Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The Great Arab Revolt

Starting point is 00:00:00 One of the most significant and long-lasting outcomes of the First World War didn't take place in Europe. It was a reshuffling in the political order in the Arab Peninsula and the Levant. During the war, various Arab tribes joined together to free themselves from centuries of Ottoman rule. The legacy of the rebellion can still be seen in the map of the Middle East today. Learn more about the Great Arab Revolt on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Fear is the virus is trending on TikTok. Vaccines are poison. Then your yoga teacher says that sex traffic children are being sacrificed by satanic liberals,

Starting point is 00:00:49 but it's all okay. The Great Awakening is coming. What is happening? Every week on Conspirality Podcast, we explore the fever dreams that suck friends, family, and wellness gurus down the right-wing cult spiral in a search for salvation. The Great Arab Revolt of 1916 to 1918 stands as one of the most consequential upheavals in Middle Eastern history, fundamentally reshaping the political landscape of the Arab world, and leaving reverberations that continue to influence the region more than a century later.

Starting point is 00:01:29 This rebellion against Ottoman Turkish rule represented both a nationalist awakening and a moment of betrayal that would color Arab politics for generations to come. To understand the revolt, you first have to understand the position of the Arab provinces within the Ottoman Empire by the early 20th century. For four centuries, Arabic-speaking lands from the Arabic-speaking peninsula to the Levant had been incorporated into the Ottoman state, with varying degrees of autonomy and local governance. While Arabs had long been a part of the Ottoman system, serving in its administration and military, a growing sense of Arab identity began to emerge in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, fueled by cultural Renaissance movements, increased literacy, and exposure to European nationalist ideas. The Young Turk Revolution of 1908 initially raised hopes among Arab reformers who believed that it would lead to greater representation and equality within the empire. However, the Committee of Union in Progress, which came to dominate Ottoman politics, increasingly pursued policies of Turkification that alienated Arab subjects.

Starting point is 00:02:32 The Arabic language was marginalized in favor of Turkish in administration and education, and Arabic officers in the Ottoman military faced discrimination. This heavy-handed centralization created deep resentment amongst Arab elites and intellectuals who had previously been content living under Ottoman rule. The outbreak of World War I in 1914 brought these tensions to a crisis point. The Ottoman Empire's alliance with the central powers and its declaration of jihad against the Allies placed Arab populations in an increasingly precarious position. The war brought economic hardship, conscription, and harsh military governance to the Arab provinces. When Ottoman authorities discovered Arab nationalist societies and executed Arab leaders in Damascus and

Starting point is 00:03:16 Beirut in 1915 and 1916, hanging them in public squares, many Arabs concluded that their future lay outside Ottoman rule. At the center of the revolt stood Hussein bin Ali, the Sharif of Mecca, and a descendant to the Prophet Muhammad through the Hashemai line. Hussein held one of the most prestigious positions in the Islamic world as the guardian of Islam's holiest cities, Mecca and Medina. His religious authority and lineage gave him unique legitimacy to challenge Ottoman claims to leadership of the Muslim world. Hussein had long chafed under Ottoman oversight and harbored ambitions for greater autonomy, if not independence, for the Arab lands. Hussein's sons would prove instrumental in the revolt's execution. Faisal, the third son, emerged as the revolt's military and

Starting point is 00:04:04 diplomatic face, leading Arab forces in the field and serving as the primary liaison with British advisors. Abdullah the second son also commanded forces and later became a key political figure. Ali, the eldest, remained closer to the hijazz to defend the holy cities, why Zayed, the youngest participated in military operations. Each son would go on to play significant roles in post-war Arab politics, with Faisal eventually becoming king of Iraq and Abdullah becoming the founder of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The revolt cannot be understood without examining British wartime military strategy, and a complex web of promises made to various parties. Britain facing Ottoman opposition and seeking to protect its imperial interests stretching from Egypt to India saw value in fomenting an Arab rebellion

