How Did World War 1 Affect The Middle East

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World War I has a considerable impact on the geopolitical development of the world. After the end of World War I, spheres of influence of leading world powers have changed consistently, reducing the impact of Germany and its allies and destroying the Ottoman Empire as the dominant power in the Middle Eastern region. However, the effects of World War I on the Middle East had proved to be quite different from what the local population had expected because instead of liberation and expanding the territory of independent states, the local population faced the problem of growing impact of European superpowers, especially Britain, which became the dominant power in the Middle Eastern region. At the same time, Europeans had proved to be unable to understand needs of the local population and specificities of the region, while poor governing and diplomacy of Europeans had laid…show more content…
In such a way, the war did not bring many changes to the region because the Middle East remained under the control of European superpowers, especially Britain, whose position was challenged in a way by France. The domination of Britain in the region ruined expectations of the local population for independence. In fact, Arab nationalists believed that the western powers, especially the British, had acted with arrogance, drawing borders and creating nations with little or no regard for the wishes of the local inhabitants (Gelvin, 78). The region was overwhelmed by internal conflicts and contradictions. Many forces, both local and foreign, were at work at the time the settlement was agreed (Gelvin, 102). Nevertheless, even though Arabs formally got their independence but they could not exercise their independence because of the domination of Britain in the region. In fact, the Middle East turned into the sphere of influence of Great Britain and partially

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