View source for Arab Revolt

{{Short description|1916–1918 uprising against the Ottoman Turks}}
{{About|the anti-Ottoman uprising during World War I|other Arab uprisings|Arab Revolt (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Arab Revolt<br>{{nobold|{{lang|ar|الثورة العربية}}}}
| partof            = the [[Middle Eastern theatre of World War I]]
| image             = 030Arab.jpg
| image_size        = 300
| caption           = Soldiers of the [[Sharifian Army]] carrying the [[flag of the Arab Revolt]] in southern [[Yanbu]]
| date              = 10 June 1916 – 25 October 1918<br>({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|month1=06|day1=10|year1=1916|month2=10|day2=25|year2=1918}})
| place             = [[Middle East]]
| result            = Arab victory<ref>{{Cite web |title=T.E. Lawrence on guerrilla warfare |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/T-E-Lawrence-on-guerrilla-warfare-1984900 |access-date=1 April 2022 |website=Britannica |language=en}}</ref>{{bulletedlist|Independence of the [[Hejaz]]}}
| territory         = [[Partition of the Ottoman Empire]] and [[Sykes–Picot Agreement]]{{bulletedlist
| British occupation of [[Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem|Palestine]], [[Transjordan (region)|Transjordan]], and [[Ottoman Iraq|Mesopotamia]]
| French occupation of [[Damascus Eyalet|Syria]] and [[Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate|Lebanon]]}}
| combatant1        = {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Hejaz|1917}}<br>'''Supported by:'''<br>{{flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}<br> {{flagcountry|French Third Republic}}
| combatant2        = {{flagcountry|Ottoman Empire}}<br>'''Supported by:'''<br>{{flagcountry|Emirate of Jabal Shammar|name=Jabal Shammar}}<br>{{flagcountry|German Empire}}
| commander1        = {{unbulletedlist
| {{flagdeco|Hejaz|1917}} '''[[Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz|Hussein bin Ali]]'''
| {{flagdeco|Hejaz|1917}} [[Faisal I of Iraq|Faisal I]]
| {{flagdeco|Hejaz|1917}} [[Abdullah I of Jordan|Abdullah I]]
| {{flagdeco|Hejaz|1917}} [[Ali bin Hussein, King of Hejaz|Ali bin Hussein]]
| {{flagdeco|Hejaz|1917}} [[Auda Abu Tayi]]
| {{flagdeco|UKGBI}} [[Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby|Edmund Allenby]]
| {{flagdeco|UKGBI}} [[T. E. Lawrence]]
| {{flagdeco|French Third Republic}} [[Édouard Brémond]]}}
| commander2        = {{unbulletedlist
| {{flagdeco|Ottoman Empire}} '''[[Mehmed V]]'''{{Natural Causes}}
| {{flagdeco|Ottoman Empire}} [[Djemal Pasha|Ahmed Djemal]]
| {{flagdeco|Ottoman Empire}} [[Fakhri Pasha]]
| {{flagdeco|Ottoman Empire}} [[Muhittin Akyüz]]
| {{flagdeco|Ottoman Empire}} [[Recep Peker]]
| {{flagdeco|Ottoman Empire}} [[Ismet Pasha]]
| {{flagdeco|Ottoman Empire}} [[Nureddin Pasha]]
| {{flagdeco|Jabal Shammar}} [[Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Rashid|Saud bin Abdulaziz]]}}
| strength1         = '''Total:''' 100,000+<ref>{{cite web |title=Secretary's Notes of a Conversation Held in M. Pichon's Room at the Quai d'Orsay, Paris, on Thursday, 6 February, 1919, at 3 p.m. |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1919Parisv03/d61 |website=Office of the Historian |publisher=Department of State, United States of America |access-date=7 February 2025}}</ref><br>'''June 1916:'''<br>30,000 troops<ref name="Murphy26">Murphy, p. 26.</ref><br>'''October 1918:'''<br>50,000+ troops<ref>Mehmet Bahadir Dördüncü, ''Mecca-Medina: the Yıldız albums of Sultan Abdülhamid II'', Tughra Books, 2006, {{ISBN|1-59784-054-8}}, p. 29. Number refers only to those laying siege to Medina by the time it surrendered and does not account for Arab insurgents elsewhere.</ref>
| strength2         = '''May 1916:'''<br>6,500–7,000 troops<ref>''Military Intelligence and the Arab Revolt: The first modern intelligence war'', Polly a. Mohs, {{ISBN|1-134-19254-1}}, [[Routledge]], p. 41.</ref><br>'''September 1918:'''<br>25,000 troops<br />340 guns<ref name="Murphy26"/>
| casualties1       = Unknown total
* 20,000+ killed<ref>{{cite web |title=Secretary's Notes of a Conversation Held in M. Pichon's Room at the Quai d'Orsay, Paris, on Thursday, 6 February, 1919, at 3 p.m. |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1919Parisv03/d61 |website=Office of the Historian |publisher=Department of State, United States of America |access-date=7 February 2025}}</ref>
| casualties2       = 47,000+ total{{bulletedlist
| 5,000 killed<ref>Erickson 2001, p. 238, Appendix F.</ref>
| 10,000 wounded<ref>Erickson 2001, p. 238, Appendix F.</ref>
| 22,000+ captured<ref>{{cite book |author1=War Office |author-link1=War Office |title=Statistics of the military effort of the British Empire during the Great War, 1914–1920 |date=1922 |publisher=London H.M. Stationery Office |url=https://archive.org/details/statisticsofmili00grea|page=633}}: 8000 prisoners taken by the Arab insurgents in Syria-Palestine in 1918, joining 98,600 taken by the British.</ref><ref>Parnell, p. 75: 6,000 prisoners taken by the end of 1916</ref><ref>Süleyman Beyoğlu, The end broken point of Turkish-Arabian relations: The evacuation of Medine, Atatürk Atatürk Research Centre Journal (Number 78, Edition: XXVI, November 2010) (Turkish). 8000 Ottoman troops surrendered at the end of the [[Siege of Medina]] and were evacuated to Egypt afterwards.</ref>
| ~10,000 disease-related deaths}}
| notes             =
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Arab Revolt (World War I)}}
}}

The '''Arab Revolt''' ({{langx|ar|الثورة العربية}} {{transliteration|ar|al-Thawra al-'Arabiyya}}), also known as the '''Great Arab Revolt''' ({{Lang|ar|الثورة العربية الكبرى|rtl=yes}} {{transliteration|ar|al-Thawra al-'Arabiyya al-Kubrā}}), was an armed uprising by the [[Hashemites|Hashemite]]-led Arabs of the [[Hejaz]]<ref name="Matthew Hughes">{{cite book|author=Matthew Hughes|title=Allenby and British Strategy in the Middle East, 1917–1919 |year=2013|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-7146-4473-8|page=73}}</ref> against the [[Ottoman Empire]] amidst the [[Middle Eastern theatre of World War I]].

On the basis of the [[McMahon–Hussein Correspondence]], exchanged between [[Henry McMahon]] of the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] and [[Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz|Hussein bin Ali]] of the [[Kingdom of Hejaz]], the rebellion against the ruling [[Turkish people|Turks]] was officially initiated at [[Mecca]] on 10 June 1916.{{efn|although his sons [[Ali of Hejaz|'Ali]] and [[Faisal I of Iraq|Faisal]] had already initiated operations at Medina starting on 5 June<ref>''The Arab Movements in World War I'', Eliezer Tauber, Routledge, 2014 {{ISBN|978-1135199784 }} pp. 80–81</ref>}} The primary goal of the Arab rebels was to establish an independent and unified [[Arab world|Arab state]] stretching from [[Aleppo]] to [[Aden]], which the British government had promised to recognize.<ref>{{citation|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Correspondence_between_Sir_Henry_McMahon_and_the_Sherif_Hussein_of_Mecca_Cmd_5957.pdf|title=Cmd.5957; Correspondence between Sir Henry McMahon, G.C.M.G., His Majesty's High Commissioner at. Cairo and the Sherif Hussein of Mecca, July, 1915–March, 1916 (with map)|publisher=HMG|first1=Henry|last1=McMahon|first2=Hussein|last2=bin Ali|year=1939}}</ref>

The [[Sharifian Army]], led by Hussein and the Hashemites with backing from the British military's [[Egyptian Expeditionary Force]], successfully fought and expelled the Ottoman military presence from much of the [[Hejaz]] and [[Transjordan (region)|Transjordan]]. By 1918, the rebels had [[Capture of Damascus (1918)|captured Damascus]] and proclaimed the [[Arab Kingdom of Syria]], a short-lived monarchy that was led by Hussein's son [[Faisal I of Iraq|Faisal I]].

