Sykes Picot Agreement
Prior to the cold war, the main colonial influencers were Britain, France, Russia and the US. The Ottoman Empire was breaking up, and the British and French wanted to divide up the empires former land for their own respective economic gains. Russia was to be involved too, but they were later excluded. This was the Sykes Picot agreement. It was done in secret between the three countries of Britain, France and Russia. As previously stated the British and French wanted control in the region for economic reasons, but Russia wanted to acquire some land. It was the interest of the Russian Orthodox Church to acquire the Anatolia and as it contained Holy Land (BA 14).
Borders were determined by colonial powers creating a lasting need for those colonial
Borders were determined by colonial powers creating a lasting need for those colonial