The History of creation of the Levantine States (Coursework Sample)

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The History of creation of the Levantine States
1. The World War I
During the World War I in 1914-1918, the Middle East played a major role. The war was vital in shaping development in the modern Middle East. Before the World War I, the European countries were engaged in the race for foreign colonies to expand their political and economic development. At the beginning of World War I in 1914, Ottoman Empire was opposing Britain, France and Russia. The Britain, however, supported Arab uprising against Ottoman Empire to help advance their Middle East territory. The British believed that Sharif Hussein could rally millions of Arabs of the Ottoman to fight against Turkish.
In 1916, Sharif Hussein with the help from Britain attempted to build a new Arab empire away from Ottoman domination. However, the Arabs did not join Sharif Hussein side except the prisoners that were forced to do so. Sharif sole motivation was to be a ruler and did not popularize the nationalism concept the British were advancing. British agenda was to form a mild form of Arab Nationalism that they could control.
2. The breakup of the Ottoman Empire 
The Ottoman Empire was established in 1510s in the Arab world after Mamluk Empire was conquered by Sultan Yavuz Selim. The Ottoman Empire was the most successful empires in Middle East before World War I. The Ottoman Empire was a multi-ethnic state ruled by Turkish family. The Ottoman Empire weakened during Sultan Abdulhamid II reign where young Turkish students embraced the idea of nationalism and shun away from religious or ethnic affiliation. A group of western-educated Ottoman army officers overthrew Abdulhamid in 1908.
Although the majority of the young people were embracing the nationalistic idea, it was not the mainstream ideology. A minority of the young Turks were advancing for a complete break from Ottoman history while most demanded more autonomy for ethnic groups. In the World War I, the Ottoman Empire sided with central powers that were against England, France, United States and Russia but failed. The World War I brought an end to the Ottoman Empire and the Western Imperialism. The collapse of Ottoman Empire is an important in the history of Middle East. In 1917, the British Army made its way to Palestinian coast. With the help of Arab allies, British captured ancient cities of Damascus and Aleppo and the Ottoman Empire was now under British authority.
3. The Sykes-Picot agreement
During the World War I, on May 19, 1916, the Great Britain and France reached a secret agreement popularly known as Sykes-Picot agreement. Russia assented the agreement in disempowering the Ottoman Empire. The agreement outlined how most of the Arabs land under the rule of Ottoman Empire was to be shared into British and French spheres of influence after the war. Sir Mark Sykes from Britain and Francois Georges Picot from France authored the agreement on the spoils after the war. Picot was determined to secure control of Syria for France while Sykes demanded to balance out influence in the region for British. Although the British government was promoting Arab nationalism, the agreement neglected the progression of that ideology.
Under the Sykes-Picot agreement, Britain and France took over Arab direct or indirect administration. France took over the Coast of Syria, Lebanon, Adana, Cilicia and Hinterland while Britain ruled over Mesopotamia, Baghdad and Basra. The modern Syria, Mosul, Northern Iraq and Jordan were supervised by French in the north and Britain in the south. Overall, Britain and France retained free passage and trade in the other zone of influence. Palestine was under the international regime.
4. British promises to the Arabs through Col. Lawrence,
Through Colonel Lawrence, the British government had promised the Palestine to the Arabs as a reward to the Sharif Hussein revolt to overthrow Ottoman Empire. The young Turks were encouraged to shun pluralistic and pan-Islamic and embrace nationalism. The British government was encouraging the ideology f nationalism as a promise to a unified state. The allies led by Sharif Husain were encouraged to revolt against the Ottoman Empire. The revolts were promised land owned by Turks, freedom and independence from the Empire. The idea was appealing due to the historical and political reasons.
5. The involvement of the Hashemite dynasty of Mecca
The Hashemite dynasty of Mecca is a family in Middle East rulers who were in power in the twentieth century and whose dominance continues up to date in Jordan. The Hashemite family has a direct lineage to the Banu Hashim and Mohammed, Islam prophet. During twentieth century, the Hashemite family was favored by the British Empire and through its connections; it turned itself into a dynasty of kings. The good relations of Hussein Ibn Ali with the British gave him power to appoint his son to the monarchies after the fall of Ottoman rule.
6. The Balfour Declaration
In November 2, 1917, Arthur James Balfour made a declaration. Balfour declaration was established with the help of Rothschild family to support creation of Jewish homeland in Palestine. Balfour declaration came about after many years of negotiation. The 1894 Dreyfus affair in France made the Jews aware of their rights and realized they would be safer if they had their country. Jews, therefore, created their own political Zionism in order to create a Jewish homeland. The Balfour declaration further gave Britain temporary administrative control over the Palestine. However, in 1939, the Great Britain had a change of heart and issued a White Paper stating that they were not interested in creating a Jewish state. After the Britain gave Palestine to govern as a league of nation’s mandate at the end of World War I, the Arabs and Jews felt betrayed as both had been promised the same land. The conflicts between the Arabs and Jews emanated from the Balfour declaration.
7. American role and involvement in Middle East
During Arab revolt, the United States was involved through the missionaries that were fostering nationalism ideology. The Americans were not among the Great power during World War I hence, they were not involved in the Middle East. The great power of Europe included Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia. Compared to Gre...