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
was UK, France and their allies including Japan. The other side was 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 allow the Ottoman Empire. Leaving Asia Minor as
Turkish original territory, UK and France confiscated Levant, Tigris & Euphrates
regions from Ottoman Empire, having been the lord in the long history. It was a
final game of colonization by the European imperialistic nations starting in
the 19th century. The wish of Arabs who had been originally living in that area
has been totally neglected.
During the World War I UK made three
promises, namely the McMahon-Hussein Correspondence, the Sykes- Pico Agreement
and the Balfour Declaration. They were the roots of all of the present
disasters in the Middle East. Each of these three promises were concluded by UK
with different partners respectively. But they totally contradicted each other.
Therefore, these series of UK diplomacy were criticized as triple tongue
diplomacy. It was not only criticized, but also brought disasters to the whole
region in the Middle East. The disaster has been continuing after more than one
hundred years.
(1) McMahon-Hussein Correspondence
The first promise was a series of ten correspondences
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 following assurances and make the
following reply to your letter:
Subject to the above modifications, Great
Britain is prepared to recognize 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 prestigious family as a
39th direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. He was the Sherif of
Makkah and the King of the Hijaz, 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 was a grandfather of Abdallah II, present monarch. 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 torn. He returned to UK
and afterwards lost his own life by a motorcycle accident.
In the Arab world, Lawrence is regarded as
"the minions 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
discretion.
(To be continued ----)
By
Areha Kazuya
E-mail:
areha_kazuya@jcom.home.ne.jp
Home Page: OCIN
INITIATIVE
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