alternatehistory.com

In June 1916, the Arabs rose up in revolt against the Ottoman Empire, an effort supported by the British and French, who were at time fighting the Great War against the Central Powers of which the Ottomans were a part.

Ostensibly, the British were helping the Arabs fight for an independent Arab nation which would stretch from Syria to Yemen. In reality, the Arabs were pawns in the Entente's larger scheme: to partition the Middle East among themselves.

1. France was supposed to acquire Lebanon with a capital in Beirut. There was also to be a sovereign Arab state in Syria based around Damascus under French protection.

2. The British were to acquire Haifa and the port of Akra, allowing a Mediterranean terminal for Mesopotamian oil

3. Palestine was to be protected by France, Russia and Britain combined.

4. France would acquire southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq.

5. Britain were to acquire southern Iraq.

6. Russia was to acquire Constantinople and the Armenian regions of Anatolia

This deal was authored by Mark Sykes and Francois Georges Picot and signed by Edward Grey and Paul Cambon and would've divided the Middle East into spheres of influence.

However, this agreement would never be implemented due to the French defeat at Verdun that same year. in quick succession, France surrendered, Britain signed a armistice with Germany and after Tsar Nicholas II was deposed in a bloodless coup, the deal was revealed by the Russian press.

In disgrace, Thomas Edward Lawrence, the main commander in the field during the Arab revolt, committed suicide as the British were forced to withdraw aid for the rebellion.

German assistance to the Ottomans pushed back the rebellion, but the Ottomans soon crumbled from within during the 1920s and as a result, the Arabs were able to declare independence on their own terms.

So let's say that the French win at Verdun and the war goes for on a while longer and the Allies win. What if this treacherous agreement was put into action?
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