Southern Asia 1918: Armistice of Mudros

The Allied successes in Syria and Mesopotamia had destroyed much of the Ottoman Empire's fighting power. Just as bad, their ally Bulgaria had fallen to an Allied invasion from Greece, directly threatening the Ottoman capital of Constantinople. With the Allies advancing on all fronts and Germany no longer able to help, the Ottomans were forced to sue for peace. At the Armistice of Mudros, they accepted the Allied occupation of the Turkish Straits and the loss of much of their Empire.

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Notes

Changes to the map 5 October 1918–30 October 1918

Bulgaria’s collapse has allowed the Allies to begin their invasion of Thrace.

In the Levant, the British have arrived in Beirut and Tripoli. Inland, Anglo-Arab forces have pushed north past Aleppo.

In Mesopotamia, the British are advancing on Mosul, having defeated the Ottomans at Sharqat - the last battle of this campaign.

In Persia, the Ottoman withdrawal has continued and Tabriz is now free of Ottoman forces.

In the Caucasus, the Ottomans have abandoned their claims under the Treaties of Sevres and Batum.

British Protectorates in the Persian Gulf

The British Residency of the Persian Gulf maintained British India’s influence in a number of Gulf states from the 19th Century until 1947. These states were nominally independent - and shown as such in most atlases from the period - but all signed treaties guaranteeing British control over their foreign affairs.

The Sultanate of Muscat and Oman was the only one of these states with significant international relations, having obtained trade agreements with the US and France before it signed its treaty with Britain. Maps of the time often show Trucial Oman and even Qatar as regions of Oman.

Trucial Oman was the region to the west of Oman which collectively signed treaties with Britain. The sheikhdoms of this region were often called the Trucial States, and later became the United Arab Emirates. However at this time they had little unity, with no regional council until 1952.

Indian Empire

The British Indian Empire, also known as the British Raj, was comprised of a complex of presidencies, provinces, protectorates, and agencies. Only the top level subdivisions are shown here.

The area under direct British rule was known as British India and made up of presidencies and provinces - a presidency simply being the name for an older province.

Outside British India, but often included within the sphere of the presidencies/provinces, were the hundreds of protectorates or ‘princely states’. These were indirectly ruled states, the largest being Hyderabad, Kashmir, and Mysore. The others were either collected into agencies - which might in turn contain other smaller agencies - or fell under the sway of the provinces.

Main Events

25–26 Oct 1918 Battle of Aleppo ▲

The Arab Sharifian Army under Emir Faisal attack the remnants of the Ottoman Empire’s Yildirim Army Group at Aleppo under the command of Liman von Sanders and Mustafa Kemal Pasha. After a day’s fighting, the Sharifian forces bypass the main entrenchments to enter the city at night. By 1000 the next morning, they have captured the city—shortly before the arrival of British armored cars under General H. J. Macandrew. in wikipedia

30 Oct 1918 Armistice of Mudros ▲

The Ottoman Minister of Marine Affairs Rauf Bey and the British Admiral Somerset Arthur Gough-Calthorpe signed the Armistice of Mudros aboard the HMS Agamemnon in Mudros harbor on the Greek island of Lemnos. The armistice ended hostilities between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies as of noon the next day (31 October). Its conditions required that the Ottomans demobilize their armed forces and withdraw to Anatolia—including abandoning their gains in the Caucasus—and allow the Allies to occupy the Turkish Straits and any territories in disorder. in wikipedia