Blood and Oil: The Middle East in World War I Directed by Marty Callaghan, 2006

“Blood and Oil: The Middle East in World War I” examines the devastating conflict and Western political intrigue that laid the foundation for wars, coups, revolts and military interventions in the Middle East. After the end of World War I, most of the Ottoman Empire was carved up into “spheres of influence,” controlled mostly by the British and French. The remaining territories became the modern state of Turkey in 1923 – after a five-year struggle by Turkish nationalists against Western domination. Written and produced by Marty Callaghan (“Archives of War,” “Remember Pearl Harbor: America Taken by Surprise”), this feature-length documentary film follows conflict from the Ottoman Empire’s entry into the Great War in October 1914 to the Allied victory and declaration of the new Turkish Republic in 1923, and the hostilities that have plagued the region since.