Labour, Labour Movements and Strikes (Ottoman Empire/ Middle East) | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1)

As in other belligerent societies, the Great War forced fundamental change in the economies of the Middle East, and so redefined workers’ relations with the state. As young men were conscripted away from farms and workshops, other workers were employed in military factories under strict conditions or forced to work by the state in construction, ports, mines, and railroad construction. Because military recruitment created labor shortages, women entered the workforce in ever-increasing numbers, especially in Anatolia. By war’s end, workers’ distress burst into a wave of strikes and protests that contributed to political revolts.