|
|
|
|
|
|
Blood and Oil: The Middle East in World War I 
Actors : Marty Callaghan
Studio : Inecom Entertainment Company
by Inecom Entertainment Company
Brand : INECOM ENT.
Release Date : 2006-12-05
Publisher : Inecom Entertainment Company
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 0806213163026
UPC : 806213163026
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 10 reviews)
List Price : $24.98
Our Price : $5.89
|
|
| |
-
Except for the Dardanelles/Gallipoli campaigns, the extensive combat operations in the Middle East during World War I have been largely overlooked in documentary programs. Given the historical significance of the Ottoman Empire's demise in 1918, and the ongoing importance of Middle Eastern oil reserves to Western economies, a close study of this conflict provides two important lessons: 1. The
|
|
| |
|
Product Description |
|
"Blood and Oil - The Middle East in World War I" examines the devastating conflict and Western political intrigue that laid the foundation for wars, coups, revolts and military interventions in the Middle East. After the end of World War I, most of the Ottoman Empire was carved up into "spheres of influence," controlled mostly by the British and French. The remaining territories became the modern state of Turkey in 1923 - after a five-year struggle by Turkish nationalists against Western domination. Written and produced by Marty Callaghan ("Archives of War," "Remember Pearl Harbor: America Taken by Surprise"), this feature-length documentary film follows conflict from the Ottoman Empire's entry into the Great War in October 1914 to the Allied victory and declaration of the new Turkish Republic in 1923, and the hostilities that have plagued the region since. The 112-minute DVD also features extended expert commentary. |
| |
|
| |
|
A mixed bag |
|
The short description and generally enthusiastic reviews of this DVD are a bit misleading. I thought that this DVD was about the political machinations of the Western powers after WWI as the Middle East was broken up into its present form. The first few minutes of the DVD describe the run-up to the second Gulf War (2003), and the impression that the viewer initially has is that this documentary will provide one with the historical context that led to the invasion of Iraq. Sadly only the last 20-30 minutes of the DVD touch on this issue, the first 2/3s-3/4s of the video is a fairly standard military history of the fighting in the Middle East during WWI from the British perspective. It is fair to characterize this documentary as a huge disappointment. The first hour and a half or so of this DVD contains a description of the fighting in the Caucasus, in Iraq, at Gallipoli, and in Palestine between the Turks, Russians, English, and French. We learn about the campaigns from a top level perspective, a few experts pine about the brilliance of Winston Churchill and the underrated fighting qualities of the Turkish soldiers, and the inevitability of British victory. The depth of the material covered in this part of the documentary is less than what you could find in Wikipedia and for anyone who already knows anything about these campaigns is probably not worth the time to watch. There is some nice footage of the battles though, particularly from the Turkish side. About 2/3s of the way in though, the story changes dramatically as the war is won and the Great Powers decide to chop up the Middle East to their advantage. We learn about the Sykes-Picot agreement, the rise to power of Kemal Ataturk, the Balfour declaration and the mass immigration of tens of thousands of European Jews to Palestine, and get a glimpse into the creation of some of the demographic problems (like Armenian and Kurdish states) that exist to this day. If only the documentary had spent all of its nearly two hours on this fascinating topic, it could have been an all time classic. As it is, only about 20-30 minutes of this DVD are worth watching in my opinion, and so little time is devoted to the key issues that the narrator has little opportunity to do more than throw a few buzz words around. It is my firm belief that to understand the Gulf War in the mess we are now in in Iraq, we must understand how we got there. Middle Eastern history didn't start in 1990 with the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. I rented this DVD in the hopes of learning more about the events leading up to the present sorry state of affairs. I agree with many of the other reviewers that the West's handling of Middle Eastern affairs is largely a disgrace with the US and Great Britain generally playing one group off against another for their own ends. If you really want to learn about Middle Eastern history and the role that the West has played there since WWI, you aren't going to learn much from this DVD. You're much better off reading Fromkin's book ('A Peace to End all Peace'), Kinzer's book about Iran (`All the Shah's Men'), or the role of oil in geopolitics (Engdahl's book `A Century of War') among many others. If you want a quick overview of the military campaigns of the Great War in the ME, this isn't a bad documentary. Don't be mislead by some of the other glowing reviews, for a serious student, this DVD is nothing more than a snack. |
| |
|
Interesting approach to a piece of history |
Unlike most of the programs on this subject, this one doesn't seem to be created for commercial purposes. Therefore, it's short in entertaintment and long on truth. Nevertheless, it's never boring.
