The Hijaz Railway and its facilities were subjected to unseen sabotages and attacks. As the 1917 increased the violence, the attacks caused many Ottoman soldiers to be witnessed and wounded.
Sultan II. The Hijaz Railway, which was started with the order of Abdülhamit, was completed in a short period of eight years with a successful financial management and propaganda and 27 reached Medina in 1908 August. The railway, which provided great benefits for the Ottoman Empire and the region, was subjected to constant attacks and sabotages during and after construction. As a result of these attacks and sabotage to the railway line, many Ottoman soldiers were killed. The Ottoman Empire struggled to prevent the interruption in transportation. Especially in World War I, as a result of the revolt by the Emir of Mecca, Şerif Hüseyin, the increasing attacks continued until the fall of Medina.
Şerif Hüseyin strongly opposed the construction of the Mecca-Medina, Mecca and Jeddah sections of the Hejaz Railway and the line before this revolt. Because the Bedouin sheikhs, especially in the first place, predicted that the Ottoman military and political authority would increase in the Hejaz by rail and their influence would decrease. For this reason, the sheikhs organized under the leadership of Serif Hussein carried out more than a hundred attacks on railway and telegraph wires in the year of 1908 where construction will reach Medina. Although the Ottoman administration increased the measures to stop these attacks and protect the line, it could not prevent the violent collisions and the military losses. The Ottoman government, who did not want the problems in the Hijaz region to grow because of the successive Tripoli and Balkan Wars, had to remove the construction of Mecca-Medina, Mecca-Jeddah lines by recognizing new concessions to the Ottoman administration Serif Hussein.
When the First World War began in 1914, the management and operation of the Hejaz Railway was transferred to the Ministry of War, the Ministry of War. Sharif Hussein, the Emir of Mecca, who tried to look like a loyal friend to the Ottoman Empire until 1916, contacted the British in July 1915 and negotiated for an independent Arab State in exchange for cooperation with them. The British, who benefited from the desire of the kingdom, promised him all kinds of support and independence with the rebellion he would launch.
So, Mc. Sheriff Hussein reached an agreement with the British through Mahon, 27 June 1916'ta rebellious flag was drawn with the declaration. Feridun Kandemir, who was in the Hejaz Front and Medina since the beginning of the war, wrote about this rebellion in his book “The Last Turks in the Shadow of the Prophet's Medina Defense ges: ve But what was the reason for this rebellion? Did the Arabs want the Independence? No, the Arabs fought with the Turks throughout the entire war from Çanakkale on every front. Even in the Independence War, there were Arabs who fought with the Greeks in the Aydın Front and side by side with the Mehmetçikler. And in the first World War, nowhere in the Arabs, in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and Palestine, there was no single Arab who rebelled against the Turks. It was only Sharif Hussein, the Emir of Mecca.
The Arabs used by Şerif Hüseyin in this rebellion were extremely illiterate, unaware of the world, the bedouin, ie Urbanis, who lived and lived in the hijaz deserts. Arabs in cities and towns such as Mecca, Taif and Jeddah did not participate in the revolt, and Sheriff Hussein had not attempted to take troops from them. Urban and the Shaykhs did not know anything other than money because of their poverty. Just as Sheriff Hussein knew this, they only benefited from it with money. And they had carried out the rebellion with them until the end. Kan While he was revealing the lie of his historic H Arab Betrayal ortaya with all his nakedness, he also exposed the blood of the Ottoman soldiers along the Hejaz Railway.
As a result, this rebellion, the Hijaz'daki the referral and administration of the Ottoman army, the Hejaz Railway transportation has largely damaged. A new front was opened with the sheriff's rebellion and the problem of ensuring the safety of the railroad emerged. The line, which has become the target now, should be preserved and kept open for the reinforcement of Medina, Palestine and Sinai fronts. 25.000 troops were deployed along the rail for the protection of the line. Machine guns and cannons were placed at strategic points and cavalry was patrolled by troops.
The sabotage and attacks carried out by Sharif Hussein's bedouins on the Hejaz Railway line were organized by the British, and two more British officers were sent along with Lawrence of Arabia. Ild Our aim was not to destroy the enemy forces in the Medina and the Hijaz Railway, kuvvet said Lawrence. On the contrary, we wanted to keep the Turkish forces in Medina and other places away from the Sinai Front as strong as possible. It was in our interest to be so. However, Turkish transportation to the Sinai Front was weakened. Medina's zapti was useless for us. They were defending the sacred city. He defends the Hejaz railway to defend the city of Bible and the railway was operating. If the Medina falls, no longer defend this railway, the evacuation and all the power of the line was allocated to the Sinai Front.
Our target was not the enemy force, but the rails and locomotives that fed the enemy force. Our battle isn't fighting, it's dynamite. The destruction of a railroad track of a bridge or a locomotive of a bridge was more beneficial than the killing of many Turkish soldiers. In fact, the means at hand were not conducive to the destruction of the enemy force. The Bedouins did not attack powerful fortified positions. They love their lives in terms of characters. ”We were going to attack the railway, which was easy for us to attack Böyle.
With this tactic, the Hijaz Railway and its facilities were subjected to unseen sabotages and attacks. As the 1917 increased the violence, the attacks caused many Ottoman soldiers to be witnessed and wounded.
Fearing that the line could not be processed Medina Müdafii Fahreddin Pasha, today in the Topkapı Palace Museum exhibited Mukaddes Escrows, especially Hz. A manuscript of the Ottoman Koran, Sultan Mahmud Library in Medina, other Quran in the historical work, Juz, gold, silver, diamonds, emeralds and many other items decorated with precious stones such as 14 May In 1917, he managed to send from Medina with his guards to Istanbul.
As of July-August 1918, as a result of the attacks of Bedouin guided by British officers, especially Lawrence, the transportation between Medina and Damascus has become more difficult. 30 In October 1918 the Ottoman Empire signed the Armistice of Mudros and the connection with the Hejaz Railway was lost. Finally 10 Medina, which had been resisting until January 1919, also surrendered to Ottoman sovereignty over the Hejaz Railway.
Kaynaklar:
Ufuk Gülsoy, Hicaz Railway, Istanbul, 1994.
Feridun Kandemir, Defense of Medina, Istanbul, 2007.
Hijaz Railroad Photo Album, İstanbul 1999.
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