Middle East History Study Guide

What did the Sykes-Picot Agreement do?

• Secretly divided the region up between Britain and France
• Created the British controlled "Mandate of Iraq" forcing together Sunni and Shia/Shi'ite Muslims
• Ignored promises made to powerful Arab families of independence in exchange for help during WWI
• All of the Above

What can we blame on the Sykes-Picot Agreement?

• An Iraq that is difficult to govern because of fighting between the 2 Muslim groups that live there
• Attempted genocide against the Kurds that live in northern portions of the country
• British control of oil resources in their mandate
• All of the Above

What were the British and the French mainly after when they set up their mandates in the region?

• a lasting peace
• money for oil reserves
• independent nations representing the various ethnic and religious groups
• All of the Above

What is the current state of Palestine and Israel?

• regular fighting between the two groups over control of the land
• regular disagreements over religious belief and practice

If you were given a time machine to go back in time to solve current conflicts in the region, when would you go back to and what would you do differently?

​ (a)   marks a turning point for the Middle East. The fall of the ​ (b)   led to the division of the lands once controlled by the Ottomans into​ (c)   controlled by the British and the French. The​ (d)   of the region was decided in a secret agreement. In the​ (e)   Britain and France ignored ethnic and religious ties in the region in favor of their own interests in oil rights.

• World War I
• Ottoman Empire
• mandates
• partitioning
• Sykes-Picot Agreement

World War II also marks a turning point in the region. The extreme acts of violence that the Jewish people were subjected to during the​ (a)   convinces the international community that something needs to be done to protect Jews from​ future persecution and acts of (b)   . The​ (c)   had been pushing for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in the Middle East. The attempted​ (d)   by the Nazis helped to convince the​ (e)   to establish a Jewish homeland in present day Israel.

• Holocaust
• antisemitism
• Zionist Movement
• genocide
• United Nations

Why did the European Partitioning under the Sykes-Picot agreement cause conflict?

• Other European nations were upset they did not acquire more territory.

• The French disagreed with the British on which land to mandate.

• Countries were allowed to maintain wealth of natural resources.

• Europeans ignored historical and religious/ethnic borders.

What were the main reasons that Israel was created as a country by the United Nations?

• Protection from antisemitism

• Zionist Movement

• The Holocaust

• Historic and religious ties to the region

• Territory that was largely unoccupied

What happened almost immediately after Israel was created as a country?

• The new immigrants were welcomed and peacefully settled into the region

• The new nation was attacked by the surrounding countries and had to defend its right to exist

• After a brief period of conflict Israel has been accepted and has few conflicts with its neighbors

• Palestinians took over the entire area that was promised to the Jews.