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Fact check: In 1920 was JOrdan part of Palestine? Or did the British mandate was had a mandate over Palestine and then they separated off Trans Jordan and handed it to the Asheite Kingdom of Jordan?
Executive Summary
In 1920 the territory east of the Jordan River was not a fully separate sovereign state called Jordan; instead it was part of the post‑Ottoman political vacuum that Britain placed under mandate arrangements and then rapidly moved to administer separately as Transjordan beginning in 1921. The League of Nations Mandate for Palestine legally covered both sides of the Jordan but Britain used Article 25 and subsequent memoranda to exclude Transjordan from provisions creating a Jewish national home and to establish a distinct administrative arrangement under the Emirate of Transjordan [1] [2] [3].
1. What people are actually claiming — a short fact roundup
The original question contains two intertwined claims: that Jordan was part of Palestine in 1920, and that Britain later separated Transjordan and handed it to the Hashemite rulers. Contemporary and retrospective accounts agree on the core facts: after World War I the Levant was a contested space, Britain assumed the Palestine Mandate framework which technically included territory east and west of the Jordan River, and by 1921 Britain established the Emirate of Transjordan under Abdullah bin al‑Hussein with an autonomous administration [1] [4]. Sources vary slightly on dating and emphasis: some mark the decisive administrative separation at the Cairo Conference and the 1921 Emirate creation, while legal texts and the 1922 Trans‑Jordan memorandum formalize the distinct status [5] [3].
2. The timeline that matters — from Ottoman collapse to Transjordan’s autonomy
The relevant sequence begins with the collapse of Ottoman rule in 1918, the 1920 Paris and San Remo arrangements that assigned mandates, and Britain’s evolving policy choices. Britain issued the Mandate for Palestine covering both banks; political decisions at Cairo in March–April 1921 led to recognition of Abdullah’s rule east of the Jordan and to administrative separation in practice by April 1921 [6] [7]. The League of Nations mandate took effect in legal form in 1923, and the Trans‑Jordan memorandum of 16 September 1922 specified which mandate provisions did not apply east of the Jordan, cementing separate administration while retaining British mandatory authority [3] [2].
3. The legal mechanics — mandate, Article 25, and the Trans‑Jordan memorandum
Legally the territory east of the Jordan remained within the umbrella of the Mandate for Palestine, but Article 25 gave Britain authority to withhold implementation of provisions related to a Jewish national home in that area. Britain exercised that authority: the 1922 Trans‑Jordan memorandum defined boundaries and listed which mandate articles would not apply in Transjordan, explicitly creating a distinct legal-administrative regime under British supervision rather than folding it into Mandatory Palestine as administered west of the river [2] [3]. This duality—shared mandate framework but separate administration—explains why historians sometimes say Transjordan was both "under the Palestine Mandate" and "separate from Palestine" depending on legal versus administrative framing [6].
4. Competing narratives and possible agendas — why wording matters politically
Different accounts emphasize different facts for political reasons: Israeli and some Western educational narratives may stress the Mandate’s formal coverage of both banks to show legal continuity, while Arabic and Jordanian narratives stress the 1921 Emirate and subsequent independence to underline Jordanian sovereignty and distinct identity. Writers focused on Zionist history highlight clauses creating a Jewish national home and how Transjordan was excluded by Article 25; others emphasize British strategic choices and personalities like Churchill and T.E. Lawrence in shaping the split [5] [8]. Recognize these agendas: legal texts and memoranda [3] provide neutral documentary evidence, while secondary narratives frame those documents to support national or ideological claims.
5. Bottom line and longer‑term consequences for the region
The accurate short answer is that in 1920 the area east of the Jordan River was not an independent Jordanian state or fully integrated part of an administered Palestine; it was within the mandate portfolio Britain controlled but Britain moved quickly to create the Emirate of Transjordan in 1921 and legally formalized its special status by 1922, eventually leading to the Hashemite Kingdom’s independence in 1946. This administrative separation reshaped demographic, political, and legal trajectories in the Levant: it removed Transjordan from the Zionist project under the mandate while leaving unresolved questions about borders, refugee movements, and state formation that influenced Israeli, Palestinian, and Jordanian politics for decades [4] [6] [1].