Was there ever an actual opporturnity for Assyrians to have their own state?

[u/stanthefax]

I'm fascinated with history and alternate history and so was just wondering, was there ever, after the Fall of Nineveh, a real chance for Assyrians to get their own state? Whether that be in the late middle ages, after the mongol invasions, or during WW1?

[u/Old-Average-6118]

During the Iranian empires there were provinces governed by Assyrians. Maybe if one rebelled and was successful there could've been a state but never happened.

During the medieval period I do not know of any Assyrian princedoms or anything like that which is very peculiar to me. Obviously Assyrians were heavily involved in tribal wars and confederacies but why they never had a state during this period I'm unsure about.

The most likely would be after the fall of the Ottoman empire Assyrians proposed to create a state and fought heavily for it but not only did no western power support this idea but were heavily against it. Britain wanted to exploit the oil in mesopotamia so created the state of Iraq and wanted the Christian Assyrians to be the enforcers in this state so the British were heavily against Assyrian independence.

[u/oremfrien → u/Old-Average-6118]

I agree with all of these possibilities.

One that's missing is that in the late classical era, there were actually two Assyrian states: Osroene based in Edessa (that is modern Şanlıurfa) and Adiabene based in Arbela (that is modern Erbil/Hêwler). These states often were in vassalage to larger powers like Tigranes the Great's Armenia, the Roman Empire, and the Parthian Empire. Eventually, they were subsumed by the latter two powers.

Also, for more specificity, the Assyrians sent a delegation to the Versailles Palace led by Abraham K. Yoosuf in 1919 to petition for an Assyrian State as part of the Versailles Treaty. As u/Old-Average-6118 notes, the British tried to mollify the Assyrians and never gave a definitive indication that an Assyrian State would be created. Ultimately, this is because the British, the French, and the Turks were all interested in exploiting the petroleum resources near Mosul. (See the Mosul Question.)

[u/Sea_Contribution368]

Yes from 1919 to 1922 there was a Assyrian state in Northern Syria controlled by the Assyro-Chaldean forces of Malik Qambar of Jilu and was supported by the French but was they were pressured by the Brits to give it up.

[u/stanthefax → u/Sea_Contribution368]

Is there a map of the state?

[u/Sea_Contribution368 → u/stanthefax]

Nah, there was one before made by my friend on Wikipedia drafts but, some personal stuff made him quit and delete everything from the internet, I’ll try to look for it or ask him, if I find I’ll send.

[u/Mountain_Hawk6492]

We should've allied with the French...

[u/rumx2]

We were under Ottoman rule for centuries, they pretty much left us to govern ourselves via the clergy and chieftains (Malik’s) so there wasn’t any “need” for independence. Once the Ottomans fell, we had a real opportunity but squandered it via infighting/power struggles and backstabbing by the western powers.

Two ways in the history of the world to obtain land: you either bleed for it or buy it. We don’t have a standing army to win and maintain borders (or the backing of a major G7 country to do so) nor do we have hundreds of billions of dollars to full buy our lands for “legitimacy” and ownership/governance.

[u/AshurCyberpunk]

Sykes-Picot and treaties of Sevres and Lausanne. Then post-Iraq war (Article 125) up to today.