WWI and Mandates

• British Policy WWI


  • War context exacerbated intensity Britain sought to protect Suez Canal and Persian Gulf
  • McMahon-Hussein Letters ('15)
  • Ottomans fought with Germany against Brit
  • Fear Turkey cut Persia oil supply
  • Encourage Arab Revolt against Ottomans
  • Gave Brit support for Arab independence
  • Sykes-Picot Agreement ('16)
  • Secret
  • Anglo-French agree to carve Arab land
  • Rule direct or indirect
  • Palestine international control
  • Balfour Declaration ('17)
  • Brit sought wealthy American Jews to bring US into WWI
  • Declared Jew homeland (no state) support
  • Acknowledged non-jewish people there
• Arab Revolt

  • '16
  • Turkish trains blown up disrupting military supplies
  • Oct '18, liberated Damascus, Syria, and proclaimed Faisal as King
  • Also Abdullah as Iraq's King (brothers who led revolt)
  • Britain entered Jerusalem in '17, defeated Turkey '18
  • Despite promise for independent, unified Arab state, Arab Kingdom of Syria was short-lived
  • Arabs fought for independence, felt they deserved self-governance, upset by Sykes-Picot
• Mandates

  • Treaty of Versailles (Paris Peace Conference '19-20)
  • Gave Anglo-French Middle East mandate
  • Until Arabs could self-govern
  • Brit: Palestine, Transjordan, Iraq
  • France: Syria, Lebanon
  • San Remo Conference ('20) ordered Arab withdrawal and mandate enforcement
  • Brit allowed French Syria invasion, expelled Faisal (2 year ruler)
  • Arabs saw this Brit wartime promise betrayal and Anglo-French colonial interest triumph over Arabs’ hope
  • Cairo Conference ('21)
  • Confirm Transjordan as Arab state
  • Upheld Balfour's declaration for Palestinian Jew homeland
• Transjordan

  • Britain made Faisal Iraq king and Abdullah Jordan emir (owed power)
  • Recognised independent, '23, but troops and foreign policy remained under Brit control
  • Financial subsidy given to Emir Abdullah for schools and roads
  • Desert Patrol, founded by Glubb Pasha, ('31) recruited Bedouin tribesmen
  • Abdullah became king '46, renaming Transjordan Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in '49
  • Brit controlled Transjordan, promoting military (Glubb was Brit) and improvement; successful
• Mandate Iraq

  • Mandate led to Iraqi nationalist rebellion
  • 100,000 Brit soldiers stopped it '20
  • Brit began independence negotiations in '29
  • Maintained foreign policy and 2 air bases
  • '32 treaty: Iraq could enter League of Nations
  • Hashemites still Brit dependent
  • Iraq's importance increased as naval replaced aerial
  • Brits heavily invested in oil
  • Money flowed out Iraq (embarrassing)
  • Political instability
  • Hashemites (never seen legitimate) alienated from Iraqis
  • Hashemites fall in '58 coup marks abrupt disappearance of British power and influence in Iraq
• Pre-Mandate Iraq

  • British interest in Iraq centered around
  • Oil pursuit
  • Maintaining communication with India,
  • Oil exploitation
  • '14 Anglo–Persian Oil Company (Brit)
  • '25 Iraq Petroleum Company (Brit, French + US)
  • '33 Standard Oil Company (US, in Saudi Arabia)
  • By '18, Brit controlled three former Turkish provinces:
  • Basra
  • Baghdad
  • Mosul
  • Iraq had 3 ethnic groups: Kurds, Sunnis, and Shia
• Pre-WWI Eygpt

  • Egypt not official mandate, British control pre-dated WWI so it remained so after
  • Suez Canal
  • Built 1869
  • Anglo-French ownership
  • Made Egypt important to Brit
  • Linked European nations with their empires in East Africa, India, South East Asia, and Pacific
  • 1882 Anti-European riots (particularly around Suez)
  • Led to troops being placed
  • In WWI British forces flooded in and controlled Egypt
  • Deposed Cairo’s pro-turkish leader
  • Forces remained until '50s
• Post-WWI Eygpt

  • Post-WWI Egypt hoped for complete independence
  • Believed as US president said they should have self-determination right
  • Egyptian national leader revolution and riots '19
  • Britain shut it down (with troops)
  • '22 Declaration:
  • Egypt could go to Versailles
  • US recognised British rule
  • Independence had to be negotiated separately
  • Britain
  • Retained Suez Canal and military bases
  • Despite declaring Egyptian independence until '36
  • Where independence was agreed but Brit still had control of military bases