Starting point is 00:04:51 that would tie down Ottoman forces and potentially secure the eastern flank of the Suez Canal. The British High Commissioner in Egypt, Sir Henry McMahon, entered into a famous correspondence with Hussein, in 1915 and 1916 that appeared to promise Arab independence in exchange for an uprising against the Ottomans. The McMahon-Husain correspondence has been debated and parsed ever since, with disagreements over exactly what territories were promised to Hussein. Hussein understood the letters to promise Arab independence across the entire Arabian Peninsula, greater Syria, and Mesopotamia, with a few exceptions that he interpreted narrowly. The British later claimed that these exceptions were broader

Starting point is 00:05:33 in that they had never promised Palestine or parts of Syria to Arab control. Simultaneously, Britain was making entirely different commitments. The Sykes-Pico Accord of 1916 negotiated secretly with France and with Russian ascent, divided the Arab territories of the Ottoman Empire into British and French spears of influence, with only limited areas of Arab independence. This agreement fundamentally contradicted the spirit, if not the letter of what had been promised to Hussein. Additionally, the Balfour Declaration of 1917

Starting point is 00:06:05 committed Britain to supporting the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine, another layer of conflicting obligations that would plague British policy and Middle Eastern politics for decades to come. The revolt officially began on June 10, 1916, when Hustain's forces attacked the Ottoman garrison in Mecca. The initial phase simply focused on the Hajas,

Starting point is 00:06:28 the western coastal region of the Arabian Peninsula containing the holy cities. Arab forces, which were composed of Bedouin tribesmen and regular army units that defected from the Ottoman military, succeeded in taking Mecca, but faced greater difficulty in capturing the fortified city of Medina, which remained in Ottoman hands throughout the entire war. The port city of Jeddah fell to the rebels, providing crucial access to British naval support and supplies. The most famous aspect of the revolt became the northern campaign towards Damascus. particularly due to the involvement of T.E. Lawrence, the British officer known as Lawrence of Arabia. Lawrence, an archaeologist-turned intelligence officer, became Hussein's liaison and advisor to Faisal's forces.

Starting point is 00:07:12 His role has been romanticized and exaggerated in popular culture, but he did play a significant role in coordinating British support, advising on guerrilla tactics, and managing the campaign's complex tribal politics. While Lawrence's role in the rebellion has been exaggerated, his story, story is nonetheless really interesting and will be the subject of a future episode. The Arab forces adopted a strategy of mobility and guerrilla warfare that proved remarkably effective against Ottoman lines of communication. Rather than engaging in costly direct assault on fortified positions, the rebels focused on raiding the Hajas Railway, the vital supply line connecting Damascus to Medina and the Holy Cities. These raids forced the Ottomans to disperse

Starting point is 00:07:54 their forces along hundreds of miles of track, tying down troops that might otherwise have been used against British forces in Palestine and Mesopotamia. The destruction of bridges, culverts, and locomotives became the Arab's signature tactic, and the railway was never fully operational again during the war. As General Edmund Allenby's British Expeditionary Force advanced through Palestine in 1917 and 18, Arab forces operated on the British right flank, securing the desert approaches, and capturing the key port of Akaba in July of 1917. The seizure of Akaba stands as one of the most audacious and strategically significant operations of the Arab revolt, transforming what had mainly been a regional uprising in the

Starting point is 00:08:36 Hajas into a campaign that could directly support British operations in Palestine. Akapa occupied a position of immense strategic value at the northeast tip of the Red Sea, where the coasts of what are now Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia all converge. The town controlled the only significant port on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Akaba, and sat at the terminus of the Hajaz Railway's western branch. More importantly, it guarded the southern approaches to Palestine and the Sinai Peninsula, and its possession would allow Arab forces to threaten the Ottoman right flank, as British forces under General Alainby prepared to advance from Egypt into Palestine.

