The Sykes-Picot Agreement 1916 and Lawrence of Arabia
The Sykes-Picot Agreement was an agreement that was concluded in May of 1916, by two British and French diplomats, Sir Mark Sykes and Georges Picot. The Agreement regarded the partition of the Ottoman Empire once The First World War had ended. It effectively split the area known as Asia-Minor into a ‘’British sphere of influence’’ and a ‘’French sphere of influence’’. While these territories weren’t actually ‘’owned’’ by either country, in practice they were in control at both a governmental and administrative level. The negotiations were conducted in secret between Britain, France and tsarist Russia and were not revealed to the public until classified documents were made public after the Bolshevik Revolution. The agreement was had many long-term effects ,the results of which can still be seen in the middle-east.
The negotiation of the treaty occurred between November 1915 and March 1916 and was officially known as the ‘’Asia-Minor Agreement’’. It defined the proposed spheres of influence and control in the Middle East should the allies defeat the Ottoman Empire. It was for the most part negotiated between France and Britain with Russia as a minor party. The first round of discussions took place on the 23 of November and the second on the 21 of December with the agreement becoming official in May 1916. Under the agreement France was allocated the areas comprising of Turkish Cilicia, the Lebanon and coastal Syria with an Arab state under French supervision in modern day Syria. Britain received parts of southern Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan while supervising an Arab state situated between the River Jordan and Negev desert. Russia was to receive the Turkish straits and modern day Arm...
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...le in forming borders which have caused conflicts and sectarianism up to present day.
In the end the agreement was far from ideal; the Great powers sought only short term gain without any real regard for the future and way the region was simply ‘’carved up’’ would sow the seeds for countless wars in the coming century. The agreement was condemned by American President Wilson as it contradicted his fourteen point plan regarding self-determination of nations. It was seen as the Colonial power reverting to the greedy imperialism which many believed was the cause of WW1. As one expert on the Middle East later stated; "The Sykes-Picot deal was designed in a manner that fulfils the interest of the West based on the ground realities that existed at the time i.e. it was a solution that was far from optimal in establishing a stable long term existence in the Middle East’’.
Wilson's 14 Points vs. the Treaty of Versailles. When the peace processes were to start after the end of World War One, there were four people who were major components in the treaty of Paris: Clemenceau, George, Orlando, and Wilson. Clemenceau wanted revenge on the Germans by punishing them through the treaties because he believed that they were at fault for the war; George was in agreement with Clemenceau although he did not feel that Germany should suffer severe punishment; Orlando who wanted the irredenta to be re-established; and President Wilson of the United States of America wanted to create a mild peace with Germany in a fair way. In view of this, Wilson created fourteen points that he wanted accomplished in full as a result of the peace treaties. His fourteen points were his plan for a world peace and included plans for the end of secret treaties, freedom of the seas, free trade, arms reduction, the just settlement of colonial claims, the establishment of a League of Nations, and the evacuation of occupied territories and national self-determination.
World War I, or the Great War, lasted from 1914 to 1918. In harsh battles between some of the world’s strongest economic powers, millions of people were killed and wounded. Woodrow Wilson was the President of the United States during these years, and he yearned for peace. Towards the end of the conflict, Wilson delivered a speech called “Fourteen Points” on January 8, 1918. His goal in doing so was to create some stability in a time of crisis. Even though the leaders of some countries did not jump on board right away, they eventually agreed to signing the Treaty of Versailles, officially ending the war. Through emphasizing peace, security, and freedom, President Woodrow Wilson’s “Fourteen Points” paid off overall, ultimately revealing that
The Versailles Peace Treaty of 1918 was the end result of the brutal First World War. Europe was devastated, and the Allied forces were faced with the task of coming to terms with their former German enemy. It is well known that the French were determined to punish Germany; they sought revenge and made little attempt to hide their objective. At the Versailles Peace Conference the struggle between the French and Germans began a new path. The French demanded large reparations payments and several other drastic measures that would keep Germany from ever being capable of attacking them again. The agreement that was reached enacted several harsh measures against Germany. Aside from the huge reparations that they would be forced to pay, the Allied nations forced the Germans to completely demilitarize their military. Germany was also str...
A long history of European political alliances and ententes existed prior to 1914. This history of agreements evolved into a loose alliance between France, Russia and Great Britain (the Triple Entente) and the formal alliance between Austria-Hungary, Germany and Italy (the Triple Alliance). The events in Morocco in 1905 and 1911 illustrate the influence that these alliances had. Both Germany and France displayed imperialistic motives towards Morocco in the early 20th century. In both incidents, the alliance syst...
What started with an assassination of an Austrian prince unpopular in with royalty in Vienna and plotters in Belgrade ended in war. Four years of artillery, machine guns, and poison gas had ruined the countryside of Europe. Woodrow Wilson put the blame for dead millions at the feet of secret diplomacy, excessive armament, imperialism, and the lack of international cooperation. His plan for a lasting peace was presented to the world in the form of the Fourteen Points, some of which were present in the final plan for peace, the Treaty of Versailles, which faced internal opposition at home. It was the strength of this opposition, from self or fawning-historian labeled "progressives" to conservatives and isolationists, in conjunction with the intractability and incompetence of President Wilson that encouraged the Senate defeat of the Treaty of Versailles.
In 1916, The Sykes-Picot Agreement was signed between Britain and France aiming to control and influence the Middle East after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, who was the sole controller of the region. Followed by The Treaty of Sevres in 1920, new borders were drawn by the 2 European countries for Iraq, Jordan, Turkey and Syria among other Levantine countries. However, the Kurdish population who resided among these geographical borders were not given any land for them, but divided within the new borders giving them harder time than before. As for the Palestinian case, both Zionist and Palestinian nationalism movements arose during the late 19th – early 20th century. What raised the Zionist nationalism movements further was the Balfour Declaration in 1917 which supported the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine while protecting the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities. Ever since then the two populations are, with unfortunate luck, trying to be independent nation states.
