Suppose the Central Powers won WWI, and the Ottoman Empire managed to live for a few more decades before devolving into civil war and being balkanized without European participation (the great powers were too focused with Western and Central Europe and East Asia at the time). What are the chances that a nation composed of lands where Arabs are the majority in the broken down Ottoman Empire, like a Greater Syria would emerge? From what I know of the ordeal, it's possible but in the interests of not looking like an idiot, I have to ask.
A nation carved out of the Arab parts of the Ottoman Empire
- Thread starter Mariam
- Start date
If the Ottomans were on the winning side, why does the country break up?
Why would the Arabs be any more successful at forming a single state ittl than iotl?
i think the idea is probably that the Ottoman Empire by that time was steadily becoming unsustainable and that a Central Powers victory wouldn't be able to stop its collapse. as for why the Arabs succeed, i think the most realistic way of handling that would be with Lawrence of Arabia.
for context, i scrounged up a map of the Ottoman Empire just prior to World War I
though i'm not convinced that a single state could be formed from all that territory, if we're considering everything outside of OTL's Turkey. at the largest, there's probably 1-1.5 dozen states (including direct geographic analogies to many OTL states, like Iraq), or three or four at the smallest (probably a greater Syria, a Mesopotamian state, Palestine, and a coastal Arab state with [one of] its major city being Mecca)
for context, i scrounged up a map of the Ottoman Empire just prior to World War I
though i'm not convinced that a single state could be formed from all that territory, if we're considering everything outside of OTL's Turkey. at the largest, there's probably 1-1.5 dozen states (including direct geographic analogies to many OTL states, like Iraq), or three or four at the smallest (probably a greater Syria, a Mesopotamian state, Palestine, and a coastal Arab state with [one of] its major city
PhilippeO
Banned
Its actually very nearly happen in OTL
Syria, Jordan and Iraq were all have hashemite monarchy at some point.
and Hejaz was originally Hashemite territory.
A little luck in war with Saudi Wahhabites or failed alliance between Saudi and British, could make Hashemite only reliable British allies.
and their claimed descent from Prophet could make Hashemite become leader of massive Arab State.
Syria, Jordan and Iraq were all have hashemite monarchy at some point.
and Hejaz was originally Hashemite territory.
A little luck in war with Saudi Wahhabites or failed alliance between Saudi and British, could make Hashemite only reliable British allies.
and their claimed descent from Prophet could make Hashemite become leader of massive Arab State.
As to how Hejaz became part of this state, is still being worked out. Probably a forced union of sorts by this Greater Syria to keep it out of Nejd's grip seen since it would be far more powerful than the latter.