Qualla: Battle of Basra (1914) https://qualla.com/battle-of-basra-1914 en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:31 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Battle of Basra (1914) https://qualla.com/battle-of-basra-1914 Battle of Basra (1914): Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-basra-1914/ A railway was supposed to run from Hamburg to Basra. When the Ottoman Empire entered World War I on the side of the Central Powers, that unfinished Berlin-Baghdad railway suddenly threatened to connect the North Sea to the Indian Ocean under hostile control. Britain could not allow it. Within days, troops were marching through the date palms of southern Mesopotamia, and by late November 1914, the port city of Basra had fallen. The battle lasted eleven days. The consequences lasted decades.

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]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/j/6/j/battle-of-basra-1914-wp/tj6j-battle-of-basra-1914-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Basra (1914): Oil, Empire, and a Railroad https://qualla.com/battle-of-basra-1914/ The strategic logic was straightforward. Britain's Royal Navy had recently converted from coal to oil, and Persia's oil fields -- just across the border from Ottoman Mesopotamia -- fueled the fleet. Losing access to that oil would cripple British naval power at the war's most cri...

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]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/j/6/j/battle-of-basra-1914-wp/tj6j-battle-of-basra-1914-oil-empire-and-a-railroad.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Basra (1914): Eleven Days Through the Mud https://qualla.com/battle-of-basra-1914/ On November 7, 1914, British troops began the march north from Fao toward Basra. The Ottomans struck first, attacking the British camp at dawn on November 11, but were repulsed. Four days later, at Saihan, the British attacked Ottoman defensive positions and drove them back with ...

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]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/j/6/j/battle-of-basra-1914-wp/tj6j-battle-of-basra-1914-eleven-days-through-the-mud.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Basra (1914): A City Surrenders Itself https://qualla.com/battle-of-basra-1914/ Three days after the fight at Sahil, while British gunboats pushed upriver, a small launch appeared carrying a deputation from Basra. The city's Ottoman garrison had already withdrawn. The delegation was not offering resistance -- they were requesting help. Looting had broken out...

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]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/j/6/j/battle-of-basra-1914-wp/tj6j-battle-of-basra-1914-a-city-surrenders-itself.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Basra (1914): The Trap of Mission Creep https://qualla.com/battle-of-basra-1914/ Basra was secured. The oil fields were protected. The mission, by any reasonable measure, was accomplished. But the ambiguity of British war aims in Mesopotamia created a gravitational pull upriver. If Basra needed defending, then the territory north of Basra needed controlling. ...

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]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/j/6/j/battle-of-basra-1914-wp/tj6j-battle-of-basra-1914-the-trap-of-mission-creep.mp3 0:06 5 full