In the Anglo-Arab Labyrinth: The McMahon-Husayn Correspondence and Its Interpretations 1914-1939

606 Pages·2000·2.18 MB·English

by  Elie Kedourie

In the Anglo-Arab
Labyrinth
The McMahon-Husayn correspondence has been at the heart
of Anglo-Arab relations since the end of the First World War.
Written in obscure and ambiguous terms, it has aroused great
controversy, particularly over the issue of Palestine. This
acclaimed study brings together for the first time all the
available evidence from British, French and Arabic sources
and elucidates the meaning of the correspondence. In
following the genesis and fortunes of the documents, this
book is at once an account of a central episode in the modern
history of the Middle East, a contribution to the history of
British diplomacy during the First World War, and an enquiry
into official historiography.
2
In the Anglo-Arab
Labyrinth
The McMahon-Husayn Correspondence and its
Interpretations 1914-1939
ELIE KEDOURIE
3
First published in 1976 by Frank Cass Publishers
This edition published in 2000 in Great Britain by
FRANK CASS PUBLISHERS
Published 2014 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an
informabusiness
Copyright © 2000 Sylvia Kedourie
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Kedourie, Elie
In the Anglo-Arab labyrinth: the McMahon-Husayn
correspondence and its
interpretations, 1914-1939. - 2nd ed.
1. Husein ibn ’Ali, King of the Hijaz - Correspondence
2. McMahon, Sir Henry - Correspondence 3. Great Britain -
Foreign relations
-Arab Countries- 1910-1936 4. Arab countries - Foreign
relations - Great
Britain
4
I. Title
327.4’1’0174927’09041
ISBN 978-0-714-65097-5 (cloth)
ISBN 978-0-714-68139-9 (paper)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kedourie, Elie
In the Anglo-Arab labyrinth: the McMahon-Husayn
correspondence and its
interpretations, 1914-1939/Elie Kedourie; with a foreword by
Sylvia Kedourie.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7146-5097-8 (cloth) - ISBN 0-7146-8139-3 (pbk.)
1. Great Britain - Foreign relations - Middle East. 2. Middle
East - Foreign
relations - Great Britain. 3. McMahon, A. H. 4. Husayn ibn
Ali, King of
Hejaz, 1853?-1931. I. Title
DS63.2.G7 K4 2000
5
327.41056-dc21
00-034040
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
the prior written permission of the publisher of this book..
ISBN 978-1-315-03988-6 (eISBN)
6
Philochorus says the Cretans…will not allow the Labryrinth
to have been anything but a prison, which had no other
inconvenience than this, that those who were confined there
could not escape.
PLUTARCH
…diplomatic history… the record of what one clerk said to
another clerk
G.M. YOUNG
7
Contents
Foreword to New Edition
Preface
PART I: THE QUICKSAND
1 Cairo, London and the Sharif of Mecca
2 Kitchener, Grey and the Arab Question
3 Mysteries of the McMahon-Husayn Correspondence
PART II: THE FLY IN THE FLY-BOTTLE
4 Husayn Interprets McMahon’s Promises, 1916-17
5 Sykes, Picot and Husayn
6 Wingate, Hogarth and Husayn
7 Varieties of Official Historiography I: The Arab Bureau,
Nicolson, Toynbee
8 The Correspondence in the Peace Settlement: Faysal and
Young
9 Varieties of Official Historiography II: The Colonial Office,
McMahon, Childs
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10 The Foreign Office Wrestles with the Correspondence:
Baggallay’s Hour
Epilogue: Knowledge, Power and Guilt
Works Cited
Appendix: In the Anglo-Arab Labyrinth: Genesis of a History
Index
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Maps
Ottoman administrative divisions in the Levant
The Asia Minor, ‘Sykes-Picot’, agreement
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