The Middle East

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The Middle East

• The Interwar Years

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Introduction

• Power was concentrated in the hands of the
  elites. Democratic institutions were subject to
  constant manipulation, whether from the elites or
  from the European powers
• Within the world economy, the Middle East and
  North Africa essentially maintained their roles
  as suppliers of raw materials and importers of
  finished goods from industrialized countries.
• Outside Turkey and Iran, no regimes engaged in
  economic planning. The oil industry, operated by
  foreign firms, was still moving through the
  developmental phase. The few oil fields in
  production supplied a negligible proportion of
  total world output.

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Prior to 1920, there had been a split in
religions throughout the area, mainly among the
Judaism and Islam in their struggle for a place
to call homeland, tensions began to build up as
conflicts accumulated between the two rival
religious groups, which often result in extreme
violence, for example, warfare and later on
terrorism. The Paris Peace Conference
(1919) called for European powers (Britain and
France) to settle into the different mandates
(after the disintegration of Ottoman Empire) and
to prepare them for eventual independence.
However, Britain and France quickly found
themselves encountering stiff resistance from the
locals who are more interested in self-government
rather than being thrown into an alternative form
of imperial occupation
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Disintegration of the Ottoman Empire

• The Treaty of Sevres
• Signed between the Allied forces and the Ottoman
  Empire following the end of the first World War
  on August 10, 1920
• The Ottoman Empire lost an astounding amount of
  territory under the Treaty
• The Kingdom of Hejaz (now part of Saudi Arabia),
  Kuridstan, and Armenia were granted independence
• Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Palestine became British
  mandates and Syria and Lebanon became French
  mandates
• Italy gained the Dodecanese, Rhodes (already
  under Italian occupation since 1911), and
  portions of southern Anatolia
• Thrace and western Anatolia (including the sea
  port of Izmir/Smyrna) were given to Greece
• The Bosphorus, Dardanelles, and Sea of Marmara
  were to be demilitarized and internationalized
  (crucial loss for the Ottoman Empire for all of
  them were strategically and commercially
  important)
• (Only central Arabia escaped formal European
  administration and/or occupation for the entire
  length of the interwar period)

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• Restrictions placed on their military
• Army reduced to 50, 000 men, navy restricted to 7
  sloops and 6 torpedo boats, and prohibited to
  obtain air force
• Allies also virtually controlled the Turkish
  economy
• Allies were given capitulation rights which
  allowed foreign citizens and subjects to be
  exempt from the laws of the Empire
• Although the Treaty was accepted by the
  government of Sultan Muhammed VI, it was rejected
  by many citizens
• Evacuation of Armenians, French, and Greek forces
  from various parts of territory given to the
  countries which were dictated by the Treaty
• 1923 - The Sultan was overthrown and a republic
  was declared by nationalist forces

• Due to these events, the Allies returned to the
  negotiating table and the terms of Sevres were
  cancelled under Turkey's favor by the Treaty of
  Lausanne in 1923

Sultan Muhammed VI
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• Treaty of Lausanne 1923
• Turkey regained eastern Thrace, the Smyrna/Izmar
  sea port, and the internationalized Straits
  (Dardanelles and Bosphorus) which were to remain
  demilitarized and subject to international
  convention
• Turkey also gained full sovereign rights over its
  territory and capitulations were abolished
• In return Turkey renounced all claims on former
  Turkish territories outside its new boundaries
  and undertook to guarantee the rights of its
  minorities

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• Turkey
• Ataturks social reform programs
• In Oct 1923, Mustafa Kemal, later known as
  Ataturk, became the first president of the newly
  independent Turkish Republic. Below are some of
  the social programs that he had introduced to
  modernize the society
• Religion became individual conscience religious
  minorities, for example, Christian and Jews, are
  free to practice their religion.
• Turkish state is a state of the people and a
  state by the people freedom and equality were
  distributed to all in the Turkish society.
• Emphasized the importance of peasants in the
  Turkish society the true owner and master of
  Turkey is the peasant who is the real producer