The Arab-majority Ottoman territories of the [[Middle East]] were broken up into a number of [[League of Nations mandate]]s, jointly controlled by the British and the French. Amidst the [[partition of the Ottoman Empire]], the defeated Ottomans' mainland in [[Anatolia]] came under a joint military occupation by the victorious [[Allies of World War I|Allies]]. This was gradually broken by the [[Turkish War of Independence]], which established the present-day [[Turkey|Republic of Turkey]].

== Background ==
{{Further|Second Constitutional Era}}
[[File:علم الثورة العربية الكبرى في متحف صرح الشهيد.jpg|thumb|upright|The flag of the Arab Revolt in the [[Martyrs' Memorial (Amman)|Martyrs' Memorial]], Amman, Jordan.]]
The [[rise of nationalism in the Ottoman Empire]] dates from at least 1821. [[Arab nationalism]] has its roots in the [[Mashriq]], the Arab lands east of [[Egypt]], particularly in countries of the [[Levant]]. The political orientation of Arab nationalists before [[World War I]] was generally moderate. Their demands were of a reformist nature and generally limited to autonomy, a greater use of [[Arabic]] in education and changes in peacetime [[conscription in the Ottoman Empire]] to allow Arab conscripts local service in the Ottoman army.<ref>Zeine N. Zeine (1973) ''The Emergence of Arab Nationalism'' (3rd ed.). Delmar, New York: Caravan Books Inc. {{ISBN|0882060007}}. pp. 60–61, 83–92.</ref>

The [[Young Turk Revolution]] began on 3 July 1908 and quickly spread throughout the empire. As a result, Sultan [[Abdul Hamid II]] was forced to announce the restoration of the [[Constitution of the Ottoman Empire|1876 constitution]] and the reconvening of the [[General Assembly of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman parliament]]. The period is known as the [[Second Constitutional Era]]. In the 1908 elections, the Young Turks' [[Committee of Union and Progress]] (CUP) managed to gain the upper hand against the [[Freedom and Accord Party|Liberal Union]], led by [[Sultanzade Sabahaddin]]. The new parliament had 142 [[Turkish people|Turks]], 60 [[Arabs]], 25 [[Albanians]], 23 [[Greeks]], 12 [[Armenians]] (including four [[Dashnaks]] and two [[Social Democrat Hunchakian Party|Hunchaks]]), five [[Jews]], four [[Bulgarians]], three [[Serbs]] and one [[Vlachs|Vlach]].

The CUP now gave more emphasis to centralisation and modernisation.<ref>Ahmad, Feroz. The Young Turks: The Committee of Union and Progress in Turkish Politics, 1908-1914. Clarendon Press, 1969. {{ISBN|978-0198214755}}</ref> It preached a message that was a mixture of [[pan-Islamism]], [[Ottomanism]], and [[pan-Turkism]], which was adjusted as the conditions warranted. At heart, the CUP were Turkish nationalists who wanted to see the Turks as the dominant group within the Ottoman Empire, which antagonised Arab leaders and prompted them to think in similarly nationalistic terms.<ref>Zeine, pp. 79–82.</ref>

Arab members of the parliament supported the [[31 March Incident|countercoup of 1909]], which aimed to dismantle the constitutional system and to restore the absolute monarchy of Sultan [[Abdul Hamid II]]. The dethroned sultan attempted to restore the [[Ottoman Caliphate]] by putting an end to the [[secularity|secular policies]] of the Young Turks. He was driven away to exile in Selanik by the [[31 March Incident]], in which the Young Turks defeated the countercoup. He was eventually replaced by his brother [[Mehmed V]].<ref>Zürcher, Erik Jan. ''Turkey: A Modern History''. I.B. Tauris, 1993. {{ISBN|978-1-86064-958-5}}.</ref>

In 1913, intellectuals and politicians from the Mashriq met in Paris at the [[Arab Congress of 1913|First Arab Congress]]. They produced a set of demands for greater autonomy and equality within the Ottoman Empire, including for elementary and secondary education in Arab lands to be delivered in Arabic, for peacetime Arab conscripts to the Ottoman army to serve near their home region and for at least three Arab ministers in the Ottoman cabinet.<ref>Zeine, pp. 91–93.</ref>

== Forces ==
It is estimated that the Arab forces involved in the revolt numbered around 5,000 soldiers.<ref name="Murphy, David page 34">Murphy, p. 34.</ref> This number probably applies to the Arab regulars who fought during the [[Sinai and Palestine campaign]] with [[Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby|Edmund Allenby's]] [[Egyptian Expeditionary Force]], and not the irregular forces under the direction of [[T. E. Lawrence]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Who Was Lawrence Of Arabia? |url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/who-was-lawrence-of-arabia |access-date=5 November 2022 |website=Imperial War Museums |language=en}}</ref> and [[Faisal I of Iraq|Faisal]], though other sources place this number lower, at 2,000-3,500 soldiers.<ref>{{cite web |title=Battles of the Great Arab Revolt 1916-1918 |url=https://www.jaf.mil.jo/ContentstemplateC/Great_Arab_Revolution_Battles.aspx |website=Jordanian Armed Forces |publisher=The Jordanian Armed Forces |access-date=7 February 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Paris Peace Conference |url=https://www.cliohistory.org/thomas-lawrence/paris |website=Clio History |access-date=7 February 2025}}</ref> On a few occasions, particularly during the final campaign into [[Syria]], this number grew significantly. The [[Arab Bureau]] of the British Empire in [[Cairo]] believed that the revolt would draw the support of all Arabs throughout the Ottoman Empire and Arab lands.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Deringil |first=Selim |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X_qdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT20 |title=The Ottoman Twilight in the Arab Lands: Turkish Memoirs and Testimonies of the Great War |date=2019 |publisher=Academic Studies Press |isbn=978-1-64469-090-1 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Provence |first=Michael |title=Arab Officers in the Ottoman Army |url=https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/arab_officers_in_the_ottoman_army |website=[[1914-1918-online|1914–1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War]]}}</ref>

Faisal and Sharif Hussein reportedly expected to be joined by 100,000 Arab troops. The large desertions predicted by the British Arab Bureau never materialized, as the majority of Arab officers remained loyal to the Ottomans until the end.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Fromkin |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OV0i1mJdNSwC&pg=PA219 |title=A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East |date=2010 |publisher=Henry Holt and Company |isbn=978-1-4299-8852-0 |language=en}}</ref> Many Arabs joined the Revolt sporadically, often as a campaign was in progress, or only when the fighting entered their home region.<ref>Murphy, pp. 20–21.</ref> During the [[Battle of Aqaba]], for instance, while the initial Arab force numbered only a few hundred, over a thousand more from local tribes joined them for the final assault on [[Aqaba]]. Estimates of Faisal's effective forces vary, but through most of 1918 at least, they may have numbered as high as 30,000 men, though it is claimed that the initial forces numbered at 70,000,<ref>{{cite web |title=Arab Revolt |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095420993 |website=Oxford Reference |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=7 February 2025}}</ref> and even 100,000+.<ref>{{cite web |title=Secretary's Notes of a Conversation Held in M. Pichon's Room at the Quai d'Orsay, Paris, on Thursday, 6 February, 1919, at 3 p.m. |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1919Parisv03/d61 |website=Office of the Historian |publisher=Department of State, United States of America |access-date=7 February 2025}}</ref>

The [[Hashemites|Hashemite Army]] comprised two distinctive forces: tribal irregulars who waged a guerrilla war against the [[Ottoman Empire]] and the [[Sharifian Army]], which was recruited from Ottoman Arab POWs and fought in conventional battles.<ref>Murphy, pp. 20–23.</ref> Hashemite forces were initially poorly equipped, but later received significant supplies of weapons, most notably rifles and machine guns from [[United Kingdom|Britain]] and [[French Third Republic|France]].<ref>Murphy, pp. 21–22.</ref>

In the early days of the revolt, Faisal's forces were largely made up of [[Bedouin]]s and other nomadic desert tribes, who were only loosely allied, loyal more to their respective tribes than the overall cause.<ref name="Murphy, David page 21">Murphy, p. 21.</ref> The Bedouin would not fight unless paid in advance with gold coin.<ref>[[Michael Korda]], ''Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia'' {{ISBN|978-0-06-171261-6}}, p. 19</ref> By the end of 1916, the French had spent 1.25 million gold [[French franc|francs]] in subsidizing the revolt.<ref name="Murphy, David page 21"/> By September 1918, the British were spending [[Pound sterling|£]]220,000/month to subsidize the revolt.<ref name="Murphy, David page 21"/>

