British Archives: 3 Sentences I Constantly Repeat For Their Importance

When I read the documents of the British Archives, I was struck by three statements that I constantly repeat, attributing to them for their importance:

1- The statement of the High Commissioner in Egypt, Henry McMahon, to Sharif Hussein on August 30, 1915

“and here we state once again that His Majesty the King of Great Britain welcomes the restoration of the caliphate to the hand of a true Arab from the branches of that blessed prophetic origins”

2- The Director of British Military Intelligence in Cairo, speaking about the goals of Sharif Hussein and Britain’s

“that his goal is to establish a caliphate for himself… His activity seems beneficial to us because it aligns with our immediate goals, which are the disintegration of the Islamic bloc and the defeat and dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire… The Arabs are less stable than the Turks, and if they are dealt with correctly, they remain in a state of political mosaic, a group of small states, jealous of each other, unable to cohesion… If we can only manage to make this political change violent, we will have abolished Islam’s danger by dividing it against itself. “

3- The statement of the British Political Agent in Bahrain “Major Dixon” in August 1920:

“A strong central Arab island ruled by Ibn Saud, who is linked with the most friendly relations with the British government, is ideally suited to British policy. It will resolve…