The Bassett letter was a letter dated 8 February 1918 from the British government to Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca , following Hussein's request for an explanation of the Sykes–Picot Agreement . It was delivered by Lieutenant Colonel J. R. Bassett, Acting British Agent at Jeddah, who was forwarding a message he had received by telegram from the Foreign Office in London.
127-739: The letter dismissed the publication of the Sykes–Picot Agreement as an attempt by the Ottoman Empire to create mistrust between the Arabs and Britain during the Arab Revolt . It was a formal message to support a telegram sent a few days previously to Hussein by Reginald Wingate , High Commissioner in Egypt. The preface to the Bassett letter noted that Wingate had directed the sending of the letter. The letter
254-694: A Muslim, played a notable role in the revolt as an engineering and artillery officer with the Arab Northern Army. The British government in Egypt sent a young officer, Captain T. E. Lawrence , to work with the Hashemite forces in the Hejaz in October 1916. The British historian David Murphy wrote that though Lawrence was just one out of many British and French officers serving in Arabia, historians often write as though it
381-527: A campaign was in progress, or only when the fighting entered their home region. During the Battle of Aqaba , for instance, while the initial Arab force numbered only a few hundred, over a thousand more from local tribes joined them for the final assault on Aqaba . Estimates of Faisal's effective forces vary, but through most of 1918 at least, they may have numbered as high as 30,000 men. The Hashemite Army comprised two distinctive forces: tribal irregulars who waged
508-542: A common purpose to a common end. His Majesty's Government and their allies stand steadfastly by every cause aiming at the liberation of the oppressed nations, and they are determined to stand by the Arab peoples in their struggle for the establishment of an Arab world in which law shall replace Ottoman injustice, and in which unity shall prevail over the rivalries artificially provoked by the policy of Turkish officials. His Majesty's Government re-affirm their former pledge in regard to
635-546: A democratic peace without annexation and without indemnities, based on the principle of the independence of nations, and of their right to determine the nature of their own development themselves". Peace negotiations with the Quadruple Alliance—Germany, Austria–Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey—started at Brest–Litovsk one month later. On behalf of the Quadruple Alliance, Count Czernin , replied on 25 December that
762-432: A doubt as to whether our pledges to King Hussein as head of the Arab nation are consistent with French intentions to make not only Syria but Upper Mesopotamia another Tunis. If our support of King Hussein and the other Arabian leaders of less distinguished origin and prestige means anything it means that we are prepared to recognize the full sovereign independence of the Arabs of Arabia and Syria. It would seem time to acquaint
889-516: A greater use of Arabic in education and changes in peacetime conscription in the Ottoman Empire to allow Arab conscripts local service in the Ottoman army. The Young Turk Revolution began on 3 July 1908 and quickly spread throughout the empire. As a result, Sultan Abdul Hamid II was forced to announce the restoration of the 1876 constitution and the reconvening of the Ottoman parliament . The period
1016-622: A guerrilla war against the Ottoman Empire and the Sharifian Army , which was recruited from Ottoman Arab POWs and fought in conventional battles. Hashemite forces were initially poorly equipped, but later received significant supplies of weapons, most notably rifles and machine guns from Britain and France . In the early days of the revolt, Faisal's forces were largely made up of Bedouins and other nomadic desert tribes, who were only loosely allied, loyal more to their respective tribes than
1143-633: A joint action with the Arab irregulars and forces under Auda Abu Tayi , until then, in the employ of the Ottomans, against the port city of Aqaba . This is now known as the Battle of Aqaba . Aqaba was the only remaining Ottoman port on the Red Sea and threatened the right flank of Britain 's Egyptian Expeditionary Force defending Egypt , and preparing to advance into Sanjak Maan of the Syria Vilayet . Capture of Aqaba would aid transfer of British supplies to
1270-630: A joint memorandum containing what was to become known as the Sykes–Picot Agreement. They had agreed to compromise on the two primary areas of difference—they split the Mosul Vilayet in two at the Little Zab river, with the French taking the northern part ( Mosul and Erbil ) and the British taking the southern part ( Kirkuk and Sulaymaniyah ), and Palestine was to be placed under an "international administration,
1397-535: A large Ottoman force at the Battle of Tafilah, inflicting over 1,000 Ottoman casualties for the loss of a mere forty men. In March 1918 the Arab Northern Army consisted of In April 1918, Ja'far al-Askari and Nuri as-Said led the Arab Regular Army in a frontal attack on the well-defended Ottoman railway station at Ma'an , which after some initial successes was fought off with heavy losses to both sides. However,
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#17328587787321524-517: A march of 700 miles (1,100 km) in 44 days. For the final Allied offensive intended to knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war, Allenby asked that Emir Faisal and his Arab Northern Army launch a series of attacks on the main Turkish forces from the east, which was intended to both tie down Ottoman troops and force Turkish commanders to worry about their security of their flanks in the Levant . Supporting
1651-509: A modernisation. It preached a message that was a mixture of pan-Islamism , Ottomanism , and pan-Turkism , which was adjusted as the conditions warranted. At heart, the CUP were Turkish nationalists who wanted to see the Turks as the dominant group within the Ottoman Empire, which antagonised Arab leaders and prompted them to think in similarly nationalistic terms. Arab members of the parliament supported
1778-451: A siege. With the Egyptian artillery support, Abdullah took Ta'if on 22 September 1916. French and British naval forces cleared the Red Sea of Ottoman gunboats early in the war. The port of Jeddah was attacked by 3,500 Arabs on 10 June 1916 with the assistance of bombardment by British warships and seaplanes. The seaplane carrier HMS Ben-my-Chree , provided crucial air support to
1905-595: A system of wells approximately 100 miles (160 km) apart. In late 1916, the Allies started the formation of the Regular Arab Army, also known as the Sharifian Army , raised from Ottoman Arab POWs. The soldiers of the Regular Army wore British-style uniforms with the keffiyahs and, unlike the tribal guerrillas, fought full-time and in conventional battles. Some of the more notable former Ottoman officers to fight in
