The Middle East 19191939

1
The Middle East 1919-1939
Bilal Khan, Rose Eckert-Jantzie, Stephanie Mah
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• Partitioning of Ottoman Empire
•  
• Treaty of Sèvres August 10th, 1920 Signed by
  reps of Ottoman government while much of Ottoman
  Emperor, including Istanbul, was under the
  control of the Allies. Sultan Mehmed IV refused
  to ratify and it was never put into effect. Was
  supposed to create an Armenian state, partition a
  lot of other territories off to various
  countries, and limit the Ottoman army to 50 000
  men, severely restrict size of navy and deny the
  formation of an air force.
• Turkish War of Independence (1919-1923) The war
  began with an occupation of Izmir by Greece. All
  of the allies had territorial goals in mind for
  themselves (Greece wanted to form a Hellenic
  empire, Italy wanted part of Anatolia, France
  wanted Lebanon, Syria, and part of Anatolia, and
  England wanted/already had Arabia, Palestine,
  Jordan and Iraq). In response to the Allies
  demands and to the weakened state of the Ottoman
  government, secret societies were organized,
  which in turn organized resistance movements. In
  1919, little to no resistance was offered as the
  Greeks occupied increasingly large expanses of
  land, with allied naval forces off the Anatolian
  coast. Resistance forces were led by Mustafa
  Kemal Atatürk, and fought against both the allied
  occupation and the Ottoman government (who had
  given up, declaring it useless to resist
  occupation). The main resistance group,
  Association of the Rights of Anatolia and
  Rumelia, demanded that borders be restored to
  those existing on November 11th, 1918. The allies
  responded by occupying Constantinople, leading to
  the creation of a provisional parliament in
  Ankara. By October, 1921France and Italy had
  withdrawn from the Anatolia region. The Greeks
  were defeated, withdrawing in September 1922. The
  rule of the Sultan was formally ended on November
  1st, 1922. Ended with recognition of Republic of
  Turkey and international recognition through the
  Treaty of Lausanne, signed in 1923 (which also
  determined the borders of Greece and Bulgaria).
  Mustafa Kemal Atatürk became the first President
  of Turkey.

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Turkish War of Independence
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
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• Promises to Arabs/ Arab Nationalism
•  
• During the War, Britain was a staunch supporter
  of Arab nationalism, especially when used in
  opposition to the Ottoman Empire. In 1915 the
  British promised a unified Arab state to Sharif
  Hussein ibn Ali in return for a successful revolt
  against the Ottomans. The Sykes-Picot agreement
  between France and England in 1916, however,
  promised Arab lands to the two allies. In
  addition the Balfour Declaration of 1917 made
  Palestine a British Mandate. The proposed united
  Arab state failed to come into being, though
  Hussein gained control of Hedjaz (Saudia Arabia,
  which had existed for some time, was recognized
  by the United Kingdom with the Treaty of Jedda
  signed in May, 1927, and later unified officially
  with Hedjaz to become the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
  in 1932). Under the mandate system Arab
  nationalism evolved in part from a front against
  the Ottomans to a protest against colonialism.
• In the 1930s Arab nationalism continued to gain
  momentum, becoming popular in countries such as
  Iraq and Syria, and eventually leading to the
  formation of the Baath party after the Second
  World War.

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Sharif Hussein ibn Ali
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Lawrence of Arabia/The Arab Revolt

•  
• The Arab Revolt (1916-18) intended to fight off
  Ottoman Turks and create unified Arab State (see
  above). Started by Sharif Hussein ibn Ali, with
  Arab forces under the command of his sons,
  Abdullah and Faisal. As the British had spurred
  on the conflict, the British government in Egypt
  sent Captain T. E. Lawrence to help the Arab
  forces. Under his command, the Arab forces fought
  in co-ordination with British strategies, and
  attacked a key rail route as opposed to Medina
  (one of the holiest cities in Islam) effectively
  crippling thousands of Ottoman troops. Lawrence
  worked with Faisal, launching guerilla operations
  in the desert, and helped with the capture of the
  port city of Aqaba. The British Egyptian
  Expeditionary Front was also launching offensives
  at this time, working with Arab forces. Around
  Christmas 1917, Arab forces gained control of
  Jerusalem in the Battle of Beersheba. In 1918 the
  Battle of Megiddo effectively put an end to the
  revolt, with the British controlling (by todays
  borders) Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and parts of
  Saudi Arabia and Syria.

