War by Revolution. Germany and Great Britain in the Middle East in the Era of World War I

BRITAINASWARTIME"REVOLUTIONARY" 187

portedtherevoltfor severalreasons.Politically,thespreadofFrench-
backedrebellionamongthepopulationofSyria,Palestine,andAr-
meniacouldpreparethegroundforFrenchinterventionandambi-
tionsintheregion,especiallyin Syria.Militarily,theFrenchhoped
therevoltwouldparalyzetheOttomancapacityfor war.Theyalso
expectedtheaffairtoconvinceamajorityofMuslimsinFrance'sAf-
ricancoloniestoabandontheirsupportfor theTurksin favor of
FranceastheliberatoroftheholyshrinesofIslam.DuringSeptem-
ber 1916 theFrenchsenttwomissions,onetoJiddaandtheotherto
Mecca, toassistHusayn'smilitaryoperationsandhisprocurement
ofweapons.8\
BritainandFrancesuppliedarms,mostofthemofoldvintage,to
theArab forcesthroughtheRed Seaportsof'jiddaandRabigh;the
TurksretainedcontroloverMedinaandtheHijazrailroad.TheAr-
abs,theirinitialsuccessesnotwithstanding,wereundisciplined,poorly
organized,untrained,anddespiteAllied aid,illarmed;therewas wide-
spreadapprehensionamongtheBritishthattheTurkswouldrecap-
tureMecca.Alarmingreportsfromintelligencesourcesarrivedin
CairooftheTurkishandGermaneffortstoreconcilewiththeArabs
byincreasingshipmentsofgoldandpromisesofgreaterautonomy."
TherevoltquicklyembroiledBritishleadersfromLondontoCairo
andDelhiin afurtherroundofbitterconflictsover policy.Thedif-
ferencescenteredonwhetherBritainshouldsendtroops,including
Muslimunits,toArabiatoaidthesharif.BothFaysal,whocom-
mandedthenorthernmostArabforces,andhisfatheraskedforsuch
assistance.GenerallyCairoandKhartoumsupportedtherequests;
inLondon,SirMarkSykes,alongwithother"Easterners,"opposed
sendingBritishtroopstoArabia,althoughtheypressedfor every
othertypeofaidfortheArabrebellion.At ameetingoftheBritish
government'sWarCommittee,whichincludedamixtureofsenior
cabinetminstersandstrategicadvisersandformeda keypolicy-
makingbody,bothSykesandClayton,whohadjustarrivedin Lon-
donfromCairo,persuadedGrey to pay asubsidyoffiftythousand
poundsmonthlytothesharif.
Sykes inparticularpresentedtothecommitteeandothersinLon-
donhis viewoftheimportanceoftheArab revolt indestroyingGer-
many'spositionintheMiddleEast."AsregardstheCentralPowers,"