How Dreadnought Battleships led to constant War in the Middle east

Naval beginnings

The common train of thought of the great naval minds of the time, whether it be in London, Berlin or Paris is that the issue of dominance of the seas will be an issue resolved by Dreadnoughts. Great Behemoths of steel and men with 12 inch guns primed for massive standoffs, fleet vs fleet, a hark back to the Nelson vs Napoleon era of Ships facing off for death or glory. 

Most ships of these caliber however would have one fatal flaw. How they were powered, By coal. Coal was often the most readily available fuel source in the United Kingdom at the time whether you got it in the Yorkshire dales or in the south Welsh hills It was everywhere, Britain was rich with it. However coal meant that a ship would have to carry thousands of tones of coal, hundreds more men as stokers and hundreds of tones more food to fuel them. All of this would make ships slower and need to run ashore more often. which was a disadvantage In the age where a constant presence on the high seas was essential. The answer to many in Whitehall, the admiralty and the war office was clear. we would have to convert them to run on black gold... Oil. 

The Quest for oil

For a couple of years the British government paid the ottoman empire for access to this oil. But with the beginning of the four year long slaughter called the First world war. Access was quickly denied. There came only one option. To take it by force. Fortunately a Young British Officer By the name of T.E Lawrence ( one of my personal heroes and really deserving of his own post) Was creating a bit of fuss with the Bedouin Tribes loyal to Prince Faisal and his father. To cut an extremely long story short This Guerrilla campaign Against the ottoman empire eventually led to the seizure of Damascus by the Arabs, British and French forces. Upon the capture of Damascus the centre couldn't hold for the ottomans. An empire of over 600 years of cruelty and oppression of the Arabs fell. The British and French with their colonial outlook however didn't do this out of the kindness of their own hearts. There were about to be another empire in the middle east as was decided by the French and British years before.

Sykes-Picot

In 1915 A British diplomat Sykes, and a French diplomat Picot Agreed to divide the middle east up between them in true colonial style. France would take the vital strategic position of Syria and The British would take Palestine, Jordan and much of the western coast of modern day Saudi Arabia. Which was rich with Oil. Oil with which they could fuel their mighty battleships and with which Britannia could still rule the waves through the majority of the 20th century. With this we come full circle The British wanted Oil they took oil. But little did they know the disastrous consequences of this which plague the middle east today.

Consequences

I'll start by outlining the most obvious Geo-political disaster created by this agreement. Palestine or Israel depending on your opinion. The Movement of Zionism which was very prevalent in the early 20th century was eventually appeased by the British government in the years after the second world war. Giving them the British mandate for Palestine, a geographic area long associated with the Jewish people, to make a new 'Jewish homeland'. However the Palestinians that were displaced an forcibly moved by the settlers mostly coming from Europe were heavily disgruntled and the Arab nations surrounding Israel upon finding their fellow Arabs being oppressed decided to intervene. Many Regional wars have followed since with Antisemitic and Anti- Arab sentiment growing Equally alongside each other leading to Generational trauma leading to generational hatred that leads to generational conflict.

Meanwhile in Syria, the French brought along their religion, Catholic Christianity with them therefore creating a minority in the country. a minority that would be both be the oppressed and the oppressor. Peace in Syria as I'm writing this in January 2025 is still very much in the air.

These two countries make up a fair amount of the conflict in the middle east. with such human suffering Haunting our screens every day its important to recognise our part that we played in this suffering. All in the name of Western power in the form of keeping our killing machines going.

If you've made it this far thank you very much for reading. I hope it has been interesting and thought provoking. Please feel free to ask any questions in the comments and discuss but keep it respectful.