2032-756: A tentative agreement was reached between British and French Prime Ministers, David Lloyd George and Alexandre Ribot , and the Italian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Paolo Boselli and Sidney Sonnino ; to settle the Italian interest in the Ottoman Empire—specifically article 9 of the Treaty of London. The agreement was needed by the Allies to secure the position of Italian forces in West Asia. The goal
2159-452: A vague formula for post-war adjustment should the actual post-war allocation not appear to be balanced. The agreement was drafted and negotiated by the countries' diplomats over the coming months, and signed by the allies between 18 August and 26 September 1917. Russia was not represented in this agreement as the Tsarist regime was in the midst of a revolution. The lack of Russian consent to
2286-650: Is known as the Second Constitutional Era . In the 1908 elections, the Young Turks' Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) managed to gain the upper hand against the Liberal Union , led by Sultanzade Sabahaddin . The new parliament had 142 Turks , 60 Arabs , 25 Albanians , 23 Greeks , 12 Armenians (including four Dashnaks and two Hunchaks ), five Jews , four Bulgarians , three Serbs and one Vlach . The CUP now gave more emphasis to centralisation and
2413-526: Is required you can give it." "The main problem to be solved is to discover a middle course which will harmonise with the requirements of the various parties, which are as follows: (a) France requires a settlement which (1) while compensating her for the inconvenience and loss attendant upon the disruption of the Ottoman Empire, will (2) safeguard her historic and traditional position in Syria, (3) assure her of full opportunity of realising her economic aspirations in
2540-653: The Bolsheviks in Moscow on 23 November 1917 and repeated in The Manchester Guardian on 26 November 1917, such that "the British were embarrassed, the Arabs dismayed and the Turks delighted". The agreement's legacy has led to much resentment in the region, among Arabs in particular but also among Kurds who were denied an independent state . In the Constantinople Agreement of 18 March 1915, following
2667-641: The De Bunsen Committee to consider British options. Zionism was not considered by the report of the committee, submitted in June 1915, which concluded that, in case of the partition or zones of influence options, there should be a British sphere of influence that included Palestine while accepting that there were relevant French and Russian as well as Islamic interests in Jerusalem and the Holy Places. Mark Sykes
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#17328587787322794-835: The Great Arab Revolt ( الثورة العربية الكبرى al-Thawra al-'Arabiyya al-Kubrā ), was an armed uprising by the Hashemite -led Arabs of the Hejaz against the Ottoman Empire amidst the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I . On the basis of the McMahon–Hussein Correspondence , exchanged between Henry McMahon of the United Kingdom and Hussein bin Ali of the Kingdom of Hejaz ,
2921-708: The Imperial Camel Corps served with the Arabs for a time. The French military mission of 1,100 officers under Brémond established good relations with Hussein and especially with his sons, the Emirs Ali and Abdullah , and for this reason, most of the French effort went into assisting the Arab Southern Army commanded by the Emir Ali that was laying siege to Medina and the Eastern Army commanded by Abdullah that had
3048-510: The Royal Air Force , of the well-defended Hejaz railway station at Mudawwara. They captured 120 prisoners and two guns, suffering 17 casualties in the operation. Buxton's two companies of Imperial Camel Corps Brigade continued on towards Amman , where they hoped to destroy the main bridge. 20 miles (32 km) from the city they were attacked by aircraft, forcing them to withdraw eventually back to Beersheba where they arrived on 6 September;
3175-457: The Suez Canal and conquering Damascus , allowing the British to undertake offensive operations with a lower risk of counter-attack. This was the British justification for supporting the revolt, a textbook example of asymmetric warfare that has been studied time and again by military leaders and historians alike. The Ottoman Empire took part in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I , under
3302-600: The countercoup of 1909 , which aimed to dismantle the constitutional system and to restore the absolute monarchy of Sultan Abdul Hamid II . The dethroned sultan attempted to restore the Ottoman Caliphate by putting an end to the secular policies of the Young Turks. He was driven away to exile in Selanik by the 31 March Incident , in which the Young Turks defeated the countercoup. He was eventually replaced by his brother Mehmed V . In 1913, intellectuals and politicians from
3429-499: The 1919–23 Turkish War of Independence and the subsequent Treaty of Lausanne . The agreement is seen by many as a turning point in Western and Arab relations. It reneged upon the UK's promises to Arabs regarding a national Arab homeland in the area of the region of Syria in exchange for supporting the British against the Ottoman Empire. The agreement, along with others, was made public by
3556-641: The Acre-Dar'a line". Palestine was discussed between various members of the British Civil Service. Lord Kitchener , the recently appointed Secretary of State for War had been recalled from his position as Consul-General in Egypt; his secretary Oswald FitzGerald discussed the matter with Ronald Storrs , the Oriental Secretary in Cairo, who wrote on 28 December 1914: "the inclusion of a part of Palestine in
3683-745: The April 1920 San Remo conference following the Sykes–Picot framework; the British Mandate for Palestine ran until 1948, the British Mandate for Mesopotamia was to be replaced by a similar treaty with Mandatory Iraq , and the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon lasted until 1946. The Anatolian parts of the agreement were assigned by the August 1920 Treaty of Sèvres ; however, these ambitions were thwarted by
3810-461: The Arab cause and which "cannot but prejudice Allied relations and policy in the Hedjaz and may even affect whole future of French relations with the Arabs". After the French response to this, on 31 May 1917, William Ormsby-Gore wrote: The British Government, in authorising the letters despatched to King Hussein [Sharif of Mecca] before the outbreak of the revolt by Sir Henry McMahon, would seem to raise
3937-488: The Arab forces involved in the revolt numbered around 5,000 soldiers. This number probably applies to the Arab regulars who fought during the Sinai and Palestine campaign with Edmund Allenby's Egyptian Expeditionary Force , and not the irregular forces under the direction of T. E. Lawrence and Faisal . On a few occasions, particularly during the final campaign into Syria , this number grew significantly. The Arab Bureau of
Bassett letter - Misplaced Pages Continue
4064-518: The Arab revolt. Lawrence and Auda left Wedj on 9 May 1917 with a party of 40 men, to recruit a mobile force from the Howeitat , a tribe located in the area. On 6 July, after an overland attack, Aqaba fell to those Arab forces with only a handful of casualties. Lawrence then rode 150 miles to Suez to arrange Royal Navy delivery of food and supplies for the 2,500 Arabs and 700 Ottoman prisoners in Aqaba. Soon