Faisal had hoped that he could convince Arab troops serving in the Ottoman Army to mutiny and join his cause, but the [[State organisation of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman government]] sent most of its Arab troops to the Western front-lines of the war, and thus only a handful of deserters actually joined the Arab forces until later in the campaign.<ref name="Murphy, David page 24">Murphy, p. 24.</ref>

By the beginning of the First World War, Arab conscripts constituted about 30% of the wartime [[Military of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman military]] of 3 million, serving in all ranks, from the lowest to the highest, and forming a crucial component of the [[Ottoman Army (1861–1922)|Ottoman Army]].<ref name=":2" /><ref>[[New York University]]. Hagop Kevorkian center, Near eastern studies. [https://as.nyu.edu/content/dam/nyu-as/nearEast/documents/Schur.Identity_LessonPlan_WEBVERSION.pdf World War I and the Middle East]. Oct 24–25, 2015</ref> Ottoman troops in the Hejaz numbered 20,000 men by 1917.<ref name="Murphy, David page 24"/> At the outbreak of the revolt in June 1916, the VII Corps of the [[Fourth Army (Ottoman Empire)|Fourth Army]] was stationed in the Hejaz. It was joined by the 58th Infantry Division, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Ali Necib Pasha, the 1st ''Kuvvie- Mürettebe'' (Provisional Force) led by General Mehmed Cemal Pasha, which had the responsibility of safeguarding the [[Hejaz railway]] and the [[Hejaz Expeditionary Force]] ({{langx|tr|Hicaz Kuvve-i Seferiyesi}}), which was under the command of General [[Fakhri Pasha]].<ref name="Murphy, David page 24"/>

In face of increasing attacks on the Hejaz railway, the 2nd ''Kuvve i Mürettebe'' was created by 1917.<ref name="Murphy, David page 24"/> The Ottoman force included a number of Arab units who stayed loyal to the [[List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire|Sultan-Caliph]] and fought well against the Allies.<ref name="Murphy, David page 24"/>{{efn|During the First World War, between 100,000 and 300,000 Arabs served in the Ottoman Army.<ref name="Karsh, Efraim page 128">Karsh, Efraim ''Islamic Imperialism'', New Haven: Harvard University Press, 2006 p. 128.</ref>}}

The Ottoman troops enjoyed an advantage over the [[Hashemites|Hashemite]] troops at first, in that they were well supplied with modern German weapons.<ref name="Murphy, David page 24"/> The Ottoman forces had the support of both the [[Ottoman Aviation Squadrons]], air squadrons from [[German Empire|Germany]] and the [[Ottoman Gendarmerie]] or ''zaptı''.<ref name="Murphy, David page 23">Murphy, p. 23.</ref> The Ottomans relied upon the support of Emir [[Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Rashid]] of the [[Emirate of Jabal Shammar]], whose tribesmen dominated what is now northern [[Saudi Arabia]], and tied down both the Hashemites and Saʻudi forces with the threat of their raiding attacks.<ref>Murphy, p. 15.</ref>

The great weakness of the Ottoman forces was they were at the end of a long and tenuous supply line in the form of the Hejaz railway, and because of their logistical weaknesses, were often forced to fight on the defensive.<ref name="Murphy, David page 24"/> Ottoman offensives against the Hashemite forces more often faltered due to supply problems than to the actions of the enemy.<ref name="Murphy, David page 24"/>

The main contribution of the Arab Revolt to the war was to pin down tens of thousands of Ottoman troops who otherwise might have been used to attack the [[Suez Canal]] and conquering [[Damascus]], allowing the British to undertake offensive operations with a lower risk of counter-attack. This was the British justification for supporting the revolt, a textbook example of [[asymmetric warfare]] that has been studied time and again by military leaders and historians alike.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/who-was-lawrence-of-arabia | title=Who Was Lawrence of Arabia? }}</ref>

== History ==
=== Revolt ===
{{Further|Middle Eastern theatre of World War I}}
The Ottoman Empire took part in the [[Middle Eastern theatre of World War I]], under the terms of the [[Ottoman–German Alliance]].  Many Arab nationalist figures in [[Damascus]] and [[Beirut]] were arrested, then tortured. The flag of the resistance was designed by Sir [[Mark Sykes]], in an effort to create a feeling of "Arab-ness", in order to fuel the revolt.<ref>William Easterly, ''The White Man's Burden'', (2006) p. 295</ref>

==== Prelude (November 1914 – October 1916) ====
[[File:HejOut.svg|thumb|Outline map of Hejaz]]
[[File:1918 British Government Map illustrating Territorial Negotiations between H.M.G. and King Hussein.png|thumb|1918 British government map: ''Map illustrating Territorial Negotiations between H.M.G. and King Hussein.'']]

When [[Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|Herbert Kitchener]] was Consul-General in [[Sultanate of Egypt|Egypt]], contacts between [[Abdullah I of Jordan|Abdullah]] and Kitchener culminated in a [[Telegraphy|telegram]] of 1 November 1914 from Kitchener, recently appointed as Secretary of War, to Hussein, wherein Britain would, in exchange for support from the Arabs of Hejaz, "guarantee the independence, rights and privileges of the [[Sharifate of Mecca|Sharifate]] against all foreign external aggression, in particular that of the Ottomans."<ref>{{cite journal|title=Turning Point of Turkish Arab Relations:A Case Study on the Hijaz Revolt|first1=Nuri|last1=Yesilyurt|journal=The Turkish Yearbook|volume=XXXVII|date=2006|pages=107–108|url=http://acikarsiv.ankara.edu.tr/browse/3940/3104.pdf|access-date=8 July 2017|archive-date=12 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012050258/http://acikarsiv.ankara.edu.tr/browse/3940/3104.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Sharif of Mecca|Sharif]] indicated that he could not break with the Ottomans immediately, and it did not happen till the following year.<ref name="auto">Murphy, p. 8.</ref>

From 14 July 1915, to 10 March 1916, [[McMahon–Hussein Correspondence|ten letters, five from each side, were exchanged between Sir Henry McMahon and Sherif Hussein]]. Hussein's letter of 18 February 1916 appealed to McMahon for £50,000 in gold, plus weapons, ammunition, and food. Faisal claimed that he was awaiting the arrival of 'not less than 100,000 people' for the planned revolt. McMahon's reply of 10 March 1916 confirmed British agreement to the requests and concluded the correspondence.<ref name="auto"/>

Hussein, who until then had officially been on the Ottoman side, was now convinced that his assistance to the [[Triple Entente]] would be rewarded by an Arab empire, encompassing the entire span between Egypt and [[Qajar Iran]], with the exception of imperial possessions and interests in [[Kuwait]], [[Aden Protectorate|Aden]], and the [[Syria]]n coast. He decided to join the [[Allies of World War I|Allied camp]] immediately, because of rumours that he would soon be deposed as Sharif of [[Mecca]] by the Ottoman government in favor of [[ʿAlī Ḥaydar Pāshā|Sharif Ali Haidar]], leader of the rival Zaʻid family.<ref name="auto"/> The much-publicized executions of the [[Arab nationalism|Arab nationalist]] leaders in [[Damascus]] led Hussein to fear for his life if he were deposed in favour of Ali Haidar.<ref name="Murphy, David page 34"/>

Hussein had about 50,000 men under arms, but fewer than 10,000 had rifles.<ref name="proceedings">Parnell, p. 75</ref> On 5 June 1916, two of Hussein's sons, the emirs [[Ali of Hejaz|ʻAli]] and [[Faisal I of Iraq|Faisal]], began the revolt by attacking the Ottoman garrison in [[Medina]], but were defeated by an aggressive Turkish defence, led by Fakhri Pasha.<ref>Murphy, pp. 34–35.</ref> The revolt proper began on 10 June 1916, when Hussein ordered his supporters to attack the Ottoman garrison in Mecca.<ref>Murphy, pp. 33–34.</ref> In the [[Battle of Mecca (1916)|Battle of Mecca]], there ensued over a month of bloody street fighting between the out-numbered, but far better armed Ottoman troops and Hussein's tribesmen.<ref name="Murphy, David page 34"/> Hashemite forces in Mecca were joined by Egyptian troops sent by the British, who provided much needed artillery support, and took Mecca on 9 July 1916.<ref name="Murphy, David page 34"/>

Indiscriminate Ottoman artillery fire, which did much damage to Mecca, turned out to be a potent propaganda weapon for the Hashemites, who portrayed the Ottomans as desecrating Islam's most holy city.<ref name="Murphy, David page 34"/> Also on 10 June, another of Hussein's sons, the Emir [[Abdullah I of Jordan|Abdullah]], attacked [[Ta'if]], which after an initial repulse, settled down into a siege.<ref name="Murphy, David page 34"/> With the Egyptian artillery support, Abdullah took Ta'if on 22 September 1916.<ref name="Murphy, David page 34"/>

