Mandate

Germany lost all its overseas colonies. These became League of Nations mandates, administered by victorious powers including Britain, France and Japan.

Before Israel was created, Britain administered Palestine under a mandate: an arrangement giving it authority to govern the territory on behalf of the League of Nations. Britain therefore controlled a territory in which Jewish and Arab communities had competing demands about immigration, political authority and its future. The central question was not simply when British rule should end, but who would govern afterwards.