4191-631: The Arab-majority Ottoman territories of the Middle East were broken up into a number of League of Nations mandates , jointly controlled by the British and the French. Amidst the partition of the Ottoman Empire , the defeated Ottomans' mainland in Anatolia came under a joint military occupation by the victorious Allies . This was gradually broken by the Turkish War of Independence , which established
4318-469: The Arabs launched a highly successful campaign against the Hejaz railway, capturing military supplies, destroying trains and tracks, and tying down thousands of Ottoman troops. Though the attacks were mixed in success, they achieved their primary goal of tying down Ottoman troops and cutting off Medina. In January 1918, in one of the largest set-piece battles of the Revolt, Arab forces, including Lawrence, defeated
4445-497: The Arabs not to drive the Ottomans out of Medina . Instead, the Arabs attacked the Hejaz railway on many occasions. This tied up more Ottoman troops, who were forced to protect the railway and repair the constant damage. On 1 December 1916, Fakhri Pasha began an offensive with three brigades out of Medina , with the aim of taking the port of Yanbu . At first, Fakhri's troops defeated the Hashemite forces in several engagements, and seemed set to take Yanbu. On 11–12 December 1916, it
4572-618: The Arabs of Hejaz, "guarantee the independence, rights and privileges of the Sharifate against all foreign external aggression, in particular that of the Ottomans." The Sharif indicated that he could not break with the Ottomans immediately, and it did not happen till the following year. From 14 July 1915, to 10 March 1916, ten letters, five from each side, were exchanged between Sir Henry McMahon and Sherif Hussein . Hussein's letter of 18 February 1916 appealed to McMahon for £50,000 in gold, plus weapons, ammunition, and food. Faisal claimed that he
4699-406: The Arabs regard the prospect of French Administration of any portion of Arab territory. In this lies considerable danger to our future relations with France, because difficult and even impossible though it may be to convince France of her mistake, if we do not endeavour to do so by warning her of the real state of Arab feeling, we may hereafter be accused of instigating or encouraging the opposition to
4826-506: The Arabs. Earlier, in April, the Zionists had confirmed the details of the Agreement with the British government. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson had rejected all secret agreements made between the Allies and promoted open diplomacy as well as ideas about self-determination. On 22 November 1917, Leon Trotsky addressed a note to the ambassadors at Petrograd "containing proposals for a truce and
4953-531: The British Empire in Cairo believed that the revolt would draw the support of all Arabs throughout the Ottoman Empire and Arab lands. Faisal and Sharif Hussein reportedly expected to be joined by 100,000 Arab troops. The large desertions predicted British Arab Bureau never materialized, as the majority of Arab officers remained loyal to the Ottomans until the end. Many Arabs joined the Revolt sporadically, often as
5080-473: The British also claimed to want to include Lebanon in the future Arab State and this meeting also ended at an impasse. On Tuesday 28 December, Mark Sykes informed Gilbert Clayton that he had "been given the Picot negotiations". Sykes and Picot entered into "almost daily" private discussions over the six-day period; no documents survive from these discussions. On Monday 3 January 1916, they agreed and initialled
5207-497: The British government agreed to recognize Arab independence after the war in exchange for the Sharif of Mecca launching the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire . The area of Arab independence was defined to be "bounded on the North by Mersina and Adana up to 37 degrees of latitude , on which degree fall Birijik , Urfa , Mardin , Midiat , Jerizat (Ibn ʿUma) , Amadia , up to
Bassett letter - Misplaced Pages Continue
5334-425: The British, who provided much needed artillery support, and took Mecca on 9 July 1916. Indiscriminate Ottoman artillery fire, which did much damage to Mecca, turned out to be a potent propaganda weapon for the Hashemites, who portrayed the Ottomans as desecrating Islam's most holy city. Also on 10 June, another of Hussein's sons, the Emir Abdullah , attacked Ta'if , which after an initial repulse, settled down into
5461-424: The Egyptian Protectorate [with Jerusalem as a free city could be] a possible solution... [This would make] Jewish infiltration into Palestine... less obvious and annoying to the susceptibilities of the Moslem and even certain elements in the Christian world" After the Constantinople agreement, the French approached the British with a view to working out their mutual desiderata and the British, on 8 April 1915, set up
5588-536: The Emir Faisal's army of about 450 men from the Arab Regular Army were tribal contingents from the Rwalla , Bani Sakhr , Agyal , and Howeitat tribes. In addition, Faisal had a group of Gurkha troops, several British armored car squadrons, the Egyptian Camel Corps, a group of Algerian artillery men commanded by Captain Pisani and air support from the RAF to assist him. Sykes%E2%80%93Picot Agreement The Sykes–Picot Agreement ( / ˈ s aɪ k s ˈ p iː k oʊ , - p ɪ ˈ k oʊ , - p iː ˈ k oʊ / )
5715-406: The French Government with our detailed pledges to King Hussein, and to make it clear to the latter whether he or someone else is to be the ruler of Damascus, which is the one possible capital for an Arab State, which could command the obedience of the other Arabian Emirs. In a further sign of British discontent with Sykes–Picot, in August, Sykes penned a "Memorandum on the Asia Minor Agreement" that
5842-426: The French government to throw Mosul into the Arab pool, if we did so in the case of Baghdad". A second meeting of the Nicolson committee with Picot took place on 21 December 1915 wherein Picot said that he had obtained permission to agree to the towns of Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Damascus being included in the Arab dominions to be administered by the Arabs. Although the French had scaled back their demands to some extent,
5969-425: The French, which the Arabs now threaten and will assuredly give. After discussions, Grey instructed that the French be informed of the situation, although Paul Cambon did not take the agreement that seriously. On 21 October 1915, Grey met Cambon and suggested France appoint a representative to discuss the future borders of Syria as Britain wished to back the creation of an independent Arab state. At this point Grey
6096-424: The Hashemite forces. The Ottoman garrison surrendered on 16 June. By the end of September 1916, the Sharifian Army had taken the coastal cities of Rabigh , Yanbu , al Qunfudhah , and 6,000 Ottoman prisoners with the assistance of the Royal Navy . The capture of the Red Sea ports allowed the British to send over a force of 700 Ottoman Arab POWs, who primarily came from what is now Iraq, who had decided to join