French and British naval forces cleared the [[Red Sea]] of Ottoman gunboats early in the war.<ref name="p76">Parnell, p. 76</ref> The port of [[Jeddah]] was attacked by 3,500 Arabs on 10 June 1916 with the assistance of bombardment by British warships and seaplanes.<ref name="proceedings"/> The seaplane carrier {{HMS|Ben-my-Chree||6}}, provided crucial air support to the Hashemite forces.<ref name="Murphy, David page 35">Murphy, p. 35.</ref> The Ottoman garrison surrendered on 16 June.<ref name="proceedings"/> By the end of September 1916, the Sharifian Army had taken the coastal cities of [[Rabigh]], [[Yanbu]], [[al Qunfudhah]], and 6,000 Ottoman prisoners with the assistance of the [[Royal Navy]].<ref name="proceedings"/>

The capture of the [[Red Sea]] ports allowed the British to send over a force of 700 Ottoman Arab POWs, who primarily came from what is now Iraq, who had decided to join the revolt led by [[Nuri al-Said|Nuri al-Saʻid]] and a number of Muslim troops from [[French North Africa]].<ref name="Murphy, David page 35"/> Fifteen thousand well-armed Ottoman troops remained in the Hejaz.<ref name="proceedings"/> A direct attack on Medina in October resulted in a bloody repulse of the Arab forces.

==== Arrival of T. E. Lawrence (October 1916 – January 1917) ====
[[File:Ljidda.jpg|thumb|upright|Lawrence at [[Rabegh]], north of [[Jeddah]], 1917.]]

In June 1916, the British sent out a number of officials to assist the revolt in the [[Hejaz]], most notably Colonel [[Cyril Black|Cyril Wilson]], Colonel Pierce C. Joyce, and Lt-Colonel [[S. F. Newcombe|Stewart Francis Newcombe]].<ref name="Murphy, David page 17">Murphy, p. 17.</ref> [[Herbert Garland]] was also involved. In addition, a [[French Third Republic|French]] military mission commanded by Colonel [[Édouard Brémond]] was sent out.<ref name="Murphy, David page 17"/> The French enjoyed an advantage over the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]] in that they included a number of Muslim officers, such as Captain Muhammand Ould Ali Raho, Claude Prost, and Laurent Depui. The latter two converted to [[Islam]] during their time in [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]].<ref name="Murphy, David page 17"/> Captain [[Rosario Pisani]] of the [[French Army in World War I|French Army]], though not a Muslim, played a notable role in the revolt as an engineering and artillery officer with the Arab Northern Army.<ref name="Murphy, David page 17"/>

In October 1916, the [[Sultanate of Egypt|British government in Egypt]] sent a young officer, Captain [[T. E. Lawrence]], to work with the Hashemite forces in the Hejaz.<ref name="p76"/> Lawrence arrived in [[Jeddah]] together with Ronald Sorrs, Secretary for the Orient at the [[Cairo]] Residency and Sir [[Henry McMahon]]'s trusted aide in the delicate negotiations with [[Hussein, King of Hejaz|Sharif Hussein bin Ali]]. During 1916 the rebellion hadn't gone according to the wishes of [[Sharif]] Hussein. It had come to a standstill, which in the case of an irregular war is always the beginning of the end.<ref>T E Lawrence: Revolt in the Dessert</ref>

Lawrence suspected that what was missing was the right leadership. The main purpose of Lawrence's visit was to find the man who could become the soul of the rebellion and lead to the goal Lawrence had set. After traveling a long distance by camel to meet with leaders of the rebellion, Lawrence concluded that [[Faisal I of Iraq|Feisal]], Hussein's third son, was the right candidate. The Arab rebels in Jeddah suffered from a severe shortage of weapons and lack of ammunition; they had no machine guns and only 2 cannons. The weapons they had were very outdated compared to the weapons of the Ottoman army.<ref>T E Lawrence: Revolt in the Dessert</ref>

Lawrence judged that there was potential for success for the rebels in the war against the Ottomans if the British cooperated with Feisal and equipped the rebels with more modern weapons and weapon specialists. Lawrence traveled to Cairo and submitted a long report to his superior and to General [[Reginald Wingate]].<ref>T E Lawrence: Revolt in the Dessert</ref> The British historian David Murphy wrote that though Lawrence was just one of many British and French officers serving in Arabia, historians often write as though Lawrence alone represented the [[Allies of World War I|Allied]] cause in Arabia.<ref name="Murphy, David page 17"/>

David Hogarth credited [[Gertrude Bell]] for much of the success of the Arab Revolt. She had travelled extensively in the [[Middle East]] since 1888 after graduating from [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] with a First in Modern History. Bell met Sheikh Harb of the [[Howeitat]] in January 1914 and thus was able to provide a "mass of information" which was crucial to the success of [[Battle of Aqaba|Lawrence's occupation of Aqaba]], covering the "tribal elements ranging between the [[Hejaz railway|Hejaz Railway]] and the [[An Nafud|Nefud]], particularly about the Howeitat group." It was this information, Hogarth emphasized, which "Lawrence, relying on her reports, made signal use of in the Arab campaigns of 1917 and 1918."<ref>Janet Wallach (1997) ''Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia''. London: Phoenix/Orion Books Ltd. {{ISBN|1400096197}}. pp. 25, 115–118, 202.</ref>

[[File:Lcamel.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Lawrence of Arabia]] after the [[Battle of Aqaba]].]]

Lawrence obtained assistance from the [[Royal Navy]] to turn back an Ottoman attack on [[Yanbu|Yenbu]] in December 1916.<ref name="p78">Parnell, p. 78</ref>  Lawrence's major contribution to the revolt was convincing the Arab leaders, [[Faisal I of Iraq|Faisal]] and [[Abdullah I of Jordan|Abdullah]], to coordinate their actions in support of British strategy. Lawrence developed a close relationship with Faisal, whose Arab Northern Army was to become the main beneficiary of British aid.<ref name="Murphy, David page 36">Murphy, p. 36.</ref> 

Since Lawrence's relations with Abdullah were not as good, Abdullah's Arab Eastern Army received considerably less in way of British aid.<ref>Murphy, p. 13.</ref> Lawrence persuaded the Arabs not to drive the Ottomans out of [[Medina]]. Instead, the Arabs attacked the Hejaz railway on many occasions. This tied up more Ottoman troops, who were forced to protect the railway and repair the constant damage.<ref name="TE">{{cite book |last1=Lawrence |first1=T.E. |title=Seven Pillars of Wisdom |url=https://archive.org/details/sevenpillarsofwi00lawr |url-access=registration |date=1935 |publisher=Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc. |location=Garden City |page=[https://archive.org/details/sevenpillarsofwi00lawr/page/216 216]}}</ref>

On 1 December 1916, Fakhri Pasha began an offensive with three brigades out of [[Medina]], with the aim of taking the port of [[Yanbu]].<ref name="Murphy, David page 36"/> At first, Fakhri's troops defeated the Hashemite forces in several engagements, and seemed set to take Yanbu.<ref name="Murphy, David page 37">Murphy, p. 37.</ref> On 11–12 December 1916, it was fire and air support from the five ships of the Royal Navy Red Sea Patrol that defeated the Ottoman attempts to take Yanbu, with heavy losses.<ref name="Murphy, David page 37"/> Fakhri then turned his forces south to take [[Rabigh|Rabegh]], but owing to the guerrilla attacks on his flanks and supply lines, air attacks from the newly established Royal Flying Corps base at Yanbu, and the over-extension of his supply lines, he was forced to turn back on 18 January 1917, to Medina.<ref name="Murphy, David page 38">Murphy, p. 38.</ref>

The coastal city of [[Al Wajh|Wejh]] was to be the base for attacks on the Hejaz railway.<ref name="p78"/> On 3 January 1917, Faisal began an advance northward along the [[Red Sea|Red Sea coast]] with 5,100 camel riders, 5,300 men on foot, four [[Krupp]] mountain guns, ten [[machine gun]]s, and 380 baggage camels.<ref name="p78"/> The Royal Navy resupplied Faisal from the sea during his march on Wejh.<ref name="p79">Parnell, p. 79</ref> While the 800-man Ottoman garrison prepared for an attack from the south, a landing party of 400 Arabs and 200 Royal Navy bluejackets [[Capture of Wejh|attacked Wejh from the north]] on 23 January 1917.<ref name="p79"/> Wejh surrendered within 36 hours, and the Ottomans abandoned their advance toward [[Mecca]] in favor of a defensive position in Medina, with small detachments scattered along the Hejaz railway.<ref name="p80">Parnell, p. 80</ref>