Credentials of the producer is impressive too, which is a big plus to enhance the credibility of the material. Having watched a number of World War I programs, I can easily say that this one is unique in many ways.
Watch it to gain a better perspective of the events that took place a very long time ago but still haunt Middle East. |
| |
|
Deep surgical picking apart of the Ottoman Empire and the invasion from the West |
I'm always suspicious of a DVD documentary which, upon purchase, causes Buyadvd to start recommending to me crap like 9/11 conspiracies, oil companies controlling governments, and all sorts of wildly extravagant conspiracy theories that range from aggrandizing the trivial to simply making stuff up.
Ignore all that if it's happened to you; the only controversy this disc could ignite would be the careful avoidance, or potentially total ignoring of the Armenian Genocide from 1915-1917, said to be the inspiration for Adolph Hitler's Final Solution.
The documentary starts very much within 1914, and focuses on the "forgotten war" in World War I, that of the Ottoman Empire versus seemingly everyone else. Every major campaign from the failed Ottoman incursion into the Caucasus, the failed Ottoman incursion across the Suez Canal, to the political, military, and social developments throughout the war, from Winston Churchill's scapegoating for the disaster of Gallipoli, the taking of Baghdad, the massively successful push by Edmund Allenby past Gaza, and into Palestine and Jerusalem, and T.E. Lawrence's role in the Arab revolt.
The first 2/3s of the documentary, being almost wholly devoted to the Ottoman Empire and it's pisspoor management under the Three Pashas, and in-depth military coverage, strategies, movement, etcetera, followed by the seemingly heroic actions of General Mustafa Kemal in resisting the Allied attempt at stealing Turkish lands, and forcibly forming the Republic of Turkey.
These events prove to be highly significant to the last portion, which covers just how these events were directly responsible for causing the issue of the Western World intruding in the Arab World, and the introduction of Israel into the mix.
According to the documentary, the Ottoman Empire overextended itself. After being defeated in the Balkans in 1912-1913, the Turks did not want war, but Enver Pasha brought them into war anyway, and brought British eyes directly on their land. Early on, the British knew the significance of the oil in Ottoman lands, and so were relentless to trounce the Ottoman Empire, and utterly destroy them to steal their lands.
They would have succeeded with Turkey if it weren't for Mustafa Kemal. The region of Syria, Iraq, and Palestine did not escape this, as Britain and France arbitrarily divide Arab lands for themselves, turning their backs on the Arab leaders they had supported against the Ottomans, who now end up fighting the British and French in a series of wars that seemingly extend World War I for several years afterwards, in quite a sharp mirror to the current war in Iraq.
And the documentary does go on to connect the problems experienced between British greed and Arab nationalism, extending further on to include the British mandate to protect the Jews in Palestine, which was later dropped, allowing the Jews to forge their own nation of Israel, and the inclusion of the United States into the conflicts.
This is a highly engrossing, fully-fleshed out and heavily in-depth documentary, which greatly benefits from hundreds of photographs as well as video clips, and apparently licensed use of clips from movies, particularly "Lawrence of Arabia".
The only major drawback of this documentary is that there was no coverage given to the Armenian Genocide. |
| |
|
A Must see! |
|
If you really want to understand what is happening in the Middle East, then this dvd is a must see. From the Ottoman Empire to the Iraq war. How the US, GB and France carved up that area. Also,the CIA's role in the overthrow of the only democratic government ever elected in Iran. Last but most certainly not least is Israel's starring role in this entire affair. |
| |
|
Vital Background for Today's Issues |
|
In order to understand the current geopolitical situation in the Middle East, one needs a good grounding in the region's history. "Blood and Oil" provides an outstanding overview of the regional issues, from World War I to the present. Commentary by subject matter experts, as well as interesting historical footage, help to bring the information to life. Ever since my first viewing, I have recommended this film to *anyone* who says they don't know why the US is in the Middle East. I've watched the film twice since then, and have finally bought my own copy. Truly an outstanding work. |
| |
|
|
|
