Impact, Effects and the Nationalism in the Middle East of World War I on Arabia
West Asia is a region of the world where the effects of World War I (1914-1918) are still felt strongly. The military campaigns launched during the war, as well as the political agreements made shortly afterwards, resulted in the independence of Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Lebanon, as well as the aborted birth of the State of Palestine. As part of the same procedure, Saudi Arabia established its current borders.
The Armenian Genocide of 1915-16, for which the Ottoman Empire is held responsible, continues to hamper successor state Turkey's plan to join the European Union.
Let us come to know about Arabia after world war 1 including the effects of WW1 on middle east in detail from this article.
Mecca and Turkey Agreement
There are considerable changes or transformations to the mecca and turkey agreement based on the discussions. Let us know about those here.
On 30 October 1914, when Turkey entered the fight on Germany's side, London was worried that a war against the Caliph would alienate Muslims in the Indian subcontinent and elsewhere. It was important to collect intelligence and carry out the required propaganda work. The establishment of an Arab Bureau in Cairo was proposed by Sir Mark Sykes, Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener's Middle East advisor. The agency was founded in 1916, despite opposition from the Secretary of State for India.
The British High Commissioner in Cairo was Sir Henry McMahon. Kitchener and McMahon both had close connections to India. Viceroy Curzon's tenure was cut short by the former's differences with him as Commander-in-Chief in India (1902-09). McMahon was Foreign Secretary during the Shimla Conference in 1914, when the McMahon line, or border with Tibet, was agreed upon.
London decided to encourage the Arabs to revolt against the Sublime Porte, as the Ottoman Emperor was called in Europe, in order to speed up the fall of the Ottoman Empire, which had been known as the Sick Man of Europe for a long time. In West Asia, the Ottomans were well-liked. However, Hussein bin Ali, the Sharif of Mecca, was beginning to doubt his loyalty after hearing that Istanbul had plans to replace him. He held some power as the Sharif. Hussein was pushed by Kitchener to seize the opportunity to revolt.
Hussein and McMahon corresponded, and the two agreed that if the Arabs revolted against the Ottomans, Britain would assist Hussein in establishing an independent Arab Caliphate at the end of the war. Syria, which was of interest to France, was excluded from the Caliphate's borders. Hussein included Palestine in his description of the proposed Arab Caliphate.
Between July 1915 and March 1916, ten letters were exchanged, and McMahon never indicated that Palestine should be excluded from the proposed Arab Caliphate. The Arab revolt began in June 1916, after McMahon sent money and arms. T. E. Lawrence, a young intelligence officer who would later be called 'Lawrence of Arabia' in a 1962 film based on his 'adventures,' played a much-exaggerated part in instigating the Arab Revolt.
The question of Palestine leads us to the Balfour Declaration, which was issued on November 2, 1917. It came in the form of a letter from Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Jewish community leader Walter Rothschild as the mecca and turkey agreement.
Effects of WW1 on Middle East
As there are most of the effects of WW1 on middle east. Let us take a look at important ones here.
The Great War's history can help us understand how the Middle East's current turmoil derives from the violent past. Historians have extensively documented the devastation caused by the First World War in Europe, but many in the West are aware of the scale of destruction and turmoil it wreaked in the Middle East. In the Middle East, the war not only ravaged the soil and decimated armies, but it also destroyed entire societies and economies. In this regard, the Middle East's experience of World War I is perhaps more similar to Europe's experience of World War II. The effects on a social, economic, and psychological level were significant.
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Nationalism in the Middle East After WW1
The Middle East was undergoing profound political, ethnographic, and ideological transformation during the time quarter under consideration. In the years following the Ottoman Empire's 1908 Revolution, the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (Young Turks) policies and Turkish-nationalist agenda caused tensions with sociopolitical elites in the empire's Arabic-speaking areas. The Armenian Genocide was organised as a result of the Ottomans' entry into World War I, while the Greco-Turkish conflict of the early 1920s culminated in the between Greece and Turkey, there is a considerable migration of Muslim and Greek Orthodox population.
Following the Ottomans' defeat in World War I, the Arab Middle East was divided between Britain and France under the aegis of League of Nations mandates. Under the auspices of the Zionist movement, Britain's Balfour Declaration established a framework for the resumption and acceleration of Jewish immigration to, and land purchase in, Palestine. With the Ottomans' pan-Islamic and supra-national framework of political legitimacy no longer in place, the region's Arab elites embraced the nationalist idea as the organising principle of their political praxis.
However, the region's division into separate European-ruled territorial entities (Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Transjordan, Palestine) has caused long-term tensions between the ideas of Pan-Arab unity and loyalty to one's own state. All the above-mentioned factors described the nationalism in the middle east after WW1.
Risks Associated with the New Middle East War
The long-simmering war between Israel and the Palestinians has exploded once more, with Israeli jets hitting Gaza and Palestinian militants launching hundreds of rockets at Israel. A rerun of the 2014 Gaza war, which resulted in the deaths of over 2,000 Palestinians and 73 Israelis, largely soldiers, is a real possibility. Both sides must de-escalate to avoid a battle that will benefit hardliners in each camp, add to the misery of Gaza's long-suffering Palestinians, and expose Israel's vulnerability.
This is all about the middle east war in detail.
Did You Know?
Following World War I, there are numerous doubts and questions concerning Arabia. Were Arabs and Ottomans fighting before the British arrived? How did the Russians obtain the agreement in order to make it public?
Despite being a part of the Ottoman Empire, the Arabs desired their own state. However, until the uprising that occurred during World War I, they were not in any significant conflict with the Ottoman Empire.