The Arab force had increased to about 70,000 men, armed with 28,000 rifles and deployed in three main groups.<ref name="p80"/> Ali's force threatened Medina, Abdullah operated from Wadi Ais harassing Ottoman communications and capturing their supplies, and Faisal based his force at Wejh.<ref name="p80"/> Camel-mounted Arab raiding parties had an effective radius of 1,000 miles (1,600&nbsp;km), carrying their own food and taking water from a system of wells approximately 100 miles (160&nbsp;km) apart.<ref name="p81">Parnell, p. 81</ref>

In late 1916, the Allies started the formation of the Regular Arab Army, also known as the [[Sharifian Army]], raised from Ottoman Arab POWs.<ref name="Murphy, David page 17"/> The soldiers of the Regular Army wore British-style uniforms with the ''keffiyahs'' and, unlike the tribal guerrillas, fought full-time and in conventional battles.<ref name="Murphy, David page 23"/> Some of the more notable former Ottoman officers to fight in the Revolt were [[Nuri al-Said|Nuri as-Said]], [[Ja'far al-Askari]] and [[Aziz Ali al-Misri|'Aziz 'Ali al-Misri]].<ref>Murphy, pp. 14–15.</ref>

==== Northward expeditions (January–November 1917) ====
[[File:Ferrocarril del hiyaz EN.PNG|thumb|The [[Hejaz railway]], on the Damascus-Mecca pilgrim route, built at great expense by the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century. It quickly fell into disrepair after the Arab revolt of 1917.]]

The year 1917 began well for the Hashemites, when the Emir Abdullah and his Arab Eastern Army ambushed an Ottoman convoy led by Ashraf Bey in the desert, and captured £20,000 worth of gold coins that were intended to bribe the [[Bedouin]] into loyalty to the [[List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire|Sultan]].<ref>Murphy, p. 38</ref> Starting in early 1917, the Hashemite guerrillas began attacking the Hejaz railway.<ref name="Murphy, David pages 39-43">Murphy, pp. 39–43.</ref> At first, guerrilla forces commanded by officers from the Regular Army such as al-Misri, and by British officers such as Newcombe, Lieutenant Hornby and Major [[Herbert Garland]] focused their efforts on blowing up unguarded sections of the Hejaz railway.<ref name="Murphy, David pages 39-43"/> Garland was the inventor of the so-called "Garland mine", which was used with much destructive force on the Hejaz railway.<ref name="Murphy, David page 43">Murphy, p. 43.</ref>

In February 1917, Garland succeeded for the first time in destroying a moving locomotive with a mine of his own design.<ref name="Murphy, David page 43"/> In February 1917, around [[Medina]], Captain Muhammad Ould Ali Raho of the French Military Mission carried out his first railway demolition attack.<ref name="Murphy, David pages 43-44">Murphy, pp. 43–44.</ref> Captain Raho emerged as one of the leading destroyers of the Hejaz railway.<ref name="Murphy, David pages 43-44"/> In March 1917, Lawrence led his first attack on the Hejaz railway.<ref name="Murphy, David page 44">Murphy, p. 44.</ref> Typical of such attacks was the one commanded by Newcombe and Joyce, who on the night of 6/7 July 1917, planted over 500 charges on the Hejaz railway, which all went off at about 2&nbsp;am.<ref name="Murphy, David page 44"/> In a raid in August 1917, Captain Raho led a force of Bedouin in destroying 5 kilometers of the Hejaz railway and four bridges.<ref>Murphy, p. 45.</ref>

In March 1917, an Ottoman force joined by tribesmen from [[Jabal Shammar]] led by [[Ibn Rashid]] carried out a sweep of the Hejaz, that did much damage to the Hashemite forces.<ref name="Murphy, David page 38"/> However, the Ottoman failure to take [[Yanbu]] in December 1916 led to the increased strengthening of the Hashemite forces, and led to the Ottoman forces to go on the defensive.<ref name="Murphy, David page 38"/> Lawrence later claimed that the failure of the offensive against Yanbu was the turning point that ensured the ultimate defeat of the Ottomans in the [[Hejaz]].<ref name="Murphy, David page 37"/>

In 1917, Lawrence arranged a joint action with the Arab irregulars and forces under [[Auda Abu Tayi]], until then, in the employ of the Ottomans, against the port city of [[Aqaba]]. This is now known as the [[Battle of Aqaba]]. Aqaba was the only remaining Ottoman port on the [[Red Sea]] and threatened the right flank of [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]]'s [[Egyptian Expeditionary Force]] defending [[Sultanate of Egypt|Egypt]], and preparing to advance into [[Sanjak]] Maan of the [[Syria Vilayet]].<ref name="p81"/>  Capture of Aqaba would aid transfer of British supplies to the Arab revolt.<ref name="p82">Parnell, p. 82</ref> Lawrence and Auda left Wedj on 9 May 1917 with a party of 40 men, to recruit a mobile force from the [[Howeitat]], a tribe located in the area. On 6 July, after an overland attack, [[Battle of Aqaba|Aqaba fell to those Arab forces]] with only a handful of casualties.<ref name="p82"/>

Lawrence then rode 150 miles to [[Suez]] to arrange Royal Navy delivery of food and supplies for the 2,500 Arabs and 700 Ottoman prisoners in Aqaba. Soon the city was co-occupied by a large Anglo-French flotilla, including warships and sea planes, which helped the Arabs secure their hold on Aqaba.<ref name="p82"/> Even as the Hashemite armies advanced, they still encountered sometimes fierce opposition from local residents. In July 1917, residents of the town of Karak fought against the Hashemite forces and turned them back. Later in 1917, British intelligence reports suggested that most of the tribes in the region east of the [[Jordan River]] were "firmly in the Ottoman camp."<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Arabs: A History|last = Rogan|first = Eugene|publisher = Penguin|year = 2011|pages = 152}}</ref> The tribes feared repressions and losing the money they had received from the Ottomans for their loyalty.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AMAbXGQDmDYC&pg=PA233|title=Frontiers of the State in the Late Ottoman Empire: Transjordan, 1850–1921|access-date=1 June 2017|date=2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=233|author=Rogan Eugene|isbn=9780521892230}}</ref>

Later in 1917, the Hashemite warriors made a series of small raids on Ottoman positions in support of [[Edmund Allenby|British General Allenby]]'s winter attack on the [[Gaza Strip|Gaza]]–[[Beersheba|Bersheeba]] defensive line, which led to the [[Battle of Beersheba (1917)|Battle of Beersheba]].<ref name="p83">Parnell, p. 83</ref> Typical of such raids was one led by Lawrence in September 1917, that saw Lawrence destroy a Turkish rail convoy by blowing up the bridge it was crossing at [[Mudawwara]] and then ambushing the Turkish repair party.<ref>Murphy, pp. 56–57.</ref> In November 1917, as aid to Allenby's offensive, Lawrence launched a deep-raiding party into the [[Yarmouk River]] valley, which failed to destroy the railway bridge at [[Tell Shihab|Tel ash-Shehab]], but succeeded in ambushing and destroying the train of General Mehmed Cemal Pasha, the commander of the Ottoman VII Corps.<ref>Murphy, pp. 57–59.</ref> Allenby's victories led directly to the British capture of [[Jerusalem]] just before Christmas 1917.

==== Increased Allied assistance and the end of fighting (November 1917– October 1918) ====
[[File:Arab fighters akaba.png|thumb|Arab fighters in Aqaba on 28 February 1918. [[Autochrome]] colour photograph.]]
By the time of [[Aqaba]]'s capture, many other officers joined Faisal's campaign. A large number of British officers and advisors, led by Lt. Col.s [[S.F. Newcombe|Stewart F. Newcombe]] and Cyril E. Wilson, arrived to provide the Arabs rifles, explosives, mortars, and machine guns.<ref name="Murphy, David page 59">Murphy, p. 59.</ref> Artillery was only sporadically supplied due to a general shortage, though Faisal had several batteries of mountain guns under French Captain Pisani and his Algerians for the Megiddo Campaign.<ref name="Murphy, David page 59"/> Egyptian and Indian troops also served with the Revolt, primarily as machine gunners and specialist troops, a number of [[Rolls-Royce Armoured Car|armoured cars]] were allocated for use.<ref name="Murphy, David page 59"/><ref>Rolls S.C. (1937). ''Steel Chariots in the Desert''. Leonaur Books.</ref> The [[Royal Flying Corps]] often supported the Arab operations, and the [[Imperial Camel Corps]] served with the Arabs for a time.<ref>Murphy, pp. 59–60.</ref>

