Explain how European partitioning in the Middle East after the breakup of the Ottoman Empire led to regional conflict. Take Two

What are we learning Why is this important Why after European forces divided/split up the Ottoman Empire was there conflict in the Middle East? Why is this important Before the Ottoman Empire there was very little conflict in the Middle East. Now, the Middle East constantly has some form of conflict going on.

The Ottoman Empire controlled much of the area known as the Middle East, or Southwest Asia, from the 1300s until the end of World War I

Large Land + Weak leaders= destruction The Ottoman Empire had weakened because it tried to rule such a huge empire with leaders who could not manage to hold on to the vast territory. European countries had also become more powerful. When World War I began, the Ottoman Empire decided to join forces with Germany and Italy against other European powers and the United States.

By the beginning of World War I in 1914, the Ottoman Empire had shrunk in size. Mostly modern day Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, and the west coast of Saudi Arabia.

After ww1 Ottoman Empire, Germany and Italy lost WW1. As a result the Ottoman Empire was overthrown, and Ottoman territory was broken up into a number of smaller countries. Know as the San Remo Agreement (Sykes- Picot Agreement) The agreement led to the division of Turkish- held Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine into various French- and British-administered areas.

What does this mean? The European politicians who decided where the boundaries of these new countries would be often paid little attention to the ethnic and religious groups who were already living in these areas. The new boundaries that were drawn did not take into consideration the concept of nationalism. Nationalism is the idea that countries are most successful if the people who lived there share some common cultural, historic, or religious beliefs. As a result, there has been a lot of conflict in the Middle East.

Everyone must turn in their own sheet of paper with questions & answers. Partnered Questions Why is the study of the Ottoman Empire important to understanding the Middle East? Why did the Ottoman Empire become weak? In 1914 what countries made up the Ottoman Empire? Who did the Ottoman Empire side with during WW1? When did the Ottoman Empire’s control over the Middle East end? What was the San Remo Agreement? Why did the San Remo Agreement create conflict?