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ASENSEOFCRISISONBOTHSIDES 161

theEuropeansituationandby thesuccessoftheCentralPowers

againstRussia,whichhadupsetAlliedplansintheBalkansandin-

fluencedthesharif.Wingatecontinued:

Therecanbe nodoubtwhateverthat[HusaynandtheArabs] aremore

anxiousthanever tothrowoffTurkishdominationandto placethe

destiniesoftheiras yetunbornStateinourhands....Iamlostin

wondermentattheattitudeoftheHomeAuthoritieswhowouldhold

apistolatthewretchedSherif'sheadunlesshe risesinstantlyin re-

volt-howcanhe risewhenhe isneitherpreparedas tomoney,arms,

ammunitionandothernecessarieswhichgo tomakearevoltsuccess-

ful?33

NotwithstandingtheimpatienceofCairoandKhartoumwith
London,theForeignOfficehadinfactauthorizedMcMahontocon-
tinuehiscontactswiththesharif.Sykes,too,whileinCairolearned
oftheapproachtoHusayn,asdidsomeMuslimleadersliketheIn-
dianprince,AgaKhan,whoreceivedtheinformationfromtheFor-
eignOffice.>
Bythecloseof 1915 thecorrespondencebetweenMcMahonand
thesharifhadproducedagreementontheterritorythatwouldform
afutureindependentArabstate,exceptforcertainvaguelydefined
landsin SyriawhereFrenchinterestswereinvolved.Britainprom-
ised as welltodelivertoHusaynsuppliesofarmsatthebeginningof
1916,withtheunderstandingthatthelatterwouldlaunchanArab
revolt. So asnottodamagetheAnglo-Frenchalliance,thesharifin-
formedMcMahon,hewouldpostponehisdemandsin Syriauntil
thewar'send.TheseeventspromptedSykesandofficialsinCairoto
formaspecialagencyfor Arab affairs,theArabBureau,inthelocal
intelligencedepartment.»TheBritishgovernmentalsocompleteda
treatywithIbnSaud,theleadingArabchieftainineasternandcen-
tralArabia.TheagreementgaveBritainalargemeasureofcontrol
overIbnSaud'sforeignpolicy,butitacknowledgedtheindependence
andterritorialintegrityoftheNajdandgrantedhimanannualsub-
sidy."
SeveralfactorsseemedtoconfirmforBritishleadersthewisdomof
theirincreasinglypro-Arabpolicy. A War Officeintelligencereport