This week continues the discussion from last week on the impact of European colonialism but moves forward in time to consider WWI and redrawing the map of the Middle East. It asks how the lands of the former Ottoman Empire were settled and reorganized in the postwar order.

[LECTURE SLIDES]

Seminar Questions:

With the multi-ethnic Ottoman empire broken, how did European and Ottoman forces seek to settle and reorganize these lands in the post-WWI order? To what extent do you see continuity or discontinuity with the past in terms of political loyalties and cultural identities?

What were the similarities and differences between the Husayn-McMahon correspondence and the Sykes-Picot Agreement? How did each affect French-Anglo relations?

According to Cleveland, ‘…the mandate system was little more than nineteenth-century imperialism repackaged to give the appearance of self-determination.’ To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Readings:

William Cleveland, A History of the Modern Middle East, (Westview Press: 2016), pp. 139-160 (chapter 9).

Charles Smith, Palestine and the Arab Israeli Conflict, (St. Martins Press: 2017) pp. 49-101 (includes primary source docs).

Additional background reading from Smith: pp. 19-39.

Recommended Readings:

Albert Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples (Faber: 2005), pp.299-314 (chapter 18).

Sara Pursley, ‘Lines Drawn on an Empty Map: Iraq’s borders and the legend of the artificial state, (Parts 1 and 2)’ Jadaliyya (June 2, 2015): Available at https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/32153

Susan Pedersen, The Guardians: The League of Nations and the Crisis of Empire (OUP, 2015).

Patricia Clavin, Securing the World Economy: The Reinvention of the League of Nations, 1920-1946 (OUP, 2013).