Occupied Enemy Territory Administration
{{Short description|Part of Ottoman Syria, 1917–1920}}
{{Distinguish|Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (Ethiopia)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name = {{native name|fr|Administration du territoire ennemi occupé}}
{{native name|ar|إدارة أراضي العدو المحتلة}}
{{lang|ar-Latn|Idarat aradi al-ʿadui al-muhtala}}
| conventional_long_name = Occupied Enemy Territory Administration
| common_name = OETA
| status = Occupied territory
| empire = British Empire and French Third Republic
| life_span = 1917–1920
| year_start = 23 October 1917
| year_end = 1920
| event_start =
| date_start =
| event_end =
| date_end =
| event1 =
| date_event1 =
| event2 = San Remo conference
| date_event2 = 19 to 26 April 1920
| event3 =
| date_event3 =
| p1 = Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate
| flag_p1 = Flag of the Ottoman Empire.svg
| p2 = Damascus Vilayet
| flag_p2 = Flag of the Ottoman Empire.svg
| p3 = Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem
| flag_p3 = Flag of the Ottoman Empire.svg
| p4 = Beirut Vilayet
| flag_p4 = Flag of the Ottoman Empire.svg
| p5 = Aleppo Vilayet
| flag_p5 = Flag of the Ottoman Empire.svg
| p6 = Adana Vilayet
| flag_p6 = Flag of the Ottoman Empire.svg
| s1 = Arab Kingdom of Syria
| flag_s1 = Flag of Kingdom of Syria (1920-03-08 to 1920-07-24).svg
| s2 = Mandatory Palestine
| flag_s2 = Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
| s3 = Greater Lebanon
| flag_s3 = Flag of Lebanon (1920-1943).svg
| s4 = Alawite State
| flag_s4 = Flag of the Alawite State (1920–1936).svg
| s5 = Turkey
| flag_s5 = Flag of Turkey.svg
| flag_type = Flags of France and the United Kingdom, as well as the flag of the Arab administration in OETA-East
| flag =
| image_coat =
| image_map = Area of the OETA.svg
| image_map_caption = Area of the OETA, according to the British Government's History of the Great War Based on Official Documents{{sfn|Macmunn|Falls|1930|p=606-607}}
| capital =
| currency =
| common_languages = Arabic, Hebrew, Ottoman Turkish, English, French
| demonym =
| area_km2 =
| area_rank =
| GDP_PPP =
| GDP_PPP_year =
| HDI =
| HDI_year =
| title_leader = Administrators
}}
The Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (OETA) was a joint British, French and Arab military administration over the Levantine provinces{{snd}}which had been part of the Ottoman Empire for four centuries{{snd}}between 1918 and 1920, set up on 23 October 1918[https://books.google.co.il/books?id=O9ENRvFwZmoC&pg=PA109 Israel: Israel's transition from community to state] Israel: The First Hundred Years following the Sinai and Palestine Campaign and Arab Revolt of World War I.{{sfn|Macmunn|Falls|1930|pp=606–607}} Although it was declared by the British military, who were in control of the region, it was preceded on 30 September 1918 by the 1918 Anglo-French Modus Vivendi; in which it was agreed that the British would give the French control in certain areas, and the Hashemites were given joint control of the Eastern area per T. E. Lawrence's November 1918 "Sharifian plan".{{sfn|Paris|2003|p=48}}
Following the occupation of the Adana Vilayet (the region of Cilicia) in December 1918, a new territory, OETA North, was set up.{{sfn|Macmunn|Falls|1930|p=623}} The administration ended in OETA West and OETA South in 1920, following the assignment of the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon and British Mandate for Palestine at the 19–26 April 1920 San Remo conference.{{sfn|Macmunn|Falls|1930|pp=607–609}}
In OETA East, British administration ended following the withdrawal of British forces from the territory in November 1919, and the subsequent declaration of the Arab Kingdom of Syria over the same area. The area was split into two after the French defeated King Faisal in July 1920; the northern part of the territory was combined with the French-administered OETA West, and the southern part became a no man's land and later became the Emirate of Transjordan.{{sfn|Macmunn|Falls|1930|p=609|ps=: "The Arab zone was divided into two, the southern of which became, and remains to-day, the mandated territory of Trans-Jordan, under the rule of Abdulla, Hussein's second son. At Damascus the experiment was tried of a French-protected State under Feisal, but it speedily failed. Feisal was ejected by the French in July 1920, and Zone A linked with the Blue Zone under a common administration."}}
Due to the success of the Turkish War of Independence, Marash, Aintab and Urfa sanjaks of former Aleppo Vilayet remained part of Turkey after 1921. Also, the Antakya and İskenderun kazas of Aleppo Sanjak were collectively detached as the Republic of Hatay in 1938; which was then annexed by Turkey after a disputed referendum in 1939.
