Explaining History – Petitions, protests and the Mandate SystemMandate System
Full Description:A mechanism established by the League of Nations after World War I to administer former Ottoman and German territories. “Class A” Mandates—Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, and Transjordan—were considered nearly ready for independence but placed under temporary control of France or Britain until they could “stand alone.” In reality, Mandates were colonies by another name.
Critical Perspective:The Mandate System was hypocrisy institutionalized. The same powers that carved up the Middle East for their own advantage claimed they were acting as benevolent trustees. No timetable for independence was set; “readiness” was defined by the mandatory power. Iraq was granted nominal independence in 1932, but with a British client king and treaty that preserved British military bases and oil control. The Mandate was not the road to freedom but the road to neocolonialism.
Read more 1919-21
Read more 1919-21
At the end of the First World War the Ottoman Empire was carved up between the British and the French, with Palestine, Transjordan and Iraq being taken as mandates by Britain and Syria and Lebanon being occupied by France. The British originally secured Syria for France, but the French then overthrew the new king of the country, Faisal, the son of Sharif Hussein of Mecca.Help the podcast to continue bringing you history each weekIf you enjoy the Explaining History podcast and its many years of c
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