6223-440: The Hejaz railway. At first, guerrilla forces commanded by officers from the Regular Army such as al-Misri, and by British officers such as Newcombe, Lieutenant Hornby and Major Herbert Garland focused their efforts on blowing up unguarded sections of the Hejaz railway. Garland was the inventor of the so-called "Garland mine", which was used with much destructive force on the Hejaz railway. In February 1917, Garland succeeded for
6350-431: The Hejaz railway. On 11 May Arab regulars captured Jerdun and 140 prisoners. Five weeks later, on 24 July Nos. 5 and 7 Companies of the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade commanded by Major R. V. Buxton , marched from the Suez Canal to arrive at Aqaba on 30 July, to attack the Mudawwara Station. A particularly notable attack of Hedgehog was the storming on 8 August 1918, by the Imperial Camel Corps , closely supported by
6477-422: The Hejaz, that did much damage to the Hashemite forces. However, the Ottoman failure to take Yanbu in December 1916 led to the increased strengthening of the Hashemite forces, and led to the Ottoman forces to go on the defensive. Lawrence later claimed that the failure of the offensive against Yanbu was the turning point that ensured the ultimate defeat of the Ottomans in the Hejaz . In 1917, Lawrence arranged
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#17328587787326604-404: The Mashriq met in Paris at the First Arab Congress . They produced a set of demands for greater autonomy and equality within the Ottoman Empire, including for elementary and secondary education in Arab lands to be delivered in Arabic, for peacetime Arab conscripts to the Ottoman army to serve near their home region and for at least three Arab ministers in the Ottoman cabinet. It is estimated that
6731-441: The McMahon–Hussein Correspondence) before returning home on 8 December and finally delivering his report to the War Committee on 16 December. In his introduction to a 2016 Symposium on the subject of Sykes–Picot, law professor Anghie notes that much of the agreement is given over to "commercial and trade arrangements, to access to ports and the construction of railways". Loevy makes a similar point in respect of sections 4 to 8 of
6858-412: The Near East. (b) The Arabs require (1) recognition of their nationality, (2) protection of their race from alien oppression, and (3) an opportunity of re-establishing their position as a contributing factor in the world's progress. (c) Great Britain requires (1) to assure her position in the Persian Gulf, (2) opportunity to develop Lower Mesopotamia, (3) (a) commercial and military communication between
6985-405: The Ottoman Empire were denied following the Bolshevik Revolution and the Bolsheviks released a copy of the Sykes–Picot Agreement (as well as other treaties). They revealed full texts in Izvestia and Pravda on 23 November 1917; subsequently, The Manchester Guardian printed the texts on 26 November 1917. That caused great embarrassment to the allies and growing distrust between them and
7112-478: The Ottoman forces was they were at the end of a long and tenuous supply line in the form of the Hejaz railway, and because of their logistical weaknesses, were often forced to fight on the defensive. Ottoman offensives against the Hashemite forces more often faltered due to supply problems than to the actions of the enemy. The main contribution of the Arab Revolt to the war was to pin down tens of thousands of Ottoman troops who otherwise might have been used to attack
7239-422: The Ottoman military presence from much of the Hejaz and Transjordan . By 1918, the rebels had captured Damascus and proclaimed the Arab Kingdom of Syria , a short-lived monarchy that was led by Hussein's son Faisal I . Having covertly signed the Sykes–Picot Agreement with the French Third Republic , the British reneged on their promise to support the Arabs' establishment of a singular Arab state. Instead,
7366-426: The Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean by land, (b) influence in an area sufficient to provide the personnel engaged in Mesopotamia irrigation work with suitable sanatoria, and hill stations, and containing an adequate native recruiting ground for administrative purposes, (4) to obtain commercial facilities in the area under discussion. (d) Lastly, such a settlement has to be worked in with an arrangement satisfactory to
7493-413: The Revolt were Nuri as-Said , Ja'far al-Askari and 'Aziz 'Ali al-Misri . The year 1917 began well for the Hashemites, when the Emir Abdullah and his Arab Eastern Army ambushed an Ottoman convoy led by Ashraf Bey in the desert, and captured £20,000 worth of gold coins that were intended to bribe the Bedouin into loyalty to the Sultan . Starting in early 1917, the Hashemite guerrillas began attacking
7620-510: The Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne agreement was subsequently used by the British at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference to invalidate it, a position that greatly incensed the Italian government. Vereté describes how a dispute with the Ottoman Empire over the Eastern boundary of Egypt ended in 1906 when the borders were redrawn along the Rafa-Aqaba line and subsequently the fear of an attack on Egypt led to an increased strategic importance of "The hinterland of Sinai, western and eastern Palestine at least up to
7747-425: The Sharifian Army succeeded in cutting off and thus neutralizing the Ottoman position at Ma'an, who held out until late September 1918. The British refused several requests from al-Askari to use mustard gas on the Ottoman garrison at Ma'an. In the spring of 1918, Operation Hedgehog, a concerted attempt to sever and destroy the Hejaz railway, was launched. In May 1918, Hedgehog led to the destruction of 25 bridges of
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#17328587787327874-424: The Sykes–Picot line. The agreement allocated to the UK control of what is today southern Israel and Palestine , Jordan and southern Iraq , and an additional small area that included the ports of Haifa and Acre to allow access to the Mediterranean. France was to control southeastern Turkey , the Kurdistan Region , Syria and Lebanon . As a result of the included Sazonov–Paléologue Agreement , Russia
8001-411: The Turkish commander-in-chief in Syria to His Highness the Amir Faisal and to Ja'far Pasha have caused His Majesty's Government the liveliest satisfaction. The steps taken by Your Majesty in this connexion are only a token of the friendship and mutual sincerity which have always inspired the relations between the Government of the Hejaz and His Majesty's Government. It would be superfluous to point out that
8128-515: The UK and to an annexation of Syria (including Palestine ) and Cilicia for France. The UK and French claims were both agreed, all sides also agreeing that the exact governance of the Holy Places was to be left for later settlement. Were it not for the Russian Revolutions of 1917, Constantinople and the Straits could have been given to Russia upon the Allied victory. This agreement and the Sykes–Picot Agreement were complementary, as France and Britain first had to satisfy Russia in order to finalize
