Is the Sykes – Picot Agreement of 1916 was the basis for the political division of the Middle East?

Abstract

In 1916, Britain and France signed an agreement deals with the future division of the Ottoman Empire. This agreement, known as the Sykes – Picot Agreement, after its two designers, the British Sir Mark Sykes and the French François George Picot, is seen up today as the main act which created the modern Middle East and responsible for some of its problems. The article present here point to another act, the decision of the newly established League of Nation to create the Mandate System and , following it, the San Remo decision of April 1920 giving the Mandates concerning the Arab Middle East to France and Britain, as the main designer of the division of the Middle East to its present form.

Keywords

• first world war
• ottoman empire
• league of nations
• britain
• france
• mandate system