The Emergence of the Middle East into the Modern State System -Week 3-

The Emergence of the Middle East The Emergence of the Middle East into the Modern State Systeminto the Modern State System

--Week 3- Week 3-

1914-1918 -

The Ottoman Empire sides with Germany during World War I. The resulting loss causes the empire to be broken up. Much of its territory is divided between France and Britain, but modern day Turkey successfully defends itself against Greek invasion.

The Sykes-Picot agreement between France and Britain secretly promises

to divide Ottoman holdings in the Middle East between the nations.

- 1916

HHistorical Overview of the Modern istorical Overview of the Modern Middle East -1 Middle East -1

July 1915-March 1916 -

The Sharif Hussein-McMahon Correspondences between Sir Hanry McMahon, British High Commisioner of Cairo, and the Sherif Hussein of Mecca apparently promise Arab independence in large portions of the Middle East, including Palestine, which is today Israel.

The Balfour Declaration by the British clearly expresses support for a Jewish

state in Palestine, clearly at odds with the earlier McMahon Correspondences.

- November 2, 1917

HHistorical Overview of the Modern istorical Overview of the Modern Middle East -2Middle East -2

1918 -. Surrender of Ottoman forces and occupation of Ottoman territory by Entente powers following the Armistice of Moudros ( 30 Oct. 1918)

1919 - Paris Peace Conference of the Entente victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918.Several treaties including Sevres with Ottoman Empire was also prepared.

King-Crane commission as the first-ever survey of Arab public opinion

1920 - Anglo-French partition of former Arab territories of the Ottoman Empire agreed at San Remo.

HHistorical Overview of the Modern istorical Overview of the Modern Middle East -3 Middle East -3

Turkish Borders according to Misak-i Milli Turkish Borders according to Misak-i Milli (National Pact) of 28 January1920 (National Pact) of 28 January1920

Borders of Turkey according to the Borders of Turkey according to the Treaty of Sèvres (1920) which (1920) which was annulled and replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) as a was annulled and replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) as a consequence of the consequence of the Turkish War of Independence led by led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk..

The The Turkish Army's entry into 's entry into Izmir on September 9, on September 9, 1922, following the successful 1922, following the successful Izmir Offensive, effectively , effectively sealed the Turkish victory and ended the war.sealed the Turkish victory and ended the war.

Borders of Turkey set by the Treaty of Lausanne Borders of Turkey set by the Treaty of Lausanne (24 July 1923) (24 July 1923)

Author/s: Book title, edition number – edit on master slide

Febuary 8, 1922 -

Partial independence for Egypt and election of Wafd government headed by Sa’d Zaghul

Mustafa Kemal(Ataturk) declared that Turkey would be a republic and renamed it as the Republic of Turkey .

On 29 October 1923, the new name of the nation and its status as a republic was declared. After that, a vote occurred in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and Atatürk was selected as the 1st president of the Republic of Turkey by unanimous vote

.

- October 29, 1923

Historical Overview of the Modern Middle East -4


The Republic of Turkey becomes indepedendent on 29 October 1923



1929 -

The White Paper, released by the British, placed severe limits on Jewish immigration into Palestine and stated that the British government did not plan for Palestine to become a Jewish state. This proclamation was obviously in contradiction with the Balfour Declaration.

Iraq gains its independence. - 1932

1932 -Saudi Arabiagains its independence.

The Peel Commission from Britain reports that great tension exists between Jews and Muslims and suggests a plan of partition for

the region.

- 1937

November 26, 1941 -Lebanon gains its independence.



Jordan gains its independence. - 1946

1947 -

With the British mandate, a right to administer over the region of Palestine soon expiring, the UN proposes a plan of partition for the region, which would create both a Jewish state and an Arab state when the British mandate runs out.

The State of Israel declares its independence immediately following the end of the British mandate. Immediately after that, the surrounding Arab nations invaded the new State of Israel. Following the war the Arab League placed an embargo, or prohibition against trading, on Israel.

- May 14, 1948



• Prior to World War I, Arab lands had been either under Ottoman rule or colonized by European powers.

• Experiences under the Ottomans meant that the Arab people were prepared for statehood and administration.

• However, less familiarity with diplomacy, which under the Ottoman Empire had centred around Istanbul.

The Arab Entry into International System


Britain’s three wartime pledges:

1) McMahon-Hussein (1915-1916)

2) Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916)

3) Balfour Declaration (1917)

Wartime Plans for the Partition of the Middle East


McMahon-Hussein (1915-1916)


• At onset of the war as immediate concern of Entente

powers was how the people in the Ottoman (Arab)

provinces would react to call for a jihad by the sultan-

caliphate.