8255-435: The Western front-lines of the war, and thus only a handful of deserters actually joined the Arab forces until later in the campaign. By the beginning of the First World War, Arab conscripts constituted about 30% of the wartime Ottoman military of 3 million, serving in all ranks, from the lowest to the highest, and forming a crucial component of the Ottoman Army . Ottoman troops in the Hejaz numbered 20,000 men by 1917. At
8382-481: The agreement and refers to British and French practicing "Ottoman colonial development as insiders" and that this experience acted as a road map for the later wartime negotiations. Khalidi point to the negotiations between Britain and France in 1913 and 1914 with respect to the Homs –Baghdad railway as well as the pre-war agreements that both empires made with Germany over other regions of the Middle East, as laying "a clear basis" for their later spheres of influence under
8509-484: The agreement took place between 23 November 1915 and 3 January 1916, on which date the British and French diplomats, Mark Sykes and François Georges-Picot , initialled an agreed memorandum. The agreement was ratified by their respective governments on 9 and 16 May 1916. The agreement effectively divided the Ottoman provinces outside the Arabian Peninsula into areas of British and French control and influence. The British- and French-controlled countries were divided by
8636-439: The agreement with Faisal and Hussein. Hussein was persuaded to agree to a formula to the effect that the French would pursue the same policy in Syria as the British in Baghdad; since Hussein believed that Baghdad would be part of the Arab State, that had eventually satisfied him. Later reports from participants expressed doubts about the precise nature of the discussions and the degree to which Hussein had really been informed as to
8763-508: The agreement. In his doctoral thesis, Gibson discusses the part played by oil in British strategic thinking at the time and mentions the Mosul vilayet as the largest potential oilfield and France's agreement in 1918 to agree to its inclusion in the Iraq Mandate (the Clemenceau Lloyd George Agreement) in exchange for "a share of the oil and British support elsewhere". Hussein's letter of 18 February 1916 appealed to McMahon for £50,000 in gold plus weapons, ammunition and food claiming that Feisal
8890-444: The border of Persia; on the east by the borders of Persia up to the Gulf of Basra ; on the South by the Indian Ocean , with the exception of the position of Aden to remain as it is; on the west by the Red Sea , the Mediterranean Sea up to Mersina ", with the exception of "portions of Syria " lying to the west of "the districts of Damascus , Homs , Hama and Aleppo ". Hussein's reply of 1 January to McMahon's 14 December 1915
9017-484: The borders of the Ottoman Empire. Lloyd George set up a new small War Cabinet initially comprising Lords Curzon and Milner, Bonar Law, Arthur Henderson and himself; Hankey became the Secretary with Sykes, Ormsby-Gore and Amery as assistants. Although Arthur Balfour replaced Grey as Foreign Secretary, his exclusion from the War Cabinet and the activist stance of its members weakened his influence over foreign policy. The French chose Picot as French High Commissioner for
9144-427: The city was co-occupied by a large Anglo-French flotilla, including warships and sea planes, which helped the Arabs secure their hold on Aqaba. Even as the Hashemite armies advanced, they still encountered sometimes fierce opposition from local residents. In July 1917, residents of the town of Karak fought against the Hashemite forces and turned them back. Later in 1917, British intelligence reports suggested that most of
9271-481: The conscientious desires of Christianity, Judaeism, and Mohammedanism in regard to the status of Jerusalem and the neighboring shrines." "Preliminary Observations"; Sykes–Picot Joint Memorandum, 3 January 1916 The first meeting of the British interdepartmental committee headed by Sir Arthur Nicolson with François Georges-Picot took place on 23 November 1915. Picot informed the Nicolson committee that France claimed
9398-605: The cooperation of the Arabs is secured, and that the Arabs fulfil the conditions and obtain the towns of Homs, Hama, Damascus and Aleppo, the British Government would not object to the arrangement. But, as the Blue Area extends so far Eastwards, and affects Russian interests, it would be absolutely essential that, before anything was concluded, the consent of Russia was obtained. Picot was informed and five days later Cambon told Nicolson that "the French government were in accord with
9525-455: The eleven letters below. In the chain of agreements between France, Russia and Britain, the Russian claims were assented to first: France confirmed their agreement on 26 April and Britain on 23 May, with formal sanction on 23 October. The Anglo-French agreement was confirmed in an exchange of letters on 9 May and 16 May. In a meeting in a railway car at Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne on 19 April 1917,
9652-614: The emirs ʻAli and Faisal , began the revolt by attacking the Ottoman garrison in Medina , but were defeated by an aggressive Turkish defence, led by Fakhri Pasha. The revolt proper began on 10 June 1916, when Hussein ordered his supporters to attack the Ottoman garrison in Mecca. In the Battle of Mecca , there ensued over a month of bloody street fighting between the out-numbered, but far better armed Ottoman troops and Hussein's tribesmen. Hashemite forces in Mecca were joined by Egyptian troops sent by
9779-824: The exception of imperial possessions and interests in Kuwait , Aden , and the Syrian coast. He decided to join the Allied camp immediately, because of rumours that he would soon be deposed as Sharif of Mecca by the Ottoman government in favor of Sharif Ali Haidar , leader of the rival Zaʻid family. The much-publicized executions of the Arab nationalist leaders in Damascus led Hussein to fear for his life if he were deposed in favour of Ali Haidar. Hussein had about 50,000 men under arms, but fewer than 10,000 had rifles. On 5 June 1916, two of Hussein's sons,
9906-578: The first time in destroying a moving locomotive with a mine of his own design. In February 1917, around Medina , Captain Muhammad Ould Ali Raho of the French Military Mission carried out his first railway demolition attack. Captain Raho emerged as one of the leading destroyers of the Hejaz railway. In March 1917, Lawrence led his first attack on the Hejaz railway. Typical of such attacks was
10033-524: The form of which is to be decided upon after consultation with Russia, and subsequently in consultation with the other allies, and the representatives of the sheriff of Mecca." The memorandum was forwarded to the Foreign Office and circulated for comments. On 16 January, Sykes told the Foreign office that he had spoken to Picot and that he thought Paris would be able to agree. An interdepartmental conference
10160-480: The liberation of the Arab peoples. His Majesty's Government have hitherto made it their policy to ensure that liberation, and it remains the policy they are determined unflinchingly to pursue by protecting such Arabs as are already liberated from all dangers and perils, and by assisting those who are still under the yoke of the tyrants to obtain their freedom. Arab Revolt The Arab Revolt ( Arabic : الثورة العربية al-Thawra al-'Arabiyya ), also known as
