Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Play World of Warships and use the invite code USA250: wo.ws/4w0JEK3
World War One broke a lot of empires. The German Empire became a Republic, The Russian Empire fell to Communism, four or five different countries broke out of Austria-Hungary like an alien chest-burster, but in the long run the one who got short-shrifted the hardest was the Middle East. Before the war, the Ottoman Empire wasn’t in great shape but it was at least, like, a country. They could call themselves the New Rome and the heir to Muhammad’s caliphate and we could all go about our business, but after the war France and Britain hacked them up with a jigsaw and tried to cram the pieces under the floor boards and we’re still dealing with the repercussions. But what gets me is that this was totally optional for the Ottomans. They weren’t pulled into World War One like everybody else, they did a cannonball. Why?
Play World of Warships and use the invite code USA250: wo.ws/4w0JEK3
World War One broke a lot of empires. The German Empire became a Republic, The Russian Empire fell to Communism, four or five different countries broke out of Austria-Hungary like an alien chest-burster, but in the long run the one who got short-shrifted the hardest was the Middle East. Before the war, the Ottoman Empire wasn’t in great shape but it was at least, like, a country. They could call themselves the New Rome and the heir to Muhammad’s caliphate and we could all go about our business, but after the war France and Britain hacked them up with a jigsaw and tried to cram the pieces under the floor boards and we’re still dealing with the repercussions. But what gets me is that this was totally optional for the Ottomans. They weren’t pulled into World War One like everybody else, they did a cannonball. Why?
