Speaker: Mark Albertson
Extract: Sykes-Picot (May 1916) was a secret convention held during World War-I between Britain and France supported by imperial Russia for the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire. The Sykes-Picot agreement led to the division of Turkish-held Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine into various French- and British-administered areas. Mark Albertson, historian, will go through that progression of the April 1914 request by Arab nationalists desiring British assistance with their nationalism in throwing off the Ottoman yoke; the British acquiescing in November 1914 when the Ottomans join the Germans and Austria-Hungary; the Hussein-McMahan Correspondence; the Damascus Protocol; Sykes-Picot Agreement; Balfour Declaration; San Remo Conference; Treaty of Sevres; & the Treaty of Lausanne.
The inhabitants of the area in question did not forge the borders of the nations they are in, the British and French did, for colonial aspirations in expectation of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Sole Arab nation of any consequence forged by Arabs was Saudi Arabia. The Palestine-Israel conflict is a product of this colonial division of the land of Arabs.
Our speaker, Mark Albertson, is a frequent presenter at the Library. Mark is a military historian with a commanding knowledge of geo-politics. He is the historical research editor at Army Aviation magazine and is the historian for the Army Aviation Association of America. He has authored several books: USS Connecticut: Constitution State Battleship; They’ll Have to Follow You! The Triumph of the Great White Fleet; On History: A Treatise. He is at work on a two-volume history on the saga of Army aviation. Mark teaches history at Norwalk Community College in Norwalk, Connecticut.
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