10287-686: The north on 23 January 1917. Wejh surrendered within 36 hours, and the Ottomans abandoned their advance toward Mecca in favor of a defensive position in Medina, with small detachments scattered along the Hejaz railway. The Arab force had increased to about 70,000 men, armed with 28,000 rifles and deployed in three main groups. Ali's force threatened Medina, Abdullah operated from Wadi Ais harassing Ottoman communications and capturing their supplies, and Faisal based his force at Wejh. Camel-mounted Arab raiding parties had an effective radius of 1,000 miles (1,600 km), carrying their own food and taking water from
10414-584: The object aimed at by Turkey is to sow doubt and suspicion between the Allied Powers and those Arabs who, under Your Majesty's leadership and guidance, are striving nobly to recover their ancient freedom. The Turkish policy is to create dissension by luring the Arabs into believing that the Allied Powers have designs on the Arab countries, and by represent to the Allies that the Arabs might be made to renounce their aspirations. But such intrigues cannot succeed in sowing dissension among those whose minds are directed by
10541-409: The one commanded by Newcombe and Joyce, who on the night of 6/7 July 1917, planted over 500 charges on the Hejaz railway, which all went off at about 2 am. In a raid in August 1917, Captain Raho led a force of Bedouin in destroying 5 kilometers of the Hejaz railway and four bridges. In March 1917, an Ottoman force joined by tribesmen from Jabal Shammar led by Ibn Rashid carried out a sweep of
10668-602: The outbreak of the revolt in June 1916, the VII Corps of the Fourth Army was stationed in the Hejaz. It was joined by the 58th Infantry Division, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Ali Necib Pasha, the 1st Kuvvie- Mürettebe (Provisional Force) led by General Mehmed Cemal Pasha, which had the responsibility of safeguarding the Hejaz railway and the Hejaz Expeditionary Force ( Turkish : Hicaz Kuvve-i Seferiyesi ), which
10795-499: The overall cause. The Bedouin would not fight unless paid in advance with gold coin. By the end of 1916, the French had spent 1.25 million gold francs in subsidizing the revolt. By September 1918, the British were spending £ 220,000/month to subsidize the revolt. Faisal had hoped that he could convince Arab troops serving in the Ottoman Army to mutiny and join his cause, but the Ottoman government sent most of its Arab troops to
10922-1080: The partitioning of the Middle East. In the Treaty of London of 26 April 1915, Article 9 included commitments regarding Italian participation in any partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. The article stated: "If France, Great Britain and Russia occupy any territories in Turkey in Asia during the course of the war, the Mediterranean region bordering on the Province of Adalia within the limits indicated above shall be reserved to Italy, who shall be entitled to occupy it." While Sykes and Picot were in negotiations, discussions were proceeding in parallel between Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca , and Lieutenant Colonel Sir Henry McMahon , British High Commissioner to Egypt (the McMahon–Hussein Correspondence ). Their correspondence comprised ten letters exchanged from July 1915 to March 1916, in which
11049-638: The possession of land starting from where the Taurus Mountains approach the sea in Cilicia , following the Taurus Mountains and the mountains further East, so as to include Diyarbekir , Mosul and Erbil , and then returning to Deir ez-Zor on the Euphrates and from there southwards along the desert border, finishing eventually at the Egyptian frontier. Picot, however, added that he was prepared "to propose to
11176-456: The present-day Republic of Turkey . The rise of nationalism in the Ottoman Empire dates from at least 1821. Arab nationalism has its roots in the Mashriq , the Arab lands east of Egypt , particularly in countries of the Levant . The political orientation of Arab nationalists before World War I was generally moderate. Their demands were of a reformist nature and generally limited to autonomy,
11303-586: The promised revolt were being dealt with and there was a rising level of impatience for action to be taken by Hussein. Finally, at the end of April, McMahon was advised of the terms of Sykes–Picot and he and Grey agreed that these would not be disclosed to the Arabs. The Arab revolt was officially initiated by Hussein at Mecca on 10 June 1916 although his sons 'Ali and Faisal had already initiated operations at Medina starting on 5 June. The timing had been brought forward by Hussein and, according to Cairo, "Neither he nor we were at all ready in early June, 1916, and it
11430-787: The proposals concerning the Arab question". Later, in February and March, Sykes and Picot acted as advisors to Sir George Buchanan and the French ambassador respectively, during negotiations with Sazonov. Eventually, Russia having agreed on 26 April 1916, the final terms were sent by Paul Cambon, the French Ambassador in London, to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Edward Grey, on 9 May 1916, and ratified in Grey's reply on 16 May 1916. The formal agreements between Britain, France and Russia comprised
11557-497: The rebellion against the ruling Turks was officially initiated at Mecca on 10 June 1916. The primary goal of the Arab rebels was to establish an independent and unified Arab state stretching from Aleppo to Aden , which the British government had promised to recognize. The Sharifian Army , led by Hussein and the Hashemites with backing from the British military's Egyptian Expeditionary Force , successfully fought and expelled
11684-485: The responsibility of protecting Ali's eastern flank from Ibn Rashid. Medina was never taken by the Hashemite forces, and the Ottoman commander, Fakhri Pasha, only surrendered Medina when ordered to by the Turkish government on 9 January 1919. The total number of Ottoman troops bottled up in Medina by the time of the surrender were 456 officers and 9,364 soldiers. Under the direction of Lawrence, Wilson, and other officers,
11811-464: The revolt led by Nuri al-Saʻid and a number of Muslim troops from French North Africa . Fifteen thousand well-armed Ottoman troops remained in the Hejaz. A direct attack on Medina in October resulted in a bloody repulse of the Arab forces. In June 1916, the British sent out a number of officials to assist the revolt in the Hejaz , most notably Colonel Cyril Wilson , Colonel Pierce C. Joyce, and Lt-Colonel Stewart Francis Newcombe . Herbert Garland
11938-424: The revolt was convincing the Arab leaders, Faisal and Abdullah , to co-ordinate their actions in support of British strategy. Lawrence developed a close relationship with Faisal, whose Arab Northern Army was to become the main beneficiary of British aid. By contrast, Lawrence's relations with Abdullah were not good, so Abdullah's Arab Eastern Army received considerably less in way of British aid. Lawrence persuaded
