The British Mandate to 1945

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Learning Outcomes

By the end of this section of the course you should be able to:

• Explain the terms of the the British Mandate for Palestine
• Explain the reasons for Palestinian Arab unrest in the 1920s and 1930s
• Explain the solution proposed by the Peel Commission and how this was received by both Palestinian Arabs and Jews
• Explain the impact of the Second World War on the Mandate

Key events and processes:

• The British Mandate – class A (confirmed in 1922)
• Jewish immigration(know some figures) and the reaction of Palestinians, including the Arab Revolt (1936)
• Clashes between Jews and Palestinians
• The Peel Commission, 1936-7
• The McDonald Report and the White Paper of 1939
• The Impact of the Second World War

1. The British Mandate
   Readings

   • Hilary Brash, The Middle East: Conflict, Crisis and change, 1917-2012, pp. 6-10;
   • Charlotte Kelsted, ‘100 years after the Balfour Declaration – revisiting Herbert Samuel’s Legacy’.

    

   Tasks

   • Summarise the key provisions of the the Palestine Mandate
   • How are the British Mandate and the Balfour declaration related?
   • How far are the interests of Arab Palestinians recognised in the Mandate?
   • Summarise the key provisions of the Mandate
   • Explain the extent of and reasons for population change in the mandate in the 1920s and 1930s
   • Using the sources in the this file – Jewish immigration to Palestine – complete the diagram explaining the causes and consequences of Jewish immigration between 1900 and 1945.
   • Identify and briefly describe three incidents which indicate that Arab Palestinians were unhappy about the increasing Jewish immigration

 

2. The 1937 Peel Commission
   Readings
   • Hilary Brash, The Middle East: Conflict, Crisis and Change, 1917-2012, pp. 6-9.
   • from BBC Bitesize

    

   Tasks:

   • Develop a role-play based around the Peel Commission of 1936 which came after six months of fighting between Jews and Arabs in Palestine

 

3. Palestine and the Second World War
   Readings:
   • Hilary Brash, The Middle East: Conflict, Crisis and Change, 1917-2012, pp. 10.
   • Notes on British policy changes in Palestine (Word).
   • WWII and the British mandate in Palestine (PPT)

    
   Tasks

   • What are the key differences between 1937 Peel Commission and the McDonald Report that led to the White Paper of 1939? How do you explain the British change of policy?
   • How far did WWII change British policy in Palestine?
   • Draw a living graph of the period 1917-1945 identifying the changes and continuities in British policy in that period.

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