BRITISH + FRENCH MANDATES IN THE MIDDLE EAST

British aims in the Middle East

maintain control over oil

maintain control of the Canal

blocking French expansion

Balfour declaration

1917, Britain's declaration of support for the foundation of a Jewish state in Palestine.

Hussein-McMahon Correspondence

1916, Letters between British Commissioner in Egypt and Hussein bin Ali, the head of the Hashemite line of rulers of the Hejaz. Encouraged Arab revolt against the Ottomans, in exchange for support and independent rule of the area.

things Britain had to do in Palestine

help them achieve an independent democracy

improve quality of life

improve infrastructure

encourage jewish immigration

british aims in Palestine

keep zionists and Arabs happy

number of jews in 1919 in Palestine

60k

number of jews in 1929 in Palestine

160k

example of violence at increasing jewish immigration in Palestine

Jaffa riots, 1921

example of british aim not being met in Palestine

increasing zionist terrorism, Britain not able to keep the zionists happy (breaking Balfour declaration and their own aim of having an easy life in Palestine)

examples of zionist terrorism under british mandate

Assassination of Lord Moyne, 1944

attack on the King David Hotel, 1946, bombing of the British embassy in Rome, 1946

number of people killed at the king david hotel

91

number of people killed at the british embassy bombing in rome

3

Arab Revolt

1936-1939, nationalist uprising by Palestinians against Jewish immigration and British colonial rule

peel commission

1937, the first two state solution of Palestine

outcome of the peel commission

zionists accept it, Arabs reject it

significance of WWII in mandatory Palestine

changed british policy-

before te war, jewish immigration quotas were lifted, to support the jews facing European persecution

during the war quotas come back down to try and stop the Arabs siding with the nazis and giving them access to british Middle Eastern assets

white paper

1939, British policy limiting Jewish immigration to Palestine and suggesting a one state solution governed by the Arabs. at the outbreak of war

consequences of the white paper

jews see it as betrayal following the Balfour declaration, led to increasing zionist terrorism

britain hands Palestine over to the UN

November, 1947

reasons for Britain's exit from Palestine

biltmore declaration

bad popular opinion forming about british facilitation of the holocaust, by not allowing jews to migrate to palestine

realisation from the british authorities that there is no long-term solution

worldwide criticism of the handling of the exodus

zionist terrorism

Biltmore declaration

1942, American zionists agree to start lobbying wealthy jewish officials to support a jewish commonwealth in Palestine

success of the Biltmore declaration

Truman tells Britain to admit 100k jews immediately into Palestine in 1946

how successful was British mandate in Palestine?

not very:

unsuccessful for Britain, unable to keep the area peaceful and faced a lot of civil hardships (ex. terrorism against them)

slightly but not really more successful for the Arabs, were mislead by the british more than once and were unable to curb jewish immigration

quite successful for jews, allowed more than 200k jews to enter Palestine throughout the period, set up creation of the state of Israel in 1948 but not as much immigration as they would have wanted

terrible for the longterm stability of the region, set up a 100 year long dispute between the jews and the Palestinians

british aims in Jordan

prevent Arabs rebelling (Abdullah and Faisal)

help set up an independent nation

treaty of London

1946, gave the Hashemites control of Jordanian domestic affairs, but allowed Britain to control finance, military and foreign affairs

Arab legion

the regular army of Jordan in the early part of the 20th century, British focused on developing a loyal military force, hybrid military uniform with local and Western military gear

Hashemite kingdom of Jordan

1949

was Britain successful in Jordan?

yes-

little infighting between Jordanians, Abdullah did not help Faisal to rebel and was happy to stay beneath the british officials, Arab legion a great success for the region, Jordan was wealthy and stable with a monarchy still in charge today

reasons for Britains success in Jordan

lack of holy sites, no religious divisions (all Sunni Arabs), small population

ottoman vilayets that made up Iraq

mosul, baghdad and basra

invasion of basra in WWI

1914-1918, British forces invaded basra to protect their oil interests and to help kickstart the revolt against the ottomans