History
=Initiation=
On 23 October 1918, following the British and Arab forces' defeat of the Ottoman empire, Field Marshal Edmund Allenby announced that Ottoman Syria was to be split into three administrative sub-units, which varied very little from the previous Ottoman divisions:{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O9ENRvFwZmoC&pg=PA110|title=Israel: Israel's transition from community to state|first=Efraim|last=Karsh|date=6 March 2000|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=9780714649634 |via=Google Books}}{{cite book|author=Roberto Mazza|title=Jerusalem: From the Ottomans to the British|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f_ABAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA148|date=30 September 2009|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-0-85771-393-3|page=148}}
- OETA South, consisting of the Ottoman Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem and the sanjaks of Nablus and Acre. This was the first administrative definition of what was to become Mandatory Palestine;{{harnvb|Biger|2004|p=53}}: "This initial division along the lines of the Ottoman administrative division for the purposes of military government, was in fact the first definition of an area that would later be determined as 'Palestine'"
- OETA West (originally OETA North, renamed two months later) consisting of the Ottoman Beirut Vilayet, the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate, the Sanjak of Latakia, and a number of sub-districts; and
- OETA East consisting of the Ottoman Damascus Vilayet and the southern part of the Aleppo Vilayet. The governors of Aleppo were later to sponsor the Occupation of Zor. The area of Ma'an and Aqaba was administered by OETA East and claimed by the Hejaz.
In December 1918, following the occupation of the region of Cilicia, a new territory was set up.{{sfn|Macmunn|Falls|1930|p=623}}
- OETA North, consisting of the Adana Vilayet
=Later events=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right;" align=right
|+ King–Crane Commission OETA population estimates |
| ! South
! West ! East ! Totals |
|---|
| Muslim
| 515,000 | 600,000 | 1,250,000 | 2,365,000 |
| Christian
| 62,500 | 400,000 | 125,000 | 587,500 |
| Druze
| | 60,000 | 80,000 | 140,000 |
| Jewish
| 65,000 | 15,000 | 30,000 | 110,000 |
| Other
| 5,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 | 45,000 |
| Totals
| 647,500 | 1,095,000 | 1,505,000 | 3,247,500 |
File:1919 King Crane Commission Report - Petition Opinion Poll Summaries in Syria, Palestine and Lebanon.jpg Petitions received from OETA South (became Palestine), OETA West (became Lebanon and Western Syria) and OETA East (became Syria and Transjordan); it has been described as "the first-ever survey of Arab public opinion".{{cite web |first=James |last=Zogby |title=Opinions Matter: A Lesson From History |date=11 July 2008 |publisher=Huffington Post |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-zogby/opinions-matter-a-lesson_b_112259.html}}]]
Under this administration the immediate needs of the people were provided for, seed grain and live-stock were imported and distributed, finance on easy terms was made available through the Army bankers, a stable currency was set up and postal services restored.{{cite book |title=Suez to Aleppo |last=Keogh |first=E. G. |author-link = Eustace Graham Keogh|author2=Joan Graham|year=1955 |publisher=Directorate of Military Training by Wilkie & Co |location=Melbourne|oclc=220029983}} pp. 202–203 Allenby insisted that as long as military administration was required, it was to remain his responsibility.{{cite book |editor1-first=Matthew |editor1-last=Hughes |title=Allenby in Palestine: The Middle East Correspondence of Field Marshal Viscount Allenby June 1917 – October 1919 |series=Army Records Society|volume=22 |year=2004 |publisher=Sutton Publishing Ltd |location=Phoenix Mill, Thrupp, Stroud, Gloucestershire|isbn=978-0-7509-3841-9}} Allenby to Robertson 25 January 1918 in Hughes 2004, p. 128
Military administrators
=OETA South chief administrators=