12065-550: The soon to be occupied territory of Syria and Palestine. The British appointed Sykes as Chief Political Officer to the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. On 3 April 1917, Sykes met with Lloyd George, Curzon and Hankey to receive his instructions in this regard, namely to keep the French onside while pressing for a British Palestine. First Sykes in early May and then Picot and Sykes together visited the Hejaz later in May to discuss
12192-668: The start of naval operations in the run up to the Gallipoli campaign the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Sazonov , wrote to the French and UK ambassadors and staked a claim to Constantinople and the Dardanelles . In a series of diplomatic exchanges over five weeks, the UK and France both agreed, while putting forward their own claims, to an increased sphere of influence in Iran in the case of
12319-722: The success of Lawrence's occupation of Aqaba , covering the "tribal elements ranging between the Hejaz Railway and the Nefud , particularly about the Howeitat group." It was this information, Hogarth emphasized, which "Lawrence, relying on her reports, made signal use of in the Arab campaigns of 1917 and 1918." Lawrence obtained assistance from the Royal Navy to turn back an Ottoman attack on Yenbu in December 1916. Lawrence's major contribution to
12446-658: The support of both the Ottoman Aviation Squadrons , air squadrons from Germany and the Ottoman Gendarmerie or zaptı . The Ottomans relied upon the support of Emir Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Rashid of the Emirate of Jabal Shammar , whose tribesmen dominated what is now northern Saudi Arabia , and tied down both the Hashemites and Saʻudi forces with the threat of their raiding attacks. The great weakness of
12573-566: The terms of Sykes–Picot. Italy's participation in the war, governed by the Treaty of London , eventually led to the Agreement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in April 1917; at this conference, Lloyd George had raised the question of a British protectorate of Palestine and the idea "had been very coldly received" by the French and the Italians. The War Cabinet, reviewing this conference on 25 April, "inclined to
12700-699: The terms of the Ottoman–German Alliance . Many Arab nationalist figures in Damascus and Beirut were arrested, then tortured. The flag of the resistance was designed by Sir Mark Sykes , in an effort to create a feeling of "Arab-ness", in order to fuel the revolt. When Herbert Kitchener was Consul-General in Egypt , contacts between Abdullah and Kitchener culminated in a telegram of 1 November 1914 from Kitchener, recently appointed as Secretary of War, to Hussein, wherein Britain would, in exchange for support from
12827-469: The time, in defensive mode at a line on the eastern edge of the Sinai at El Arish and 15 miles from the borders of Ottoman Palestine. Lloyd George "at once" consulted his War Cabinet about a "further campaign into Palestine when El Arish had been secured". Pressure from Lloyd George (over the reservations of Chief of the General Staff ) resulted in the capture of Rafa and the arrival of British forces at
12954-518: The train of General Mehmed Cemal Pasha, the commander of the Ottoman VII Corps. Allenby's victories led directly to the British capture of Jerusalem just before Christmas 1917. By the time of Aqaba 's capture, many other officers joined Faisal's campaign. A large number of British officers and advisors, led by Lt. Col.s Stewart F. Newcombe and Cyril E. Wilson, arrived to provide the Arabs rifles, explosives, mortars, and machine guns. Artillery
13081-545: The tribes in the region east of the Jordan River were "firmly in the Ottoman camp." The tribes feared repressions and losing the money they had received from the Ottomans for their loyalty. Later in 1917, the Hashemite warriors made a series of small raids on Ottoman positions in support of British General Allenby 's winter attack on the Gaza – Bersheeba defensive line, which led to the Battle of Beersheba . Typical of such raids
13208-407: The view that sooner or later the Sykes–Picot Agreement might have to be reconsidered ... No action should be taken at present in this matter". In between the meetings with Hussein, Sykes had informed London that "the sooner French Military Mission is removed from Hedjaz the better" and then Lord Bertie was instructed to request the same from the French on the grounds that the mission was hostile to
13335-457: The war, gave way on 6 December to David Lloyd George who had been critical of the war effort and had succeeded Kitchener as Secretary of State for War after his untimely death in June. Lloyd George had wanted to make the destruction of the Ottoman Empire a major British war aim, and two days after taking office told Robertson that he wanted a major victory, preferably the capture of Jerusalem , to impress British public opinion. The EEF were, at
13462-566: Was Lawrence alone who represented the Allied cause in Arabia. David Hogarth credited Gertrude Bell for much of the success of the Arab Revolt. She had travelled extensively in the Middle East since 1888, after graduating from Oxford with a First in Modern History. Bell met Sheikh Harb of the Howeitat in January 1914 and thus was able to provide a "mass of information" which was crucial to
13589-539: Was a 1916 secret treaty between the United Kingdom and France , with assent from Russia and Italy , to define their mutually agreed spheres of influence and control in an eventual partition of the Ottoman Empire . The agreement was based on the premise that the Triple Entente would achieve success in defeating the Ottoman Empire during World War I and formed part of a series of secret agreements contemplating its partition. The primary negotiations leading to
13716-533: Was achieved by the end of September. However, by the end of the year, the agreement had yet to be ratified by the French Government. The Balfour Declaration along with its potential claim in Palestine was in the meantime issued on 2 November and the British entered Jerusalem on 9 December, with Allenby on foot 2 days later accompanied by representatives of the French and Italian detachments. Russian claims in
13843-687: Was also involved. In addition, a French military mission commanded by Colonel Édouard Brémond was sent out. The French enjoyed an advantage over the British in that they included a number of Muslim officers, such as Captain Muhammand Ould Ali Raho, Claude Prost, and Laurent Depui. The latter two converted to Islam during their time in Arabia . Captain Rosario Pisani of the French Army , though not
13970-421: Was awaiting the arrival of "not less than 100,000 people" for the planned revolt and McMahon's reply of 10 March 1916 confirmed the British agreement to the requests and concluded the ten letters of the correspondence. In April and May, there were discussions initiated by Sykes as to the merits of a meeting to include Picot and the Arabs to mesh the desiderata of both sides. At the same time, logistics in relation to
14097-426: Was awaiting the arrival of 'not less than 100,000 people' for the planned revolt. McMahon's reply of 10 March 1916 confirmed British agreement to the requests and concluded the correspondence. Hussein, who until then had officially been on the Ottoman side, was now convinced that his assistance to the Triple Entente would be rewarded by an Arab empire, encompassing the entire span between Egypt and Qajar Iran , with
