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The Last Caliph Declares Jihad
Although a hollow gesture by 1914, on 11 November, 2014 Sultan Mehmed V declared jihad on the western powers, allowing (by Caliphat standards) any individual dying in the Great War who fought for the German Central Powers to recieve preference in heaven. The main result of the declaration was a footnote of history: this was the last declaration made by a citting caliph in the history of the Muslim Caliphate.
By 1914 the Muslim Caliphate, dominated by the Ottoman Turks since the 1450s, was no longer seen by the majority of Muslims as the international protector of Islam. Violent disputes within the Caliphate between Shi'a and Sunni followers, mass destruction of the cultural heritage of many minorities, and racial disparities between the ruling Turkish elite and the people of Arab, Persian, and other descent had turned the Caliphate into an an international joke, a feeling shared by many of its citizens.
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