BRITAIN IN PALESTINE
Explore by Topic
For more than three hundred years before the First World War, Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire, and under Turkish control.
The vast majority of its population was Arab, with a small Jewish population scattered among four towns. In the 19th century, as far as the West was concerned, it was seen mainly as the Holy Land, the source of three major religions. The idea that the British government would one day turn it into a Jewish state was unthinkable to its Arab inhabitants.
Palestine before World War I
“A land without people for people without a land.”
– Zionist slogan denying the existence of Palestinian Arabs in Palestine.
Click on the arrows that appear on the image to navigate through this part of the story.
By 1913, just before the First World War, the Ottoman Empire had shrunk to the green area on the map. But the Turks still controlled Palestine, which was ruled from Constantinople.
Click on the arrows that appear on the image to navigate through this part of the story.