A History of the First World War in 100 Moments: A desert uprising that began in hope but was doomed to end in betrayal

by Guest Sat May 24, 2014 9:19 am

The Arab Revolt is all about the Arab Betrayal. The blowing up of Turkish trains, the capture of Aqaba, the camel charges and the slaughter on the Road to Damascus, and the mythistory of Lawrence of Arabia are the Cinemascope version of the First World War in the desert. Better to watch Peter O’Toole in the movie.

Best to start our story with the 1915 correspondence sent to Sharif Hussain – the religious leader of Mecca and Medina whose Hashemite family had guarded the Islamic holy land since the 10th century – by the British minister in Cairo, Sir Henry McMahon.

Hussain proposed to rise up with his tribes against the Ottoman Turks in Arabia and McMahon addressed his would-be Arab ally in the following terms: “To the excellent and well-born Sayed, the descendant of Sharifs, the Crown of the Proud, Scion of Mohamed’s Tree and Branch of the Quraishite Trunk, him of the Exalted Presence and of the Lofty Rank… His Excellency the Sharif Hussain, Lord of the Many, Emir of Mecca the Blessed, the lodestar of the Faithful and the cynosure of all devout Believers, may his Blessing descend upon the people in their multitude.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/world-history/history-of-the-first-world-war-in-100-moments/a-history-of-the-first-world-war-in-100-moments-a-desert-uprising-that-began-in-hope-but-was-doomed-to-end-in-betrayal-9428885.html