T.E. Lawrence
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• Mandates

• At the end of World War I, victorious nations
  were given the territory of the defeated, these
  were known as mandates
• The League of Nations supervised the governing
  countries in the administration of the
  territories.
• The League expected the governing countries to
  improve living conditions in the territories, and
  to prepare the people for self-government.
• In an agreement known as the Sykes-Picot
  agreement, between France and Britain, they
  decided to divide the Middle East into French and
  British 'spheres of influence'.
• The UK received mandates for Iraq, Tanganyika
  (now part of Tanzania) and Palestine. Palestine
  was later divided into Palestine and Transjordan
  (later renamed Jordan). France received Syria,
  which was later divided into Syria and Lebanon.
  The UK, France, and many other countries received
  many other mandates
• The mandate system ended in 1947. Mandated
  territories, including Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and
  Jordan, had become independent countries. Most of
  the remaining territories were placed under
  control of the United Nations

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Symbol of the UN
Peace Conference Commission on the League of
Nations
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• British Mandate of Palestine

• The Palestine mandate became the State of Israel,
  the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, a part of the
  Golan Heights, and the Kingdom of Jordan.
• The majority of the people in this multi-ethnic
  region were Arabic-speaking Muslims, Bedouin,
  Jews Druze, Syrians, Sudanese, Circassians,
  Egyptians, Greeks, and Hejazi Arabs. Hebrew
  became the official language.
• British promised the local Arabs independence for
  a united Arab country covering most of the Arab
  Middle East, in exchange for their supporting the
  British
• British promised to nurture a Jewish national
  home as described in the Balfour Declaration,
  1917. June 1922 the League of Nations passed the
  Palestine Mandate.
• Britain's responsibilities and powers of
  administration in the Palestine included securing
  the establishment of the Jewish national home,
  and safeguarding the civil and religious rights
  of all the inhabitants of Palestine
• The Pros The British military administration
  ended starvation by aiding of food supplies from
  Egypt, and successfully fought typhus and cholera
  epidemics and significantly improved the water
  supply to Jerusalem. They reduced corruption by
  paying the Arab and Jewish judges higher
  salaries. Communications were improved by new
  railway and telegraph lines.
• September 1922, the British government presented
  a memorandum to the League of Nations stating
  that Transjordan would be excluded from all the
  provisions dealing with Jewish settlement, and
  this memorandum

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Palestine continued...

• From that point onwards, Britain administered the
  part west of the Jordan as Palestine and the part
  east of the Jordan as Transjordan as one mandate
  but are often referred to as if they were two
  separate mandates.
• The educational system became unequal because the
  Zionists wanted separate and exclusive private
  Jewish school system. Zionists gained autonomy
  over the curriculum, which was imbued with Jewish
  nationalism.
• The British Mandate government denied these
  freedoms and financial support to the Palestinian
  Arabs.
• Separation of the two communities continued in
  1926 by the British Mandate governments
  Religious Communities Organization Ordinance. It
  granted the Jewish settler community in Palestine
  a juridical personality and the power of taxation
  for charitable and educational purposes.
• 1948, the Zionist movement unilaterally declared
  the state of Israel. The majority of the
  Palestinians became stateless refugees

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The 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement between Britain
and France established proposed zones of
influence for those two countries over the Middle
East.Map Geoffrey Gaudreault, NPR
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British soldiers harassing Palestinians during
the Interwar Years
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British Mandate in Iraq

