Lesson 2 - The Allies projects to partition the Ottoman Empire -continued

Question 1

When did Hussein bin Ali Al-Hashimi, Sharif of Mecca, first contact the counsel in Cairo about supporting the Arabs against theTurks?

Answer 1

Feb 1914

Question 2

Why did some Arabs fight with the Ottoman Empire?

Answer 2

Ottomans had rather successfully exploited divisions between different tribes and co-opted some Arab leaders.

Question 3

Why had Arab nationalism been strengthened before the war?

Answer 3

centralising reforms adopted under Abdülhamid II between 1878 and 1908, which had generated opposition in Arab provinces;

The policies of Young Turk governments after 1908. While 1908 Young Turk Revolution andrestoration of 1876 liberal constitution had generated hopes of decentralisation, these hopes faded rapidly.

Question 4

What was the policy of the Young Turk government that increased suspicion towards Constantinople of Arab notables, who
feared losing their positions and their say in running of empire.

Answer 4

1) resumed centralising policies; adopted doctrine of Turkism instead of Ottomanism. In practice it led to purges of non-Turkish officials in government and parts of administration of empire;

2) sought, in name of modernisation, to undermine the authority of traditional Arab leaders, such as Sharif of Mecca.

3) The decision of Cemal Pasha, governor of Syria, once war began, to exile, imprison or execute several leading Arab nationalist intellectuals.

Question 5

What did did Hussein bin Ali Al-Hashimi, Sharif of Mecca want?

Answer 5

He had no intention, originally, of bringing Ottoman Empire down. His aim was to secure his position as emir of Mecca, now challenged by appointment of new Turkish governor ofHedjaz, and ensure that his title would remain in his family.

Question 6

Why did he only have limited authority?

Answer 6

1) He was in conflict with Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (better known as Ibn Saud), ruler of Nedj in central Arabia, and with Imam of Yemen, ie two leaders Britain was in negotiations with;

2) Urban intellectuals of Syria considered him and his Bedouin subjects as barbarians.

Question 7

What did Kitchener instruct Cairo to tell Hussain?

Answer 7

If the Arab nation assists England […] England will guarantee that no
internal intervention takes place in Arabia, and will give the Arabs every assistance against external aggression. It may be that an Arab of true race will assume the Khalifate at Mecca and Medina.”

The Arabian peninsula and its Mahommedan Holy Places should remain independent. We shall not annex one foot of land in it, nor suffer any other Power to do so.”

Question 8

Why was translation a problem?

Answer 8

Sometimes the Arab’s thought things were set in stone and definite wheras the translations made it sound less sure.

Question 9

Why did Hussain not make a public announcement?

Answer 9

He was worried about reprisals by the Turks

Question 10

What did Faysal believe though after visiting Damascus and Constantinople?

Answer 10

He became convinced that Turks were plotting to remove his father.

Question 11

What did Arab nationalists want though to revolt against the Ottoman Empire?

Answer 11

They demanded an independent Arab state whose borders would be:

1) North: line running from Mersin and Adana along southern edge of Anatolian plateau (passing by towns Birejek, Urga, and Mardin), all way to Persian border;

2) East: Persian frontier down to Persian Gulf;

3) South: Indian Ocean (with exception of Aden, which was remain under British control);

4) West: Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea back to Mersin.

Additionally, they demanded abolition of all exceptional privileges granted to foreigners
under Capitulations, as well as defensive alliance between Britain and future independent
Arab State.

Question 12

What did Hussein decide to do?

Answer 12

Ultimately, it was decided to contact British in Cairo. On 14 July, Hussein wrote first letter to Lieutenant Colonel Sir Henry McMahon, British High Commissioner to Egypt.

Question 13

Why did the Cairo High Commission find the territorial claims of Hussein excessive?

Answer 13

When the first letter reached Cairo, the British still believed they could defeat Ottomans in Gallipoli and seize Constantinople.

Question 14

What made them take Hussein more seriously?

Answer 14

The Failure of the offensive in Gallipoli in Aug. 1915 forced British to reconsider their strategy. It made them more open to demands of Hussein since Arab rebellion would assist them in war.

Question 15

What did McMahon confirm in the correspondence of 30 Aug?

Answer 15

It pledged the support “for the independence of Arabia and its inhabitants, together with British approval of the Arab Khalifate when it should be proclaimed.

Question 16

What did the British refuse though to discuss at this time?

Answer 16

However, British refused to discuss at this stage question of borders, arguing it was “premature to consume our time in discussing such details in the heat of war”.

Question 17

Why was Hussein upset about this?

Answer 17

He argued he was speaking not for himself but for Arab people as whole. This seemed to be confirmed by Lieutenant Muhammad al-Faruqi, who defected from Ottoman army, and informed Cairo in
Oct. that there was powerful Arab nationalist organisation in Syria, which was even able to convince Ottoman army there to switch allegiance and back Arab revolt. He also argued
that if Britain did not meet demands of Arabs, then Arab officers would support Ottomans.