The Berlin Treaty, which was signed in 1878 between the Ottoman Empire, Russian Empire, United Kingdom, Austria-Hungary, France, Germany and Italy, revised the Treaty of San Stefano in the same year, was the turning point for Armenian Question and Eastern Question. As a result of this treaty, the situation in the Balkans was settled to a large extent by the European Powers in accordance with their interest. However, the Armenian Question was suspended for the next decades. The decision taken by European Powers as to Armenia during the Berlin Treaty was that the Sublime Port would make reforms in the places where the population mostly consist of the Armenians.
The Treaty of Versailles, one of the most controversial international agreements(“D.1. The Treaty of Versailles."), had been negotiated between January and June of 1919 (History. Staff). Although it was negotiated between January and June, the Treaty of Versailles was officially signed on June 28, 1919 (Hashall) at Versailles, a suburb of Paris (Benson). This treaty involved Germany and all allies of World War I (Benson). The peace agreement was established to aid in the termination of World War I.
The Treaty of Versailles was a violation of Wilson’s ideals. The Treaty is one of the most important agreements (or disagreements) that shaped 20th century Europe socially and physically. Woodrow Wilson on January 22, 1917 in an address to the United States Senate called for a peace without victors, but the Treaty signed by the participating nations was everything but that. The blame for the war was placed on Germany and justified the reparations that were outlined by the treaty for the war. The terms of the treaty were very harsh to the Germans and they took on great resentment. It was a fragile peace agreement that would be used as fuel to keep hostilities going 20 years later.
The first step in identifying whether or not the peace settlement after World War I (WWI), would be the effectiveness of communication to the Germans. In order to properly communicate, one must simply tell the people involved what the conditions are and the consequences for not following them. In addition, the demands must be moderate and the opponent needs to be made clear that it will not favor them in the long run if they do not comply to the terms. While Germany was effectively given the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, one could argue that it was done in an unfair manner. Germany was not even present at the negotiations of the Treaty of Versailles and the Germans expected something along the lines of Wilson’s 14 point plan. At the end of the discussions,
...and military restrictions were implemented. Armenia, and various other independent states were established as a result of the treaty. The empire lost about 80 percent of its original landmass, and eventually declined and fell entirely.
World War I was ultimately ended in 1918 after the Treaty of Versailles was signed. Peace settlements were signed on June 28, 1918 at the Hall of Mirror in Versailles, Paris. The Treaty was an agreement among the United States, Great Britain, and France. Woodrow Wilson, George Clemenceau, and David Lloyd, who represented the "Big Three" countries, collaborated in negotiating the Treaty. The Treaty of Versailles was designed to weaken Germany and give Germany full blame for causing the war. The Treaty implemented massive reparations to Germany which would obliterate Germany's economy, notwithstanding the millions of dead allied soldiers. The settlement strictly limited the German's military. Germans were additionally forced to depart from their homes in Russia, Poland, and Alsace-Lorraine and return to Germany or Austria. Furthermore Germany had to give back any land belonging to other countries. With no alternative, Germany signed the peace settlements. The Treaty of Versailles was undoubtedly justified, Germany was positively the main instigator of the war and its excessive brutality of fighting provoked the war more particularly. Thus, making the amends to Germany was rational because of all the destruction Germany had triggered.
m between the two powers by the end of 1913 looked even more looming impossible. In conclusion, the problems created by Balkan nationalism proved impossible to solve because of the lack of conclusive and tension-relieving communication between the powers ( the attempts to solve the problems were not compromises and left Russia with face loss), and because of the intrinsically opposite nature of the Russian and Austria-Hungarian desires in the Balkans. The threat posed by Slavic nationalism in Austria Hungary, and the desire for influence and pan Slavic nationalism by Russia were goals too vital to the two countries to be compromised over. The tension and suspicion built up over the three key events mentioned served to make the situation worse, until the countries were on a collision course destined for bloodshed.
Lenin’s decree states good points on how to achieve a brief period of peace and opens it up to negotiations on how to alter the decree to better serve the purpose of peace. The Fourteen Points directly say exactly what Wilson believes is needed and is included in his declaration of entering the war. The Fourteen Points possibly would have been the best plan for the world and did help with the good aspects of the conclusion of the war; however, every country in Europe had it’s own agenda that did not adhere to the wants of the foreign United States of America. In the course of human history, what is best for the people of the world is not what transpires and this is evidently seen in the ambitious ideals put forth by Vladimir Lenin and Woodrow
The lives and prosperity of millions of people depend on peace and, in turn, peace depends on treaties - fragile documents that must do more than end wars. Negotiations and peace treaties may lead to decades of cooperation during which disputes between nations are resolved without military action and economic cost, or may prolong or even intensify the grievances which provoked conflict in the first place. In 1996, as Canada and the United States celebrated their mutual boundary as the longest undefended border in the world, Greece and Turkey nearly came to blows over a rocky island so small it scarcely had space for a flagpole.1 Both territorial questions had been raised as issues in peace treaties. The Treaty of Ghent in 1815 set the framework for the resolution of Canadian-American territorial questions. The Treaty of Sevres in 1920, between the Sultan and the victorious Allies of World War I, dismantled the remnants of the Ottoman Empire and distributed its territories. Examination of the terms and consequences of the two treaties clearly establishes that a successful treaty must provide more than the absence of war.