• Iraq was classified as Class A mandates such
  types of mandates were expected to achieve
  independence in a few years.
• The creation of the British Mandate in Iraq was
  officially confirmed at the Allied governments
  conference in San Remo, Italy, in April 1920.
• When the Iraqi Arabs learned of this decision in
  July 1920, they began an armed uprising against
  the British, whose senior administrator in Iraq
  drafted a plan for a provisional government of
  the new state of Iraq.
• Iraq was to be a kingdom with a government
  directed by a council of Arab ministers under the
  supervision of a British high commissioner.
• An invitation to rule the new state of Iraq was
  offered in August 1921 to Faysal, was elected
  King of Iraq by a plebiscite in August 1921
  winning 96 of the votes. Faysal exercised his
  control in the state.
• 1930 the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty was signed, and gave
  Iraq formal independence. Britain was allowed two
  British Airbases and the use of communication in
  a time of need
• Iraq Independence was not achieved until 1932,
  when the British Mandate was officially
  terminated.
• Iraq joined the League of Nations in the October
  of that year, and was officially recognized as an
  independent sovereign state.

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Emir Faysal's party at Versailles during the
Paris Peace Conference of 1919
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French Mandate in Syria

• Syria was put under French mandate. 1920, French
  troops landed on the Syrian coast, after several
  battles with poorly equipped Syrian rebels, they
  managed to get the country under their control.
  In 1923, the League of Nation officially
  recognized French mandate over Syria.
• Syrians decided to resist the French. In 1925,
  they revolted against the mandate. Several
  battles took place in Jabal al-Arab region and in
  Damascus. The capital was severely damaged during
  French air raids in retaliation for the city's
  support for rebels.
• The French sought to increase their strength by
  supporting and separating religious minorities
  and thereby weakening the Arab nationalist
  movement.
• France created a Christian state in the area of
  Mount Lebanon that was never materialized. 1926
  the French, working with Maronite leaders,
  expanded the boundaries of the Christian state to
  create Lebanon. To the east the valley of the
  Biqa, predominantly populated by Muslims, was
  added to the west the Christian state was
  expanded to the coast
• 1936 France accepted to give Syria partial
  independence according to the Franco-Syrian
  treaty signed in Paris, but French troops
  remained on the Syrian soil and continued to
  influence the Syrian policies.
• The rest of Syria was divided into five
  semiautonomous areas which accentuated religious
  differences and cultivated regional. Arab
  nationalists became isolated in Damascus.
• French rule was oppressive. The franc became the
  base of the economy, and currency management was
  in the hands of French bankers concerned with
  French, rather than Syrian, shareholders and
  interests. The French language became compulsory
  in schools, and pupils were required to sing the
  "Marseillaise." Colonial administrators attempted
  to apply techniques of administration learned in
  North Africa to the more sophisticated Arabs of
  Syria. Nearly every feature of Syrian life came
  under French control.

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The National Bloc signing the Franco-Syrian
Treaty of Independence with French prime minister
Leon Blum in Paris in 1936. From left to right
Saadallah al-Jabiri, Jamil Mardam Bey, Hashim
al-Atassi (signing), and Leon Blum. Source
SyrianHistory.com
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• European Interest in Middle East

• By Spring of 1917 there was still no clear sign
  of a victory for either side
• Even with the promised American involvement there
  was no guarantee that relief would arrive in
  time.
• There was great possibility for a treaty being
  signed that would leave all nations in their
  current positions.
• Leave Middle East in Ottoman and German hands.
• Fighting had left Ottoman Empire so weak that
  Germany would virtually have complete control
  over them.
• This would mean access to British territory in
  the East would be in the hands of an enemy.
• British government felt the only way to avert
  this would be to annex the southern perimeter of
  the Ottoman domains.
• Wished to unite the British lands together
  because since political links could not be
  tightened, leaders felt it would be beneficial to
  cement the geographical links.

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• European Interest in Middle East contd.