The area was divided into four districts: Jerusalem, Jaffa, Majdal and Beersheba, each under a military governor. Both of the first two British administrators, Generals Money and Watson, were removed by London for not favouring the Zionists over the Arabs;{{cite book|first=D. K. |last=Fieldhouse|title=Western Imperialism in the Middle East 1914-1958|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ffjWKGpR-pYC&pg=PA198|date=6 April 2006|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-153696-0|page=198}} when the OETA administration ended, Liberal party politician (and former British Home Secretary) Herbert Samuel was installed as the first civilian administrator. Samuel recorded his acceptance of the role, and the end of military administration, in an often-quoted document: "Received from Major-General Sir Louis J. Bols K.C.B.—One Palestine, complete."{{cite ODNB|last=Owen|first= C. V.|date=2004|id=31947 |title=Bols, Sir Louis Jean (1867–1930)}}
=OETA East administrators=
OETA East was a joint Arab-British military administration. The Arab and British armies entered Damascus on 1 October 1918, and on 3 October 1918 Ali Rida al-Rikabi was appointed Military Governor of OETA East.{{cite book|first=William E. |last=Watson|title=Tricolor and Crescent: France and the Islamic World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o4vrUbMK5eEC&pg=PA53|year=2003|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-275-97470-1|pages=53–}}{{cite book|first=Eliezer |last=Tauber|title=The Arab Movements in World War I|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zZgAAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA240|date=5 March 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-19978-4|pages=240}} Prince Faisal son of King Hussain of Mecca entered Damascus as on 4 October and appointed Rikabi Chief of the Council of Directors (i.e. prime minister) of Syria.
The boundary definition of OETA East left uncertainties to the south and east, leading to competing claims from the Kingdom of Hejaz and Occupied Iraq respectively – see Occupation of Ma'an and Occupation of Zor for further details.
=OETA North (West) administrators=
- Marie Antoine Philpin de Piépape (7 Oct 1918 - 19 Nov 1918)
- Jules Camille Hamelin (19 Nov 1918 - 21 Nov 1919)
- François Georges Barb (21 Nov 1919 - 1 Sep 1920)
=OETA North (Cilicia) administrators=
- Édouard Brémond{{sfn|Macmunn|Falls|1930|p=623}}
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! rowspan=2| {{Abbr|No.|Number}} ! rowspan=2| Portrait ! rowspan=2| Name ! colspan=3| Term of office ! rowspan=2| {{Abbr|Ref.|Refences}} |
| Took office
! Left office ! Time in office |
|---|
| 1
| | Major general | June 1918 | June 1919 | {{age in years and months|1918|06|1|1919|06|1}} | |
| 2
| | Major general | June 1919 | December 1919 | {{age in years and months|1919|06|1|1919|12|1}} | |
| 3
| 70px | Lieutenant general | January 1920 | July 1920 | {{age in years and months|1920|01|1|1920|07|1}} | |
Initiation and administration
The OETA was established on 23 October 1918, under the accepted rules of military occupation, and defined as follows:
{{quote frame
|title = Public Record Office. W.O. 106. File 718; Secret (Telegram E.A. 1808 of 23.10.18){{cite book|last=Alsberg|first=Paul Avraham|author-link=:de:Paul Avraham Alsberg|editor=Daniel Carpi|title=הציונות: מאסף לתולדות התנועה הציונית והישוב היהודי בארץ־ישראל|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KZULAQAAIAAJ|year=1973|publisher=אוניברסיטת תל-אביב, הוצאת הקיבוץ המאוחד|chapter=קביעת הגבול המזרחי של ארץ ישראל (Determining the Eastern Boundary of the Land of Israel)}} [https://humanities.tau.ac.il/sites/humanities.tau.ac.il/files/media_server/humanities/zionism/ציונות/ג/10.pdf Available in pdf here]
|quote =
1. The enemy territory occupied by the allied troops of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force will be divided, for purposes of provisional military administration, into three areas, each in charge of a "Chief Administrator" directly responsible in all cases to the Commander-in-Chief.
