Contemporary History Of The Middle East 1914 1982 Notes

Post-war settlements in the Middle East

The Husayn-McMahon Correspondence:

• Occurred between 14^th July 1915 and 10^th March 1916

• Husayn ibn Ali, the Sharif of Mecca

  • Custodian of the Holy Sites and the dominant political figure in the Hijaz

• Henry McMahon, British High Commissioner in Egypt

• McMahon tried to persuade Husayn to rebel against the Ottoman Empire; Husayn tried to persuade McMahon to guarantee the creation and recognition of an independent Arab State

• Husayn to McMahon, 14^th July 1915:

  • ‘England will fully acknowledge the independence of the Arab countries, bounded on the north by Mersina and Adana up to the 37^th degree of latitude… up to the border of Persia; on the east by the borders of Persia up to the Gulf of Basra; on the south by the Indian Ocean, with the exception of the position of Aden which is to remain as it is; on the West by the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea up to Mersina. England is to approve the proclamation of an Arab Khalifate of Islam.’

• McMahon to Husayn, 24^th October 1915:

  • ‘The two districts of Mersina and Alexandretta and portions of Syria lying to the west of the districts of Damascus, Homs, Hama and Aleppo cannot be said to be purely Arab, and should be excluded from the limits demanded [Christian populations]… Subject to the above modifications, Great Britain is prepared to recognise and support the independence of the Arabs in all the regions within the limits demanded by the Sharif of Mecca.’

The Sykes-Picot Agreement:

• Mark Sykes – Conservative Politician, War Office minister and head of the Arab Bureau

• Francois-George Picot – French diplomat

• Contents of the agreement are summarised in a letter from Edward Gray to Paul Cambon:

  • France and Britain recognise an independent Arab State or Confederation of Arab states governed by Arabs; essentially divides the middle east into spheres of influence between Britain and France; internationalisation of Palestine

• Recognition of Arab independence coincides with Husayn-McMahon

• Division of the Arabian peninsula into spheres of influence massively contradicts both the McMahon-Husayn correspondence and the recognition spoke of earlier in the Sykes-Picot Agreement

The Balfour Declaration:

• From Arthur Balfour to Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2^nd November 1917:

  • ‘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.’

• Does not outline the establishment of a new state, just a national home

• Contradicts the Sykes-Picot agreements’ proposed internationalisation of Palestine; contradicts the Husayn-McMahon correspondence in that Palestine was never explicitly excluded from the borders of the proposed and agreed on Arab Khalifate

The Turkish Settlement – Treaty of Sevres:

• 10^th August, 1920

• International Commission to govern the Straits

• French and Italian spheres of influence in Anatolia

• Greek occupation of Thrace and Izmir

• Independence for Armenia

• Semi-autonomous Kurdistan

• Arab states become independent

• Sevres results in a revolt against the treaty led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk; fought a successful war against the occupying Greeks and caused another treaty to be issued

The Turkish Settlement – Treaty of Lausanne:

• 24^th July 1923

• International Commission to superintend the Straits

• All spheres of influence and capitulations abolished

• Thrace partitioned between Greece and Turkey

• Izmir remains under Turkish control

• Armenian and Kurdish independence proposals are dropped

• Arab states become independent

  • Remained from Sevres

  • Post-Lausanne issue concerning Arabia

    • Sykes-Picot essentially divided the Middle East

The Arab Settlement:

• Syria

  • ‘Small’ Syria established under a French mandate with Sunni Muslims as the largest group; a republic installed; France ejected Faisal (son of Husayn ibn Ali) from

    • ‘Small’ because established Lebanon is larger than its traditional borders, including some Syrian lands

• Lebanon

  • Established as a republic; ‘large’ Lebanon established under a French mandate with Christians as the largest group

• Palestine

  • Small Palestine established under British mandate with mixed religious affiliations mainly Sunni Muslins, Christians and a minority of Jews; established as a monarchy; Balfour agreement written into the mandate of Palestine; tensions because Arab Caliph said that the Husayn-McMahon correspondence didn’t exclude Palestine from the Caliphate

  • Being under a mandate technically coincides with the Sykes-Picot agreed internationalisation of Palestine as it was technically under the control of the League of Nations

• Jordan

  • Small state established with Hashemite ruler governing under a British mandate; nobody sure what to do with Jordan; established a monarchy – king Abdullah was the son of Sharif Husayn ibn Ali

• Iraq

  • Large Iraqi state established covering Mosul, Baghdad and Basra under Hashemite ruler with a very mixed population – numerous minorities e.g. Kurds in the North; monarchy established – King Faisal, son of Sharif Husayn ibn Ali; gained independence in 1932

Contested borders:

• Mosul

  • Claimed by both Turkey and Britain under the Iraqi mandate

    • Significant for oil; indication of British Imperialism?

• Syria/Lebanon

  • Lebanon was viewed as a creation of French imperialism by nationalist Syrians

  • Tensions over ‘large Lebanon/small Syria’

• Palestine/trans-Jordan

  • Revisionists thought that Palestine extended across the river Jordan into the trans-Jordan area

Motivations:

• Power-politics/Imperialism?

  • Significance of Oil; British trade route to India security; search for diplomatic alliances

• Ideology?

  • Zionism; Arabs; European centrality; Imperialism

• Legacy?

  • Emergence of the...

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