The French military mission of 1,100 officers under Brémond established good relations with Hussein and especially with his sons, the Emirs [[Ali of Hejaz|Ali]] and [[Abdullah I of Jordan|Abdullah]], and for this reason, most of the French effort went into assisting the Arab Southern Army commanded by the Emir Ali that was laying [[Siege of Medina|siege to Medina]] and the Eastern Army commanded by Abdullah that had the responsibility of protecting Ali's eastern flank from Ibn Rashid.<ref name="Murphy, David page 17"/> Medina was never taken by the Hashemite forces, and the Ottoman commander, Fakhri Pasha, only surrendered [[Medina]] when ordered to by the [[Government of Turkey|Turkish government]] on 9 January 1919.<ref name="Murphy, David page 81">Murphy, p. 81.</ref> The total number of Ottoman troops bottled up in Medina by the time of the surrender were 456 officers and 9,364 soldiers.<ref name="Murphy, David page 81"/>

Under the direction of Lawrence, Wilson, and other officers, the Arabs launched a highly successful campaign against the Hejaz railway, capturing military supplies, destroying trains and tracks, and tying down thousands of Ottoman troops.<ref>Murphy, pp. 39–46.</ref> Though the attacks were mixed in success, they achieved their primary goal of tying down Ottoman troops and cutting off Medina. In January 1918, in one of the largest set-piece battles of the Revolt, Arab forces, including Lawrence, defeated a large Ottoman force at the Battle of Tafilah, inflicting over 1,000 Ottoman casualties for the loss of a mere forty men.<ref>Murphy, pp. 64–68.</ref>

In March 1918 the Arab Northern Army consisted of
:Arab Regular Army commanded by Ja'far Pasha el Askeri
::brigade of infantry
::one battalion Camel Corps
::one battalion mule-mounted infantry
::about eight guns
:British Section commanded by Lieutenant Colonel P. C. Joyce
::Hejaz Armoured Car Battery of Rolls-Royce light armoured cars with machine guns and two 10-pdr guns on Talbot lorries
::one Flight of aircraft
::one Company Egyptian Camel Corps
::[[Egyptian Camel Transport Corps]]
::Egyptian Labour Corps
::Wireless Station at 'Aqaba
:French Detachment commanded by Captain Pisani
::two mountain guns
::four machine guns and 10 automatic rifles<ref>Falls, p. 405</ref>

In April 1918, [[Ja'far al-Askari]] and [[Nuri al-Said|Nuri as-Said]] led the Arab Regular Army in a frontal attack on the well-defended Ottoman railway station at [[Ma'an]], which after some initial successes was fought off with heavy losses to both sides.<ref>Murphy, pp. 68–73.</ref> However, the Sharifian Army succeeded in cutting off and thus neutralizing the Ottoman position at Ma'an, who held out until late September 1918.<ref name="Murphy, David page 73">Murphy, p. 73.</ref> The British refused several requests from al-Askari to use mustard gas on the Ottoman garrison at Ma'an.<ref name="Murphy, David page 73"/>

In the spring of 1918, Operation Hedgehog, a concerted attempt to sever and destroy the Hejaz railway, was launched.<ref>Murphy, pp. 73–74.</ref> In May 1918, Hedgehog led to the destruction of 25 bridges of the Hejaz railway.<ref>Murphy, p. 74</ref> On 11 May Arab regulars captured Jerdun and 140 prisoners. Five weeks later, on 24 July Nos. 5 and 7 Companies of the [[Imperial Camel Corps Brigade]] commanded by Major [[Robert Vere Buxton|R. V. Buxton]], marched from the [[Suez Canal]] to arrive at Aqaba on 30 July, to attack the [[Mudawwara]] Station.<ref name="Falls408">Falls, p. 408</ref>

A particularly notable attack of Hedgehog was the storming on 8 August 1918, by the [[Imperial Camel Corps]], closely supported by the [[Royal Air Force]], of the well-defended Hejaz railway station at Mudawwara.<ref>Murphy, pp. 70–72, 75.</ref> They captured 120 prisoners and two guns, suffering 17 casualties in the operation. Buxton's two companies of Imperial Camel Corps Brigade continued on towards [[Amman]], where they hoped to destroy the main bridge. {{convert|20|mi|km}} from the city they were attacked by aircraft, forcing them to withdraw eventually back to [[Beersheba]] where they arrived on 6 September; a march of {{convert|700|mi|km}} in 44 days.<ref name="Falls408"/>

For the final Allied offensive intended to knock the [[Ottoman Empire]] out of the war, Allenby asked that Emir Faisal and his Arab Northern Army launch a series of attacks on the main Turkish forces from the east, which was intended to both tie down Ottoman troops and force Turkish commanders to worry about their security of their flanks in the [[Levant]].<ref>Murphy, pp. 75–76.</ref> Supporting the Emir Faisal's army of about 450 men from the Arab Regular Army were tribal contingents from the [[Ruwallah|Rwalla]], [[Bani Sakher|Bani Sakhr]], [[Agalloch|Agyal]], and Howeitat tribes.<ref>Murphy, p. 75.</ref> In addition, Faisal had a group of [[Gurkha]] troops, several British armored car squadrons, the Egyptian Camel Corps, a group of Algerian artillery men commanded by Captain Pisani and air support from the [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] to assist him.<ref>Murphy, p. 76.</ref>

[[File:FeisalPartyAtVersaillesCopy.jpg|thumb|Feisal's party at the [[Versailles Conference]]. Left to right: [[Rustum Haidar]], [[Nuri as-Said]], [[Faisal I|Prince Faisal]] (front), [[Rosario Pisani|Captain Rosario Pisani (rear)]], [[T. E. Lawrence]], Faisal's slave (name unknown), Captain Hassan Khadri.]]
In 1918, the Arab cavalry gained in strength, as it seemed victory was at hand, and they were able to provide Allenby's army with intelligence on Ottoman army positions. They harassed Ottoman supply columns, attacked small garrisons, and destroyed railway tracks. A major victory occurred on 27 September when an entire brigade of Ottoman, Austrian and German troops, retreating from [[Muzayrib|Mezerib]], was virtually wiped out in a battle with Arab forces near the village of [[Tafas]], which the Turks had plundered during their retreat.<ref name="Murphy, David pages 76-77">Murphy, pp. 76–77.</ref>

This led to the so-called [[Tafas massacre]], in which Lawrence claimed in a letter to his brother to have issued a "no-prisoners" order, maintaining after the war that massacre was in retaliation for the earlier Ottoman massacre of the village of Tafas, and that he had at least 250 German and Austrian POWs together with an uncounted number of Turks lined up to be summarily shot.<ref name="Murphy, David pages 76-77"/> Lawrence later wrote in ''[[Seven Pillars of Wisdom]]'' that "In a madness born of the horror of Tafas we killed and killed, even blowing in the heads of the fallen and of the animals; as though their death and running blood could slake our agony."<ref>Murphy, p. 77.</ref> In part due to these attacks, Allenby's last offensive, the [[Battle of Megiddo (1918)|Battle of Megiddo]], was a stunning success.<ref>Murphy, pp. 77–79.</ref>

By late September and October 1918, an increasingly demoralized Ottoman Army began to retreat and surrender whenever possible to British troops.<ref>Murphy, p. 79.</ref> "Sherifial irregulars" accompanied by Lieutenant Colonel T. E. Lawrence captured [[Daraa|Deraa]] on 27 September 1918.<ref>Falls, pp. 582–3</ref> The Ottoman army was routed in less than 10 days of battle. Allenby praised Faisal for his role in the victory: "I send your Highness my greetings and my most cordial congratulations upon the great achievement of your gallant troops&nbsp;... Thanks to our combined efforts, the Ottoman army is everywhere in full retreat."<ref>Jeremy Wilson (1989) ''[[Lawrence of Arabia: The Authorised Biography of T. E. Lawrence]]''. William Heinemann. {{ISBN|978-0-434-87235-0}}. p. 548</ref>

{{main|Battle of Aleppo (1918)}}
On 30 September 1918, the first Arab Revolt forces to reach [[Damascus]] were Sharif Naser's Hashemite camel cavalry and the cavalry of the Ruwallah tribe, led by [[Nuri bin Hazaa Al Shalaan|Nuri Sha'lan]]. The bulk of these troops remained outside of the city with the intention of awaiting the arrival of Sharif Faisal. A small contingent from the group was sent within the walls of the city, where they found the Arab Revolt flag already raised by surviving Arab nationalists among the citizenry. Later that day [[Australian Light Horse#World War 1|Australian Light Horse]] troops marched into Damascus. Auda Abu Ta'yi, T. E. Lawrence and Arab troops rode into Damascus the next day, 1 October. At the end of the war, the [[Egyptian Expeditionary Force]] had seized [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], [[Transjordan (region)|Transjordan]], [[Lebanon]], large parts of the [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabian peninsula]] and [[southern Syria]]. Medina, cut off from the rest of the Ottoman Empire, surrendered in January 1919.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Antonius |first1=George |title=The Arab Awakening: The Story of the Arab National Movement |date=1939 |publisher=Philadelphia : J.B. Lippincott |page=238 |url=https://archive.org/details/McGillLibrary-rbsc_isl_arab-awakening_DS636A461939-16015 |access-date=29 November 2023}}</ref>

== Aftermath ==
{{See also|Partition of the Ottoman Empire}}
[[File:Arabia Armistice Mudros.png|thumb|A map of the region at the end of the war]]

The [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] agreed in the [[McMahon–Hussein Correspondence]] that it would support Arab independence if they revolted against the Ottomans.

