Palestine and Transjordan in 1914

Overview

Palestine had been under the control of the Ottoman Empire since 1516, when Sultan Selim I defeated the armies of the Mamluk Sultanate at the Battle of Marj Dābiq. By the outbreak of the First World War, the population of Palestine had reached an estimated 700,000. The overwhelming majority were Muslim, with significant Christian and Jewish minority groups.

The war caused widespread destruction and hardship. It also provided the backdrop for agreements and statements that had long-term implications.

The War

The Armenian contingent in the Caucasus 1913-1916 FO 96/212

In early 1915, the Ottoman Empire launched a raid on the Suez Canal. Running through Egypt, the canal was a vital supply line for the British Empire that allowed troops and equipment from Australia, New Zealand and India to reach the Western Front. The invading Ottoman forces therefore found British positions well-fortified; without the support of a popular uprising against British rule in Egypt, the assault had little chance of success.

By the summer of 1915, the Gallipoli Campaign had prompted the withdrawal of Ottoman forces from the Sinai Peninsula. This allowed troops from Britain, Australia and New Zealand to occupy the area. The British position was further strengthened after the Battle of Romani in August 1916, when Britain and its allies defeated Ottoman forces under German General Friedrich Kress von Kressenstein.

British attention then turned to the Ottoman position at Gaza, and their forces began the first Battle of Gaza on 24 March 1917 with a frontal attack on the city. They failed – in part due to poor intelligence – and a second attempt the following month led to a further British defeat with heavy losses.

As a result, General Edmund Allenby replaced Sir Archibald Murray in command of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. Allenby launched the Third Battle of Gaza on 1 November, which succeeded beyond expectations. The Ottomans were forced into a general retreat and British forces closed in on Jerusalem.

The city of Jerusalem is considered holy by Christians, Jews and Muslims alike and so any British plans to take the city required a sensitive approach. Ottoman defences were strong, but morale had been weakened by recent defeats. On 8 December 1917, Ottoman forces withdrew from Jerusalem. There was little further offensive action in Palestine in early 1918, due in part to the redeployment of troops to the Western Front in the face of the Ludendorff Offensive in spring 1918.

Once Allenby had reorganised his forces, final operations in Palestine began on 19 September 1918. Allenby would have preferred his new troops to further acclimatise to weather conditions before an attack; however, in view of worsening weather conditions, he instructed them to engage the less numerous Ottoman forces located on the east of Jordan. Launching his main assault via the coastal plain, he concealed the movement of forces from the Jordan Valley.

Previous RAF bombing had damaged railway lines and reduced the likelihood of Turkish reinforcement. An infantry breakthrough at Megiddo was followed by the encirclement of retreating Ottoman forces. On 31 October 1918, Allenby reported to the War Office that the operation had ‘resulted in the destruction of the enemy’s army, the liberation there of Palestine and Syria, and the occupation of Damascus and Aleppo.’ (WO 32/5128)

The domestic impact

Armenian volunteers 1913-1916 FO 96/212

The fighting in Palestine caused widespread destruction, while famine and epidemics took their tolls. The Anglo-French naval blockade of the Syrian and Lebanese coastline caused food shortages in Syria, which spread to Palestine by early 1917.

Aid from Jewish organisations located in the United States provided some respite for Palestinian Jews. With their position under threat, Ottoman authorities imposed punitive measures against Arab nationalists. The extent of the deprivation brought society close to collapse.

Aftermath

Map showing proposed Armenia and Trans-Caucasian States 1919 MPI 1/397

A series of letters exchanged during the war between the British High Commissioner in Egypt, Sir Henry McMahon, and Hussein ibn Ali al-Hashimi, leader of Mecca, included promises to the Arabs in exchange for their support against the Otttoman Empire. McMahon stated that ‘subject to modifications, Great Britain is prepared to recognise and support the independence of the Arabs in all regions within the limits demanded by the Sherif of Mecca.’

A British memorandum of November 1918 acknowledged that ‘with regard to Palestine, His Majesty’s Government are committed by Sir H McMahon’s letter to the Sherif on the 24th October 1915, to its inclusion in the boundaries for Arab independence’ (CAB 24/68/86). Yet, in a letter dated July 1937 to The Times newspaper, McMahon denied that he had ever intended for Palestine to be included in the agreement.

The assurances given in the McMahon-Hussein correspondence were contradicted by the Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916, which divided the region between Britain and France upon the eventual defeat of the Ottoman Empire. As per this plan, Palestine was to fall under an international administration. McMahon resigned upon the publication of the Sykes-Picot agreement, which was ‘not generally regarded as a creditable incident in British diplomacy’, according to a paper prepared for the War Cabinet (CAB 24/271/3).

The British government soon began to have doubts about the Sykes-Picot arrangements, with the War Cabinet suggesting in April 1917 that they should be modified to give Britain ‘definite and exclusive control over Palestine’ (CAB 23/2/44). On 3 October 1918, Prime Minister David Lloyd George told the Cabinet that the Sykes-Picot agreement ‘was quite inapplicable to the present circumstances and was altogether a most undesirable agreement from a British point of view.’ He continued: ‘Having been concluded more than two years ago, it entirely overlooked the fact that our position in Turkey had been won by large British forces, whereas our Allies had contributed but little to the result.’ (CAB 23/14/35)

The situation changed once again by the Balfour Declaration. This was a letter from the Foreign Secretary – and former Prime Minister – Arthur Balfour to Walter Rothschild dated 2 November 1917. Intended for wider circulation among the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, it stated: ‘His Majesty’s government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country’.

Britain was assigned the mandate for Palestine by the League of Nations in 1920. It came into effect in September 1923.

Key documents

Territories in dispute between Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, and the Denikin Demarcation Line 1919 FO 925/17121

• Paul Cambon to Sir Edward Grey, 9 May 1916 for the final terms of the Sykes–Picot agreement FO 371/2777
• Draft of the Balfour Declaration CAB 21/58
• General Edmund Allenby to the War Office, 31 October 1918 WO 32/5128