The Arab Revolt and the Saudis

Whenever a crisis occurs between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, the Arab Revolt during the First World War always comes to mind. It is recalled that the Arabs collaborated with the British during the First World War to stab the Turks in the back, and the Arabs are collectively branded as traitors.

In the latest crisis, social media posts have also begun to highlight Cemal Pasha, who had many separatist Arabs executed before and during the revolt, and Fahreddin (Türkkan) Pasha, who defended Medina against the attacks of the rebels.

When hostility arises between two societies, the correctness or incorrectness of opening old wounds is debated. However, the Saudis crossed a red line that should never be crossed by insulting our National Anthem and Atatürk. They did this insult knowingly and intentionally to press the Turks' buttons. If there is no intent involved, then it is an unimaginable ignorance, and that does not change the result. The Turks were rightfully extremely angry and began to shower the Arabs with insults. Ultimately, those who do evil find evil, and those who are rude find rudeness. This is an immutable fact of history.

However, there is a problem here: The Saudis never participated in the Arab Revolt. Cemal Pasha did not execute any Saudis, and Fahreddin Pasha did not defend Medina against the Saudis.

The Arab Revolt was initiated in the summer of 1916 with the support of the British by Hussein, the Sharif of Mecca and leader of the Hashemite tribe. Although the British originally desired all tribes in the Arabian Peninsula to join the revolt, it was impossible for the Arabs to act together because some of the tribes in the region were at each other's throats. The Saudis were both hostile to the Hashemites and rejected the authority of the Meccan sharifs due to their Wahhabi beliefs. It cannot be said that the Saudis were fond of the Ottomans either, and they had fought against the Ottomans many times in their history. However, the fact that the revolt was initiated and managed by the Hashemites automatically eliminated the possibility of the Saudis being involved in such an formation.

Hussein was appointed Sharif of Mecca by the Sultan in 1908 and began to govern the Hejaz Vilayet. Hussein had been appointed to a critical position, and by virtue of his position, he was in a better place than other Arab tribal leaders to easily contact the British and make tangible promises. Hussein did not miss this opportunity and requested help from the British for a possible revolt even before the First World War began. The British would not see Arab help as necessary until the defeat at Kut al-Amara in April 1916, when their operations in the Middle East reached a dead end. After Kut al-Amara, the British, looking for alternatives, gave the green light to the revolt by providing money and weapons to the Hashemites.

The rebels did not have a tangible strategy at the beginning and did not know how to attack the Ottomans. The opening move was made with an attack on Medina, which was defended by Fahreddin Pasha, but the organized Ottoman forces, who had more weapons than them, easily repelled the irregular rebels. Over time, partly due to the advice given by British agent Thomas Edward Lawrence, they began to conduct an effective guerrilla war based on raids targeting the logistics lines of the Ottoman army.

It cannot be said that the rebels caused significant damage to Ottoman forces throughout the war. However, their raids, which shook Ottoman logistics, had devastating effects because they made the British's job easier. With the exception of the capture of the city of Aqaba, they were mostly unsuccessful in direct attacks on battle-ready Ottoman forces without British support. The Siege of Medina was also one of the points where the Hashemites failed. Medina could not be taken throughout the war. Fahreddin Pasha refused to surrender even after the war ended and continued to fight, and was finally persuaded by the Sultan to surrender on January 10, 1919. With the capture of Medina, the Hejaz completely fell into the hands of the Hashemites.

Mecca and Medina were also targets of the Saudis. However, the Saudis, fearing the British, did not make a move against the Hashemites during the war, and although the Hashemites had attacked the Saudis in 1918, they swallowed these attacks and did not respond. With the end of the war in Medina, the Saudis thought that the Hashemite-British alliance had also ended and attacked the Hejaz. The Hashemites failed to stop the Saudis, and the Saudis massacred almost all of the Hashemites they captured alive. While the Saudis' capture of the Hejaz seemed certain, the British intervened and gave the Saudis an ultimatum to withdraw. The Saudis' calculations had not worked out. The British were still protecting the Hashemites. Seeing no chance of success against the British, the Saudis would withdraw and postpone the conquest of the Hejaz until 1924.

In the intervening period, the Hashemites' relations would sour first with the French and then with the British. In 1916, the British had promised the Hashemites the establishment of a single large Arab state in the region. However, the promises made after the war were not kept; a French mandate administration was established in Syria, and all Arab states established in the former Ottoman territories outside the Kingdom of Hejaz remained under British mandate. In addition to these, the British would turn a blind eye to Jewish migration to Palestine despite all the objections of the Hashemites. Under these conditions, the Hashemites refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles.

The British tried to persuade the Hashemites until 1924 to sign a separate treaty to accept the mandate administrations in the region, and after the Hashemites stubbornly refused to compromise, they ended relations in mid-1924. With the withdrawal of British support, the opportunity the Saudis had been waiting for for a long time was in their hands, and they would attack the Hejaz without wasting any time. The Saudis had a significant numerical superiority and had easily defeated the Hashemites as they had in 1919. Hussein asked for help from the British as he had in 1919, but this time he received a refusal. The Saudis would occupy the entire Hejaz Hashemite Kingdom by December 1925. With the fall of the Hejaz, the Hashemites were losing the only free state they had (although the kingdoms of Jordan and Iraq were established as Hashemite kingdoms, both countries were British mandates).

The Saudis had established the Kingdom of Nejd in 1921. After capturing the Hejaz, they changed the name of their state to the Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz. In 1932, they changed the name of the country to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Saudis fought the Ottomans countless times throughout their history and still harbor hostility toward Turkey because of these wars. However, the Saudis did not fight the Ottomans during the process of establishing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; on the contrary, they fought the Hashemites who rebelled against the Ottomans. In other words, the claim that the Saudis were part of the Arab Revolt in the First World War is nothing more than a misconception.

Responding in kind after being subjected to humiliation is a perfectly understandable situation, and reminding people of unpleasant events from the past is a frequently used method of humiliation. However, one must be very well-versed in history before resorting to this path. Otherwise, the situation goes to a nonsensical point like getting angry at a Chinese person and beating up a Uyghur Turk with slanted eyes.

I wish all my readers a happy and peaceful 2024.