00:15:23.960 --> 00:15:26.559 meeting, sparked by bureaucratic infighting with 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:30.000 India, literally shaped the borders and the governance 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:32.279 of the modern Middle East. It really highlights 00:15:32.279 --> 00:15:34.740 how interconnected the battlefield and the boardroom 00:15:34.740 --> 00:15:37.399 actually are. You can win the war, but defining 00:15:37.399 --> 00:15:40.440 the peace is often much messier. Very true. To 00:15:40.440 --> 00:15:42.440 summarize this incredible historical journey 00:15:42.440 --> 00:15:45.120 for you, we started with the absolute lowest 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:47.159 point for the British Army in the region. The 00:15:47.159 --> 00:15:49.200 humiliating surrender of the Cut Garrison in 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:52.480 1916. We watched as Lieutenant General Maud's 00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:55.159 systematic Joe came in and delivered an absolute 00:15:55.159 --> 00:15:58.100 master class in patience and logistics building 00:15:58.100 --> 00:16:01.340 a railway and a river fleet. to support an overwhelming 00:16:01.340 --> 00:16:04.379 hybrid army. We followed their slow, deliberate, 00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:07.820 grinding march up the Tigris, culminating in 00:16:07.820 --> 00:16:10.460 that brilliant tactical fakeout at the Diallo 00:16:10.460 --> 00:16:12.879 River that caused the entire Ottoman defense 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:15.799 to collapse. And finally, we saw how capturing 00:16:15.799 --> 00:16:19.659 the Baghdad Villiette ignited a massive bureaucratic 00:16:19.659 --> 00:16:22.639 tug of war between London and India over the 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:25.360 future of Mesopotamia. And as we wrap up today's 00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:27.539 Deep Dive, I want to leave you with one final 00:16:27.539 --> 00:16:31.009 thought to mull over. at this entirely from the 00:16:31.009 --> 00:16:33.789 Ottoman perspective. Following this devastating 00:16:33.789 --> 00:16:36.549 loss, the Ottoman government was forced to completely 00:16:36.549 --> 00:16:39.230 end its ongoing military operations in neighboring 00:16:39.230 --> 00:16:41.590 Persia. Furthermore, they were forced into a 00:16:41.590 --> 00:16:43.330 position where they had to try and build up a 00:16:43.330 --> 00:16:45.730 completely new army to prevent the British from 00:16:45.730 --> 00:16:49.210 capturing Mosul next. Just imagine the sheer 00:16:49.210 --> 00:16:52.169 terrifying reality for the Ottoman high command 00:16:52.169 --> 00:16:53.950 in that moment. You've just lost your provincial 00:16:53.950 --> 00:16:56.289 capital on a massive defensive choke point without 00:16:56.289 --> 00:16:59.169 a fight in the city itself. Over 9 ,000 of your 00:16:59.169 --> 00:17:01.590 men vanished into captivity in a matter of hours 00:17:01.590 --> 00:17:05.339 due to a chaotic retreat. You are entirely exposed. 00:17:06.119 --> 00:17:08.180 Think about the absolute desperation of trying 00:17:08.180 --> 00:17:11.140 to conjure an entirely new army out of thin air, 00:17:11.400 --> 00:17:14.380 knowing full well that an unstoppable, well -fed 00:17:14.380 --> 00:17:17.119 railway building juggernaut is systematically 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:19.579 marching toward your next major city. It is a 00:17:19.579 --> 00:17:21.380 truly chilling perspective when you put yourself 00:17:21.380 --> 00:17:23.700 in their shoes, realizing that the machine is 00:17:23.700 --> 00:17:26.200 still coming for you. Thank you so much for joining 00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:28.500 us on this deep dive. We hope this exploration 00:17:28.500 --> 00:17:30.660 has encouraged you to keep seeking out multiple 00:17:30.660 --> 00:17:33.160 perspectives and to keep uncovering the fascinating 00:17:33.160 --> 00:17:36.339 complex stories of strategy and statecraft that 00:17:36.339 --> 00:17:38.920 are so often hidden within history's footnotes. 00:17:39.259 --> 00:17:41.140 Keep questioning, keep learning, and we'll catch 00:17:41.140 --> 00:17:42.680 you on the next deep dive.