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Dictionary definition: Mesopotamia Campaign
- Article from:
- A Dictionary of World History
Copyright© A Dictionary of World History 2000, originally published by Oxford University Press 2000. (Hide copyright information)
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Mesopotamia Campaign
(World War I) A British military campaign against the Ottoman Turks in Mesopotamia (southern Iraq). In 1913 Britain had acquired the Abadan oilfield of Persia (now Iran), and when war broke out in 1914, it was concerned to protect both the oilfields and the route to India. When Turkey joined the war in October 1914, British and Indian troops occupied Basra in Mesopotamia. They began to advance towards Baghdad, but were halted and suffered the disaster of
KUT
. General Sir Frederick Maude recaptured Kut in February 1917, entering Baghdad on 11 March. One contingent of British troops reached the oilfields of Baku (May 1918), which it occupied until September, when the ...