The sunset of the tricontinental Ottoman Empire and geopolitics in the Middle East after the Great War

Abstract

This article reviews the fall of the Ottoman Empire from the beginning of the 20th century, mainly its complete dissolution after the First World War and the appointment of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk as the first president of modern Turkey. The participation of the Ottoman Empire in the Great War as an ally of the Central Powers was the beginning of the end of the great empire and the Osman dynasty. Defeats on the battlefield were transformed in secret pacts between the victorious countries to share the spoils of the Ottoman provinces. Primary sources, documents or treaties have been used and, when this has not been possible, opinions of experts in the Ottoman Empire have been consulted. The conclusions include the causes of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and its consequences that still persist in the Middle East. Treaties and armistices are, therefore, the tools of this work.