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Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
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• King-Crane Commission
• An official investigation made by the United
  States in 1919  to determine if the nations of
  the Middle were ready for self-determination
• The Commission was not supported by other nations
  for the British government and the French
  government had reached an agreement which
  determined the future of that region
• King and Crane, the men leading the Commission,
  came to the conclusion that the Middle East was
  unprepared to self-govern, but also didn't
  support the establishment of  colonial
  governments. They recommended the American
  government to occupy the region because the
  United States was the only country that could be
  "trusted to guide the people to self-sufficiency
  and independence rather than become an
  imperialist occupier
• The Commission debated whether it would be
  favorable to create a Jewish nation in Syria,
  however the idea was turned down since the
  majority of Syrians would oppose this.
• King and Crane felt that the only "solution" to
  this problem would be having Jewish people
  immigrate to "Israel" and live as Jewish Syrian
  citizens

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• The Mandate System
• created by the League of Nations
• three types of mandates existed
• mandates for territories which were soon to be
  given independence
• mandates for territories where independence was a
  distant prospect
• mandates for territories where there was no
  prospect of independence or self-government
• the Middle East (Iraq, Palestine, Syria, and
  Lebanon) was placed under the first type of
  mandate

Armed British Forces ?
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• The British Mandate of Palestine
• Husein-McMahon Correspondence promised land to
  the Arab nation in former Ottoman Empire in
  return for providing support to the in WWI
• The Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 was an
  agreement to split Ottoman lands into British,
  French, and Russian areas.
• British Balfour Declaration of 1917 stated that
  the British government viewed the establishment
  of a Jewish home in Palestine
• In June 1922, the League of Nations passed the
  Palestine mandate granting Britain's
  responsibilities and powers of administration in
  Palestine, emphasizing the creation of "the
  Jewish national home" and "safeguarding the civil
  and religious rights of all the inhabitants of
  Palestine
• During the 1920s many Jewish immigrants entered
  Palestine which at first was not resented by the
  Arab citizens who lived there, but as
  anti-Semitism grew in Europe, Jewish immigration
  began to increase with the rise of the Nazi,
  substantially alarming the Arabs
• The Jewish created and developed social and
  economic infrastructure, developed agriculture,
  and provided labour for construction, established
  businesses

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• Due to the violent uprisings against the Jewish
  people by the Arabs which were caused by land
  ownership conflicts, the Palestine Royal
  Commission proposed a partition between the Arab
  and Jewish areas
• In 1936-1939, the mandate experienced an upsurge
  in militant Arab nationalism that became also
  known as the "Great Uprising.
• The revolt was triggered by Arabs who felt that
  they were being "marginalized in their own
  country"
• With the British White Paper of 1939, the amount
  of Jewish immigrants and land was drastically
  restricted, however tensions between the Arabs
  and the Jewish people continued to increase.
  White Paper established a single independent
  state with Jewish and Arab government
  participation in proportion to the population
• The vagueness and conflicting commitments of
  Britain strained relationships among parties
• An anti-European sentiment replaced the
  anti-Ottoman, uprisings compelled the British to
  create provisional governments until eventual
  independence of the states

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• The British Mandate of Iraq
• At the Cairo conference of 1921, the British
  government created the parameters for Iraqi
  political life
• British officials chose the king
• Established an indigenous Iraqi army
• Creation of Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of 1922

• The Anglo-Iraqi Treaty was opposed by many
  nationalists and so the King faced a lot of
  pressure to limit both British influence in Iraq
  and the duration of the Treaty (twenty years)
• The Treaty stated that the King would heed
  British advice on all things affecting British
  interests and on fiscal policy as long as Iraq
  had a balance of payments deficit with Britain,
  and that British officials would be appointed to
  specific posts in eighteen departments to act as
  advisers and inspectors

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• New Anglo-Iraqi Treaty signed in 1930 which
  called for a "close alliance", for "full and
  frank consultations between the two countries in
  all matters of foreign policy" and for "mutual
  assistance in times of war
• The new Treaty allowed for full Iraqi
  independence and the mandate ended on October 3,
  1932

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• The French Mandate of Syria
• Mandate was strongly opposed by Syrians and so
  many revolts took place
• France signed the Franco-Syrian Treaty of
  Independence in 1936 where it demanded for
  immediate recognition of Syrian independence as a
  sovereign republic with full freedom granted over
  a twenty-five year period
• The Treaty further promised a reduction of French
  intervention in domestic affairs as well as
  reduction of French troops, and in return Syria
  pledged to assist France in times of war and also
  provided other economical and political
  concessions
• Unfortunately the French never ratified the
  Treaty and
• so Syria did not gain complete independence
  until after
• the second World War

