Blutige Linien - Die Grenzziehung von Sykes-Picot im Nahen Osten (2019)

The civil war in Syria, the cruel slaughter of the IS, the feuds between Shiites and Sunnis in Iraq: The Near East is a constant source for conflict in the world - and has been so for a long time. The fire is lit during World War I when France and England redefine the map by drawing borders between Damascus and Baghdad. Even though the war is still being fought relentlessly in 1916, the Englishman Mark Sykes and the Frenchman François Georges-Picot draw new borders into the Arabian sand in expectation of the Ottoman Empire's defeat - without taking into account ethnic and cultural structures. Three provinces, then still part of the Ottoman Empire, emerge - they will finally become the states Iraq and Syria. The two Great Powers' main goal is to secure their influence in the Near East for the future. An Austrian priest plays an important role at the time and during this power play. Alois Musil fights for an altogether different vision: for a unified Arabia and against colonial despotism. The borders defined by Sykes and Picot later become the seed for the catastrophe in the Near East. This documentary is looking for the traces of these events.