La politique de la France au Proche-Orient aux 19e et 20e siècles

Absztrakt

France’s policy towards the Middle East, like that of other great powers, has been shaped and influenced by different factors in different historical periods. In the Middle Ages, long-distance trade became particularly important, and later the role of protector over the Eastern Christian denominations came to the fore, while maintaining the importance of the exchange of goods. In the modern era, Paris established closer relations with the Ottoman Empire than any other great power, and until the First World War, its policy in the region was characterised by the defence of the Empire’s territorial integrity. In the period between the two world wars, France concentrated mainly on its mandates in Syria and Lebanon, and when it was squeezed out of these, it became a supporter of the State of Israel. France’s role in the 1956 Suez crisis caused it to lose almost all of its influence in the region, which was somewhat restored under de Gaulle’s presidency. French governments in the last decades of the 20th century were characterised by a relatively balanced Middle East policy.