The three areas and their Chief Administrators are : -
:(a) "Occupied Enemy Territory (South)". - Chief Administrator, -~ General Sir A. W. Money, K.C.B., C.S.I., (British). Comprises the Sanjaks of Jerusalem, Nablus, and Acre.
:(b) "Occupied Enemy Territory (North)". - Chief Administrator, - Colonel M.A.F.J. de Piepape, (French). Comprises the Sanjaks of Beirut, Lebanon, Ladikiya and the town of Beirut; the Kazas of Hasbiya, Rashiya, Jisr es Shaghur, Bay of Antioch, Yeniji Kali, Im Beidan, and Alexandretta.
:(c) "Occupied Enemy Territory (East)". - Chief Administrator, - Ali Riza El Rikabi (Arab). Comprises all districts East of (a) and (b) above, up to the northern limits of the Kazas of Jebel Seman and El Bab.
2. The system of administration will be in accordance with the Laws and Usages of War as laid down in Ch. XIV, S.8, [https://archive.org/details/manualofmilitary00greauoft/page/n4 Manual of Military Law]. Departures from these principles will not be permitted except with the approval of the Commander-in-Chief. As far as possible the Turkish system of government will be continued, and the existing machinery of government will be utilized.
3. The Administration will be required to provide for all necessary government services, and the extent to which these services can be developed, during the state of war, is left to the discretion of the Chief Administrator concerned.
4. As far as possible it is desired to retain Turkish administrative areas, and in this way to utilise existing Turkish records.
5. The Administration of the Ottoman Public Debt will be permitted to continue its functions, subject to the general control of the Chief Administrator.
6. The Régie Tobacco Monopoly will likewise continue its functions under similar conditions.
7. Chief Administrators will communicate with the Commander-in-Chief through the Deputy-Adjutant General, G.H.Q., to whom all reports will be addressed.
8. Chief Administrators will submit reports on the general situation in their areas, by 15th of each month.
9. In view of the fact that the administration is military, provisional, and without prejudice to future settlement, Chief Administrators will not undertake, except in so far as is necessary for the maintenance of security and public order, any political propaganda, and will not take part in any political controversies.
}}
Disestablishment
The OETA administrations were disestablished at different times in each of the regions, following the formal appointment of civil administrations (prior to the formal coming into force of the mandates):
- OETA South: 1 July 1920, Herbert Samuel was appointed as High Commissioner for Palestine
- OETA West: 31 August 1920, Henri Gouraud proclaimed the State of Greater Lebanon, the Alawite State and the Sanjak of Alexandretta was merged into the State of Aleppo
- OETA East: 26 November 1919, when the British withdrew in favor of the Emirate of Syria.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{Cite book |last=Biger |first=Gideon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jC9MbKNh8GUC |title=The boundaries of modern Palestine: 1840 - 1947 |date=2004 |publisher=RoutledgeCurzon |isbn=978-0-7146-5654-0 |series=RoutledgeCurzon studies in Middle Eastern history |location=London}}
- {{cite book |last1=Macmunn |first1=G. F. |last2=Falls |first2=C. |series=History of the Great War based on Official Documents by Direction of the Committee of Imperial Defence |title=Military Operations: Egypt and Palestine, From June 1917 to the End of the War Part II |volume=II |others=accompanying Map Case |year=1930 |publisher=HMSO |location=London |edition=1st |oclc=656066774 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.6782/page/n259 |url-access=registration |via=Archive Foundation}}
- {{Cite book |last=Paris |first=Timothy J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W02RAgAAQBAJ |title=Britain, the Hashemites, and Arab Rule, 1920-1925: the Sherifian solution |publisher=Frank Cass |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7146-5451-5 |location=London; Portland, OR}}
{{Mandatory Palestine topics}}
{{Territories of the British Empire}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Occupied Enemy Territory Administration}}
Category:Aftermath of World War I
Category:Political entities in the Land of Israel
Category:History of Palestine (region)
Category:20th century in Syria
Category:20th century in Lebanon
Category:20th century in Jordan
Category:States and territories established in 1917
Category:States and territories disestablished in 1920
Category:1917 establishments in Asia
Category:1920 disestablishments in Asia
Category:Former countries of the interwar period
Category:British military occupations
Category:French military occupations