Sykes-Picot

1916, secret correspondence between the British and the French, it divided most of the Ottoman Empire between those countries. Britain was to get Iraq, Palestine and Transjordan and France would get Syria and Lebanon

Iraqi revolt

1920, armed revolt against the British for not following what was agreed by Hussein-McMahon

british aims in Iraq

maintain access to oil

set up democracy with a constitutional monarchy

maintain strategic position in the region

Faisal made king of Iraq

1921

success in Iraq

able to set up a monarchy, Faisal was accepted in a plebiscite in 1921

maintained access to oil until 1972 (with nationalisation)

failures in Iraq

very unstable government

Iraqis resentful of British influence

no history of democracy or nationhood made Iraqis difficult to rule over

monarchy had collapsed by 1958

created massive socio-political tension by lumping together diverse ethnic and religious groups

example of consequence of socio-political tensions in Iraq

Simele massacre of 1933, 300 Assyrian Christians killed by Iraqi troops

number of cabinets before 1921-1958

50 in 37 years

Egypt becomes a british protectorate

1882

british aims in Egypt

maintain access to the Suez canal

prevent rebellion

maintain colonial control over Egypt and Sudan

Egyptian revolt

march 1919

number of Egyptians revolting in 1919

more than 10k

number of Egyptians killed in the riots of 1919

800

people demonstrating in Egypt in 1919

students, civil servants, workers, religious leaders and peasants

Egyptian is given independence

1922

things Britain still controlled in Egypt after 1922

Suez, Sudan and the military

introduction of the Egyptian constitution

1923

infrastructure improvements under the british in Egypt

railways expanded, educational reforms, a renaissance in the arts

Egyptian literacy rate in 1915

8.8%

egyptian literacy rate in 1925

14.1%

the british leave Egypt

1956

French aims in the inter-war years

check british expansion, extend sphere of influence, improve oil security and protect the Suez Canal

French aims during WWII

maintain control of syria and Lebanon, undermine british rule in Palestine

French aims after WWII

undermine british rule in Palestine, maintain control in the Canal Zone, stop the spread of Arab nationalism

france divide syria into 6 mini states

1920

names of mini states in syria

aleppo

Damascus

Jabal-al-Druze

greater lebanon

the Alawite state

alexandretta

Aleppo and Damascus combined into the 'State of Syria'

1925

the autonomous state of greater Lebanon established

1926

the Alawite state and Jabal-al-Druze added to the state of syria

1936

revolt in jabal-al-druze

1925-1927, alliance between the Druze and nationalists in Damascus who formed 'the people's party' to fight against the French

success of the revolt in Jabal-al-Druze

gained control of the countryside, paved the way for Syrian conciliation treaty to be written

French success from the revolt in Jabal-al-Druze

French bomb rebel sites for two days, and (though they lasted 2 years overall) most of the problems were sorted by late 1925 and the French maintained control of the region until 1945

first elections in syria for a constituent assembly (like in france)

1928

non-violent opposition leader in syria

Shukri al-Quwwatli

draft treaty of alliance between france and syria written

1936

failure of treaty of alliance between syria and france

signed but not ratified by the French assembly

france gives alexandretta to turkey

1939, to try and prevent them from joining the axis

Syrian military bases used by Vichy france

from 1940

French support for zionist terrorists in Palestine example

supporting Irgun in the King David Hotel bombing

france recognise Syrian independence

1941

france leave syria

1946

how much of the world's oil does syria have

0.5%

how much of the world's oil does Iraq have

8%

Creation of Lebanon

1926

1926 Lebanese constitution leadership split

christian president

sunni prime minister

shi'a speaker of the chamber

Franco-Lebanese treaty of friendship

1936, unsuccessful as it wasn't accepted by the French academy

nationalist victories in Lebanese elections

1943, Bishara al-Khuri elected as president

failure of the nationalist Lebanese government of 1943

tried to introduce new legislation and eliminate French influence, but the French objected and most of the government were arrested in November 1943