As a Result of Which War Did Jerusalem Fall Out of the Hands of the Ottoman Empire? (1917)

As a result of which war did Jerusalem fall out of the hands of the Ottoman Empire? The short answer: the First World War. The city was surrendered on 9 December 1917 as a result of the advance of British forces on the Palestine front of the war. General Allenby formally entered the city two days later. Thus Ottoman rule, which had begun in 1516 and lasted about four centuries, came to an end.

Quick Summary

The city was lost on the Palestine front during the First World War.
The British shook the Ottoman defence by taking Beersheba on 31 October 1917.
The city was surrendered on 9 December 1917; Allenby formally entered it on 11 December.
Ottoman rule lasted about four centuries, apart from the Egyptian period of 1831–1840.
The loss heralded the fall of the whole of Palestine by September 1918.

The short answer
The beginning of Ottoman rule
The Palestine front
The fall in 1917
Consequences of the loss
The importance of the city
Frequently asked questions

As a Result of Which War Did Jerusalem Fall Out of the Hands of the Ottoman Empire?

The answer is the First World War. The Ottoman state entered this war on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Throughout the war a hard struggle was fought against Britain in Syria and Palestine. According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, Ottoman rule in the city continued for about four centuries, until December 1917.

The sources show small differences over the dates. According to the encyclopedia’s entry on the First World War, the British entered the city on 9 December. The entries on Jerusalem and Palestine, on the other hand, take Allenby’s entry on 11 December as the basis. The first date marks the day of the surrender, the second the official entry ceremony.

When Did the City Come Under Ottoman Rule?

According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, after defeating the Mamluks at Marj Dabiq in 1516, Selim I advanced south by way of Aleppo, Hama and Damascus. According to the encyclopedia, the city had probably come under Ottoman rule in October 1516, before the sultan’s arrival. Selim I visited the city together with the dignitaries of the state on 29 December 1516. We described this process in our article on the reign of Selim I.

According to the encyclopedia, the city experienced the golden age of its history in the time of Suleiman the Magnificent. The walls that still stand today were completed in five years, between 1536 and 1540. More than 3 kilometres long and over 12 metres high, the walls have thirty-four towers and seven gates. The channels bringing water from Bethlehem and Hebron were also repaired, and six fountains were built, five of them inside the walls.

The complex built by Hürrem Sultan in 1551 became one of the city’s most important charitable institutions. According to the encyclopedia, food was distributed to hundreds of people at this complex, which consisted of a mosque, a madrasa, a khan, a ribat and a soup kitchen. After Hürrem Sultan’s death in 1558, Suleiman also added four villages near Sidon to this endowment. We discussed the period in our article on the Ottoman Empire under Suleiman the Magnificent.

As a result of which war did Jerusalem fall out of the hands of the Ottoman Empire: an old photograph in front of the Dome of the Rock

According to the encyclopedia, Ottoman rule continued without interruption, except for the period of Muhammad Ali Pasha of Egypt between 1831 and 1840. The city always kept the status of a sanjak, but the centre to which it was attached changed over time. It was first attached to the province of Damascus, between 1841 and 1865 to the province of Sidon, and then to the vilayet of Syria. According to the encyclopedia, between 1872 and 1917 it was an independent mutasarrifate attached directly to Istanbul.

Not every period was equally brilliant. According to the encyclopedia, from the last quarter of the 16th century onwards the weakening of central administration reduced the security of the roads leading to the city. Pilgrims travelling to the holy places were at times attacked by Bedouin. As a remedy, security towers were built along the roads.

In the 19th century the city also became a focus of interest for the European powers, and many states opened consulates there. According to the encyclopedia, an Anglo-German Protestant bishopric was founded in 1841. The Greek Orthodox patriarch moved from Istanbul to the city in 1845, and in 1847 the Latin Patriarchate was revived. These developments further increased the city’s international importance.

How Was the Palestine Front Opened?

The reason the front was opened was the Suez Canal. According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, Cemal Pasha, commander of the Fourth Army, put into effect the plan of the Canal Operation to drive the British out of Egypt. Ottoman forces assembled at Beersheba on 7 January 1915 and set out. However, the desired result was not achieved in the first Canal Operation of February 1915 or in the second of July 1916. According to the encyclopedia, the Canal Operation therefore became the subject of criticism.

After these failures the initiative passed to the British. According to the encyclopedia, there were three great battles between the two armies at Gaza; the Ottoman forces won the first two and the British the third. This resistance halted the British advance until the autumn of 1917. According to the encyclopedia, the population of Gaza, which had been around 40,000 in 1912, fell to 17,500 after the war.