Starting point is 00:09:14 From the Ottoman perspective, Akaba was a fortress that could only be seriously threatened from sea, where its guns commanded the approach to the harbor. The Turks had fortified the seward defenses and maintained a garrison that they believed was sufficient to repel any naval assault. The landward approaches through the harsh desert of the Wadi Ereba and the interior mountains of what is now southern Jordan seems so forbidding that the Ottomans left them only lightly defended. This assessment of the terrain was entirely reasonable by conventional military standards, but it failed to account for the capabilities of Bedouin forces operating in their native environment. The climax of the entire Arab Revolt came with the capture of Damascus on October 1, 1918.

Starting point is 00:10:00 Arab forces under Faisal entered the city in coordination with Australian cavalry units just ahead of Alambi's main force. For the Arabs, this moment represented the culmination of their soldiers. struggle and the supposed fulfillment of promises of independence. Faisal established a provisional Arab government in Damascus, appearing to realize Hussein's vision of an independent Arab kingdom. The joy of victory proved very short-lived, however. Despite Arab expectations, European imperial interests quickly reasserted themselves. The Sykes-Pico agreement, which had been exposed by the Bolsheviks after the Russian Revolution, became the template for post-war arrangements

Starting point is 00:10:38 rather than the promises made to Hussein. At the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, Arab representatives, including Faisal, found themselves sidelined as Britain and France negotiated the division of the former Ottoman territories. The San Remo Conference of 1920 formalized the mandate system, placing Syria and Lebanon under French control and Palestine, Transjordan, and Mesopotamia

Starting point is 00:11:03 under British administration. France forcibly expelled Faisal from Syria in 1920, after he had been proclaimed a king by Assyrian Congress. Britain, feeling some obligation to its wartime allies and seeking stability in its own mandates, arranged for Faisal to become king of the newly created state of Iraq in 1921, while his brother Abdullah became the emir of Transjordan, later the kingdom of Jordan. These arrangements were pragmatic solutions that partially compensated the Hashemites, but fell far short of the independent Arab state that they had been led to expect.

Starting point is 00:11:38 Hussein himself refused to accept treaties that recognized British and French mandates, leading to a rupture with Britain. His position became untenable when Abdulaziz Ibn Saud, the leader of the Wahhabi movement in Central Arabia and arrival for power on the peninsula, conquered the hijazz in 1924 and 2025. Hussein was forced into exile, eventually dying in Amman in 1931. The Saud family established the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, fundamentally altering the political geography of the Arabian Peninsula and ensuring that the Hashemites would not rule over the

Starting point is 00:12:14 holy cities. The Great Arab Revolt and its aftermath have profoundly shaped the Middle East in ways that remain visible today. The creation of the modern state system in the region with borders largely drawn by European powers stems directly from the post-war settlements. The borders of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia all trace their origins to this period. Palestine, whose status remained ambiguous and contested due to conflicting British promises, became the site of an enduring conflict between Arabs and Jews that continues to this day. Like many people, my personal interest in the Great Arab Revolt began with the movie Lawrence of Arabia. And while it isn't totally historically accurate, it is a great movie.

Starting point is 00:12:58 When I arrived in the Middle East for the first time, visiting some of the sites that were associated with the Arab Revolt were high on my list. And I actually spent a week in Akaba, and later visited the Hajas in western Saudi Arabia. Even though many of the sites weren't of historical note per se, being in the desert and spending several nights in the desert gave me a better feel for what the rebels probably went through. The great Arab revolt is really the genesis of almost all the modern issues, good and bad, in the Middle East today.

Starting point is 00:13:29 And it all began because of a desire to break free of Ottoman rule in the midst of the First World War. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Austin Otkin and Cameron Kiefer. My big thanks go to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon. Your support helps make this podcast possible. And I also want to remind everyone about the community groups on Facebook and Discord. That's where everything happens that's outside the podcast.

Starting point is 00:13:58 And links to those are available in the show notes. As always, if you leave a review on any major podcast app or in the above community groups, you two can have it read in the show.

Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The Great Arab Revolt

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