• Important Persons
• Leo Amery Assistant Secretary of War Cabinet
• Jan Christian Smuts South African General
• German control of Palestine is one of the
  greatest of all dangers which can confront the
  British Empire in the Future.-Amery
• Therefore the British government felt allying
  itself with the Zionist cause would be to their
  advantage
• Supporting Zionists would mean they would in turn
  support the allied war effort financially, in
  manpower and later on, politically.
• British and French governments had been offering
  pieces of the Ottoman Empire to other nations in
  return for helping the Allied War Effort.
• Promised Arab leaders independence and at the
  same time promised Zionists a home land in
  Palestine.

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Leonhard Amery
General Smuts
Zionism
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• Spheres of Influence

• France
• Syria and Lebanon Under direct administration
  (mandate)
• Eastern AnatoliaLoosely monitored
• Independent Armenian Region
• Autonomous Kurdish Region
• Britain
• Palestine, Transjordan (Jordan) and Iraq Under
  direct administration (mandate)
• Egypt, Kuwait, southeast Arabia and Persia
  Protectorateds under partial administration
• Northwest Arabia, Sudan and the Horn of Africa
  Loosely monitored
• Italy
• Western AnatoliaUnder direct administration
  (including Greek administered region of Smyrna)
• Dodecanesus Islands (Approximately 50 Islands in
  Aegean Sea)
• Thrace

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• Zionism

• Zionism a worldwide Jewish movement that
  resulted in the establishment and development of
  the state of Israel.
• Only European nationalist movement that desired a
  non-European homeland.
• Aim of Zionism was self-determination of the
  Jewish populace.
• Theodor Herzl journalist from Vienna
• Wrote The Jewish State

• Herzls Zionism was not a religious movement
• He wanted Land of Israel to be focused on
  secularism and Jewish heritage
• Gained support as persecution of Jewish populace
  increased
• Not supported by all Jewish peoples
• Edward Montagu, Secretary of State of India, felt
  that this would increase anti-Semitism
• Dr. Chaim Weizmann was a proponent of Zionism and
  had significant influence in the British
  government because of his work.

Dr. Chaim Weizmann
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• Balfour Declaration

• Both Germany and Britain actively trying to
  recruit Zionist movement in order to gain access
  to resources of this group.
• Zionists had large amount of influence in Russia,
  U.K., Germany and U.S.A.
• Jewish population was leaning towards Germans
  because they had defeated anti-Semitic government
  in Russia.
• Germany recognized this but was unable to give
  Zionists what they wanted because Palestine was
  in the hands of Ottoman Empire
• David Lloyd George came into power in 1916
• Both him and his Foreign Minister (Arthur
  Balfour) were sympathetic to Zionist cause
• Debate ensued as anti-Zionists were prominent in
  British government as well
• Edward Montagu Secretary of State of India
• Pro Zionists won the debate in the end
• Balfour declaration was a very short letter from
  the Foreign Minister to prominent Jewish tycoon,
  Lord Rothschild assuring him that Britain would
  support a Jewish nation in Palestine
• Served many purposes for British
• Propaganda tool aimed at international Jewish
  community
• Hoped to secure financial support to fill coffers
  of Allied governments
• Enlisted supported of Zionists before Germany
  could
• Many Bolsheviks were Jewish and by promising
  homeland to Jewish people, British kept Bolshevik
  government from helping German cause.
• Risk, because Bolsheviks were not necessarily
  Zionists, but paid off
• Central Powers became suspicious of where
  loyalties of their own Jewish populations lay.

