The Great War transformed the Middle East, bringing to an end
four hundred years of Ottoman rule in Arab lands while giving rise
to the Middle East as we know it today. A century later, the
experiences of ordinary men and women during those calamitous years
have faded from memory. "A Land of Aching Hearts" traverses ethnic,
class, and national borders to recover the personal stories of the
civilians and soldiers who endured this cataclysmic event.
Among those who suffered were the people of Greater Syria
comprising modern Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine as
well as the people of Turkey, Iraq, and Egypt. Beyond the shifting
fortunes of the battlefield, the region was devastated by a British
and French naval blockade made worse by Ottoman war measures.
Famine, disease, inflation, and an influx of refugees were everyday
realities. But the local populations were not passive victims.
Fawaz chronicles the initiative and resilience of civilian emigres,
entrepreneurs, draft-dodgers, soldiers, villagers, and townsmen
determined to survive the war as best they could. The right mix of
ingenuity and practicality often meant the difference between life
and death.
The war s aftermath proved bitter for many survivors.
Nationalist aspirations were quashed as Britain and France divided
the Middle East along artificial borders that still cause
resentment. The misery of the Great War, and a profound sense of
huge sacrifices made in vain, would color people s views of
politics and the West for the century to come."
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