Final answer:
The British and French mandate system resulted in enhanced infrastructure development and some social progress, but often failed to truly promote self-determination and chiefly benefited the colonial powers. It represented a form of imperialism masquerading as benevolence.
Step-by-step explanation:
Some of the advantages attributed to the British and French mandate system include enhanced infrastructure development in mandated territories, which encompassed the implementation of telegraph lines, water systems to protect against diseases, and the construction of railroads, albeit primarily to extract resources. Despite claims to promote self-determination and local governance, in reality, the mandate system often failed to consult the peoples of the mandate areas about governance, leading to an imposition of foreign control rather than genuine autonomy.
Nevertheless, the mandates did lead to some economic and social progress, as evidenced by the introduction of legal systems that promoted justice, and developments in communication and transportation that reduced regional tensions and fostered national unity. However, the mandate system also tended to benefit the colonial powers more than the colonized, changing societies by pushing traditional jobs aside and benefiting European nations economically and strategically.