this success, following upon their successes in Gallipoli, and were
persuaded that the might of the British arm was nothing which they need
fear.

Leaving a sufficient force to check any further British advance into
Mesopotamia, the Turk withdrew the bulk of his forces to operate against
the Russians and, perhaps wisely, made no great effort to dislodge us
from the territory which we already occupied. The opposing forces sat
down and watched each other for many months in the entrenched positions
below Kut. In March of the following year, 1917, General Maude, on whom
had fallen the command of the British army in Mesopotamia, won a
decisive victory at Kut; and, pursuing the remnants of the routed enemy,
entered Baghdad. The Turks withdrew to the higher country north and
north-east of the city, whither they were pursued. After these
operations, the British were in occupation of the completed section of
the Baghdad railway, which was then open from Baghdad as far north as
Samarra. They also effected a junction with the Russian troops operating
in Persia. In the following September, engagements were fought at Ramadi
and elsewhere on the Euphrates, with the result that the Turkish
garrisons were rounded up, and but few Turkish troops were left to
oppose the British forces in Mesopotamia. Nevertheless, an immediate
advance was not made up to Mosul and the upper territories of
Mesopotamia. Owing to the collapse of Russia, it became necessary for us
to take over some of the country in Persia, which had previously been
occupied by Russian troops, and an expedition was also sent to assist
the Armenians at Baku on the Caspian Sea. Other troops which could be
spared from Mesopotamia were sent round, in the spring of 1918, to take
part in the operations in Palestine, and the forces that remained were
devoted to the garrisoning and consolidation of the territory already
occupied.

A glance at the map of Turkey in Asia will show that the provinces of
Mesopotamia and Syria consist of long narrow strips of fertile country
bordered by desert, and resemble two legs which fork at Aleppo.

As far as Aleppo, troops and supplies from Europe passed over one common
route. From the Turkish point of view, therefore, the campaigns in these
two countries were to some extent interdependent. This enabled the Turks
to concentrate a reserve at Aleppo, ready to be moved down into either
theatre of war as the exigencies of the situation might demand.
C