The Russians were included in the original agreement and were promised some of the region's lands. They disclosed the contents of the pact after their revolution, in order to distance themselves from the war and some of the shady activities they believed were going on.
FAQs on Arabia After World War 1
1. What was the political situation in the Arabian Peninsula before World War I?
Before World War I, most of the Arabian Peninsula was technically part of the Ottoman Empire, which had ruled the region for centuries. However, its control was often weak and varied by region. Key areas included:
The Hejaz (Western Arabia): Home to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, this region was directly administered by the Ottomans, with the Sharif of Mecca holding significant local authority.
Central Arabia (Nejd): This area was dominated by rival Arab tribal leaders, most notably the House of Saud and the House of Rashid, who operated with considerable autonomy.
Coastal Regions: Areas along the Persian Gulf and the southern coast were under the influence or direct protection of the British Empire.
2. What was the Arab Revolt of 1916 and why was it significant?
The Arab Revolt (1916-1918) was an uprising by Arab forces against the Ottoman Empire during World War I. It was initiated by Sharif Hussein bin Ali of Mecca, who allied with Britain and France. Driven by the desire for an independent Arab state free from Turkish rule, the revolt aimed to overthrow Ottoman control in the Middle East. Its significance lies in its impact on the war's outcome in the region; it weakened the Ottoman military and played a crucial role in the Allied victory on the Middle Eastern front, reshaping the political map of Arabia. This surge of nationalist sentiment mirrors other movements of the era, such as the Khilafat Movement in India, which also responded to the Ottoman Empire's decline.
3. How did the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement shape the future of Arabia after WWI?
The Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 was a secret pact between the United Kingdom and France, with the assent of the Russian Empire, to define their proposed spheres of influence and control in the Middle East after the expected downfall of the Ottoman Empire. It directly contradicted the promises of an independent Arab state made to Sharif Hussein. The agreement proposed:
Direct French control over Syria and Lebanon.
Direct British control over Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq).
Palestine to be under international administration.
When revealed, it caused immense distrust and became a symbol of European betrayal, laying the groundwork for many of the region's future conflicts.
4. What happened to the Ottoman Empire's territories in Arabia after its defeat in World War I?
After its defeat, the Ottoman Empire was officially dissolved by the Treaty of Sèvres (1920) and later the Treaty of Lausanne (1923). Its vast territories in Arabia were carved up by the Allied Powers, primarily Britain and France, as part of the broader post-war settlement. Instead of granting full independence as promised to Arab leaders, these territories were placed under a newly created mandate system by the League of Nations, effectively continuing European colonial influence under a different name.
5. Which new states and mandates were created in the Middle East from former Ottoman lands?
The dismantling of the Ottoman Empire led to the creation of several new political entities under the mandate system, governed by Britain and France. The primary ones were:
French Mandates: Syria and Lebanon.
British Mandates: Palestine, Transjordan (which later became Jordan), and Iraq.
These new borders were often drawn without regard for ethnic, religious, or tribal realities, creating the foundation for future instability.
6. Why did the promises made to various groups during WWI lead to inevitable conflict in the region?
The conflict was inevitable because the Allied powers, particularly Britain, made multiple, contradictory promises to different groups to secure their support during the war. These included:
The Hussein-McMahon Correspondence (1915-16): Promised a unified and independent Arab state to Sharif Hussein in exchange for the Arab Revolt.
The Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916): Secretly promised to divide the Arab lands between Britain and France.
The Balfour Declaration (1917): Promised British support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine.
These conflicting commitments made it impossible to satisfy all parties, leading to decades of resentment, violence, and the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict.
7. How did the mandate system function and what was its true purpose?
Officially, the League of Nations mandate system was designed to administer former territories of the defeated powers until they were deemed ready for self-governance. However, in practice, it functioned as a form of neo-colonialism. Britain and France used the mandates to secure their strategic and economic interests, such as controlling trade routes and, increasingly, oil resources. The system was viewed by many Arabs not as a pathway to independence but as a continuation of European imperial dominance, fueling further nationalist movements.
8. Who was Ibn Saud and how did he establish the modern kingdom of Saudi Arabia?
Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud was the ruler of the Nejd region in central Arabia. While the British were focused on their mandates and their ally Sharif Hussein in the Hejaz, Ibn Saud methodically expanded his territory. He consolidated his power through strategic alliances and military victories, eventually conquering the Hejaz from the Hussein family in 1925. In 1932, he unified his dominions—the Nejd and Hejaz—to form the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, establishing a major new power in the peninsula independent of direct European mandate control.
9. How did the discovery of oil transform the political landscape of the Arabian Peninsula?
The discovery of vast oil reserves, particularly in Saudi Arabia in 1938, fundamentally transformed the region's geopolitics. Initially valued for its strategic location, the peninsula became a vital centre of global economic interest. This newfound oil wealth provided immense power and financial independence to rulers like Ibn Saud, allowing them to modernise their states, build powerful armies, and reduce their reliance on foreign aid. It also made the region a focal point of competition between global powers, a dynamic that continues to this day.
10. What is the lasting legacy of the post-WWI division of Arabia in modern politics?
The legacy of the post-WWI settlement is profound and remains a source of instability in the 21st century. Key long-term effects include:
Artificial Borders: The mandate-drawn borders often ignored ethnic and sectarian lines, leading to internal conflicts in states like Iraq and Syria.
The Arab-Israeli Conflict: The contradictory promises in Palestine created a conflict that has defined the region for over a century.
Rise of Autocratic Regimes: Many mandate-era monarchies and regimes evolved into authoritarian states, suppressing dissent and contributing to later uprisings like the Arab Spring.
Enduring Distrust: A deep-seated distrust of Western powers persists due to the betrayals of the WWI era.
