The
Battle of Jerusalem resulted in the city of
JerusalemJerusalem is the capital of Israel and its largest city in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if disputed East Jerusalem is included...
falling to
British EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
forces in December 1917. On December 11, Edmund Allenby entered the city on foot out of respect for the Holy City, becoming the first
ChristianChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
to control the city in centuries.
The
Egyptian Expeditionary ForceThe Egyptian Expeditionary Force was formed in March 1916 to command the growing British and British Empire military forces in Egypt during World War I. It was originally commanded by Sir Archibald Murray, later by Allenby. It consisted of the British British XX Corps and the British XXI Corps,...
, under the newly appointed
Commander-in-ChiefA commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the...
General Edmund Allenby, had won the decisive
Third Battle of GazaThe Third Battle of Gaza was fought in 1917 in southern Palestine during World War I. The British Empire forces under the command of General Edmund Allenby successfully broke the Turkish defensive Gaza-Beersheba line...
in early November.
The
Battle of Jerusalem resulted in the city of
JerusalemJerusalem is the capital of Israel and its largest city in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if disputed East Jerusalem is included...
falling to
British EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
forces in December 1917. On December 11, Edmund Allenby entered the city on foot out of respect for the Holy City, becoming the first
ChristianChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
to control the city in centuries.
Background
The
Egyptian Expeditionary ForceThe Egyptian Expeditionary Force was formed in March 1916 to command the growing British and British Empire military forces in Egypt during World War I. It was originally commanded by Sir Archibald Murray, later by Allenby. It consisted of the British British XX Corps and the British XXI Corps,...
, under the newly appointed
Commander-in-ChiefA commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the...
General Edmund Allenby, had won the decisive
Third Battle of GazaThe Third Battle of Gaza was fought in 1917 in southern Palestine during World War I. The British Empire forces under the command of General Edmund Allenby successfully broke the Turkish defensive Gaza-Beersheba line...
in early November. Allenby's forces followed up the retreating Turks and defeated them again the
Battle of Mughar RidgeThe Battle of El Mughar Ridge on 13 November 1917 took place at Junction Station, where the Haifa-Jerusalem line branches to Beersheba. The battle succeeded in causing the Ottoman Seventh and Eighth Armies to withdraw towards Jerusalem and Haifa respectively.- The Battle :The Charge at El...
in the middle of November. His forces now moved on Jerusalem. Allenby's left flank was secured at Jaffa and his right flank was moving through the Hills of
JudeaJudea or Judæa is the name given to the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel , an area now divided between Israel and the West Bank Judea or Judæa (Hebrew: יהודה,
Standard Yəhuda
Tiberian , "praised, celebrated"; Greek: Ιουδαία, Ioudaía; ) is the...
. The German General
Erich von FalkenhaynErich von Falkenhayn was a German soldier and Chief of the General Staff during World War I. He became a military writer after World War One.-Early life:...
, commander of the Turkish forces in
PalestinePalestine is a conventional name used, among others, to describe a geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands.As a geographical term, Palestine can also refer to 'ancient Palestine,' an area...
, had recently received reinforcements and was quickly planning to launch a counter offensive against Allenby. Both sides had been instructed to avoid fighting in or near the
Holy CityJerusalem is the capital of Israel and its largest city in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if disputed East Jerusalem is included...
.
The Fall of Jerusalem
Falkenhayn immediately launched a series of attacks against Allenby's lines. (The Turks had fortified various places in a ring around Jerusalem, including the hilltop of
Deir YassinDeir Yassin was a Palestinian Arab village of around 600 people near Jerusalem. It had declared its neutrality during the civil war between Arab and Jewish Palestinians...
.) Allenby regrouped his forces and sent the
XX CorpsThe British XX Corps was a World War I army corps that was formed in Palestine in 1917. Following the British failure in the Second Battle of Gaza, the Egyptian Expeditionary Force underwent a major rearrangement with the appointment of General Edmund Allenby as the new Commander-in-Chief. The...
, under Philip Chetwode to capture the city. Chetwode's attack on 8 December took the heights to the west of Jerusalem and a second attack captured positions south of
BethlehemBethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank, approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...
. The Turkish counter attacks had failed and Jerusalem fell to the British the next day.
Allenby's Entry
Allenby was an accomplished horseman and it would have made sense for him to ride triumphantly into the city. However on 11 December Allenby entered on foot out of respect for the Holy City.
Allenby placed the city under
martial lawMartial law is the system of rules that takes effect when the military takes control of the normal administration of justice.Martial law is sometimes imposed during wars or occupations in the absence of any other civil government. Examples of this form of military rule include Germany and Japan...
, and posted guards at several points within the city and in Bethlehem to protect sites held sacred by the
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and the Son of God.The term "Christian" is also used adjectivally to...
,
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
and Jewish religions.
In the United Kingdom, the capture of the city was seen as a fulfillment of the medieval crusades. Punch Magazine published a cartoon of
Richard LionheartRichard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death in 1199.He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Ireland, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
saying "at last my dream come true."
Turkish Counter Attack
The fall of the city and the failure of Falkenhayn's initial attacks greatly lowered the Turkish morale. Sporadic fighting continued in the hills surrounding Jerusalem. The Turkish forces were being reinforced by the Yilderim Army Group, which originally had been formed to recover
BaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is coterminous. Having a municipal population estimated at 6.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq and the second largest in the Arab World....
from British forces in
MesopotamiaMesopotamia "land between the rivers" is a name for the Tigris–Euphrates region in the eastern Mediterranean, largely corresponding to Iraq, as well as northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khūzestān Province of southwestern...
. These forces had arrived on the field piecemeal but by now they were fully on the field. On Christmas Day, Falkenhayn launched another counter assault, which was repulsed with heavy losses.
Results
The
Battle of Jerusalem was a welcome victory for the Allied forces. Allied forces were faced with stalemate on the
Western FrontWestern Front was a term used during the First and Second World Wars to describe the "contested armed frontier" between lands controlled by Germany to the East and the Allies to the West...
at Cambrai, the Italians were defeated at the
Battle of CaporettoThe Battle of Caporetto , took place from 24 October to 19 November 1917, near the town of Kobarid , on the Austro-Italian front of World War I...
and
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
was effectively out of the war following the Bolshevik Revolution. The fall of Jerusalem offered the Allied nations much relief from these setbacks. Campaigns in Mesopotamia were cancelled to send reinforcements to Allenby. The Turks lost control over central Palestine and the following year were completely driven from the region after the
Battle of MegiddoThe Battle of Megiddo , from 19 September to 1 October, 1918, and its subsequent exploitation, was the culminating victory in British General Edmund Allenby's conquest of Palestine...
.
The
battle honourA battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags , uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible....
Battle of Jerusalem is still carried by British units such as the
Queen's Lancashire RegimentThe Queen's Lancashire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the King's Division...
Sources