Essay On The Triple Entente

Throughout the First World War, two opposing alliances existed. The first being, the Triple Entente: Britain, France, and Russia. The second, the Central Powers: Germany, Bulgaria, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire. Of particular interest to these states is that of the Ottoman Empire. In 1916 during the First World War, France, Britain and Russia began to create a divided Ottoman Empire between them, sketched out on a map. This secret agreement, known as the Sykes-Picot agreement, so named because of its creators Mark Sykes of Britain and Francois Georges-Picot of France. This entente intended to partition the Arab states of the Empire between the Triple Entente. The powers did this in hopes of dividing the control of influence. The Sykes-Picot agreement exploited the …show more content…
McMahon proposed a “great independent Arab nation,” and led Hussein to believe the Arab people would claim nearly, “the entire Arab Peninsula, stretching east to the frontier with Persia, north to the Anatolian heartland of Turkey, and west to the Mediterranean Sea and the border of Egypt.” For the Sherif of Mecca the deal proposed to encompass Arab desires of unified, independent nation. Only to be entrenched in his belief by McMahon’s declaration of, “Great Britain is prepared to recognize and support the independence of the Arabs in all the regions within the limits demanded by the Sherif of Mecca.” Though, McMahon had little intention of upholding his promises, as his interests resided with France. He was able renege on earlier promises made by the caveat in the letters, a clause McMahon inserted secretly stating, “Wherein Great Britain is free to act without detriment to the interest of her ally France.” This clause meant that France needed to agree with the deal or their intransigence could prevent Britain’s ability to follow