Fall of Baghdad (1917)

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Fall of Baghdad


caption=
partof=Mesopotamian Campaign
(World War I)
date=March 8, 1917 – March 11, 1917
place=Diyala River, just below Baghdad, Mesopotamia (now Iraq)
result=Decisive British victory.
combatant1=flagicon|India|British|size=23px British India
combatant2=flagicon|Ottoman Empire|size=23px Ottoman Empire
commander1=flagicon|United Kingdom Sir Frederick Stanley Maude
commander2=flagicon|Ottoman Empire Khalil Pasha
strength1=I Corps
III Corps (50,000 men)
strength2=Sixth Army (25,000 men)
casualties1=Unknown, but small
casualties2=More than 9,000 were taken prisoner

On March 11, 1917, the British Army fighting the Ottoman Turks in the First World War, after a series of defeats, captured Baghdad in a two year campaign.

Arrival of General Sir Frederick Stanley Maude

After the surrender of the Kut garrison on April 29 1916, the British Army in Mesopotamia underwent a major overhaul. A new commander, Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Stanley Maude was given the job of restoring Britain's military reputation.

General Maude spent the rest of 1916 re-building his army. Most of his troops were recruited in India and then sent by sea to Basra. While these troops were being trained, British military engineers built a field railway from the coast up to Basra and beyond. General Maude also obtained a small force of armed river boats and river supply ships.

The British launched their new campaign on December 13 1916. The British had some 50,000 well trained and well equipped troops: the Indian III Corps also called the Tigris Corps. The Ottoman forces were smaller, perhaps around 25,000 strong under the overall command of Khalil Pasha.

March on Baghdad

There were no set-backs for the British on this campaign. General Maude proceeded cautiously, advancing on both sides of the Tigris River. He earned his nickname "Systematic Joe". The Ottoman forces contested a fortified place called the Khadairi Bend which the British captured after two weeks of siege work (January 6 to January 19 1917). The British then had to force the Turks out of a strong defensive line along the Hai River. This took them two more weeks (from January 25 till February 4). Another Ottoman position, called Dahra Bend, was taken on February 16. Finally, the British re-captured Kut on February 24 1917 in the Second Battle of Kut.

The local Ottoman commander, Karabekir Bey, did not let his army become trapped in Kut like General Townshend had been in the previous year. But his forces were ground down by the constant battles and defeats – only 2,500 remained after Kut fell. These linked up with the Baghdad garrison of some 10,000.

Baghdad

The march on Baghdad resumed on March 5, 1917. Three days later, Maude's corps reached the Diyala River on the outskirts of the city.

Khalil Pasha chose to defend Baghdad at the confluence of the Diyala River and the Tigris, some 35 miles south of Baghdad. The Ottoman troops resisted the initial British assault on March 9. General Maude then shifted the majority of his army north. He believed that he could outflank the Ottoman positions and strike directly for Baghdad. Khalil Pasha responded by shifting his army out of its defensive positions to mirror the move of the British on the other side of the river. A single regiment was left to hold the original Diyala River defences and the British crushed this regiment with a sudden assault on March 10 1917.

This sudden defeat unnerved Khalil Pasha and he ordered his army to retreat north to Baghdad. The Ottoman authorities then ordered the evacuation of Baghdad at 8 p.m. on March 10. But the situation was rapidly moving beyond Khalil Pasha's control, the British followed close on the heels of the Ottoman troops and they captured Baghdad without a fight on March 11 1917. Some 9,000 Ottoman troops were caught in the confusion and became prisoners of the British.

The British were worried that the Ottoman government might try to flood the Tigris plain. As it happened, this fear was unfounded. The Turks never attempted to flood the area.

Entering the City

The British troops were greeted with enthusiasm from the local population. A week after the capture, General Maude issued the Proclamation of Baghdad which included the line:

:"Our armies do not come into your cities and lands as conquerors or enemies, but as liberators". [ [http://www.harpers.org/ProclamationBaghdad.html The proclamation of Baghdad, By Stanley, Sir Maude (Harper's Magazine) ] ]

Consequences

This was clearly a victory for the British and yet another defeat for the Ottoman government. The humiliation for the British due to the loss of Kut had been partially rectified. The Ottoman government was forced to end its military operations in Persia and try to build up a new army to prevent the British from moving on to capture Mosul.

The capture of Baghdad, a provincial capital, also meant that the first Turkish province had fallen under British control. Although this was good news, it caused a great deal of bureaucratic fighting between the British government in London and the British government in India.

Once he captured Baghdad, Maude was the "de facto" Governor of Mesopotamia from Basra to Baghdad. Sir Percy Cox, the Tigris Corps Political Officer, attempted to issue a proclamation stating that the province was under joint British-Indian Administration. But London ordered Cox not to issue his proclamation, and came out with its own proclamation asking Arab leaders to aid the British Administration.

At the same time, the Indian Colonial Government had different ideas. After all, they had been the prime movers behind Mesopotamia in the first place. The British government in India wanted this new area placed under its direct control.

This power struggle lead to the creation of the Mesopotamian Administration Committee under the leadership of Lord Curzon. Its main task was to determine who would govern the Basra and Baghdad provinces. Its ruling was a British, not Anglo-Indian, administration for Basra and an Arab authority for Baghdad.

Notes

References

* Bruce, A. (n.d.). 17th February – 11th March 1917 — The Capture of Baghdad. [Electronic Version] . "An Illustrated Companion to the First World War".
* Duffy, M. (2002). Battles: [http://firstworldwar.com/battles/baghdad.htm The Capture of Baghdad] , 1917. "The First World War". Retrieved August 17, 2005.
* Fromkin, D. (2001). "A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East". New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0-80506-884-8.
* [http://firstworldwar.com/source/baghdad_maude.htm Official Dispatch about the Operations Leading to the Fall of Baghdad] , General Maude.
* [http://firstworldwar.com/source/baghdad_candler.htm Report about the capture of Baghdad] , "Manchester Guardian".