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• Balfour Declaration

Foreign Office,November 2nd, 1917.Dear Lord
Rothschild,I have much pleasure in conveying to
you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the
following declaration of sympathy with Jewish
Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to,
and approved by, the Cabinet"His Majesty's
Government view with favour the establishment in
Palestine of a national home for the Jewish
people, and will use their best endeavours to
facilitate the achievement of this object, it
being clearly understood that nothing shall be
done which may prejudice the civil and religious
rights of existing non-Jewish communities in
Palestine, or the rights and political status
enjoyed by Jews in any other country".I should
be grateful if you would bring this declaration
to the knowledge of the Zionist
Federation.Yours sincerelyArthur James Balfour
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• Oil

• Oil first discovered in Iran
• By 1911, Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) was
  drilling oil
• Oil discovered in Iraq after World War I and on
  Arabian Peninsula in 1935
• Race began between British and Americans over oil
• The Shah of Iran revoked APOCs permission to
  drill oil
• Britain realized they needed more reliable source
  and thus began searching rest of Middle East
• Britains influence in Middle East meant they had
  easy access to oil and could restrict other
  nations from the area
• The local population did not immediately obtain
  benefits of oil
• Initially the resource was in the hands of
  foreign governments and companies with Arab
  people having little influence
• World War II would delay development further
• Oil remained in the hands of West during Second
  World War but access was not easy and thus coal
  remained the primary source of fuel.
• It wasnt until the 1950s that Arab governments
  began to earn money for their oil.

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• Dardanelles

• Allies attempted to sieze Dardanelles during
  World War I but failed
• Winston Churchill pushed for a naval assault on
  Dardanelles but mission was unsuccessful and the
  fleet retreated in June of 1916.
• 1920 Treaty of Sèvres demilitarized the straits
  and made it international territory under the
  league of nations.
• 1923 Treaty of Lausanne restored control of the
  straits to Turkey but all foreign warships could
  freely use the straits.
• Turkey rejected the treaty and remilitarized the
  Dardanelles
• This was formally recognized in the Montreux
  Convention of 1936
• The Straits were made into an international
  shipping lane but Turkey had the right to
  restrict access to warships
• Turkey was neutral throughout second world war
  and shut down the straits to the ships of any
  belligerent nations.

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• Future Conflicts

• British Promises
• Promised Arab leaders independent nation-states
• Used this to gain their support during First
  World War
• When war ended, didnt acknowledge Arab help or
  promises made to Arab leaders
• Chose to use mandates and spheres of influence
  instead
• Balfour Declaration made Arab leaders feel
  betrayed
• Zionists supported British
• When time came to live up to promise of nation
  state in Palestine, British government passed
  White Paper, which retracted promise of Jewish
  nation state and promised a State of Palestine.
• Both sides felt betrayed and felt animosity
  towards the other
• Jews vs. Arabs
• Arabs felt there was no more room in Palestine
• Jews thought the Arabs in Palestine would move to
  neighbouring states
• Population of area was skewed
• 3 times as many Arabs as Jews
• Would result in partitioning problems later on
• Nationalism
• Even when states gained independence, many of the
  governments were pro West whereas there were
  portions of the population that werent
• Would later lead to factions that resulted in
  terrorist groups
• Oil

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Timeline

• 1926 Saudi family takes Hijaz region from
  Hashemites
• 1929 Massacre of Jews in Jerusalem
• 1932 Iraq becomes independent state
• 1935 Oil discovered in Arabian Peninsula
• 1939 White Paper ends British support for
  Zionism

• 1914 Ottomans join Germany and the Central
  Powers
• 1915 Hussein-McMahon correspondence
• 1915 Ottoman victory at Gallipoli (orchestrated
  by Mustafa Kemal)
• 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement
• 1917 Balfour Declaration
• 1918 Arabia, Syria and Mesopotamia fall from
  Ottoman to British control
• 1918 Ottomans withdraw from war
• 1919 Paris Peace Conference determines European
  influence over Middle East
• 1919 British and French mandate areas replace
  Ottoman system
• 1919 Egyptian nationalist Wafd party established
• 1920 Faysal named king of Syria and then
  expelled by French
• 1921 Treaty of Sevres Turkish war of
  Independence
• 1921 Jewish Haganah formed
• 1921 Faysal named king of Iraq and Abdullah made
  king of Transjordan
• 1922 British protectorate system terminated,
  Egypt becomes first independent state
• 1923 Turkish republic declared with Kemal as
  president

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