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 According to Sykes-Picot, there were to be:
 An ‘A’-zone of French influence, somewhat corresponding
with present-day Syria but without coastal access, and
extending far into present-day Iraq, to include the city of
Mosul.
 A ‘B’-zone of British influence, roughly correspondent to
present-day Jordan and Iraq and including the Israeli port
city of Haifa. Also included were the southern part of
present-day Israel (i.e. the Negev desert), and a band of
territory extending deep into the Arabian peninsula.
 A ‘Blue’ zone of direct French control, in central Anatolia
with extensions towards the south (the Syrian coast) the
west (the southern Turkish coast) and far inland.

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 A ‘Red’ zone of direct British control, in southern Iraq and
extending southwards over Kuwait to include the Persian
Gulf coast of Arabia.
 An international zone in the Holy Land, pending
consultation with other world powers.
 The main criticism of the Sykes-Picot Agreement was that
it failed to take into account the wishes of the Arab
populations in the area – who had been promised self-
determination
 Lawrence of Arabia, who promised the Arabs a homeland
in exchange for siding with the British against the Turks.
 Anglo-French treaty represented the West’s betrayal of
Arab cause, secret was not made public until after WW1
 1917, Balfour Declaration (More on this later)

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• Basis of French claim to Syria
• A)Self-proclaimed protector of the Christian
communities esp.ly the Catholic Maronites-
moral duty to remain there
• B)economic: extensive investments in
railways, port facilities & business entities
undertaken during the last decades of
Ottoman rule
• C)counterbalance GB influence in ME

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 France ruled its Syrian mandate as if it were a
colony
 To weaken the nationalists, divide & rule in

Syria
 Split it into smaller units
 a)the area that would become Lebanon
 b)Alexandratta
 C) Alawis (North)

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 Druze (south)

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 France received a mandate over this territory and
separated out the region of Lebanon in 1920,
granted independence 1943.

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 Was an Ottoman province part of Greater Syria
 The only country in ME that has no single religious
majority
 Christian Maronites (Syrian Catholics)- a sixth of
the pop, for many decades until recently were the
largest group.
 In recent years, Shiah (large population growth)
have become the largest group)
 Sunnis
 Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholics
 Druzes, Protestants, Armenian and a few others

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 The main purpose of the creation of Lebanon in 1920 was to
protect the Maronite community, not to be absorbed into
Muslim-dominated Syria.
 Distinctive character: no single group formed majority, they
were the largest minority
 Heartland-Mount Lebanon.
 Several predominantly Muslim dominated areas (Beirut, Sidon,
Biqa Valley Southern Lebanon up to Palestinian border) were
added to Lebanon, reducing the Maronites to 30%
 To create Maronites dependency on French support to retain
their dominance in Lebanon
 The situation was volatile- competition for power would be
based on religious affiliations

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 Maronites viewed lebanon as their special Christian
homeland, to construct the nation based on
European identity
 Sunni Muslims, who was forced to be part of
Lebanon, wanted unity with Syria (Arab identity)
 What about Shiah?
 Because Lebanon was cooperative to France rule, it
underwent smoother transition into an internal
autonomy
 1926, a new consti, creating a republic

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 Maronites
 Druze (an offshoot of Ismaili)
 Alawites ( A sect Shiah prominent in Syria)
 Confessional State: A system of government that
distributes political and institutional power
proportionally among religious communities.
 Posts in government and seats in the legislature are
apportioned amongst different groups according to
the relative demographic composition of those
groups in a society

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 Recent Stats (CIA Factbook)
 Ethnic Group:Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other
1%
 Religions: Muslim 59.7% (Shi'a, Sunni,
Druze, Isma'ilite, Alawite or Nusayri),
Christian 39% (Maronite Catholic, Greek
Orthodox, Melkite Catholic, Armenian
Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, Armenian
Catholic, Syrian Orthodox, Roman Catholic,
Chaldean, Assyrian, Copt, Protestant), other
1.3%

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 What’s the situation today & its future
prospect? Bright or mess?

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• Transjordan was an artificial state created to accommodate
the interest of a foreign power (Brit) & an
itinerant(wandering) prince in search of a throne (Amir
Abdallah)
• GB-it would be useful to est a dependent regime that
might bring orders to d tribal regions east of Jordan river
rather than doing so itself (someone doing a dirty job for
itself)
• Abdallah given a throne in place of Iraq that was stolen
from him by his younger brother
• No previous existence as a political community
• Under ott, a neglected part of Syria, a desert region
inhabited by Bedouin tribes-ott had little control off.
• Underdeveloped marginal part of Syria, Abdallah & Brit
tried to create a state.

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 Abdallah wanted to attack France & expel it
from the country.
 Had no capability to expel France, Brit wanted

to keep him out of trouble

 Brit persuaded him to accept temporarily the

part of Palestine that lay east of Jordan river,

until the French should leave Syria

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• A Const was proclaimed in 1928, but had little role in
political life.
• It provided for a small legistative council but
Abdallah dominated it and ruled as a traditional
instead of a consti monarch
• Main purpose of this state to bring stability to a
decentralized tribal region
• Hence, Brit placed a special emp on building a
reliable armed force
• The Arab legion policed the frontiers of the mandate,
a desert patrol in charge of internal security formed
in 1930 deployed armored cars, airplanes & modern
weapons
• Did an effective job of keeping the tribes in checked

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 Between interwar years there was little political
life, national parties were not formed.
 Abdallah built tribal alliances through the use
of bribes or eliminate tribal opposition through
the Arab Legion
 Remained loyal to Brit
 1946, Transjordan was granted indep, Abdallah
was elevated from price to king.
 The area that was conveniently created to
appease Abdallah has become a permanent
state

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