• An Arab revolt against the Ottomans would aid the

allied war effort in the ME front.

• For much a revolt, the key figure to cooperate with was

Sharif of Mecca, Hussein ibn Ali of the Hashemite

family.

1) McMahon-Hussein (1915-1916) – 1


• The McMahon-Hussein correspondence (July 14,

1915 to Jan 31, 1916) set the terms of an Arab

revolt.

• In return for entering the war on the allied side,

Hussein was assured that a large portion of

Ottoman-Arab territory would be made

independent under his leadership.

McMahon-Hussein (1915-1916) – 2


• In a letter dated the 24th of October, 1915, Sir Henry McMahon promises Hussein to "recognise and support the independence of the Arabs within the territories proposed by him."

• These territories included the Arabian peninsula, Syria (including Lebanon, Palestine, and Transjordan), and Iraq as "purely Arab" areas and part of a future Arab state or states in the region.

• The fate of Palestine was left ambiguous in the correspondence.

McMahon-Hussein (1915-1916) – 3



• The success of the British in promoting the Arab revolt by promises of independence did not prevent it from completing negotiations with France, which created a new division of western influence in the ME.

• According to secret the Sykes-Picot agreement, the French controlled where is now Syria and Northern Iraq and South East of Turkey.

• In return, The British were to receive what is now most of Iraq and Jordan.

• Palestine was to become an international zone.

2) Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916) -1


• The terms of this agreement were revealed to

Hussein by the Russians during the war.

• The British managed to calm his fears by

minimizing the documents importance.

• However, this agreement formed the basis of

the postwar divisions.

Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916) -2




• Although the future of Palestine was unclear under the MacMahon-Hussein agreement it seemed that it would become an independent Arab state.

• Whereas, the Sykes-Picot agreement called for Palestine to become internationalized.

• Finally on No. 2,1917, the British gave formal support to the aspirations of the World Zionist Organization to establish a Jewish national home in Palestine.

3) Balfour Declaration (1917) -1


• The Balfour declaration (1917) confirmed the British support for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.”

• This declaration, contradicted both the pledge to Sharif Hussein and the Sykes-Picot agreement and further complicated the post war settlements.

Balfour Declaration (1917) -2





1) Paris Peace Conference (1919)

2) San Remo Resolution (1920)

3) The Sharifian Solution (1921) • .

Post-War Settlement 1919-1922


1) The weak bargaining position of the Arab delegates at Paris Peace Conference

2) The duplicity of the great powers. For British and French, the territories of the Ottoman empire were spoils of war. On the other hand, naively, the US endevoured to reform the new order on the basis of liberal views which is set out by President wilson in 14 principles with an emphasis on self-determination.

Two features of the post-war settlement


“The Turkish portion of the present Ottoman

Empire should be assured a secure

sovereignity, but the other nationalities, which

are now under turkish rule should be assured

autonomous development.”

The 12th point of Wilson Principles


• The Entente victors to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918.Several treaties including Sevres with Ottoman Empire was also prepared.

• In light of the previously secret Sykes-Picot Agreement, and following the adoption of the mandate system on the Arab province of the former Ottoman lands, the conference heard statements from competing Zionist and Arab claimants.

Paris Peace Conference (1919)


"The Big Four" during the Paris Peace Conference (from left to right, David Lloyd George, Vittorio Orlando, Georges Clemenceau, Woodrow Wilson)



• President Woodrow Wilson recommended an

international commission of inquiry to ascertain the

wishes of the local inhabitants.

• King-Crane Commission repudiates Balfour

Declaration and Sykes-Picot Agreement, but is

ignored

The King-Crane Commission (1919)


• Britain and France reach agreement over Arab lands.

• France receives mandates over Lebanon, Syria. Britain receives mandates over Iraq, Palestine.

• The Mandate for Palestine was based the Balfour Declaration and the Covenant of the League of Nation's Article 22. Britain was charged with establishing a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine.

• Territorial boundaries were not decided until four years after.

San Remo Resolution (April 25,1920)


San Remo Delegation



• Britain had, with some modifications, met its commitments to both the Sykes-picott and the Balfour declaration.

• Only the promises to the Hashemites had been disregarded. At the end of 1920, Britain offered the son of Sahrif Hussein, Faisal, to control its Iraqi mandate, in return for his acceptance of ME division in San Remo.

• This plan came to be known as the “sharifian solution” (1921).

