King–Crane Commission

The King-Crane Commission was an official investigation during 1919 by the United States government into the circumstances and conditions existing in certain parts of the former Ottoman Empire , in order to inform American policy with regard to the future of the region. It was conducted by Henry Churchill King and Charles R.

The King–Crane Commission , officially called the 1919 Inter-Allied Commission on Mandates in Turkey , was an official investigation by the United States government concerning the disposition of non-Turkish areas within the former Ottoman Empire . It was conducted to inform American policy about the region's people and their desired future in regard to the previously decided partitioning of the Ottoman Empire and the League of Nations Mandate System . The Commission visited areas of Palestine , Syria , Lebanon , and Anatolia , surveyed local public opinion, and assessed its view on the best course of action for the region. The Commission was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson and comprised Henry Churchill King and Charles R. It began work in June 1919 and produced its report on 28 August 1919, though the report was not published until 1922. The Commission's work was undercut from the beginning by continuing and competing colonialist designs on the part of the United Kingdom and France, as indicated by their previous secret deals , their lack of a similar belief in public opinion, as well as the commission's late start, and encountered delays; the 1919 Paris Peace Conference had largely concluded the area's future by the time the report was finished. The King-Crane commission was "the first-ever survey of Arab public opinion" and the fact its results went largely unheeded was bemoaned by pollster James Zogby . David Fromkin , A Peace to End All Peace , 1989, pp 396-97 The proposal was viewed as childish by the French and British career officials, who did not believe that public opinion, in the European and American sense, existed in the Middle East. Nonetheless the British Prime Minister tried to make the best of it by attempting to get the commission to focus exclusively on the claims of France--and the resistance to those claims by the Arabs whom France sought to rule.... The British, like the French, had staked out an enormous claim in the Middle East, but Lloyd George successfully kept the British claims from being scrutinized. When President Wilson's Commission of Inquiry went out to ascertain the wishes of the Middle Eastern peoples, it did not go to Mesopotamia, where British India had instituted direct rule.

The King–Crane Commission , officially called the 1919 Inter-Allied Commission on Mandates in Turkey , was a commission of inquiry concerning the disposition of areas within the former Ottoman Empire . The Commission began as an outgrowth of the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. The Commission visited areas of Palestine , Syria , Lebanon , and Anatolia , surveyed local public opinion, and assessed its view on the best course of action for the region. Originally meant to be led by French, British, Italian and American representatives, it ended as an investigation conducted solely by the United States government after the other countries withdrew to avoid the risk of being "confronted by recommendations from their own appointed delegates which might conflict with their policies". With the withdrawal of other allied nations, the commission lost any real credibility. The Commission submitted its report to the Paris Peace Conference in August of 1919. Its working being undercut from the beginning by France and the United Kingdom's pact, the Sykes-Picot Agreement , and colonialist designs, the Peace Conference had largely concluded the area's future by the time the report was finished. The Arabs: A Narrative History from Mohammed to the Present . Britain and France backed out rather than find themselves confronted by recommendations from their own appointed delegates which might conflict with their policies "The King-Crane Commission Report, August 28, 1919" . David Fromkin , A Peace to End All Peace , 1989, pp 396-97 The proposal was viewed as childish by the French and British career officials, who did not believe that public opinion, in the European and American sense, existed in the Middle East. Nonetheless the British Prime Minister tried to make the best of it by attempting to get the commission to focus exclusively on the claims of France--and the resistance to those claims by the Arabs whom France sought to rule.... The British, like the French, had staked out an enormous claim in the Middle East, but Lloyd George successfully kept the British claims from being scrutinised. When President Wilson's Commission of Inquiry went out to ascertain the wishes of the Middle Eastern peoples, it did not go to Mesopotamia, where British India had instituted direct rule.

The King–Crane Commission , officially called the 1919 Inter-Allied Commission on Mandates in Turkey , was a commission of inquiry concerning the disposition of areas within the former Ottoman Empire . The Commission began as an outgrowth of the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. The Commission visited areas of Palestine , Syria , Lebanon , and Anatolia , surveyed local public opinion, and assessed its view on the best course of action for the region. Originally meant to be led by French, British, Italian and American representatives, it ended as an investigation conducted solely by the United States government after the other countries withdrew to avoid the risk of being "confronted by recommendations from their own appointed delegates which might conflict with their policies". With the withdrawal of other allied nations, the commission lost any real credibility. The Commission submitted its report to the Paris Peace Conference in August 1919. Its working being undercut from the beginning by France and the United Kingdom's pact, the Sykes-Picot Agreement , and colonialist designs, the Peace Conference had largely concluded the area's future by the time the report was finished. The Arabs: A Narrative History from Mohammed to the Present . Britain and France backed out rather than find themselves confronted by recommendations from their own appointed delegates which might conflict with their policies "The King-Crane Commission Report, August 28, 1919" . David Fromkin , A Peace to End All Peace , 1989, pp 396-97 The proposal was viewed as childish by the French and British career officials, who did not believe that public opinion, in the European and American sense, existed in the Middle East. Nonetheless the British Prime Minister tried to make the best of it by attempting to get the commission to focus exclusively on the claims of France--and the resistance to those claims by the Arabs whom France sought to rule.... The British, like the French, had staked out an enormous claim in the Middle East, but Lloyd George successfully kept the British claims from being scrutinised. When President Wilson's Commission of Inquiry went out to ascertain the wishes of the Middle Eastern peoples, it did not go to Mesopotamia, where British India had instituted direct rule.

1919 inquiry on the post-WWI Ottoman Empire The King–Crane Commission , officially called the 1919 Inter-Allied Commission on Mandates in Turkey , consisting primarily of an American delegation was a commission of inquiry concerning the disposition of areas within the former Ottoman Empire . The Commission began as an outgrowth of the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. The Commission visited areas of Palestine , Syria , Lebanon , and Anatolia , surveyed local public opinion, and assessed its view on the best course of action for the region. Originally meant to be led by French , British , Italian , and American representatives, it ended as an investigation conducted solely by the United States government after the other countries withdrew to avoid the risk of being "confronted by recommendations from their own appointed delegates which might conflict with their policies". With the withdrawal of other allied nations, the commission lost any real credibility. The Commission submitted its report to the Paris Peace Conference in August 1919. Its working being undercut from the beginning by France and the United Kingdom's pact, the Sykes–Picot Agreement , and colonialist designs, the Peace Conference had largely concluded the area's future by the time the report was finished. The Palestine Israel Conflict (2nd ed.). The Arabs: A Narrative History from Mohammed to the Present . Britain and France backed out rather than find themselves confronted by recommendations from their own appointed delegates which might conflict with their policies "The King-Crane Commission Report, August 28, 1919" . David Fromkin , A Peace to End All Peace , 1989, pp 396-97 The proposal was viewed as childish by the French and British career officials, who did not believe that public opinion, in the European and American sense, existed in the Middle East. Nonetheless the British Prime Minister tried to make the best of it by attempting to get the commission to focus exclusively on the claims of France--and the resistance to those claims by the Arabs whom France sought to rule.... The British, like the French, had staked out an enormous claim in the Middle East, but Lloyd George successfully kept the British claims from being scrutinised. When President Wilson's Commission of Inquiry went out to ascertain the wishes of the Middle Eastern peoples, it did not go to Mesopotamia, where British India had instituted direct rule.