Jerusalem 1917: The British Conquest That Redrew the Holy City

In December 1917, after centuries of Ottoman rule, British General Edmund Allenby entered Jerusalem on foot through Jaffa Gate, deliberately avoiding the theatrical entrance of Kaiser Wilhelm II a generation earlier. But the conquest was no walk — Allenby's campaign broke through the Turkish lines at Beersheba and Gaza, using cavalry charges and desert flanking maneuvers that caught the Ottoman-German command off guard. Once in Jerusalem, Allenby declared martial law and promised to respect every holy site — a promise immediately tested by the competing claims of Christians, Jews, and Muslims. The episode explores the three-week battle, the role of T.E. Lawrence and Arab irregulars, the fateful Balfour Declaration issued just weeks before, and the quiet entry that set the stage for the British Mandate. Listeners meet the German general Erich von Falkenhayn, the Ottoman commander Cemal Pasha, and the Jewish Legion volunteers who fought alongside the British. A turning point that reshaped Jerusalem's modern politics — and a story of how a city surrendered not with a bang, but with a carefully choreographed walk.

#Jerusalem1917 #Allenby #BritishMandate #BalfourDeclaration #WWI #OttomanEmpire #JaffaGate #Beersheba #Gaza #CemalPasha #Falkenhayn #TELawrence #ArabRevolt #JewishLegion #Zionism #MiddleEastHistory #History #FexingoHistory

Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo