Prologue
4. Britain's triple tongue diplomacy during World War I (1)
When talking about the Middle East after
the World War II, it is inevitable to mention about "triple tongue diplomacy" by Britain
during the World War I.
World War I was a war between two groups. One
is UK, France and their allies including Japan. The other side is Germany,
Austria and Ottoman Empire. UK, France and its allies defeated German allies. In
1919 the Versailles Treaty was concluded at the Paris Peace Conference on
postwar treatments led by UK and France. This treaty was extremely harsh for
the defeated Germany and Ottoman Empire. Germany ceded its territory and also
was forced a huge compensation. It was the system called the winner-take-all.
The UK and France also did not forgive the Ottoman Empire. Except for Asia
Minor UK and France forfeited Levant,
Tigris & Euphrates regions from Ottoman Empire, where she has been the lord
in the long history. It is a finish of colonial acquisition games by the
European imperialistic nations continuing from the 19th century. The Arab people
who has been living in that area for a long time has been totally neglected.
During the World War I UK made three
promises – the McMahon-Hussein Correspondence, the Sykes- Pico Agreement and
the Balfour Declaration. They were the roots of all evil at present in the
Middle East. Each of these three promises were concluded with different partners,
and totally conflicted each other. Therefore, these series of UK diplomacy were
criticized as triple tongue diplomacy. It was not only critically acknowledged,
but it brought about disaster to the whole region of the Middle East, and the
disaster has been continuing for one hundred years.
(1) McMahon-Hussein Correspondence
The first of these three promises is a series
of ten letters between Henry McMahon, the British High Commissioner in the
Sultanate of Egypt, and Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Makkah from July 1915 to
March 1916. As the reward of the war against Ottoman Empire, McMahon promised
independence of Arabs. He wrote a
letter to Hussein on 24 October 1915, saying as follows.
"I am empowered in the name of the
Government of Great Britain to give the followint assuraances and make the
following reply to your letter:
Subject to the above modifications, Greate
Britain is prepared to recongnize and support the Independence of the Arabs
within the territories included in the limits and boundaries proposed by the
Sherif of Mecca”
Hussein was born in historic house as a 39th
direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. He was the Sherif of Makkah and the King
of the Hizjaz, reigning the Red Sea coastal zone. Hussein, who was supported by UK, ordered his
sons Abdallah and Faisal to attack the Ottoman Empire. Abdullah later became
the King of Jordan and grandfather of Abdallah II. And Faisal became the King
of Iraq. Two sons fought guerrilla war against Ottoman Empire.
He himself believed that his country would
faithfully keep the promise of the McMahon-Hussein Correspondence. However,
after the war, the land actually allocated to the Arabs was far from their expectation.
T.E. Lawrence lost the trust of Arabs. His heart was broken and he returned to
UK. He afterwards lost his own life by a motorcycle accident.
In the Arab world, Lawrence is regarded as
"a tool of the UK" and has not been appreciated at all. On the other
hand, Western people who is the winner of the war created a hero at one’s
descretion.
(To be continued ----)
By
Areha Kazuya
E-mail:Arehakazuya1@gmail.com
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