14224-504: Was convened by Nicolson on 21 January. Following the meeting, a final draft agreement was circulated to the cabinet on 2 February, the War Committee considered it on the 3rd and finally at a meeting on the 4th between Bonar Law, Chamberlain, Lord Kitchener and others it was decided that: M. Picot may inform his government that the acceptance of the whole project would entail the abdication of considerable British interests, but provided that
14351-612: Was dispatched on instructions of the War Office at the beginning of June to discuss the committee's findings with the British authorities in the Near and Middle East and at the same time to study the situation on the spot. He went to Athens, Gallipoli, Sofia, Cairo, Aden, Cairo a second time and then to India coming back to Basra in September and a third time to Cairo in November (where he was apprised of
14478-554: Was faced with competing claims from the French and from Hussein and the day before had sent a telegram to Cairo telling the High Commissioner to be as vague as possible in his next letter to the Sharif when discussing the northwestern, Syrian, corner of the territory Hussein claimed and left McMahon with "discretion in the matter as it is urgent and there is not time to discuss an exact formula", adding, "If something more precise than this
14605-540: Was fire and air support from the five ships of the Royal Navy Red Sea Patrol that defeated the Ottoman attempts to take Yanbu, with heavy losses. Fakhri then turned his forces south to take Rabegh , but owing to the guerrilla attacks on his flanks and supply lines, air attacks from the newly established Royal Flying Corps base at Yanbu, and the over-extension of his supply lines, he was forced to turn back on 18 January 1917, to Medina. The coastal city of Wejh
14732-567: Was initially used directly as the basis for the 1918 Anglo–French Modus Vivendi , which provided a framework for the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration in the Levant. More broadly it was to lead, indirectly, to the subsequent partitioning of the Ottoman Empire following Ottoman defeat in 1918. Shortly after the war, the French ceded Palestine and Mosul to the British. Mandates in the Levant and Mesopotamia were assigned at
14859-474: Was one led by Lawrence in September 1917, that saw Lawrence destroy a Turkish rail convoy by blowing up the bridge it was crossing at Mudawwara and then ambushing the Turkish repair party. In November 1917, as aid to Allenby's offensive, Lawrence launched a deep-raiding party into the Yarmouk River valley, which failed to destroy the railway bridge at Tel ash-Shehab , but succeeded in ambushing and destroying
14986-526: Was only sporadically supplied due to a general shortage, though Faisal would have several batteries of mountain guns under French Captain Pisani and his Algerians for the Megiddo Campaign. Egyptian and Indian troops also served with the Revolt, primarily as machine gunners and specialist troops, a number of armoured cars were allocated for use. The Royal Flying Corps often supported the Arab operations, and
15113-480: Was only with the greatest of difficulty that a minimum of sufficient assistance in material could be scraped together to ensure initial success." Colonel Édouard Brémond was dispatched to Arabia in September 1916 as head of the French military mission to the Arabs. According to Cairo, Brémond was intent on containing the revolt so that the Arabs might not in any way threaten French interests in Syria. These concerns were not taken up in London, British-French cooperation
15240-415: Was received at the Foreign Office, McMahon's cover stating: Satisfactory as it may be to note his general acceptance for the time being of the proposed relations of France with Arabia, his reference to the future of those relations adumbrates a source of trouble which it will be wise not to ignore. I have on more than one occasion brought to the notice of His Majesty's Government the deep antipathy with which
15367-424: Was tantamount to advocating its renegotiation else that it be made clear to the French that they "make good—that is to say that if they cannot make a military effort compatible with their policy they should modify their policy". After many discussions, Sykes was directed to conclude with Picot an agreement or supplement to Sykes–Picot ("Projet d'Arrangement") covering the "future status of the Hejaz and Arabia" and this
15494-525: Was thought paramount and Cairo made aware of that. (Wingate was informed in late November that "it would seem desirable to impress upon your subordinates the need for the most loyal cooperation with the French whom His Majesty's Government do not suspect of ulterior designs in the Hijaz".) As 1916 drew to a close, the Asquith government which had been under increasing pressure and criticism mainly due to its conduct of
15621-648: Was to balance the military power drops at the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I as Russian (Tsarist) forces were pulling out of the Caucasus campaign , even though they were replaced with the forces of what would be called the First Republic of Armenia . It was clear to the Italians that the area allotted to them may not be easily given up by the Turkish Empire, such that the British Prime Minister proposed
15748-476: Was to be the base for attacks on the Hejaz railway. On 3 January 1917, Faisal began an advance northward along the Red Sea coast with 5,100 camel riders, 5,300 men on foot, four Krupp mountain guns, ten machine guns , and 380 baggage camels. The Royal Navy resupplied Faisal from the sea during his march on Wejh. While the 800-man Ottoman garrison prepared for an attack from the south, a landing party of 400 Arabs and 200 Royal Navy bluejackets attacked Wejh from
15875-477: Was to get Western Armenia in addition to Constantinople and the Turkish Straits already promised under the 1915 Constantinople Agreement . Italy assented to the agreement in 1917 via the Agreement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and received southern Anatolia . The Palestine region , with a smaller area than the later Mandatory Palestine , was to fall under an "international administration". The agreement
16002-500: Was under the command of General Fakhri Pasha . In face of increasing attacks on the Hejaz railway, the 2nd Kuvve i Mürettebe was created by 1917. The Ottoman force included a number of Arab units who stayed loyal to the Sultan-Caliph and fought well against the Allies. The Ottoman troops enjoyed an advantage over the Hashemite troops at first, in that they were well supplied with modern German weapons. The Ottoman forces had
16129-584: Was written in Arabic. An English translation was published in 1938 in The Arab Awakening , whereby its author, George Antonius , noted that the text of the original communication had "often appeared in the Arabic Press in facsimile reproduction from a photostat copy supplied by the late King Hussein": The loyal motives which have prompted Your Majesty to forward to the High Commissioner the letters addressed by
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