However, the United Kingdom and [[French Third Republic|France]] reneged on the original deal and divided up the area under the [[Sykes–Picot Agreement|1916 Sykes–Picot Agreement]] in ways that the Arabs felt were unfavourable to them. Further confusing the issue was the [[Balfour Declaration]] of 1917, which promised support for a [[Jews|Jewish]] "national home" in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]]. This series of events is often characterised as a betrayal of the Arabs by the British.<ref>Sole, Kent M. "The Arabs, a people betrayed". ''Journal of Third World Studies'', vol. 2, no. 2, 1985, pp. 59–62. {{JSTOR|45197139}}. Accessed 8 Nov. 2023.</ref><ref>Barnett, David (30 Oct 2022). "[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/30/revealed-te-lawrence-felt-bitter-shame-over-uks-false-promises-of-arab-self-rule Revealed: TE Lawrence felt 'bitter shame' over UK's false promises of Arab self rule]". ''The Observer''. {{ISSN|0029-7712}}. Retrieved 2023-11-08.</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Betrayal of Arabs after first World War set stage for turbulent century |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/betrayal-of-arabs-after-first-world-war-set-stage-for-turbulent-century-1.1840067 |access-date=2023-11-08 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en}}</ref> For a brief period, the [[Hejaz|Hejaz region]] of western [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]] became a [[self-declared states|self-declared state]], without being universally recognised as such, under Hussein's control. Although both [[Ibn Saud]] and Hussein received British aid, it was eventually conquered by [[Ibn Saud]] in 1925, as part of his military and sociopolitical campaign for the [[unification of Saudi Arabia]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia, Volume 1|last=Mikaberidze|first=Alexander|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2011|isbn=978-1598843361|pages=799–802}}</ref>

The Arab Revolt is seen by historians as the first organized movement of [[Arab nationalism]]. It brought together different Arab groups for the first time with the common goal to fight for independence from the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Much of the history of Arab independence stemmed from the revolt beginning with the kingdom that had been founded by Hussein.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Antonius |first1=George |title=The Arab Awakening: The Story of the Arab National Movement |date=1939 |publisher=Philadelphia : J.B. Lippincott |url=https://archive.org/details/McGillLibrary-rbsc_isl_arab-awakening_DS636A461939-16015}}</ref>

After the war, the Arab Revolt had implications. Groups of people were put into classes that were based on whether they had fought in the revolt and their rank. In [[Iraq]], a group of Sharifian officers from the Arab Revolt formed a political party that they headed. The Hashemites in [[Jordan]] remain influenced by the actions of the revolt's Arab leaders.{{sfn|Khalidi|1991|p=7}}

== Underlying causes ==

=== Sharif Hussein of Mecca ===
[[File:Sharif Husayn.jpg|thumb|right|[[Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz|Hussein bin Ali]], the [[Sharif of Mecca|Sharif and Emir of Mecca]] from 1908 to 1924 and [[King of the Hejaz]] from 1916 to 1924.<ref name="Kayali 2023">{{cite book |last=Kayali |first=Hasan |year=2023 |orig-date=1997 |title=Arabs and Young Turks: Ottomanism, Arabism, and Islamism in the Ottoman Empire, 1908–1918 |chapter=A Case Study in Centralization: The Hijaz under Young Turk Rule, 1908–1914 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LOnQEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA147 |location=[[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]] and [[Los Angeles]] |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |pages=147–173 |isbn=9780520204461}}</ref>]]

[[Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz|Hussein bin Ali]], the [[Sharif of Mecca|Sharif and Emir of Mecca]] from 1908,<ref name="Kayali 2023"/> enthroned himself as [[King of the Hejaz]] after proclaiming the Great Arab Revolt against the [[Ottoman Empire]],<ref name="Roshwald 2013">{{cite book |author-last=Roshwald |author-first=Aviel |year=2013 |chapter=Part II. The Emergence of Nationalism: Politics and Power – Nationalism in the Middle East, 1876–1945 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IlNoAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA220 |editor-last=Breuilly |editor-first=John |title=The Oxford Handbook of the History of Nationalism |location=[[Oxford]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=220–241 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199209194.013.0011 |isbn=9780191750304}}</ref> and continued to hold both of the offices of Sharif and King from 1916 to 1924.<ref name="Kayali 2023"/> At the end of his reign he also briefly laid claim to the office of [[Sharifian Caliphate|Sharifian Caliph]]. He was a [[Hashemites#Family tree|37th-generation direct descendant]] of [[Muhammad]], as he belongs to the [[Hashemite]] family.<ref name="Kayali 2023"/> 

A member of the Dhawu Awn clan ([[Banu Hashim]]) from the [[Qatadid]] emirs of Mecca, he was perceived to have rebellious inclinations and in 1893 was summoned to [[Istanbul]], where he was kept on the Council of State.<ref name="Kayali 2023"/> In 1908, in the aftermath of the [[Young Turk Revolution]], he was appointed Emir of Mecca by the [[List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman sultan]] [[Abdul Hamid II]].<ref name="Kayali 2023"/> 

In 1916, with the promise of British support for Arab independence, he proclaimed the Great Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire, accusing the [[Committee of Union and Progress]] (CUP) of violating tenets of Islam and limiting the power of the sultan-caliph. Shortly after the outbreak of the revolt, Hussein declared himself "King of the Arab Countries". However, his [[Pan-Arabism|pan-Arab aspirations]] were not accepted by the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]], who recognized him only as King of the Hejaz.

In the [[aftermath of World War I]], Hussein refused to ratify the [[Treaty of Versailles]], in protest at the [[Balfour Declaration]] and the establishment of British and French [[League of Nations mandate|mandates]] in [[Mandatory Syria|Syria]], [[Mandatory Iraq|Iraq]], and [[Mandatory Palestine|Palestine]]. He later refused to sign the Anglo-Hashemite Treaty and thus deprived himself of British support when his kingdom was attacked by [[Ibn Saud]]. After the Kingdom of Hejaz was invaded by the [[House of Saud|Al Saud]]-[[Wahhabism|Wahhabi]] armies of the [[Ikhwan]], on 23 December 1925 King Hussein bin Ali surrendered to the Saudis, bringing both the Kingdom of Hejaz and the Sharifate of Mecca to an end.<ref name="Peters 1994">{{cite book |last=Peters |first=Francis E. |year=2017 |orig-date=1994 |title=Mecca: A Literary History of the Muslim Holy Land |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tdb6F1qVDhkC&pg=PA397 |location=[[Princeton, New Jersey]] and [[Woodstock, Oxfordshire]] |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |series=Princeton Legacy Library |page=397 |isbn=9781400887361 |oclc=468351969}}</ref>

According to [[Efraim Karsh]] of [[Bar-Ilan University]], Sharif Hussein of Mecca was "a man with grandiose ambitions" who had first started to fall out with his masters in Istanbul when the dictatorship, a triumvirate known as the [[Three Pashas]], General [[Enver Pasha]], [[Talaat Pasha]], and [[Cemal Pasha]], which represented the radical [[Turkish nationalism|Turkish nationalist]] wing of the [[Committee of Union and Progress]] (CUP), seized power in a coup d'état in January 1913 and began to pursue a policy of [[Turkification]], which gradually angered non-Turkish subjects.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ülker|first=Erol|date=2005|title=Contextualising 'Turkification': nation-building in the late Ottoman Empire, 1908–18*|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-8129.2005.00222.x|journal=Nations and Nationalism|language=en|volume=11|issue=4|pages=613–636|doi=10.1111/j.1469-8129.2005.00222.x|issn=1469-8129|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Hussein started to embrace the language of [[Arab nationalism]] only after the [[Young Turk Revolution]] against the Ottoman sultan [[Abdul Hamid II]] in July 1908.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Young Turks and The Armenians: From Revolution to Genocide|url=https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/video/young-turks-and-armenians-revolution-genocide|access-date=12 April 2021|website=Facing History and Ourselves|date=31 March 2015 }}</ref> The fighting force of the revolt was mostly combined from Ottoman defectors and Arabian tribes loyal to the Sharif.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=The Arab Revolt, 1916–18 – The Ottoman Empire {{!}} NZHistory, New Zealand history online|url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/ottoman-empire/arab-revolt|access-date=12 April 2021|website=nzhistory.govt.nz}}</ref>

