WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -In 1916, French and British diplomats secretly reached the Sykes-Picot agreement, carving up the Middle East into spheres of influence for their respective countries. That agreement was superceded by another which established a mandate system of French and British control, sanctioned by the new League of Nations.

Detailed explanation-2: -The partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after the war led to the domination of the Middle East by Western powers such as Britain and France, and saw the creation of the modern Arab world and the Republic of Turkey.

Detailed explanation-3: -As they divided the land, they drew borders that paid no attention to local cultures. This caused some ethnic and religious groups to be separated by boundaries, while other rival groups were grouped together. Claims over land led to long periods of conflict and bloodshed in the region.

Detailed explanation-4: -The losses in the Middle East were staggering: the war not only ravaged the land and decimated armies, it destroyed whole societies and economies. In this way, the experience of World War I in the Middle East is perhaps more akin to the experience of World War II in Europe.

Detailed explanation-5: -In the Sykes-Picot agreement, concluded on May 19, 1916, France and Britain divided up the Arab territories of the former Ottoman Empire into spheres of influence.

Detailed explanation-6: -If you want to understand part of why the Middle East is such a volatile region today, a good place to start finding answers is the partitioning of the region between 1918 and 1920. The Allies defeated the Ottoman Empire in WWI, and needed to decide what would happen to areas previously under Ottoman control.

Detailed explanation-7: -World War I In return, the British promised them independence after the war. The British and French, however, had already made a secret deal (the Sykes-Picot Agreement), carving up the Middle East between themselves into areas of direct or indirect control.