Blog #8

Ottoman Empire Post WWI

After the end of World War I the Middle East became a region of great complexity and controversy. The great criticism that I would like to address involves the fragmentation of the Ottoman Empire into 6 entirely new states. These states would essentially emerge out of thin air in the interest of European powers without the consent and support of the local population. These states included Turkey, along with five Arab states that included; Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, and Jordan. In addition to these new nations, Saudi Arabia and Yemen also broke through as distinct countries. European powers manipulated and lied during numerous diplomatic correspondences during and after World War I in order to ascertain what they wanted from the Middle East. England and France both established spheres of interest in various regions so that they control such things as Oil and the Suez Canal. Later these “spheres of influence” turned into mandates that stated if any power took control of another country that the foreign controllers must prepare that land for independence. Two examples of political exploitations during World War I where either two European powers collaborated in taking advantage of Middle Eastern countries or one power abusing a single Middle Eastern country are the Sykes-Picot agreement and the Husayn-Mcmahon correspondences. In the Sykes-Picot agreement, France and England agreed to share both direct and indirect control of Arab territories without the intention of preparing the land for independence. In the Husayn-Mcmahon correspondence Sherif Husayn of Mecca was tricked into revolting against the Ottomans during WWI for the Allied powers. Husayn was promised territory after the war even though Mcmahon had no intentions of giving the land away.