Redrawing the Map of the Middle East in 1920

100 years ago at the conference of San Remo, one thing became clear: Great Britain and France wanted control over the Middle East. Justified by the fighting in the previous years and painted as "liberators" of the Middle Eastern minorities, the new map of the Middle East emerged - under the cover of the League of Nations Mandate system.
 
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» SOURCES
 
Karsh, Efraim & Karsh, Inari, Empires of the Sand: The Struggle for Mastery in the Middle East 1789-1923, (Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, 1999)

Lloyd George, David, Memoirs of the Peace Conference, (New Haven : Yale University Press, 1939) vol. 2

Paris, Timothy J. Britain, The Hashemites and Arab Rule 1920-1925, (London : Frank Cass, 2003)

Provence, Michael, The Last Ottoman Generation and the Making of the Modern Middle East, (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2017)

O’Neill, Robert, Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918, Volume VII - The Australian Imperial Force in Sinai and Palestine, 1914–1918, (Australian War Memorial, 1941)

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»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller & Florian Wittig
Director of Photography: Toni Steller
Sound: Toni Steller
Editing: Toni Steller
Motion Design: Philipp Appelt
Research by: Jesse Alexander
Fact checking: Florian Wittig
 
Channel Design: Alexander Clark
Original Logo: David van Stephold
 
Contains licensed material by getty images
All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2020

[merrbino]

*Slaps roof of Versailles treaty*

"This baby can fit so much future conflict in it"

[ralphbernhard]

Sykes: "What part do you want?"
Picot: "What part do you want?"

Locals:

[ahuse]

the stuff you guys are covering here is as important and consequential as any battle. bravo!

[brianthomas]

One of the smartest things that Italy ever did was to avoid Sykes-Picot. Before Orlando headed to Versailles, he met with Vittorio Emanuele III and the King asked him if he intended to contest Sykes-Picot at all. He shook his head and replied, "There's a reason that the old Romans left, Majesty- too many problems over there". How right he was.

[tschetatsch]

Arbitrary borders not thinking about ethnicities which lead to geopolitical problems and tensions today

[Phonixrmf]

Middle Easterners: peace is surely coming
Picot: Sykes!

[peacemaarkhan]

Middle East in 1920: Hey US, please meddle in our affairs

The US 100 years later: sure thing

[jackwilkes]

Arabs: will you give us our own land after the War?
U.K. and France: Yes, well actually no...

[eifelitorn]

The Sykes-Picot Agreement was already revealed by the Russians in 1917 when they left the war. This is a really interesting topic, thanks! I'm defending my Master's Thesis on this topic in a month, so this fitted me perfectly :D

[JamieDouthit]

Thanks for still putting out content. As some who’s still working 50 hour per week, I love getting the notification that “the Great War” just uploaded a new video. Keep up the great work!

[micahistory]

It's very interetsing how you included those surveys of what the Arabs themselves thought about

[extrahistory]

1:40 Allied Interests/ Great War Compromises
6:00 Sykes-Picot Agreement
8:31 French and British Rivalries Riel Up
9:24 Wilson’s Fourteen Points/ Mandates/ League of Nation
12:18 Arabs’ Thoughts/ Petitions
16:20 Lebanon/ France, Faisal & Syria/ British Leave Syria
20:04 San Remo/ Colonial “Mandates”

[MrBigCookieCrumble]

_"So.. how are we gonna redraw the Middle East, any ideas?"_
"Perhaps we should send out a committe that will investigate the complex interracial relationsships, the cultural and ethnic backgrounds and local identities of the region in question to better determine who gets what land?"
_"That sounds much to complicated.. How long do you think this will take?"_
"Oh several years for sure!"
_"Nonsense! Making up a new country on the spot can't be THAT hard!_
_Let's see, a line here, a curve there, couple of scribbles.. and.. _*_boom!_*_ There, new country!"_

[walidhousni]

Sykes: a Line from here to here...
Picot: and another from here to here...
Sykes: wait...I want this village for Britain
Picot: oh c'mon...ok but I take this mountain for france
Sykes: excellent!


Arabs:...wait...you promised us to...
Sykes: do you hear something?
Picot:hmmm I think it's Italy who want some lands
Sykes: oh..we can give them southern turkey
Arabs:
Sykes: uhum excellent! Finally peace in the middle east!


*100 years later*

[suburban]

I was part of the Civil Affairs Command that went to Desert Storm. I wish this program had been available in 1990.

[EKcyclist]

Your channel has opened the skylight! So many conflicts, decisions and issues after the Great War that go largely unnoticed, yet are having impacts to this day. Absolutely superb; please keep up your excellent work!

[Tadicuslegion]

British Government: And have you actually ever been to the Middle East?
British Foreign Office worker: Nope.
British Government: Well you're more than qualified to redraw it then.

[panicatthecostcofoodcourt]

This makes me so angry, the amount of conflict this causes in the future for nothing but pure greed

[BTNMNKI]

This video looks different than the others. Can't quite put my finger on it...



Duh, of course!



New glasses!

[Brainiac_]

Shooting in just a living room really made no significant difference to the content of the channel. Keep going!