Sir Henry McMahon, the first British High…

Sir Henry McMahon, the first British High Commissioner in Egypt, begins secret correspondence with Hussein ibn 'Ali in July 1915, in which McMahon convinces Hussein to lead an Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire, aligned with Germany against Britain and France in the war.

McMahon promises that if the Arabs support Britain in the war, the British government will support the establishment of an independent Arab state under Hashemite rule in the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire, including Palestine.

In a letter to McMahon enclosed with a letter dated July 14, 1915, from his son Abdullah, Hussein specifies an area for Arab independence under the "Sharifian Arab Government" consisting of the Arabian Peninsula (except Aden) and the Fertile Crescent of Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq.