Middle Eastern Tensions And British Policy

Question 1

What happened in the Sykes-picot treaty of 1916?

Answer 1

. Britain and French foreign ministers believed the Middle East would be best controlled by Europe
. Picot (French) wanted influence in Syria
. Britain got control over south and central Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq)

These borders (Asia minor agreement) were drawn up with little care for culture in the Middle East

Question 2

What were the faults made in the Sykes picot treaty?

Answer 2

. It didn’t account for the creation of Turkey
. Arbitrary borders were drawn, not very well thought through
. It was agreed to before the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution

Question 3

Why was Britain interested in the Middle East?

Answer 3

Palestine was close to the Suez Canal
Mesopotamia was oil-rich = increased value

Question 4

What was the Balfour Declaration?

Answer 4

Letter sent by Arthur Balfour to Walter Rothschild (leader of British Jewish community) in August 1917 to show sympathy with Jewish ‘Zionist’ aspirations.
- Britain promised support for a ‘national homeland’ for Jews in Palestine

Question 5

What were the real motives behind the Balfour Declaration?

Answer 5

. Possibly genuine support for Zionists
. Britain wanted support of anti-imperialist American public as they had vast Jewish population
. Help secure post-war control of Palestine
. Harness Jewish support for the war, particularly USA

Overall: Britain were trying to get support from large Jewish population to win the war, showing Britain’s short-term thinking

Question 6

How did the articles of the Palestinian mandate reveal how B.D and Arab promises clashed?

Answer 6

. National homeland wasn’t properly defined on how it would look
. Didn’t state how Arab majority rights would be protected

Question 7

Why did Britain seem to use a lack of planning and vagueness in the Balfour Declaration but how was this a problem?

Answer 7

. As Britain had no real plan, they were able to stay in Palestine for as long as possible as they could maintain the status that they needed to ‘control’ the violence between Jews and Arabs even though they caused it, allowing Britain to protect their strategic interests in the Middle East
- however, this meant no proper exit strategy was developed

. Staying in Palestine deliberately completely goes against the idea of a mandate supposedly helping nations become indepdent

Question 8

How were Britain’s policies in Palestine flawed?

Answer 8

Based on flawed assumptions:
. Thought Zionist development would benefit Arab population
. Assumed modern Zionist leadership weren’t interesting in creating their own state
. Palestinian Arabs were not thought to constitute a nation (racial prejudice)

. As an Empire, Britain maintaining reputation as a tough actor had to be protected, but this meant Britain had little care for the long-term effects for their policies on the general Palestinian population

Question 9

How was Britain’s policies in Palestine reminiscent of the empires belief in superiority?

Answer 9

British government failed to understand the concerns of the average Palestinian even though they are the people that are needed to be understood for long term peace to be made

Question 10

How was British situation so bad in Palestine that it had to withdraw?

Answer 10

. Spring 1947 - sterling crisis weakened British economy
. British had spent over 100 million governing Palestine since January 1945
. More than 330 British soldiers had died fighting the conflict in Palestine

Overall: post-ww2, Palestine was not worth holding onto

Question 11

What was Britain’s main task as an empire when administrating the British mandate in Palestine?

Answer 11

. Maintain a buffer against threats to the Suez Canal (strategic interest) with British military presence while also maintaining internal stability in Palestine (status interest).

Question 12

What was the first main problem in the administration of Palestine?

Answer 12

. Trying to simultaneously please and reconcile the growing Jewish community whilst also easing the resentment and fears of Palestinian Arabs as a result of the migrating newcomers

Question 13

What was the first main problem in the administration of Palestine?

Answer 13

. Trying to simultaneously please and reconcile the growing Jewish community whilst also easing the resentment and fears of Palestinian Arabs as a result of the migrating newcomers

Question 14

How did different British authorities in london vs Palestine view administration in Palestine?

Answer 14

. London government: favoured Jewish community
. British authorities in Palestine were more sympathetic to the Arabs

Why?

Question 15

When was British administration of Palestine set up and under who?

Answer 15

1920: civil government under Herbert Samuel

Question 16

What was Herbert Samuel’s role in administering Palestine?

Answer 16

. Tried to merge Arab’s and Jews into elected representative bodies with influence over public policies
- bold to assume they would cooperate
- ethnic tensions prevented co-operation

Question 17

How did the arrival of Jews in Palestine create problems over landholding?

Answer 17

. Most Palestinian Arabs were poor farmers, and Jews were generally wealthier
. The Jews bought land with the help of the Jewish National funds, driving many Palestinian Arabs from their farms

Question 18

How did the government in Palestine try to curb Jewish dominance over landholding but how did it fail?

Answer 18

1929: enquiry to curb Jewish policy of land acquisition
1931: enquiry that recommended restrictions on Jewish land acquisition

The government had to back down on these changes due to dominating pro-Jewish feeling in USA and Britain

Question 19

When did Jewish immigration to Palestine accelerate?

Answer 19

From 1933 due to Nazi persecution of the Jews, and heightened with the holocaust

Question 20

How did Britain try to deal with Palestinian violence in 1936?

Answer 20

Sent 20,000 troops to Palestine to deal with Arab insurgency (rebellion) and attacks on Jews

Question 21

What was the Peel Report (1937)?

Answer 21

Recommended for Palestine to be partitioned into Jewish and Arab areas, with British authorities ruling over religiously controversial areas such as Jerusalem (divide and rule)
- this idea was rejected by Arabs

Question 22

How did Britain deal with escalating violence in Palestine from 1937-39?

Answer 22

. Adopted a policy of repression
- 25k British troops sent to the region
- over 9000 Arabs were arrested
- 100 Arabs were hanged

Brutal action taken by the British
- clearly Britain were trying to show they were still in control of Palestine and used this religious divide and role to demonstrate it deliberately

Question 23

How did Britain change its colonial policy in Palestine when war became imminent in 1939?

Answer 23

With fears of an Italian attack on Egypt, which Britain valued so greatly for the empire, a change in policy was needed
- called for a Palestinian state in which Jews currently living in the country would enjoy the right to a ‘national homeland’
- this was probably a rushed decision and was mainly to get Jewish support for the British war effort to get them ahead in the war (Britain thinking in the short-term)

Question 24

How did Britain change policies on Jewish immigration at the outbreak of war in 1939 and what was the main aim?

Answer 24

Restricted it to 15k Jews per year for 5 years
- aim was for Palestine to be declared an independent state in 10 years, so restrictions on Jewish immigration would ensure that Arabs would be in the majority and wouldn’t fuss about anything

Question 25

What were relations from Jews and Arabs like towards Britain as they entered the war?

Answer 25

The reversal of British policy against Jews with restrictions on immigrations and turning back on the plan to create separate Jewish and Arab areas outraged the Jewish community but also didn’t satisfy the Arabs - despite all of these annoyances caused, Britain believed it was worth the temporary military and strategically stable positions in the Arab world that Britain TEMPORARILY achieved

Question 26

Why did the Jewish community accept the change in British policy in Palestine at the start of WW2?

Answer 26

They were under huge pressure in Europe by the Nazis so were in no position to dispute the British

Question 27

How did WW2 leave Britain in huge pressure in Palestine?

Answer 27

. Arab-Jewish relations deteriorated so rapidly that Britain were keen to limit the scale of jewish immigration into Palestine, to try and dampen down the conflict. - by the end of WW2, there was a large number of stateless jewish refugees

Question 28

Why was deciding colonial policy over Arabs and Jews so hard for Britain?

Answer 28

. Truman and most of American and international opinion favoured Jewish settlement in Palestine, due to the horrible treatment of them by the Nazis. Although Britain needed USA’s economic aid and support, it also wanted to keep allies in the Middle East due to need for oil in the region . Outbreaks of Jewish terrorism in Palestine against British troops created the prospect of having to hold onto and deal with a constantly violent country at a time when British resources were stretched It was difficult for Britain to come out of this in a situation that would please everyone.

Question 29

What were Britain’s three possible solutions to the Arab-Jewish situation in Palestine after WW2?

Answer 29

. Unitary state - favoured by Arab leaders, who wanted to dominate as a majority population. Jewish leadership didn’t want this . Provincial autonomy where Palestine could be divided into smaller provincial areas, each with a level of self control, but with ultimate rule led by nationally elected government. Jewish leaders rejected this too as it would favour Arab rule on a national level . Partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. Only solution Jewish leaders would support but not accepted by Arab leaders

Question 30

What is a unitary state?

Answer 30

Nation state governed by a single centre of power, where the government only disperses as much power as it chooses to

Question 31

What was the United Nations and what was its role?

Answer 31

Successor to the League of Nations after WW2, aiming to maintain world peace and settle international disputes

Question 32

Who did the British government leave the question of the state of Palestine after a deadlock was reached in February 1947?

Answer 32

The UN, who favoured partition, mostly due to pressure from the USA who were heavily supportive of the Jewish community and so wanted to go with the solution that was favoured by the Jews in Palestine

Question 33

When did Britain withdraw from Palestine and why?

Answer 33

15th May 1948: . Britain didn’t want to alienate the Arab world so there could be a possibility of cooperation for oil etc in the future, so they handed over control to a UN commission instead of taking responsibility for favouring partition . In the spring of 1947, the sterling crisis messed up Britain’s economy . Britain spent over £100 million governing Palestine since January 1945, and over 330 British soldiers died fighting there Britain was in no position to maintain a high level of commitment in Palestine

Question 34

How was the shaping of British colonial policy in Iraq similar to in Palestine?

Answer 34

Policy was driven by the need to reduce the costs of administration by managing internal conflicts between ethnic groups so that Iraq wasn’t such a headache to control

Question 35

When did Britain first intervene in Iraq’s conflict?

Answer 35

1920 - widespread Muslim demonstrations against British rule in Baghdad turned into a full-scale revolt - Kurds, in north of Iraq, wanted independence from Iraq and also rebelled Overall the conflict and tensions in Iraq got to a point where Britain had to use their air power to intervene in Iraq

Question 36

When did Britain first hint at ideas of self-rule for Iraq?

Answer 36

Cairo Conference 1921 - British decided to allow for some local self-government, but only to the point where Britain still held full control of military and foreign affairs. There also wasn’t much Arab representation at this meeting at all