Chapter 25 "One Daughter, Two Marriages"

When the details of the Sykes-Picot secret agreement became public, Britain was in an embarrassing situation.On the one hand, Britain signed an agreement with the big powers to carve up the Middle East. On the other hand, in order to ensure that the Arabs resisted the rule of Turkey in the war, the United Kingdom vowed to the Arab leaders that it would guarantee Arab sovereignty and independence after the war. The British received invaluable military support from the Arab armies led by Sharif Hussein Ali, then the Hashemite Shah (Emir) of Mecca and guardian of the Muslim holy places of Mecca and Medina .The British guaranteed the Arab armies under Lawrence's command, and in return for their help in defeating the Turks, Britain guaranteed them the sovereignty and independence of all of Arabia after the war.Such assurances were detailed in a letter to Sherif Hussein from Sir Henry McMahon, then the British High Commissioner in Egypt.At the time, Hussein claimed to be the Arab leader.

Lawrence was then fully aware of the British deception of the Arabs.As he admitted in his memoirs many years later: I risked the injustice of deceit because I was convinced that if I want to win the victory in the East quickly and cheaply, I must get the help of the Arabs, and victory and deceit are better than victory. Defeat came better...Arab morale was our main means of winning the war in the East.So I assure them that Britain will keep its word.Under such a commitment, they did a very good job; of course, in addition to being proud of what we have achieved together, I often feel deeply guilty.

Hundreds of thousands of Arabs died for this "quick and cheap victory".In order to get a lot of oil and political wealth in the Arab Middle East, the British quickly reneged on their promises. Not only that, but the British have intensified.Because, once the Sykes-Picot agreement was made public, the contradictory commitments to France and to the Middle East would be exposed, so on November 7, 1918, the four-year armistice agreement that ended the war with Germany was signed. A few days ago, Britain concocted a new Anglo-French declaration.The new manifesto insists that Britain and France have been fighting "for the complete and complete emancipation of the peoples long oppressed by Turkey, and for the establishment of a national government and governing bodies which derive their authority through the spontaneous and free choice of the local people".Yet this noble goal was not achieved.Before the ink on the solemn oath signed at Versailles was dry, Britain stationed millions of troops in the Middle East, establishing its military superiority in this region, including French territories.

By September 30, 1918, France had agreed to Britain's conditions for creating what it called a "temporary military occupation zone."According to this agreement, the United Kingdom will occupy Palestine, which belongs to Turkey, and form the so-called "occupied area government" together with other British-occupied territories. Since France, exhausted by the wars in Europe, was unable to deploy sufficient troops in designated French territories, Britain generously offered to assume the full role of supreme military and administrative guardian. After 1918, the British general Sir Edmund Allenby (then Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force) had become the de facto military ruler throughout the Arabian region of the Middle East, including the French territories.In a private conversation in London in December 1918, British Prime Minister Lloyd George told French President Clementio that Britain wanted France to "bring Mosul in Iraq, and Palestine from Dan to Beersheva." Vast areas of the country were handed over to British control".In return, it is said that Britain has promised that France will not only have half of the oil exploration rights in Mosul, but also retain the rights in the Greater Syria area. Britain also guarantees France's support in post-war Europe. An indispensable bargaining chip for military operations.As we shall see, this private transaction set the stage for a series of tragic tragedies to follow.