=== Religious justification ===
Though the Sharifian revolt was described in retrospect as rooted in a secular Arab nationalist sentiment,{{sfn|Khalidi|1991}}<ref>Gelvin, James L. (2015). ''The Modern Middle East: A History'' (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-021886-7}}.</ref> the Sharif did not present it in those terms. Rather, he accused the [[Young Turks]] of violating the sacred tenets of [[Islam]] by pursuing the policy of [[Turkification]] and discriminating against its non-Turkish population, and called [[Arab Muslims]] to sacred rebellion against the Ottoman government.<ref>Sean McMeekin (2012) ''The Berlin–Baghdad Express''. Belknap Press. {{ISBN|0674064321}}. pp. 288, 297</ref> The Turks answered by accusing the rebelling tribes of betraying the [[Ottoman Caliphate]] during a campaign against imperialist powers attempting to divide and govern Muslim lands.<ref>Mustafa Bostancı (2014) [http://gazi.edu.tr/posts/download?id=115391 Birinci Dünya Savaşı'nda Osmanlı Devleti'nin Hicaz'da Hâkimiyet Mücadelesi] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216073709/http://gazi.edu.tr/posts/download?id=115391 |date=16 February 2015 }} (The Struggle of Ottomans in Hijaz Region During the World War I). ''Akademik Bakış''</ref> The Turks said the revolting Arabs gained nothing after the revolt; rather, the Middle East was carved up by the British and French.

=== Ethnic tensions ===
[[File:Flage of the Great Arab Revolt.JPG|thumb|The [[Aqaba Flagpole]] holding the flag of the Arab Revolt, commemorating the site of the [[Battle of Aqaba]].]]

This early [[Arab nationalism]] came about when the majority of the Arabs living in the [[Turkish Empire]] were loyal primarily to their own families, clans, and tribes<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |journal= Nations and Nationalism |volume=11 |issue=14 |date=2005 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-8129.2005.00222.x |first1=Erol |last1=Ülker |title=Contextualising 'Turkification': nation-building in the late Ottoman Empire, 1908–18*|pages=613–636 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229480579|access-date=12 April 2021|via=ResearchGate|language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807081749/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229480579_Contextualising_%27Turkification%27_nation-building_in_the_late_Ottoman_Empire_1908-18 |archive-date= Aug 7, 2022 }}</ref> despite efforts of the Turkish ruling class, who pursued a policy of [[Turkification]] through the [[Tanzimat reforms]] and hoped to create a feeling of "[[Ottomanism]]" among the different ethnicities under the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman rule]]. Liberal reforms brought about by the Tanzimat also transformed the [[Ottoman Caliphate]] into a secular empire, which weakened the Islamic concept of [[Ummah]] that tied the different races together.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kawtharani|first=Wajih|date=2013|title=The Ottoman Tanzimat and the Constitution|journal=Tabayyun|publisher=Arab Center for Research & Policy Studies|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep12682 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240411010456/https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/resrep12682.pdf |archive-date= Apr 11, 2024 }}</ref> The rise of the [[Committee of Union and Progress]] (CUP) to power and the creation of a [[one-party state]] in 1913 which mandated [[Turkish nationalism]] as a state ideology, worsened the relationship between the Ottoman state and its non-Turkish subjects.<ref name=":0" />

In the [[United States]], Arabs and Hebrews who immigrated from [[Ottoman Turkey]] petitioned the [[U.S. Department of State]] to not be classified as "Turkish", but as "Arab" or "Hebrew".<ref>{{cite news |title=Ask Recognition of Arabs and Hebrews |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SDI19180108.2.38& |access-date=5 December 2024 |publisher=Stockton Independent |date=January 8, 1918 |page=2 |quote=The petition also asks that the federal authorities 'permit Ottoman Arabs and Hebrews in America to suppress from the state registers in which their declarations as foreigners have been made their status as Turkish subjects.'}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Campaigns of the Arab Revolt]]
* [[Flag of the Arab Revolt]]
* [[History of Saudi Arabia]]
* [[South Arabia during World War I]]
{{Portal bar|History|Jordan|Saudi Arabia}}

== Notes ==
=== Footnotes ===
{{Notelist}}

=== References ===
{{Reflist|20em}}

== Bibliography ==
* Cleveland, William L. and Martin Bunton. (2016) ''A History of the Modern Middle East.'' 6th ed. Westview Press.
* Falls, Cyril (1930) ''Official History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence; Military Operations Egypt & Palestine from June 1917 to the End of the War'' Vol. 2. London: H. M. Stationery Office
* Erickson, Edward. ''Ordered to Die: A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War.'' Westport, CT: Greenwood. {{ISBN|978-0-313-31516-9}}.
* {{cite book|last=Khalidi|first=Rashid|title=The Origins of Arab Nationalism|url=https://archive.org/details/originsofarabnat00khal|url-access=registration|year=1991|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-07435-3}}
* Murphy, David (2008) ''The Arab Revolt 1916–18 Lawrence sets Arabia Ablaze''. Osprey: London. {{ISBN|978-1-84603-339-1}}.
* Parnell, Charles L. (August 1979) CDR USN "Lawrence of Arabia's Debt to Seapower" ''United States Naval Institute Proceedings''.

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book |last=Anderson |first=Scott |author-link=Scott Anderson (writer) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HubTAgAAQBAJ |title=Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East |date=2014 |publisher=Atlantic Books Ltd |isbn=978-1-78239-201-9 |location=New York}}
* {{Cite book |last=Fromkin |first=David |author-link=David Fromkin |title=A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East |title-link=A Peace to End All Peace |date=1989 |publisher=[[H. Holt and Company|Holt]] |isbn=978-0-8050-0857-9 |location=New York, NY}}
* {{Cite book |last=Korda |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Korda |title=Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia |date=2010 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |isbn=978-0-06-171261-6 |location=New York, NY}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lawrence |first=T. E. |author-link=T. E. Lawrence |title=Seven Pillars of Wisdom |title-link=Seven Pillars of Wisdom |date=1935 |publisher=[[Doubleday, Doran & Co.]] |location=Garden City, N.Y |oclc=1035523 |ol=6325465M}}
* {{Cite book |last=Oschenwald |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=21v9mTP_jsUC |title=The Origins of Arab Nationalism |date=1991 |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |isbn=978-0-231-07435-3 |editor-last=Khalidi |editor-first=Rashid |location=New York |pages=189–203 |chapter=The Hashemites, the Arab Revolt, and Arab Nationalism}}
* {{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Mary C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=21v9mTP_jsUC |title=The Origins of Arab Nationalism |date=1991 |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |isbn=978-0-231-07435-3 |editor-last=Khalidi |editor-first=Rashid |location=New York |pages=204–224 |chapter=The Hashemites, the Arab Revolt, and Arab Nationalism}}
* {{Cite book |title=History in Dispute: World War I |date=2000 |publisher=[[St. James Press]] |isbn=978-1-55862-712-3 |editor-last=Showalter |editor-first=Dennis |series=Gale eBooks |location=Detroit |chapter=Arab Uprising: Did the Arab Uprising of 1916 Contribute Significantly to the Military and Political Developments in the Middle East?}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070523103905/http://www.kinghussein.gov.jo/his_arabrevolt.html History of the Arab Revolt] (on [[Hussein of Jordan|King Hussein]]'s website)
* [https://www.pbs.org/lawrenceofarabia/revolt/index.html Arab Revolt] at PBS
* [http://www.shapell.org/manuscript.aspx?lawrence-of-arabia T.E. Lawrence's Original Letters on Palestine] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140922210127/http://www.shapell.org/manuscript.aspx?lawrence-of-arabia |date=22 September 2014 }} Shapell Manuscript Foundation
* [http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11755/ The Revolt in Arabia] by [[Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje]]
* ''[http://autoweek.com/article/car-life/armored-rolls-royce-ghosts-ruled-deserts-arabia-chariots-war Chariots of war: When T.E. Lawrence and his armored Rolls-Royces ruled the Arabian desert]'', [[Brendan McAleer]], 10 August 2017, [[Autoweek]].

{{World War I}}
{{Arab nationalism}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Arab Revolt| ]]
[[Category:1916 in the Ottoman Empire]]
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