The British Army and its Arab allies took the city of Damascus on September 30th, 1918, shortly before the end of the Great War.

Those Arab allies were commanded by Faisal bin Hussein, the third son of the Sharif of Mecca. Faisal entered the city,

and, with the support of the British commander, General Edmund Allenby, declared Syria

an independent Arab state. A few days later, the British took him aside and explained to him that in the secret Sykes-Picot agreement, they had already promised these lands to the French.

Oops.

Welcome to the history of the 20th century.

Music 20th century. Episode 192, The Near East, Part 2.

Last time, we began the story of the post-war disposition of the Arab lands formerly ruled by the

Ottoman Empire, then took a diversion to Egypt and Afghanistan. I did mention Syria, and how the

British had promised that corner of Arab lands to France, then considered reneging on the deal, but agreed to the French

claim in the end. I didn't talk about the Arabs themselves, or what they thought of all this.

Actually, they didn't think about this at all, because the Sykes-Picot agreement was a secret,

or at least it was until the Bolsheviks spilled the beans.

What the Arabs did think about was the British pledge to Hussein, the Sharif of Mecca,

ruler of the Hajas, that in exchange for taking up arms against the Turks,

Britain would recognize him as the king of an Arab state after the war.

The British and the French had also made high-sounding promises to the Arab public.

Shortly after the armistice, they circulated a statement in Arabic, declaring that one of the

Allied war goals was, quote, the complete

and definite emancipation of the peoples so long oppressed by the Turks, and the establishment

of national governments and administrations deriving their authority from the initiative and free

choice of the indigenous population as a whole.

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