Shaping the Middle East within the frame of sharing designs (1918-1945)

The term Middle East, just like Orient and Near East, is a concept invented by Europeans. One of the most frequently used concepts in the first quarter of the 20th century, the term Middle East has replaced the term Near East which used to be used formerly. One of the most important reasons why this concept is mentioned so frequently is that Britain has become active in the geography of India and China. The territories defined by the aforementioned expression have remained significant for the whole humanity due to a variety of reasons since the Ancient History until today. These territories which are considered a significant center of exploitation for European states and the United States became a main theme of share designs when the Ottoman Empire joined the World War I. The period of secret treaties which began with the World War I continued with the establishment of mandate governments through which the share designs were put into practice. With this study, it was tried to explain how the Middle East had been shaped by great powers with the share designs from 1918 until 1945 and the stages of chronologically carrying out the share designs in these territories. For that purpose, the subject was explored from different points of view by using Turkish and foreign archives, newspapers, books and papers. The ongoing effort of shaping the Middle East by establishing mandate governments impelled European states to make constitutions and treaties and assign new kings in the areas they ruled in order to govern the Middle East free of cost and problem. States such as Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Saudi Arabia emerged as a result of this effort. When ruling these territories, mandatory states sought solutions to decrease their military and financial liabilities. Prior to the onset of the World War II, Britain signed so-called treaties of independence with Iraq and Jordan and France with Syria and Lebanon. Mandatory states which ensured all their military, political, cultural and economic benefits with these treaties were freed of their responsibilities and maintained their influence on the Middle East. During the World War II, Britain and France re-interfered in the Middle East with guarantees provided to them by former treaties and increased their military and political roles in the area. During this period, Britain made designs suggesting the sharing of the Palestinian territories between Arabs and Jews. In the Middle East, European states made an effort to create different states and identities with the divide-mangle-easily rule tactic which they had applied from 1918 until 1945. Rather than peace, this policy brought an inconsistency to the Middle East.