Napoleonic Invasion

fifty-fifty though short sleep had taken home his troops to defend his own empire, his inroads had exposed the door to European domination of this ancient Mediterranean crossroads, and Egypt had been effectu entirelyy down the stairs British occupation since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. queen territories in the Balkans had been recaptured by Austria-Hungary and other European powers. Even in Turkey itself, the absolute rule of Sultan Abdul al-Ahmid II had been ended by the successful Young Turk revolt of 1908 and the annunciation of a constitution (Tauber 1).

Before the war, Arab nationalists in variant regions had been quest an expanded office staff for themselves, but without much success. Since the days of the Sultan, Jewish settlers in nirvana had been seeking permission for extensive Jewish immigration to their ancient territory to fulfill the Zionist reverie for a national homeland. In the postwar days, with idealistic hopes for the emergent League of Nations and principles of national self-determination in the air, both groups turn eagerly for help to the victorious European powers.

Although British leadership understood that they were reshaping an historically important world crossroads, they lacked understanding of the role religion played in the region:

The Islamic governmental tradition is imperial, a tradition of nomad empires. Empires are not nations. They represent nations and have expanding (or shrinking) frontiers. Unlike nations, they include rather than

O'Brien, Conor Cruise. The Siege: The Saga of Israel and Zionism. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1986.

The canal was built fit to a plan by French engineer Ferdinand de Lessups with Ottoman permission, supposedly to benefit Egypt. But British and French maneuvering lead to European domination of first the canal zone, then all of Egypt, as early as the 1870s. After Britain put trim a shortlived nationalist uprising led by Colonel Abmad Arabi, an Egyptian officer, French prestige suffered. A British expeditionary force-out became the master of the situation, and the British role in Egypt was established. The "temporary" British occupation lasted until 1922.

Of course, empires also seldom provide rights of self-determination for their citizens. British diplomats meeting in the Cairo Conference of 1921 were primarily interested with protection of trade routes through Suez, open land and ocean passages to India, struggles with France for hegemony in the middle East and guarding themselves against possible threats from the unstable tonic regime in Russia. American oil companies were beginning to hand over some interest in the region, but extensive geographic expedition had awaited the end of hostilities. British diplomats also struggled sincerely with the hope to fulfill promises made during the war and meet the national aspirations of the various national groups lobbying them. Ultimately, "Syria and Lebanon were given their present frontiers and made French mandates under the League of Nations. Transjordan, subsequently the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and Iraq became monarchies under British mandate. Palestine remained under direct British rule as a mandated territory" (Pfaff 84).

The earlier Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916 had also embodied other series of defendory promises. Drafted to establish post-war spheres of influences in the region for Britain and France, it appeared to contradict the Balfour Declaration by partitioning Palestine between the both and
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