Ottoman Empire signed the Armistice of Mudros with the Allies on October 30, 1918, which ended its hostilities in the war. The collapse of the Ottoman Empire was a gradual process, but the armistice marked the Empire’s official exit from World War I and set the stage for its eventual dissolution in the following years.
Immediately following the Ottoman surrender, the Allied powers, mainly Britain and France, occupied key regions of the former Ottoman Empire. These military occupations were initially meant to secure strategic interests and maintain order in the vacuum left by the Ottoman withdrawal.
Arab leaders who had participated in the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire expected to gain independence or significant autonomy as a result of their alliance with the British. In some areas, local Arab administrations were set up, often in expectation of future sovereignty.
In Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria, the British and French established provisional military administrations. In Palestine, for instance, the British established the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (OETA).
In 1920, Faisal bin Hussein, who had been a leader in the Arab Revolt, declared the Kingdom of Syria, encompassing much of modern-day Syria and Lebanon. However, this kingdom was short-lived due to French opposition and subsequent military action.
Between 1918 and 1920, the rate of Zionist immigration to Palestine increased but was not yet at its peak, which would occur later in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1918, the Jewish population in Palestine was approximately 56,000, about 10% of the total population, but it wasn’t until the establishment of the British Mandate in Palestine that zionist immigration really took off. Most immigrants settled in existing Jewish communities in cities like Jerusalem, Tel Aviv (founded in 1909 near the old port city of Jaffa), and Haifa, or established new agricultural settlements and kibbutzim. These settlements were part of the broader Zionist strategy to create a sustainable Jewish presence in the region, often purchased from local Arab landowners and developed with a focus on agricultural self-sustenance.