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• The French Mandate of Lebanon
• The Maronites (an ethnic group) welcomed the
  mandate for they were pro-French by tradition and
  so during the French rule they were favored over
  the rest of the population
• the majority of the population consisted of
  Christians and Muslims and neither of these
  groups wanted to be under French rule
• French rule was efficient for public utilities
  and communication was improved and education
  expanded
• A Franco-Lebanese treaty of independence and
  friendship was signed in 1936 but not ratified by
  the French government

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The Quest for Oil

• British Oil Policies
• WWI increased Britain's dependency on oil
  reserves in the area, for the country hoped to
  lessen its dependency of acquiring oil from the
  United States
• In order to maintain influence in Iran, after the
  war had ended, Britain kept a small army to
  defend the oil fields and due to this Iran was
  often persuaded by the British government to
  accept pro-British foreign policies and it also
  played an important factor in Anglo-Iranian
• cooperation
• The British government was also able to obtain
  more influence in Iran because the Iranian
  government faced so many financial problems and
  so the economy of Iran was dependent on British
  subsidies and bank loans

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• The British government tried to secure its "oil
  and commercial privileges" through the
  Anglo-Persian agreement in 1919
• This agreement would allow the British government
  to obtain complete financial and military control
  and thus "enhance" the British government's
  efforts to discourage other foreign powers from
  investing in the oil reserves
• Not fully supported by Iranian government 
• Hoped to lessen its dependency by
  supporting foreign investment. When the
  government refused to ratify the agreement, the
  British government threatened to remove British
  financial and military advisors, along with
  monthly subsidies

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• The United State's Oil Policies
• The United States was interested in foreign oil
  reserves because she needed it for fulfilling her
  domestic needs
• After WWI, the United States became the major
  "creditor nation in the world with a substantial
  amount of capital available for investment
  abroad" and therefore the Iranian government
  tried to develop a friendly relationship with the
  United States so that she could procure loans
• The Iranian public viewed the United States as a
  "liberator from British and Russian dominance"
  and would assist the country in becoming a
  prosperous nation
• However, the government continued to push for oil
  concessions in Iran and so when the Anglo-Persian
  agreement was being debated in 1920, the American
  government hinted at the Iranian government to
  give her concessions in the oil rich regions in
  the north

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• Britain vs. the United States
• The American government agreed  to offer the
  assistance that the British government was
  providing if the Iranian decided not to agree to
  the Anglo-Persian agreement
• Iranian government refused to adhere to the
  Anglo-Persian agreement in 1921
• The battle for oil was still not over for the
  British
• government still held the right to excavate oil
• from the northern parts of Iran for seventy-five
• years
• The Iranian government succeeded in removing
• this concession, and granted an American oil
• company (Standard Oil Company) a fifty year
• concession for oil in the northern provinces of
• Iran in return for a loan of 5 000 000 dollars

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• However, when the British government protested
  against this grant, the American government soon
  developed a cooperative agreement with the
  British government
• In 1921, the British oil company (Anglo-Persian
  Oil Company) and the American oil company
  (Standard Oil Company) created an informal
  agreement to "operate jointly in Iran's northern
  oil fields
• Eventually, the American government got tired of
  the many demands of the Iranian government and
  withdrew its companies from the country in 1924,
  leaving Britain once more in control of the oil
  fields

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The Big Picture   -   After living under the
mandate system, many Arab countries resented the
European powers and did not want to be part of
the second World War -  Some countries such as
Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon secretly supported the
Nazi regime by offering the fascist troops oil
during the war -   However, the Nazi support did
not last long for in Iraq the British government
soon grew weary of the relationship between the
two countries and hastily occupied Iraq
-   Syria and Lebanon were also occupied by
Allied forces and the governments were forced to
end relations with Germany -   Iran also showed
pro-German sentiments during the war by not
allowing supplies to be sent to the Soviet Union
through their country and so the Soviet Union
occupied Iran and replaced the Iranian leader
with one that supported the Allies