Meanwhile a new front was also opened in the Hejaz. According to the encyclopedia, Cemal Pasha’s execution of some Arabs whom he accused of treason created a tense atmosphere. In this atmosphere Sharif Hussein, the emir of Mecca, launched a revolt against the Ottomans in June 1916. The British supported the revolt in order to weaken the Ottoman defence of Syria and the Canal. We discussed the attitude of the people of the region in our article Did Palestine betray the Ottomans?

How Did the City Fall in 1917?

According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, the British army under the command of General Allenby launched a major offensive on 31 October 1917. It faced the Yıldırım Army Group, headed by the German Field Marshal Falkenhayn. According to the encyclopedia, the British took the Beersheba area the same day. Gaza then fell as well, and the Ottoman defensive line collapsed. According to the encyclopedia, the army group formed to defend the city did not succeed.

On the night of 8–9 December, Ottoman units evacuated the city without drawing it into the fighting. On 9 December 1917 the mayor handed the letter of surrender to British soldiers. Allenby entered the city on foot through the Jaffa Gate on 11 December. This choice was meant to give the impression that respect was being shown to the holy city.

What Were the Consequences of the Loss?

According to the encyclopedia, after the fall of the city the British took the whole of Palestine by September 1918. Ottoman administration in the region thus effectively came to an end. According to the encyclopedia, the British occupation also ended some 1,200 years of Muslim rule, interrupted only by the Crusader period. The Armistice of Mudros, for its part, was signed on 30 October 1918.

The future of the region had been shaped by agreements made during the war. According to the encyclopedia, in the Hussein–McMahon correspondence of 1915–1916 Britain promised the Arabs independence, but did not mention Palestine by name. Britain and France, meanwhile, divided the region into their own spheres of influence with the Sykes–Picot plan in May 1916. This plan envisaged an international administration for Palestine.

According to the encyclopedia, the British Foreign Secretary Balfour announced in a letter written on 2 November 1917 that he supported the establishment of a “national home” for the Jews in Palestine. According to the encyclopedia, at that time 90 per cent of the population of Palestine was Arab, and only 2 per cent of the land was in Jewish ownership.

The city remained under British military administration from 1917 to 1920. According to the encyclopedia, the San Remo Conference of 1920 placed Palestine under a British mandate. From July 1920 Britain began to govern the region through a High Commissioner. The area east of the Jordan River was separated and the Emirate of Transjordan was founded, with Emir Abdullah, a son of Sharif Hussein, at its head. The mandate administration was approved by the League of Nations on 24 July 1922.

Why Was the City So Important?

Jerusalem is a city regarded as holy by three great religions. For Jews it is the site of the Temple. For Christians it is the pilgrimage centre where the Church of the Holy Sepulchre stands. For Muslims, the first qibla, al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Dome of the Rock are here. That is why the change of hands in 1917 caused a far greater stir than news from a front.

Ottoman rule also paid special attention to the holy places. According to the encyclopedia, shortly after taking the city the state began works that showed the importance it attached to it. The restoration of the Dome of the Rock and the building of the walls are the best-known examples. According to the encyclopedia, six of the gates in the walls bear inscriptions giving their dates of construction.

Frequently Asked Questions

As a result of which war did Jerusalem fall out of the hands of the Ottoman Empire?

As a result of the First World War. The city was surrendered to the British on the Palestine front on 9 December 1917.

As a result of which war did Jerusalem fall out of the hands of the Ottoman Empire, and why are two dates given?

The city was surrendered on 9 December, while Allenby entered it with an official ceremony on 11 December. The sources take one of these two days as the basis.

Who was sultan when the city was lost?

Sultan Mehmed V Reşad was on the throne. The actual government of the state, however, was in the hands of the Committee of Union and Progress.

What is the Sykes–Picot Agreement?

According to the encyclopedia, it is the secret partition plan drawn up by Britain and France in May 1916. It envisaged an international administration for Palestine.

How many years did the city remain under Ottoman rule?

It remained so for about four centuries. This period does not include the time of Muhammad Ali Pasha of Egypt between 1831 and 1840.

Conclusion

The answer to the question “As a result of which war did Jerusalem fall out of the hands of the Ottoman Empire?” is the First World War. The failure of the Canal operations, the collapse of the Gaza line and the fall of Beersheba opened the way. The city was surrendered on 9 December 1917, and four centuries of Ottoman rule came to an end. This loss was soon also the beginning of the loss of the whole of Palestine.