The McMahon–Hussein Correspondence was a series of letters exchanged in 1915–1916 between British official Sir Henry McMahon and Sharif Hussein of Mecca. In the letters, Britain promised to support Arab independence after World War I if the Arabs revolted against the Ottoman Empire. The terms were vague and later conflicted with other agreements like Sykes-Picot and the Balfour Declaration. This led to lasting Arab distrust of British intentions.
The Balfour Declaration was a statement issued by the British government in 1917, expressing support for the creation of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. It was addressed to a leader of the British Jewish community during World War I. The declaration ignored the political rights of the Arab population in the region and later became a key source of tension in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Sykes-Picot Agreement was a secret deal made in 1916 between Britain and France to divide the Ottoman Empire’s Arab lands after World War I. It gave France control over Syria and Lebanon, and Britain control over Iraq, Jordan, and Palestine. The agreement ignored Arab hopes for independence and shaped much of the modern Middle East.