What promises did the British make to different groups during World War I? What were the results of these promises? Was the conflict that resulted in the Middle East based on religious differences?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

ANSWER:
Students should recognize the diplomatic "promises" made by the British during World War I to the Arabs and the Zionists. After the Ottoman Empire victory at Gallipoli, the British decided to defeat the Ottoman Empire from within by offering the prince of Mecca, Hussein ibn Ali, a kingdom of his own in the Middle East if he led a revolt against the Ottomans. Hussein's son, Faisal, led an Arab army against the Ottoman Empire in the Arab Revolt of 1916, which contributed to the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. Students should recognize that the Arabs and Ottomans were both Muslim, and therefore the Christian British convincing these Muslim parties to fight each other clearly shows that the motives were political and not religious. Meanwhile, other promises were made to another group, European Zionists. The European Jewish population developed a nationalist movement called Zionism. This movement, led by Theodore Herzl, had the goals of combating anti-Semitism and returning to the ancestral homeland in Palestine or the Jewish "homeland." In 1917, Foreign Secretary Sir Alfred Balfour issued the Balfour Declaration, which stated that the British government supported the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The current conflicts in Palestine were not born out of religious differences but instead are the result of political choices and promises made by the British at the conclusion of the First World War.