The correct statement regarding how agreements ending the Great War (World War I) affected the Middle East is:
The Middle East was divided into mandates.
Following the Great War, the Ottoman Empire, which controlled much of the Middle East, was dismantled. The Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916), later endorsed by the League of Nations, led to the division of Ottoman territories into various mandates primarily controlled by France and Great Britain. This division laid the groundwork for various modern states in the region but also sowed seeds of conflict due to arbitrary boundaries that did not take into account ethnic, tribal, and religious affiliations.
The other statements are not accurate in the context of the immediate aftermath of the war:
- The Middle East did not unite as a single country.
- While some countries eventually gained independence, this process was gradual and often met with resistance.
- Countries in the Middle East did not have obligations to pay reparations in the same way that the Central Powers did; instead, they were subject to colonial rule and mandates.
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