The Impact of the Dardanelles Campaign on British Policy Towards the Arabs: How Gallipoli Shaped the Hussein-McMahon Correspondence

Abstract

In 1915, Britain negotiated a deal to persuade the Arabs to join the Allies in the fight against the Ottomans. The Hussein-McMahon correspondence between the British High Commissioner in Egypt, Sir Arthur Henry McMahon, and Sharif Hussein of Mecca was the vehicle for that negotiation. In exchange for opposing the Ottomans, Sharif Hussein demanded an Arab independent area that stretched from the Mediterranean to modern day Iraq and from the Indian Ocean to Syria. The British accepted. Elie Kedourie's argument that McMahon was influenced by the Ottoman army deserter, Muhammad al-Faruqi, has thus far provided historians with the primary detailed reasoning for the British acceptance of Hussein's demands. This article will suggest that insufficient emphasis has been given to the failure of the Allied campaign at Gallipoli, which was a significant reason behind the British desire to negotiate a deal with the Arabs.