Foreign Correspondence

[fuagf]

Chronological Table of Middle East History .. excerpt ..

Mar 11,1917 Gen. Stanley Maude captured Baghdad after defeating the Ottomans; Basra was captured
on Nov 22, 1914, initially to secure British position in the Persian Gulf and protect oil supplies from Persia

Nov 2, 1917 Balfour Declaration: The British government views "with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people...it being understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country." Weizmann was unhappy that the original language has been watered down. A preliminary Zionist draft reads as follows: "His Majesty's Government accepts the principle that Palestine should be reconstituted as the National Home of the Jewish People," without safeguard clauses for Palestinian natives or for non-Zionist Jews. Deceptively, his ultimate objective was a Jewish state. Both Balfour and Lloyd George told Churchill that "by the Declaration they always meant an eventual Jewish State". Herzl himself wrote in his Diaries: "at Basle (the first Zionist Congress in 1897), I founded the Jewish State". The Declaration publication in Palestine was delayed for two and half years (see text of Balfour Declaration).
http://www.users.cloud9.net/%7Erecross/israel-watch/Texts/BalfourDeclaration.htm

Dec 11, 1917 Allenby entered Jerusalem ending the Turkish rule of Palestine
Jan 8, 1918 The Fourteen Points of President Wilson: outlined to a joint session of congress. Point XII calls for self-determination for peoples under Ottoman rule. "... the other nationalities which are now under Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity of autonomous development..." For the full text, see:
http://www.lib.byu.edu/%7Erdh/wwi/1918/14points.html

Feb 11, 1918 The Four Principles: Speaking to the Congress, President Wilson defined the Four principles upon which the peace settlement should be made. Principle 2: That peoples and provinces are not to be bartered about from sovereignty to sovereignty as if they were chattels or pawns in a game; Principle 3: Every territorial settlement involved in this war must be made in the interest and for the benefit of the populations concerned. (For the full text, see: http://www.lib.byu.edu/%7Erdh/wwi/1918/wilpeace.html

Jul 4, 1918 The Four Ends: In his speech, President Wilson defined the Four ends for which the United States and its allies were fighting. It includes "The settlement of every question... upon the basis of the free acceptance of that settlement by the people immediately concerned, and not upon the basis of the material interest or advantage of any other nation..."

Jun 16, 1918 The Declaration to the Seven: The Arab secret societies worried about the Balfour Declaration and the Sykes-Picot Agreement elected a committee of seven to negotiate with Britain which issued a Declaration containing two assurances: (1) that Britain will continue to work for the liberation of those countries still under Turkish rule and (2) that no regime will be set up in any of them that was not acceptable to their populations.

Oct 1, 1918 Faysal captured Damascus

http://www.users.cloud9.net/~recross/israel-watch/Chronology.html