Efraim Karsh
A
century after the catastrophic blunder that led to the destruction of
the then longest-surviving empire on earth, culpability is still
ascribed to the European powers. Rather than view the Ottoman entry into
the First World War on the losing side for what it was – a failed
imperialist bid for territorial aggrandizement and reassertion of lost
glory – the Muslim empire has been portrayed as the hapless victim of
European machinations, driven into the world conflict by overbearing
powers eager to expedite its demise and gobble up its lands.