British Mandate of Iraq – 1


Coronation of Prince Faisal as King of Iraq, 1921


• The mandate united the three disparate provinces under the imported Hashimite King Faisal, from the Hijaz region of Arabia.

• Apart from its natural geographical differences, the new Iraq was a complex mix of ethnic and religious groups.

• In implementing their mandate, the British had certainly sown the seeds of future unrest.

British Mandate of Iraq - 2




• In Palestine, The British cut palestinian mandate into two parts.

• Retained the more fertile and politically sensitive area in the west of the river Jordan, keeping for its name Palestine.

• The rest was handed to the brother of King of Iraq Faisal, Abdullah, as the Emirate of Transjordan.

British Mandates – Palestine and Transjordan – 1


Emir Abdullah of Transjordan, Herbert Samuel, and Winston Churchill at a reception at the Government House, Jerusalem, Palestine, (28 Mar 1921)




• Not withstanding these restrictions, Iraq’s emergence into the community of independent states was the envy of the Arab world.

• The only other Arab State to negotiate the end of its mandate was Transjordan.

• Relatively long duration of the mandate, around 30 years, reflects the low level of opposition to what was infact a very light British presence.

From Transjordan to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan – 1


• Emir Abdullah secured his rule over the Transjordan and was maintained on a modest british subsidiary.

• In 1936, a treaty gave Transjordan, a nominal independence, leaving financial, military and foreign affairs in British’s hands.

• Abdullah won full independence, for his country after the WWII in 1946 and changed its name to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

From Transjordan to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan – 2



• If Iraq was the most successful British mandate and the Transjordan the easiest, Palestine prove the most unsuccessful and difficult of British Colonial possessions in the ME.

• The origins of the problem may be traced to the contradictions inherent in the Balfour Declaration.

• The mandate structure and the Jewish nationalist ideology of Zionism gave rise to an active Palestinian nationalist movement.

British Mandate of Palestine – 1


• Palestinian resisted to the mandate and refusal to participate in its institutions prevented the building of any enduring state structures.

• The Jewish community in Palestine cooperated fully with the British and initiated a process of state building.

• In essence the Palestinians could force changes in British policy only through confrontation.



Palestine disturbances 1936


• Riots and armend revolt years (1936-39) led to

the 1939 “White paper” that promised reducing

Jewish immigration and independence to

Palestinians.

• The paper was rejected by the Zionists and

several radical jewish groups engaged in terrorist

campaigns against British authorities in Palestine.



• In 1947, Britain decided to withdraw and

refered the issue to the UN for resolution.

• This decision and the decleration of Israel

raged within Palestine and exploded into the

first Arab-Israeli war in 1948.





David Ben-Gurion proclaiming Israeli independence on 14 May 1948



• Merged the former autonomous provinces of Mountain Lebanon, plus the provinces of North Lebanon, south Lebanon and the historical part of Syria, thereafter, proclaimed the state of the great Lebanon in 1920.

• The aim was to create the largest territorial area for Christians in the region.

• While this plan was opposed by Sunni Muslims, the French colonial power enjoyed the strong support of their Maronite allies and other Christian communities.

French Mandates of Syria and Lebanon-1



• The Lebanese republic was founded in 1926, with an elected chamber of deputies and a president.

• While the Lebanese enjoyed autonomy in domestic affairs, France assumed full responsibility for Lebanese foreign affairs and defense.

• A range of nationalist movements pulled Lebanon in different directions, some calling for Lebanon to be reattached to Syria, while others sought for full independence.

French Mandates of Syria and Lebanon- 2


• The French enjoyed virtually no indigenous support in their Syrian mandate. Subsequent effort to break Syria provoked fierce opposition.

• The end of the mandates in Syria and Lebanon followed similar paths.

• Early in WWII, in 1941, British and free French forces invaded Lebanon and Syria to pull them away from the influence of Vichy France.

• By declaring war on Germany in 1945, both Syria and Lebanon were invited to the UN and became full independent following French withdrawal.

French Mandates of Syria and Lebanon- 3



• Supremacy of imperial powers over foreign policy means that politics are overwhelmingly domestic.

• Tension between nation-state and Arab nation.

• Rivalries and factionalism between states(i.e. Arab responses to Palestine Crisis).

• Both stable states and enduring problems.

Distinct experiences with colonialism, but common legacies


Thanks

The Emergence of the Middle East into the Modern State System -Week 3-

Documents

master slide slide

january1920 slide

master slide febuary

modern middle east

republic of turkey

borders of turkey

modern day turkey

turkish borders