User:Katie-Rock/sandbox

In the following submission I will propose some edits to the page with the intent of making it more thorough in describing the De Bunsen Committee and its significance in shaping the Middle East. I also found that one of the links at the bottom page seems to be problematic. Finally, I am adding information that emphasizes Mark Sykes' role in the committee as it was stated "profound" It leads to a blog that does not seem to be relevant to the topic. My information comes from "A Peace to End All Peace" by David Fromkin. Proposed emissions will contain a strikethrough and added information will be underlined. If anyone has comments or suggestions, please let me know on this talk page or my own talk page.

The report of the De Bunsen committee was presented shortly after the committee's formation, on 30 June 1915. The report established the foundation for British policy in the Middle East

The De Bunsen Committee was the first committee established by the British government to determine their policy toward the Ottoman Empire during and following World War I. It was established on 8 April 1915 by British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, and was headed by Sir Maurice de Bunsen. The report of the De Bunsen committee was presented shortly after the committee's formation, on 30 June 1915. The report established the foundation for British policy in the Middle East.

The members of the committee were was follows:[2]

• Sir Maurice de Bunsen, 1st Baronet, Chairman
• GR Clark, representing the Colonial Office
• Thomas Holderness, representing the India Office
• Henry Jackson (Royal Navy officer), representing the Admiralty
• General C.E. Callwell, representing the Kitchener's War Office
• Hubert Llewellyn-Smith, representing the Board of Trade
• Mark Sykes, representing Lord Kitchener, the Secretary of State for War
• Maurice Hankey, Secretary to the committee of Imperial Defense and Secretary to War Council of the Cabinet

The impact of Mark Sykes, who later negotiated the Sykes-Picot Agreement, on the committee was said to be "profound".[2]

The De Bunsen committee considered four possible solutions provided and outlined by Mark Sykes: partition of the Ottoman Empire amongst the Allied Powers, leaving only a small Ottoman state in Anatolia; preservation subject to Great Power control zones of political and commercial influence; preservation as an independent state in Asia; creation of a decentralized, federal Ottoman state in Asia.

The Committee's report, titled "Committee of Imperial Defense: Asiatic Turkey, Report of a Committee" was issued on 30 June 1915,[3] and recommended the last option, to create a decentralized empire of semi-autonomous units, as the best solution for meeting the British Empire's defense needs. These units that were determined by the committee would be comprised of five provinces: Syria, Palestine, Armenia, Anatolia, and -Iraq. The De Bunsen Committee’s intention was to have British intervention within the Middle East.

• Jump up^ The Middle East and North Africa in World Politics: A Documentary Record, by J. C. Hurewitz, 1979, Yale University Press; 2 edition, ISBN 0-300-02203-4, page 26
• ^ Jump up to:a b In the Anglo-Arab Labyrinth: The McMahon-Husayn Correspondence and Its Interpretations 1914-1939, Elie Kedourie
• Jump up^ National Archives, CAB 42/3/12
• Jump up^ The Sykes-Picot agreement and the roots of imperialist domination of the Middle East (Link to blog seems unreliable)
• A Peace To End All Peace, by David Fromkin, 1989, Henry Holt and Company, Inc., ISBN 0-8050-0857-8, pages 146-149