Publication Date
8-2015
Document Type
Book Chapter
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Following World War I, leaders of the most important nations on the globe wondered how they were going to prevent a crisis like the war from happening again. United States President Woodrow Wilson in his Fourteen Points address, stated that an organization which was based on international diplomacy was necessary. What effects did the League of Nations have on the Palestine Mandate specifically and how did Wilson’s relationships affect the power structure of the Mandate? What impact did this have on the Arab population within Palestine?
Out of the Fourteen Points address came the idea for the League of Nations. In Paris, the leaders of the victorious nations carved up Germany and the Ottoman Empire. Wilson’s desire to create the League and his subsequent failure would become a cornerstone of his presidency. Wilson created a relationship with British Prime Minister David Lloyd George and World Zionist Leader Chaim Weizmann, which secured the creation of the Palestine Mandate. This Mandate would be controlled by the British and the Zionist Jews. Palestine was to be “A home for the Jews.”
Through examination of primary source materials from Wilson, Lloyd George, Weizmann and the records of the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, I have found a relationship that was formed that would irrevocably influence the course of history. Weizmann and Wilson were determined to make the Palestine Mandate a reality. Once Wilson had learned that American participation with the League of Nations would not be accomplished, he worked with British Prime Minister David Lloyd George to give Great Britain control of the Mandate.
The British Mandate for Palestine, as it would come to be known, was seen as a cooperative effort between the British, Jews and Arabs in order to form a nation where all sides could prosper. My research question involves measuring the amount of intent that Wilson had towards Pro-Zionist causes in order to make Palestine that “home” for the Jews. It is to show that Wilson’s diplomatic actions were the catalyst for many issues that the world would face in the subsequent decades. During the League of Nations, the Americans believed that British control of the Mandate was the only viable option for it to succeed. Weizmann and Wilson, along with Lloyd George, created a nation which would soon become one of the greatest points of conflict during the twentieth century.
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Recommended Citation
Larimore, Brendon, "ESTABLISHING THE MANDATE: AMERICAN INVOLVEMENT WITHIN THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS AND THE CREATION OF THE PALESTINE MANDATE" (2015). Department of History - Faculty Scholarship. 4.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/hist/4
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