<P> The secret 1916 Sykes - Picot Agreement partitioned the Middle East between Britain and France . French mandates included Syria and Lebanon, whilst the British were granted Iraq and Palestine . The bulk of the Arabian peninsula became the independent Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1922 . The discovery of the world's largest easily accessible crude oil deposits led to an influx of Western oil companies that dominated the region's economies until the 1970s, and making the emirs of the oil states immensely rich, enabling them to consolidate their hold on power and giving them a stake in preserving Western hegemony over the region . </P> <P> During the 1920 and 1930s Iraq, Syria and Egypt moved towards independence, although the British and French did not formally depart the region until they were forced to do so after World War II . </P> <P> For Japan, the second half of the nineteenth century was a period of internal turmoil succeeded by a period of rapid development . After being closed for centuries to Western influence, Japan opened itself to the West during the Meiji Era (1868--1912), characterized by swift modernization and borrowings from European culture (in law, science, etc .) This, in turn, helped make Japan the modern power that it is now, which was symbolized as soon as the 1904--1905 Russo - Japanese War: this war marked the first victory of an Asian power against a European imperial power, and led to widespread fears among European populations (first appearance of the "Yellow Peril"). During the first part of the 20th century, while China was still subject to various European imperialisms, Japan became an imperialist power, conquering what it called a "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere". </P> <P> With the final revision of treaties in 1894, Japan may be considered to have joined the family of nations on a basis of equality with the western states . From this same time imperialism became a dominant motive in Japanese policy . </P>

About how many years did it take for most european colonies to gain independence