Question 18

What made Arab support even more urgent for the Allies?

Answer 18

The Dardanelles expedition was turning into disaster and evacuation of Gallipoli would allow Ottomans to redeploy their troops towards other fronts.

Question 19

What did McMahon agree on in his letter On 24 Oct. 1915

Answer 19

Britain would support boundaries demanded by
Hussein, but with certain limits:

1) They should not prejudice existing treaties between Britain and rulers of Oman and other states in Gulf, or Ibn Saud;

2) The provinces of Basra and Baghdad needed “special administrative arrangements” because of “Britain’s “established position and interests” in region;

3) The commitments to the Arabs should not contradict Anglo-French agreements, in particular over Syria. Thus, for McMahon, “The two districts of Mersina and Alexandretta and portions of Syria lying to the west of the districts of Damascus, Homs, Hama and
Aleppo cannot be said to be purely Arab, and should be excluded from the limits demanded”.

Question 21

What made Hussein drive a hard bargain?

Answer 21

The failure of Gallipoli and defeats in Mesopotamia

Question 21

What did Hussein say in this letter of 5 November?

Answer 21

Hussein accepted to leave out vilayets of Mersina and Adana
from the Arab Kingdom but argued that “two vilayets of Aleppo and Beirut and their sea coasts are purely Arab vilayets”.

Question 22

What did Hussein want?

Answer 22

He argued that “it is impossible to allow any derogation that gives France, or any other Power, a span of land in those regions” (1 Jan. 1916);

He demanded extensive financial and material support.

Question 23

What compromise did Hussein make?

Answer 23

If Iraqi vilayets were integral parts of future Arab kingdom, he agreed to leave “those districts now occupied by the British troops” under British administration for “a short time” in return for “a suitable sum paid as compensation to the Arab Kingdom for the period of occupation”;

if he insisted that Syrian provinces were “purely Arab” and could not be excluded from Arab kingdom, he also conceded that he wished “to avoid what may possibly injure the alliance of Great Britain and France and the agreement made between them during the
present wars and calamities”. However, he then warned McMahon that “at the first opportunity after this war is finished […] we shall ask you for what we now leave to France in Beirut and its coasts”.

Question 24

What was not clear in the agreements?

Answer 24

How far south should coastal exclusion extend, Aleppo, Hama, Homs, and Damascus forming north-south line roughly parallel to coast?

Did that mean that Palestine shouldbe Arab, or as Zionists would later argue, that Palestine was excluded from independent Arab kingdom promised to Hussein?

how to reconcile, at least in short term, this independent Arab kingdom with partition plan of Middle East agreed between France and Britain in London between end of Nov.1915 and Jan. 1916?

Question 25

What were the decisions made by Sykes-Picot ?

Answer 25

France would control Lebanon, Syria, and parts of southern Turkey.

Britain would control Iraq, Jordan, and parts of Palestine.

Palestine was to be placed under international administration (due to its religious significance)

Question 26

Was it ever fully implemented?

Answer 26

No

Question 27

What was the problem with the agreement?

Answer 27

1) It was not treaty;
2) It was not made public (there are doubts whether even Hussein was aware of it);
3) It was not certain at all that Allies would be in position to act on Agreement.

Question 28

What did the agreement not take into account?

Answer 28

1)vague promises that had been made to Italy under 1915 secret Treaty of London to have privileged access to harbour of Haifa, say in administration of Palestine and its share of Arabian peninsula - this also went against Greek aspirations.
2) What was being negotiated between McMahon and Hussein;
3) Above all the wishes of Arabs and other people living in region.

Question 29

What did the British and French argue about after the agreement?

Answer 29

1) hey argued that Britain owed to control whole of Palestine to secure Suez Canal; They believed that London, not Paris, should also get Mosul

2) To appease France, they argued she could be compensated with protectorate over Kurdish and Armenian regions of Ottoman Empire.

3) In France, “Parti colonial” argued that Paris should not only hold on to what she hadgained under Sykes-Picot but also that Syria should be understood as Greater Syria, stretching as far south as Sinai.

Question 30

What did the Bolsheviks do in Russia that caused embarrassment to the French and English?

Answer 30

on 23 Nov. 1917, Izvestia and Pravda published the text of the agreement. In was then reprinted in the Manchester Guardian on 26 Nov. Naturally, the revelation embarrassed Paris and London
and led to deep resentment among Arabs towards two western powers.

Question 31

Why did the British have the upper hand at the end of the war?

Answer 31

Due to the progression of the British troops of

1) General Allenby through Palestine and then Syria
2|) General Maude, then replaced by General Marshall, through Mesopotamia;

It meant that Britain was now in control of territories supposed to have international status or be French.