"To compensate a little for the treachery and weakness of my memory, so extreme that it has happened to me more than once to pick up again, as recent and unknown to me, books which I had read carefully a few years before . . . I have adopted the habit for some time now of adding at the end of each book . . . the time I finished reading it and the judgment I have derived of it as a whole, so that this may represent to me at least the sense and general idea I had conceived of the author in reading it." (Montaigne, Book II, Essay 10 (publ. 1580))
Lengthy
summary of World War I era in Middle East. Ottoman Empire
had loose control and was assumed weak.
Young Turks took power. It was
believed by many that Jewish interests had meaningful (almost conspiratorial
power) and that gaining Jewish support was important to the war effort. Britain had trouble defeating
Ottoman armies (Gallipoli, etc.) Britain and France
are rivals, with France
focused on Syria, Lebanon. Mistaken assumptions from Kitchener and others. Russia and “Great Game” legacy
changed, but only somewhat, by Bolsheviks – they ended up imperialistic after
all. Overtures from and to Jewish
leadership; Wilson supportive; end up with Balfour Declaration; left ambiguous
whether it would be an independent state or British controlled; Jewish expected
Trans-Jordan (now Jordan, east of Israel) would be part of their territory. In the end, Ottoman control is gone. Turkey is basically its own country; the Saud
family is propped up in Arabia; Kurds are left scattered across Turkey, Iraq,
Iran; French have interest in Syria and Lebanon; British in Iraq; also Iran;
significance of oil is recognized. Many
episodes of local uprising akin to the last few decades. Turks kill many Armenians along the way. Turkey
and Greece at war, with bad
results for Greece,
in 1922. US withdrew from the peace
process after letting the self-determination genie out of the bottle.
John Wesley Powell’s 1869 journey through Grand
Canyon. Christmas gift from
MB Stern. Good. Read at La Camarilla.
