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Creation of Israel: British Foreign Office Correspondence on Palestine and Transjordan, 1940-1948

Creation of Israel: British Foreign Office Correspondence on Palestine and Transjordan, 1940-1948

Creation of Israel: British Foreign Office  Correspondence on Palestine and Transjordan, 1940-1948

Access information: Access on and off-campus. The Library's subscription to this resource expires 31 July 2024.
Description: The British Foreign Office Political Correspondence files on Palestine and Transjordan, 1940-1948 are essential for understanding the modern history of the Middle East, the establishment of Israel as a sovereign state, and the wider web of postwar international world politics. Early records in the collection focus on events in Palestine, Britain’s policy toward Palestine, and how the situation in Palestine affected relations with other nations. The files also survey the contours of Arab politics in the wider Middle East. Since the interests, rivalries, and designs of various Arab leaders were often played out with reference to Palestine, the documents provide insight into the complex and sometimes bloody Arab world. In the 1947-1948 period, this module explores the tensions within Anglo-American relations over the creation and recognition of Israel as a sovereign state. A large section of the material is devoted to United Nations deliberations on the Palestine question. The records also illuminate the political, philosophical, and personal fractures within and between both the Jewish and Arab communities from 1940-1948.